Let us hear from some professionals about their journey of job search in the Australian market.
Dr. Ramakant Rana
E-Learning And instructional Design officer
Time to find a job in Australian job market: 5 months
Difficulty level of finding a job in Australia: 9/10
Resources which truly helped in job search: Online job portals, networking
Importance of having a professional network, in finding job opportunities in Australia: 5/5
Tips for someone who is facing challenge in finding a job currently: Connect and network on LinkedIn. Spend 1 – 2 hours daily on LinkedIn
Summary of Dr. Rana’s job search
Getting my current job in Australia was like putting together puzzle pieces – I made friends at industry events who later vouched for me when I applied for jobs.
By checking out what people in similar jobs were doing at different companies, I figured out what skills I needed to work on. I also made sure my LinkedIn profile looked good, so employers could see my skills.
Attending company events and satying updated on job opportunities helped me show how much I liked each company. And, I kept learning new things to show I am serious about growing in my career.
It was a bit of work, but this mix of meeting people, learning, and being active online really paid off in the end!
Pragya Nandan
Project Manager
Time taken to find a job in the Australian job market: 4 months
Difficulty level of finding a job in Australia: 8/10
Resources which truly helped in job search: Online job portals
Importance of having a professional network, in finding job opportunities in Australia: 5/5
Tips for someone who is facing challenges in finding a job currently: Keep faith, don’t lose hope. Be flexible. Attend work related events to get to know people, more importantly understand the corporate atmosphere, how to talk the talk, walk the walk type of things. Take up volunteering roles if possible or join a volunteering group like toastmasters to get on top of communication skills.
Summary of Pragya Nandan’s job search
I was new to Australia and did not know anyone. I had work experience of 8 years in technology roles. Also, I wanted to move away from Technology role into a business project management role.
I realised I had to start at graduate level to make this move and get my first role. I was persistent in applying all Project Coordinator/administrator Jobs.
Eventually I got a role paying graduate salary. And then after 6 months into the role I moved into a standard market rate role. And there has been no looking back apart from covid and now. i.e. recession times.
I do feel when people move to Australia, we need to be flexible and cognisant. I do feel at least in non tech roles where stakeholder management is required, local experience does matter. Hence no shame in stepping down to get a role, understand the lay of the land, master the tricks and then jump into a well paying market rate roles.
However, if I were a techie, I probably would have had a different experience and may be would not have required to step down to a graduate role. I have no regrets though of how I entered the job market.
Shiny Sam Varghese
Policy Officer
Time taken to find a job in the Australian job market: 1 months
Difficulty level of finding a job in Australia: 8/10
Resources which truly helped in job search: Online job portals, Networking
Importance of having a professional network, in finding job opportunities in Australia: 5/5
Tips for someone who is facing challenges in finding a job currently: Seek feedback if you are facing rejections from the organisation you have applied to, so you can improve it in the next application. Seek advice from human resource professionals in Australia as they know and understand the ways to navigate through the difficult selection process. Don’t lose hope if you don’t hear from a few organisations. Keep trying and keep networking so you can get through in your desired organizations.
Summary of Shiny’s job search
Gaurav helped me understand the process of looking for jobs and with mock interview sessions.
I looked for relevant contacts on LinkedIn to establish a network. I read through thoroughly about the organisation’s work when I was appearing for an interview. I kept myself abreast of the developments in the field I was interested in.