How to find job in Australia

I immigrated to Australia few months back. I was armed with an IIT degree with 4 year exp in world class company in India. Looked on-line for various tactics to get job quickly and implemented most of what I found logical. With substantial effort and hard work i finally managed to get a job. This page is an extract of my experience during my struggle which I found the hard way so that others would streamline their efforts and get job quickly. I am getting huge numbers of mail everyday and its very difficult to reply in person to all queries. In order to address these queries I plan to write more articles covering the following points in detail  For serious job seekers, I strongly recommend to follow the discussion by joining as follower.

How Long is too long: My first week resulted in 2 interview and the requirement was so close i believed i was too unlucky to not get in one of them. I was on high and thought it would be cakewalk. Soon reality strikes and i entered in dry period with nothing happening for next 3 weeks. I talked to many seasoned people and they helped me to calm down. I was told if someone migrating to au gets first job in 2 month, his lucky star is shinning very very bright. Typicall time is from 2 month to 6 month. You would be very unlucky not to find anything even struggling for six months.

One Lingering Curiosity: First lets clear one curiosity which comes to all of our minds. Can one find job sitting back in home country ?When I tried searching sitting back in india I must admit the response was poor. Few bothered to reply back with standard regret mail. Very few recruiters do reply back that they would consider if i were in Au. After i arrived, i had opportunity to talk to many recruiters face to face and asked if its possible to consider for position sitting back in home country. Unless the requirement is really unique the company would easily find the skill set in the present market and would not consider going for visa delays and hassles. With global financial crisis , the chances of securing job sitting in homeland is virtually impossible in my view.

Job Market Dynamics: Let me first give you a brief insight how things work here. Here in Au most of the jobs are advertised by recruiting agencies who are hired by companies to find suitable candidates. These agencies post job ads to various sites and in response gets tons of resumes. The recruiters put email filters so that only resume with most matching keywords pass their mailbox. Then recruiters scan all resumes in mailbox and most of the time submit just 1-2 resumes to company for considerations. Usually one company give request to 3-4 recruiting agency hence these agencies are competing for the commission for this one job. Now understand the dynamics here. The recruiter has only 1-2 resume which he can submit from the whole lot and he can maximize his chance of securing the commission only if he presents the very best talents to company. Hence the first and the biggest hurdle in securing job is convincing the recruiting agency that you are the best talent available for this position and if he gets any doubt on your credentials then your resume is heading to his bin.

Contact Recruiting Agency: If the resume is a great match to the opening its highly recommended to call the recruiter after submitting resume. The recruiter would honestly convey why he feel you are not the best option for this role and you have a chance to clarify anything if the resume is not highlighting it properly. If he buys your explanation then its better to ask for the exact requirement and resend another tailor made resume highlighting in CV the exp and achievement in-line with the requirements. Recruiters prefer to meet the candidate to ensure whom they are presenting to the hiring manager. If he asks to meet, you should gladly agree and try to fix appointment at earliest. If recruiter do not follow you for this opening in future, its better not to worry bcos the job has already slipped out of your hand so fetch another rather than going for wild goose chase. Tailored resume highlighting requirements is very important. Since most of the openings are contract based companies dont hire anyone who has learning curve. Even if the recruiter dont budge after you call, its wise to politely exit the call and try to bridge good relation with the recruiter so that you are considered for future prospects. Out of 100 applicants he rejects 98 so Always remember he may be your biggest hurdle but he can be your stepping stone if he believes you and short list you.

Local Experience: One thing I heard quite frequently is called 'local experience'. This one word will hurt your prospects more often then not. There are many reasons for giving significance to local experience. Few recruiters says its easy to check references if one has local experience. Candidates under sheer desperation to get any job go in length to tailor resume which they cant defend in interview and waste everyone time. Remember tailoring is highlighting your skills relevant to requirement and would certainly help but fake resume wont. With local exp one can be sure to be able to work with the team in au and has adopted to the aussie work culture. I personally believe the arguments for local exp are weak and unfair but who says life is always fair.

Finance Matters: The most important thing to consider before landing is finance. Its the most important thing bcos Sydney/Melbourne are quite expensive. I was told by many that you should have finance to servive in Au for atleast 6 months. Me and my wife were spending wisely still the expenses were huge . Few tactics I believe one should adopt initially:

1. If possible dont come with family. If you come alone the cost of living can be reduced by sharing apartment etc.
2. Visit few sites to get idea of how and where to find accommodation
3. Staying initially with friend/relative is wise before you know how things work
4. Internet and telephone is required for finding job so account for a laptop and USB internet connection
5. Public transport is reasonable but dont even dare to walk into cabs . They leave a big hole in pocket.

Voluntary and honorary options: Try to find if someone can give you honorary job which gives you experience rather then sitting at home. One should be intellegent to fish at the right place. A software programmer with 5 year of exp will not be gaining anything by working as unpaid sales man for garments shop but would be helped if he is selling some software. Find hard and convince your employer(very difficult) you would not run as soon as you find something :)

Communication: There is great importance given to communication. The candidate should be filled with confidence. The hand shake should be firm and confident contact to eye is required. I personally believe there is little place for politeness and humbleness when you come for interview. Dont get me wrong. Aussies are one of the most polite and courtiers people but hiring manager want to see confidence on the face of candidate( dont mix with arrogance). I would highly recommend practising commonly asked questions to avoid any pitfalls.

Resume Building: Your resume is the biggest weapon in your bag. Use it wisely. For first job its highly recommended the resume is detailed. The details are required so that there are less queries during interview. Being the first job, one may not know the best way to answer so the lesser questions are preferred so put as much detail as you can. Here is a catch. Put all details but nothing which wastes readers time as time is very highly regarded here.

Applying for Job: When you land in oz, everyone would give you their own idea on how to apply and search for job. Few people told me to apply for each and every job you see on-line even if you dont have any relevant experience. It may sound crazy but it makes sense. The resume may reach the recruiting agency (if passed email filter) and he may consider it for future. But there again is a catch. If you overdo it it may irritate recruiter, he may think you dont understand the stuff you are talking and worst he may block your incoming mails. Remember you are wasting his time and for him time is directly proportional to money. I myself overdid it and got the response from one " I read your resume carefully and found NONE of the requirement matching. " Finally I decided to put all my efforts to the few for which I am good.


Networking Sites: I believe networking through linkedin, facebook, orkut etc is the best way to get first job in oz. Recruiters obviously prefer those with local experience and they usually have openings which are for senior positions. Companies usually consider immigrants for junior positions and once the ability of person is proven he moves up the ladder. Unfortunately junior positions are not advertized since the company prefer not to spent money for junior positions and to fill it internally through reference. Thats where networking is so important. It takes a while to build a working network in foreign land so one should have patience and dedication for networking.

Above are the gist of experience I earned during my job search. I dont claim they are the best but i believe they work :). If someone needs more information on any point, i didnt covered in detail, they are welcome to leave a comment. All the best to all aspiring minds for their future endeavours.