AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Jan 12th 2013, 6:32 pm
#1
Moonbeast
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 144
AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
I responded to an email I received from some Aussie Immigrant Workers Organisation. Here is my reply to them, below. What a joke the Aussie recruitment system is.
You get all this hype about how great Aussie is and all of the job opportunities and when you go there it's like talking to a load of hill billies from fifty or sixty years ago.
I am a time served Engineering Fitter by trade, am well qualified, have business qualifications and experience.......I'm up to my ears with skills and experience!!
They know how to dig holes in Oz but.......here's my email.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I am a 51 year old fella from the UK and I have an Australian Permanent Resident Visa that entitles me to live and work in Australia. I was granted the visa in April 2003, when I was 42, based on a point scoring system that takes into account skills and qualifications etc.
Since then I have visited Australia three times for extended periods: in 2003, 2007, and 2012. I have to say that I found it very difficult to secure any employment in a sector related to my skills and any other sector. I have work experience, life experience, knowledge, qualifications etc coming out of my ears (see attached CV). I look a lot younger than I am, I am in excellent health, and socially I am a success, most of the time, with many friends and a pleasant disposition (so I am told).
I tell you about my formal qualifications and my personal attributes because I can not understand that given the demand for skills in Australia I have not been snapped up by anybody. I have had interviews, not as many as I should have, and I have experienced some of the strangest comments from potential employers that I have ever heard, such as: 'I think you are overqualified', 'I don't think you will like this job because of your experience', 'I'm not certain you will be able to deal with the dust and heat because you're from England', 'I think this job will bore you because you have made aeroplanes' etc etc.
My belief now is that too many of the agents in Australia are simply do not know what they have sitting in front of them. They are not experienced or competent enough themselves to grasp the potential in well qualified, experienced human resource. A lot of the time I felt that they didn't quite understand that skills and experience can be transferred from one industry to another. A comment that confirmed this for me was when an agent said 'but this company makes prams and your experience is in the aircraft industry'.
Making a pram is a feat of engineering. The physics are the same and, at the end of the day, nuts and bolts are nuts and bolts no matter what you are producing. Quality standards are quality standards no matter what you are producing, technical understanding is technical understanding no matter what you produce.
In the UK, and Europe, there is most definitely a greater understanding and appreciation of peoples skills and competencies, without a shadow of a doubt, regardless of age. I put my employment search experiences in Australia down to the shear naivety of those inexperienced agents and employers and the isolation from what is actually going on in the rest of the world. It was backward. It was actually very strange, almost like some of those people had been subject to a Lobotomy. Or maybe I was just unlucky with the agents and/or the employers interviewers.
I have had to return to the UK simply to work. I love Australia and the Aussie people, and I would love to have settled there, but dealing with potential employers and agents there was like talking to people from a different planet. It was like banging my head against a brick wall, repeatedly.
Ageism comes to mind and, unfortunately, Australia is way way way behind the rest of the western world.'
Kind Regards,
Moonbeast
You get all this hype about how great Aussie is and all of the job opportunities and when you go there it's like talking to a load of hill billies from fifty or sixty years ago.
I am a time served Engineering Fitter by trade, am well qualified, have business qualifications and experience.......I'm up to my ears with skills and experience!!
They know how to dig holes in Oz but.......here's my email.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I am a 51 year old fella from the UK and I have an Australian Permanent Resident Visa that entitles me to live and work in Australia. I was granted the visa in April 2003, when I was 42, based on a point scoring system that takes into account skills and qualifications etc.
Since then I have visited Australia three times for extended periods: in 2003, 2007, and 2012. I have to say that I found it very difficult to secure any employment in a sector related to my skills and any other sector. I have work experience, life experience, knowledge, qualifications etc coming out of my ears (see attached CV). I look a lot younger than I am, I am in excellent health, and socially I am a success, most of the time, with many friends and a pleasant disposition (so I am told).
I tell you about my formal qualifications and my personal attributes because I can not understand that given the demand for skills in Australia I have not been snapped up by anybody. I have had interviews, not as many as I should have, and I have experienced some of the strangest comments from potential employers that I have ever heard, such as: 'I think you are overqualified', 'I don't think you will like this job because of your experience', 'I'm not certain you will be able to deal with the dust and heat because you're from England', 'I think this job will bore you because you have made aeroplanes' etc etc.
My belief now is that too many of the agents in Australia are simply do not know what they have sitting in front of them. They are not experienced or competent enough themselves to grasp the potential in well qualified, experienced human resource. A lot of the time I felt that they didn't quite understand that skills and experience can be transferred from one industry to another. A comment that confirmed this for me was when an agent said 'but this company makes prams and your experience is in the aircraft industry'.
Making a pram is a feat of engineering. The physics are the same and, at the end of the day, nuts and bolts are nuts and bolts no matter what you are producing. Quality standards are quality standards no matter what you are producing, technical understanding is technical understanding no matter what you produce.
In the UK, and Europe, there is most definitely a greater understanding and appreciation of peoples skills and competencies, without a shadow of a doubt, regardless of age. I put my employment search experiences in Australia down to the shear naivety of those inexperienced agents and employers and the isolation from what is actually going on in the rest of the world. It was backward. It was actually very strange, almost like some of those people had been subject to a Lobotomy. Or maybe I was just unlucky with the agents and/or the employers interviewers.
I have had to return to the UK simply to work. I love Australia and the Aussie people, and I would love to have settled there, but dealing with potential employers and agents there was like talking to people from a different planet. It was like banging my head against a brick wall, repeatedly.
Ageism comes to mind and, unfortunately, Australia is way way way behind the rest of the western world.'
Kind Regards,
Moonbeast
Jan 12th 2013, 9:21 pm
#2
Still alive
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,994
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Maybe it's you. Change your attitude a bit from "look how wonderful I am" to "I'm new to the country so don't mind taking a step down the ladder" and see how different things are.
Jan 12th 2013, 11:02 pm
#3
Account Closed
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,374
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
mmmmmm agism is rife here and i have experienced it myself , especially when i started work, however it has settled down a bit now that people know me, but it is definitely still there.
However, if i were to compose an email such as yours i would try to make it seem a little less 'agressive' as i dont think you have done your case any favours. I would be a bit more humble. I know that sucks, but you've gotta play the game to get your goal or point across. I can assure you BE is excellent training for that!!
As Dorothy says i would have expressed that i was willing to step down the ladder (as I did and am still down the ladder
). I think people here are a bit suspicious of immigrants who say they can do this and that , they want them to prove it on the job.
However, if i were to compose an email such as yours i would try to make it seem a little less 'agressive' as i dont think you have done your case any favours. I would be a bit more humble. I know that sucks, but you've gotta play the game to get your goal or point across. I can assure you BE is excellent training for that!!
As Dorothy says i would have expressed that i was willing to step down the ladder (as I did and am still down the ladder
). I think people here are a bit suspicious of immigrants who say they can do this and that , they want them to prove it on the job.
Jan 12th 2013, 11:09 pm
#4
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 15,526
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Consider the possibility that it may not be ageism... It could be the old cultural misunderstaning that the UK worker is definitely the best in the world and I'm going to prove it to everyone around me. Any Aussie recruiter will look for signs of that seeimingly unique UK trait very very closely. So he doesn't place someone in the workforce that will cause friction.
Your last sentence is a good indicator of that likelyhood. Although I'm damn sure I'd be as annoyed as you... so I'm not 100 pct that I wouldnt make a statement like that in your situation. .
Strangest thing about this topic, is I was debating with some younger blokes on here and they were stating how important it is to move very quickly from employer to employer to gain experience, higher wages, and local knowledge. Whereas not only may you have moved around too much in Aus you may well be projecting your qualifications too much.
You sound like your at the top end of your profession so how do you reckon second generation Turkish Rifat IIgaz and his culturaly diverse ethnic mates who have happily been building prams for 10 years at the company would feel when suddenly confronted with very confident and full of himself super plane building engineer from Manchester ?
Could be a lot more going on here than you think....
When in Melbourne or Sydney etc etc etc....
Good luck and maybe have a rethink..... Particuarly about your potential work mates.
Your last sentence is a good indicator of that likelyhood. Although I'm damn sure I'd be as annoyed as you... so I'm not 100 pct that I wouldnt make a statement like that in your situation. .
Strangest thing about this topic, is I was debating with some younger blokes on here and they were stating how important it is to move very quickly from employer to employer to gain experience, higher wages, and local knowledge. Whereas not only may you have moved around too much in Aus you may well be projecting your qualifications too much.
You sound like your at the top end of your profession so how do you reckon second generation Turkish Rifat IIgaz and his culturaly diverse ethnic mates who have happily been building prams for 10 years at the company would feel when suddenly confronted with very confident and full of himself super plane building engineer from Manchester ?
Could be a lot more going on here than you think....
When in Melbourne or Sydney etc etc etc....
Good luck and maybe have a rethink..... Particuarly about your potential work mates.
Last edited by ozzieeagle; Jan 12th 2013 at 11:21 pm.
Jan 12th 2013, 11:42 pm
#5
Moonbeast
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 144
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
I have applied for courier/driving jobs today because, in truth, I don't want to be an engineer anymore. I just want to do a normal job without the stress involved, something I remember doing a couple or so decades ago and being happy about doing.
I've often dreamed of being a postman actually. I am a happy go lucky guy so, despite my personal achievement, maybe I have been in the wrong profession for too long. My dad was a milkman around Moss Side, Fallowfield and Hulme and I used to help him on the weekends as a kid: he knew everyone and was always whistling and joking around with people, having a laugh whilst he worked and making money. He is 80 now and still happy in life.
You are right: get off my merry-go-round and step down the ladder.
Cheers
Jan 12th 2013, 11:48 pm
#6
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 14,284
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
I think that ageism exsits and it gets harder to get roles as you get older. I think that is true anywhere, I don't think it is an Australia thing.
At the same time, you were 42 when you got your visa, I really don't think that it starts at that age. In fact if you are senior in your profession and looking at senior roles, it is expected that the applicant would be a little older surely..
At the same time, you were 42 when you got your visa, I really don't think that it starts at that age. In fact if you are senior in your profession and looking at senior roles, it is expected that the applicant would be a little older surely..
Jan 12th 2013, 11:52 pm
#7
Moonbeast
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 144
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
mmmmmm agism is rife here and i have experienced it myself , especially when i started work, however it has settled down a bit now that people know me, but it is definitely still there.
However, if i were to compose an email such as yours i would try to make it seem a little less 'agressive' as i dont think you have done your case any favours. I would be a bit more humble. I know that sucks, but you've gotta play the game to get your goal or point across. I can assure you BE is excellent training for that!!
As Dorothy says i would have expressed that i was willing to step down the ladder (as I did and am still down the ladder). I think people here are a bit suspicious of immigrants who say they can do this and that , they want them to prove it on the job.
However, if i were to compose an email such as yours i would try to make it seem a little less 'agressive' as i dont think you have done your case any favours. I would be a bit more humble. I know that sucks, but you've gotta play the game to get your goal or point across. I can assure you BE is excellent training for that!!
As Dorothy says i would have expressed that i was willing to step down the ladder (as I did and am still down the ladder
). I think people here are a bit suspicious of immigrants who say they can do this and that , they want them to prove it on the job.Thanks for your reply. I have sent a reply to Dorothy and I think you are both right. I just need to get a proper job and escape the constant demands to perform and the relentless expectation to contribute to the improved experience of flight through innovation.
I wouldn't mind, but who am I making that contribution to? Not me, I just want to make a living and be. Why do I need to be in constant meetings, advising on non conformances, writing reports. I love trees, birds, all animals, the sky, Bob Marley, Beatles, John Lennon, all music, sand, Van Gough, art, Man United etc etc.
Maybe I'm having a breakdown
Jan 13th 2013, 12:13 am
#8
Moonbeast
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 144
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Consider the possibility that it may not be ageism... It could be the old cultural misunderstaning that the UK worker is definitely the best in the world and I'm going to prove it to everyone around me. Any Aussie recruiter will look for signs of that seeimingly unique UK trait very very closely. So he doesn't place someone in the workforce that will cause friction.
Your last sentence is a good indicator of that likelyhood. Although I'm damn sure I'd be as annoyed as you... so I'm not 100 pct that I wouldnt make a statement like that in your situation. .
Strangest thing about this topic, is I was debating with some younger blokes on here and they were stating how important it is to move very quickly from employer to employer to gain experience, higher wages, and local knowledge. Whereas not only may you have moved around too much in Aus you may well be projecting your qualifications too much.
You sound like your at the top end of your profession so how do you reckon second generation Turkish Rifat IIgaz and his culturaly diverse ethnic mates who have happily been building prams for 10 years at the company would feel when suddenly confronted with very confident and full of himself super plane building engineer from Manchester ?
Could be a lot more going on here than you think....
When in Melbourne or Sydney etc etc etc....
Good luck and maybe have a rethink..... Particuarly about your potential work mates.
Your last sentence is a good indicator of that likelyhood. Although I'm damn sure I'd be as annoyed as you... so I'm not 100 pct that I wouldnt make a statement like that in your situation. .
Strangest thing about this topic, is I was debating with some younger blokes on here and they were stating how important it is to move very quickly from employer to employer to gain experience, higher wages, and local knowledge. Whereas not only may you have moved around too much in Aus you may well be projecting your qualifications too much.
You sound like your at the top end of your profession so how do you reckon second generation Turkish Rifat IIgaz and his culturaly diverse ethnic mates who have happily been building prams for 10 years at the company would feel when suddenly confronted with very confident and full of himself super plane building engineer from Manchester ?
Could be a lot more going on here than you think....
When in Melbourne or Sydney etc etc etc....
Good luck and maybe have a rethink..... Particuarly about your potential work mates.
I think I get what you are on about. I am actually a very down to earth fella, but the intensity involved in my work and having to negotiate/argue/get my way/put my point across/defend myself from aggressive managers/write controversial reports and all the other bullshit that comes with being involved in a global concern, has probably moved my eye off the Aussie ball.
Maybe my perception of the attitude I have encountered in Aussie isn't down to those people: maybe it is because I expect such high standards, immediate responses, an impossible understanding of my day to day tasks, the level at which I have to operate, my pursuit for perfection, my desire for people NOT to die in an aircraft crash.
I think I know what you mean now. I have been running around Oz at UK speed, stress levels and expectation.
I only want a simple job. You are right.
Thanks Eagle
Jan 13th 2013, 12:28 am
#9
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 708
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
A "hillbilly" writes......
I recently retired ( by choice ) at age 67 and could walk into a similar position tomorrow if I so wished. Most of my work in Australia was in remote areas, with all the heat and dust you can swallow and the companies I worked for were eager to retain their 'older guys with all the accrued knowledge and experience they had gained.
If you genuinly feel that Australia is "Agist" then what on Earth inspired you to put your age on your resume in the first place ? And how do you feel that your dashing good looks and your large circle of friends aid your employment prospects ?
I'm sorry mate but if the "attitude" in your email to the 'agency' was in any way reflected in either your resume or cover letter, then their passage across my desk would be both short and sweet.
Taylor your resume to fit the position applied for, don't be lazy and use a file resume for all positions applied for. Use the cover letter to explain why it is that an 'engineer' trained to the highest European standards and used to building state of the art aircraft should be seeking a job as line fitter on the night shift of a pram factory.
The obvious discrepancy between your extensive qualifications, experience and ability and the relatively low skill levels demanded of the position applied for, are bound to raise more than a few flags with any recruitment agency or the H.R Dept of their hiring partner.
Change your attitude, change your resume to suit the position applied for and use the cover letter to explain what you can bring to this position and why the company should employ someone who is so "over qualified" for the position.
Good luck.
I recently retired ( by choice ) at age 67 and could walk into a similar position tomorrow if I so wished. Most of my work in Australia was in remote areas, with all the heat and dust you can swallow and the companies I worked for were eager to retain their 'older guys with all the accrued knowledge and experience they had gained.
If you genuinly feel that Australia is "Agist" then what on Earth inspired you to put your age on your resume in the first place ? And how do you feel that your dashing good looks and your large circle of friends aid your employment prospects ?
I'm sorry mate but if the "attitude" in your email to the 'agency' was in any way reflected in either your resume or cover letter, then their passage across my desk would be both short and sweet.
Taylor your resume to fit the position applied for, don't be lazy and use a file resume for all positions applied for. Use the cover letter to explain why it is that an 'engineer' trained to the highest European standards and used to building state of the art aircraft should be seeking a job as line fitter on the night shift of a pram factory.
The obvious discrepancy between your extensive qualifications, experience and ability and the relatively low skill levels demanded of the position applied for, are bound to raise more than a few flags with any recruitment agency or the H.R Dept of their hiring partner.
Change your attitude, change your resume to suit the position applied for and use the cover letter to explain what you can bring to this position and why the company should employ someone who is so "over qualified" for the position.
Good luck.
I responded to an email I received from some Aussie Immigrant Workers Organisation. Here is my reply to them, below. What a joke the Aussie recruitment system is.
You get all this hype about how great Aussie is and all of the job opportunities and when you go there it's like talking to a load of hill billies from fifty or sixty years ago.
I am a time served Engineering Fitter by trade, am well qualified, have business qualifications and experience.......I'm up to my ears with skills and experience!!
They know how to dig holes in Oz but.......here's my email.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I am a 51 year old fella from the UK and I have an Australian Permanent Resident Visa that entitles me to live and work in Australia. I was granted the visa in April 2003, when I was 42, based on a point scoring system that takes into account skills and qualifications etc.
Since then I have visited Australia three times for extended periods: in 2003, 2007, and 2012. I have to say that I found it very difficult to secure any employment in a sector related to my skills and any other sector. I have work experience, life experience, knowledge, qualifications etc coming out of my ears (see attached CV). I look a lot younger than I am, I am in excellent health, and socially I am a success, most of the time, with many friends and a pleasant disposition (so I am told).
I tell you about my formal qualifications and my personal attributes because I can not understand that given the demand for skills in Australia I have not been snapped up by anybody. I have had interviews, not as many as I should have, and I have experienced some of the strangest comments from potential employers that I have ever heard, such as: 'I think you are overqualified', 'I don't think you will like this job because of your experience', 'I'm not certain you will be able to deal with the dust and heat because you're from England', 'I think this job will bore you because you have made aeroplanes' etc etc.
My belief now is that too many of the agents in Australia are simply do not know what they have sitting in front of them. They are not experienced or competent enough themselves to grasp the potential in well qualified, experienced human resource. A lot of the time I felt that they didn't quite understand that skills and experience can be transferred from one industry to another. A comment that confirmed this for me was when an agent said 'but this company makes prams and your experience is in the aircraft industry'.
Making a pram is a feat of engineering. The physics are the same and, at the end of the day, nuts and bolts are nuts and bolts no matter what you are producing. Quality standards are quality standards no matter what you are producing, technical understanding is technical understanding no matter what you produce.
In the UK, and Europe, there is most definitely a greater understanding and appreciation of peoples skills and competencies, without a shadow of a doubt, regardless of age. I put my employment search experiences in Australia down to the shear naivety of those inexperienced agents and employers and the isolation from what is actually going on in the rest of the world. It was backward. It was actually very strange, almost like some of those people had been subject to a Lobotomy. Or maybe I was just unlucky with the agents and/or the employers interviewers.
I have had to return to the UK simply to work. I love Australia and the Aussie people, and I would love to have settled there, but dealing with potential employers and agents there was like talking to people from a different planet. It was like banging my head against a brick wall, repeatedly.
Ageism comes to mind and, unfortunately, Australia is way way way behind the rest of the western world.'
Kind Regards,
Moonbeast
You get all this hype about how great Aussie is and all of the job opportunities and when you go there it's like talking to a load of hill billies from fifty or sixty years ago.
I am a time served Engineering Fitter by trade, am well qualified, have business qualifications and experience.......I'm up to my ears with skills and experience!!
They know how to dig holes in Oz but.......here's my email.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I am a 51 year old fella from the UK and I have an Australian Permanent Resident Visa that entitles me to live and work in Australia. I was granted the visa in April 2003, when I was 42, based on a point scoring system that takes into account skills and qualifications etc.
Since then I have visited Australia three times for extended periods: in 2003, 2007, and 2012. I have to say that I found it very difficult to secure any employment in a sector related to my skills and any other sector. I have work experience, life experience, knowledge, qualifications etc coming out of my ears (see attached CV). I look a lot younger than I am, I am in excellent health, and socially I am a success, most of the time, with many friends and a pleasant disposition (so I am told).
I tell you about my formal qualifications and my personal attributes because I can not understand that given the demand for skills in Australia I have not been snapped up by anybody. I have had interviews, not as many as I should have, and I have experienced some of the strangest comments from potential employers that I have ever heard, such as: 'I think you are overqualified', 'I don't think you will like this job because of your experience', 'I'm not certain you will be able to deal with the dust and heat because you're from England', 'I think this job will bore you because you have made aeroplanes' etc etc.
My belief now is that too many of the agents in Australia are simply do not know what they have sitting in front of them. They are not experienced or competent enough themselves to grasp the potential in well qualified, experienced human resource. A lot of the time I felt that they didn't quite understand that skills and experience can be transferred from one industry to another. A comment that confirmed this for me was when an agent said 'but this company makes prams and your experience is in the aircraft industry'.
Making a pram is a feat of engineering. The physics are the same and, at the end of the day, nuts and bolts are nuts and bolts no matter what you are producing. Quality standards are quality standards no matter what you are producing, technical understanding is technical understanding no matter what you produce.
In the UK, and Europe, there is most definitely a greater understanding and appreciation of peoples skills and competencies, without a shadow of a doubt, regardless of age. I put my employment search experiences in Australia down to the shear naivety of those inexperienced agents and employers and the isolation from what is actually going on in the rest of the world. It was backward. It was actually very strange, almost like some of those people had been subject to a Lobotomy. Or maybe I was just unlucky with the agents and/or the employers interviewers.
I have had to return to the UK simply to work. I love Australia and the Aussie people, and I would love to have settled there, but dealing with potential employers and agents there was like talking to people from a different planet. It was like banging my head against a brick wall, repeatedly.
Ageism comes to mind and, unfortunately, Australia is way way way behind the rest of the western world.'
Kind Regards,
Moonbeast
Last edited by Hino; Jan 13th 2013 at 2:17 am.
Jan 13th 2013, 12:34 am
#10
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Somewhere South... Not Telling YOU
Posts: 10,959
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Thanks for taking the time to reply to me.
I think I get what you are on about. I am actually a very down to earth fella, but the intensity involved in my work and having to negotiate/argue/get my way/put my point across/defend myself from aggressive managers/write controversial reports and all the other bullshit that comes with being involved in a global concern, has probably moved my eye off the Aussie ball.
Maybe my perception of the attitude I have encountered in Aussie isn't down to those people: maybe it is because I expect such high standards, immediate responses, an impossible understanding of my day to day tasks, the level at which I have to operate, my pursuit for perfection, my desire for people NOT to die in an aircraft crash.
I think I know what you mean now. I have been running around Oz at UK speed, stress levels and expectation.
I only want a simple job. You are right.
Thanks Eagle
I think I get what you are on about. I am actually a very down to earth fella, but the intensity involved in my work and having to negotiate/argue/get my way/put my point across/defend myself from aggressive managers/write controversial reports and all the other bullshit that comes with being involved in a global concern, has probably moved my eye off the Aussie ball.
Maybe my perception of the attitude I have encountered in Aussie isn't down to those people: maybe it is because I expect such high standards, immediate responses, an impossible understanding of my day to day tasks, the level at which I have to operate, my pursuit for perfection, my desire for people NOT to die in an aircraft crash.
I think I know what you mean now. I have been running around Oz at UK speed, stress levels and expectation.
I only want a simple job. You are right.
Thanks Eagle
I have had exactly the same problem.... Running round oz at uk speed, stress levels and expectations.... But in nursing... In my case....
Don't known that I've made it to the other side yet but Am working on it....
Jan 13th 2013, 3:47 am
#11
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Perth
Posts: 6,775
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Yes, good point.
I have applied for courier/driving jobs today because, in truth, I don't want to be an engineer anymore. I just want to do a normal job without the stress involved, something I remember doing a couple or so decades ago and being happy about doing.
I've often dreamed of being a postman actually. I am a happy go lucky guy so, despite my personal achievement, maybe I have been in the wrong profession for too long. My dad was a milkman around Moss Side, Fallowfield and Hulme and I used to help him on the weekends as a kid: he knew everyone and was always whistling and joking around with people, having a laugh whilst he worked and making money. He is 80 now and still happy in life.
You are right: get off my merry-go-round and step down the ladder.
Cheers
I have applied for courier/driving jobs today because, in truth, I don't want to be an engineer anymore. I just want to do a normal job without the stress involved, something I remember doing a couple or so decades ago and being happy about doing.
I've often dreamed of being a postman actually. I am a happy go lucky guy so, despite my personal achievement, maybe I have been in the wrong profession for too long. My dad was a milkman around Moss Side, Fallowfield and Hulme and I used to help him on the weekends as a kid: he knew everyone and was always whistling and joking around with people, having a laugh whilst he worked and making money. He is 80 now and still happy in life.
You are right: get off my merry-go-round and step down the ladder.
Cheers
Jan 13th 2013, 3:57 am
#12
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Perth
Posts: 6,775
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for your reply. I have sent a reply to Dorothy and I think you are both right. I just need to get a proper job and escape the constant demands to perform and the relentless expectation to contribute to the improved experience of flight through innovation.
I wouldn't mind, but who am I making that contribution to? Not me, I just want to make a living and be. Why do I need to be in constant meetings, advising on non conformances, writing reports. I love trees, birds, all animals, the sky, Bob Marley, Beatles, John Lennon, all music, sand, Van Gough, art, Man United etc etc.
Maybe I'm having a breakdown
Thanks for your reply. I have sent a reply to Dorothy and I think you are both right. I just need to get a proper job and escape the constant demands to perform and the relentless expectation to contribute to the improved experience of flight through innovation.
I wouldn't mind, but who am I making that contribution to? Not me, I just want to make a living and be. Why do I need to be in constant meetings, advising on non conformances, writing reports. I love trees, birds, all animals, the sky, Bob Marley, Beatles, John Lennon, all music, sand, Van Gough, art, Man United etc etc.
Maybe I'm having a breakdown
Jan 13th 2013, 9:31 pm
#13
Social Grenade Thrower
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: South Coast, NSW
Posts: 3,625
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
lol...well....your response to the Organisation was quite blunt and aggressive but I think that is borne out of frustration rather than your usual demeanour. I am quite adept at blunt replies and statements (just ask some of the BE people here!!) and every now and then I have to just stop myself, get off my extremely high horse and mellow.
Australia and UK are different in so many ways and although its not exactly 'manyana' here it is not far off. The pressure of time in UK is not so strong here but I think that experience DOES count. As someone else said, tailor (note the correct spelling!) your CV to each job you apply to. Dumb it down or raise it up as applicable to each role but just be truthful and also realistic, put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter and appeal to them. Look at the key words in the vacancy notice, make sure your response notes those key words and amalgamate them into your CV.
Again, another poster mentioned the 'wary of superior brits' syndrome. There is nothing worse than 'This is crap, we don't do this thing in UK we do it better" etc etc. I know...I have said it and got the 'well you're not in UK now are you bud' response!
Show humility but at the same time be proud of your experience and your knowledge, don't take any job just to be here, take a job which will make you happy and meets both your needs and the company's. Use a 'look, can I be of any use' type approach rather than a 'I am just what you need, if you don't employ me your an idiot' one (not assuming you have done that BTW!).
Good luck!!
Australia and UK are different in so many ways and although its not exactly 'manyana' here it is not far off. The pressure of time in UK is not so strong here but I think that experience DOES count. As someone else said, tailor (note the correct spelling!) your CV to each job you apply to. Dumb it down or raise it up as applicable to each role but just be truthful and also realistic, put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter and appeal to them. Look at the key words in the vacancy notice, make sure your response notes those key words and amalgamate them into your CV.
Again, another poster mentioned the 'wary of superior brits' syndrome. There is nothing worse than 'This is crap, we don't do this thing in UK we do it better" etc etc. I know...I have said it and got the 'well you're not in UK now are you bud' response!
Show humility but at the same time be proud of your experience and your knowledge, don't take any job just to be here, take a job which will make you happy and meets both your needs and the company's. Use a 'look, can I be of any use' type approach rather than a 'I am just what you need, if you don't employ me your an idiot' one (not assuming you have done that BTW!).
Good luck!!
Jan 13th 2013, 9:45 pm
#14
Concierge
Joined: Jan 2013
Location: Western Australia
Posts: 21,139
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
You get all this hype about how great Aussie is and all of the job opportunities and when you go there it's like talking to a load of hill billies from fifty or sixty years ago.
We're not hillbillies. Everyone knows that hillbillies eat racoons, and there aren't any racoons over here. So there.
We're not hillbillies. Everyone knows that hillbillies eat racoons, and there aren't any racoons over here. So there.
Jan 13th 2013, 10:04 pm
#15
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 4,404
Re: AUSTRALIAN AGEISM!!
You get all this hype about how great Aussie is and all of the job opportunities and when you go there it's like talking to a load of hill billies from fifty or sixty years ago.
We're not hillbillies. Everyone knows that hillbillies eat racoons, and there aren't any racoons over here. So there.
We're not hillbillies. Everyone knows that hillbillies eat racoons, and there aren't any racoons over here. So there.