Do new migrants have difficulties finding a job?

[ODIN20123]

We have secured a PR end of last year and are currently preparing our move to Australia. While searching for jobs I have stumbled over a significant amount of threads of highly qualified people who have not been able to secure a job for months! Judging by those postings they have always been rejected because of not having local work experience or even have not been invited to interviews at all, although their jobs and skills are in high demand in their area. I did a lot of research on this and found out that this is often because people did not adapt their resume´s and cover letters to Australian expectations. Furthermore employers rarely seem to contact people who are still overseas. People with foreign names from non western countries also seem to have problems getting jobs due to racism and employers who are unsure if the foreign applicants education will match their requirement.

But especially the "no local work experience" does pop up very frequently and does not sound very assuring.... :unsure:

But I understand that if you look for issues on the internet you will surely find them, so I am very interested in any "real life" experiences.

 

It would be great if you could share some of your experiences of your job interviews, oversea contacts with employers, how long it took you to get a job etc.

[B1K3R]

We have secured a PR end of last year and are currently preparing our move to Australia. While searching for jobs I have stumbled over a significant amount of threads of highly qualified people who have not been able to secure a job for months! Judging by those postings they have always been rejected because of not having local work experience or even have not been invited to interviews at all, although their jobs and skills are in high demand in their area. I did a lot of research on this and found out that this is often because people did not adapt their resume´s and cover letters to Australian expectations. Furthermore employers rarely seem to contact people who are still overseas. People with foreign names from non western countries also seem to have problems getting jobs due to racism and employers who are unsure if the foreign applicants education will match their requirement.

But especially the "no local work experience" does pop up very frequently and does not sound very assuring.... :unsure:

But I understand that if you look for issues on the internet you will surely find them, so I am very interested in any "real life" experiences.

 

It would be great if you could share some of your experiences of your job interviews, oversea contacts with employers etc.

 

 

Having been through the job hunting experience when I arrived in OZ a year ago, I have to say that I came across all kind of employers and recruiters.

 

So, yes, you will find some recruiters and companies who will reject you due to lack of local experience or maybe racism, but you will also find the opposite!!!

 

The solution is simple. Just do not give up because you get rejected a couple of times. Because then, after that, the perfect job and employer will come around.

 

I remember applying for many many jobs (I'm in software development .Net), and roughly I got 50% interviews. Though, I did not apply for jobs blindly, but only those that closely matched my skills. Out of those 50%, 40% gave me a bit of a hard time and made me feel like I'm nothing. At some stage I stopped believing in myself. But, I was determined and finally found a job. It took me a month and a week (and that includes the week of the floods!)

 

The most importing things to successfully find a job are:

 

1. Make sure your resume is Australian style and up to date

2. Make sure that your skills are up to date!

3. Network as much as possible! For e.g., LinkedIn helped me a lot. Contact people and network. Though, most of them are only interested if you are in OZ or arriving withing 2 weeks.

3. Positive and 'can do it' attitude! Very important to employers

4. Don't give up easily. There should be great jobs which match you, so keep looking until you find it.

5. Don't let recruiters/employers demoralize you if you encounter racism or 'lack of local experience' syndrome. You will also find recruiters/employers who are NOT racists and will value your skills etc without any BS

6. Research, research and research....and plan!

 

And finally, believe in yourself mate, no matter what, if you are determined, you will find a job. Sometimes you'll have to start small too to achieve something big, so also be prepared for this.

 

Good luck mate!

 

Cheers

B!K3R

[calNgary]

Bikers advice is hard to top, to be honest... As he said just dont give up at the first knock back..

 

Cal x

[bensdad]

I was worried about this, got here on the tuesday saw job ad in paper on the saturday , 3 interviews later i start my new job next monday. sure they were worried bout local experience but my answer to that was i could learn enough in my probation period to warrant my appointment , confidence in your own abilities is the key. be positive you will be fine.

[Guest Jamie Smith]

Having been through the job hunting experience when I arrived in OZ a year ago, I have to say that I came across all kind of employers and recruiters.

 

So, yes, you will find some recruiters and companies who will reject you due to lack of local experience or maybe racism, but you will also find the opposite!!!

 

The solution is simple. Just do not give up because you get rejected a couple of times. Because then, after that, the perfect job and employer will come around.

 

I remember applying for many many jobs (I'm in software development .Net), and roughly I got 50% interviews. Though, I did not apply for jobs blindly, but only those that closely matched my skills. Out of those 50%, 40% gave me a bit of a hard time and made me feel like I'm nothing. At some stage I stopped believing in myself. But, I was determined and finally found a job. It took me a month and a week (and that includes the week of the floods!)

 

The most importing things to successfully find a job are:

 

1. Make sure your resume is Australian style and up to date

2. Make sure that your skills are up to date!

3. Network as much as possible! For e.g., LinkedIn helped me a lot. Contact people and network. Though, most of them are only interested if you are in OZ or arriving withing 2 weeks.

3. Positive and 'can do it' attitude! Very important to employers

4. Don't give up easily. There should be great jobs which match you, so keep looking until you find it.

5. Don't let recruiters/employers demoralize you if you encounter racism or 'lack of local experience' syndrome. You will also find recruiters/employers who are NOT racists and will value your skills etc without any BS

6. Research, research and research....and plan!

 

And finally, believe in yourself mate, no matter what, if you are determined, you will find a job. Sometimes you'll have to start small too to achieve something big, so also be prepared for this.

 

Good luck mate!

 

Cheers

B!K3R

Well said. They key is to sfind a way of turning a drawback into an asset, and that can aslo entail being selective over the employers where you apply. Formulating a personalised job search strategy is our first step in assisting clients - defining the opportunity.