northernbird

You will have a similar problem when returning home. Prior to leaving for Canada I had spent 10 years in central London at a global telecoms company as a board level PA. I didn't work in Canada as my visa didn't allow me too. 4 years away from the UK and nobody would touch me with a barge pole. 18 months of applications and I finally got a job as a PA to a Trust Board member at my local hospital at a wopping salary of 16k a year.

BadgeIsBack

I know a housewife on this site who works at Coles.

Not only is it surprisingly 'well paid' for what she does the loading she gets for the occasional weekend or weeknight actually means that as she does an hour or 2 here or there, she says 'well that's the phone bill paid, that's the gas bill paid'.

She seems very content.

Sleeping Beauty

it's quite a lenghty process to be employed by coles. you have to do a 40 minute assessment online during some part of the process. this then gives you a feedback report, which describes your performance on the cognitive ability test, which you print off and keep. i am currently waiting to hear back off Coles, and i am now officially in their 'talent pool' the process so far has taken about 2 months....................so, it is not an easy task to get employed by coles it seems

gigi100

Steve

I agree that $15 an hour is fine but not when its spread over the year and you are not paid for school hols (no work there obviously)or being genuinely poorly and off work and also if the hours were only 27 and not 37. Work that out and its a pittance. Yes i know you could get another job in the hols or just to make up the hours but then you would get taxed very highly on a second job and in reality if you can only find a job with these crazy hours they offer, how the hell are you supposed to get another job to sqeeze in to fit the first jobs hours?? I finally got a job for 2 days but can i hella find a second one to fit in with the other 3 days. I dont get paid for hols and i have to pay childcare as well. My income doesnt cover my childcare and i am out of pocket so dont anyone dare tell me i am picky or choosy i am however pissed off because i want to work and the employers are so greedy that they only employ casuals so they dont have to pay all the benefits. I can understand small businesses doing it but large ones like Woolies and Coles make me sick!!!
I know i am not good at expressing myself but i hope you get the gist of my post. Oh and btw 18 years ago when i worked here i do not remember ever having a casual job, I went to college and got jobs to fit in with that AND they were permanent. So whats changed?:curse:

Georgina

Amazulu

Exactly. A lot of people are happy with casual work as it fits in with their lifestyles. It would be good if you were a student or housewife looking for a bit of extra cash. Certain people on this site would have you think that casual is a form of slavery but the reality is very different.

flower33

I'm a house wife and in the uk i worked, i came here thinking i could get a part-time waitress job, i did'nt want a big career again. As it turned out i needed oz experience and qualifications! I did'nt stand a chance in hell of getting a waitresss job, so i tried and tried to get a admin job. I have over 10 years experience, but alas this counts for nothing as i have no oz experience.

So after my big search i nearly gave up, but then found a house keeping job in a local resort complex. I'm slow at it at the moment and i wish i could go faster as my hourly rate would be better.

I think that there are a lot of men and women that just want to find a job, any job! My only advice is to keep sane and keep trying. I would love to work at coles or myers but i am stuck with making beds and cleaning bathrooms.
And to top it off i'm a contractor, so no hols pay no benefits, saying that i'm wrong some nice guests left me a 6 pack of beer yesterday, so some perks if only small ones.

Tracey O

Hi Jo

Thanks. What is MYOB - In Pommy land it means Mind Your Own Business

Cheers
Tracey

pogsy

Exactly that, it's an accounting package, I do believe that you can get it in the UK also.

ozzieeagle

I noticed this thread last time I was on, and was suprised to find it buried so far down the list, such is it's importance of how to get on in Aussie.


How can people expect to land here, and live a dream, without being able to work. Within this thread is a condensed version of the majority of work seekers expirences, complete with Aussie reaction, courtesy of the Gruff response of The Bloke. I really disliked the way The bloke put his argument forward, but have to concur his points are 100 pct correct. He is probably Man Managment, I'm a shop steward.

One of the reasons that retail employers will insist on new Casuals working Saturdays, is to reward existing employees, as almost a loyalty bonus, So the new Casuals bear the brunt of the most unsocial hours. It's the Retail way of letting Casuals work their way up the ladder.

Almost all new jobs are now Casual, for the most part they are crap jobs, however they dont pay as poorly as one would expect, with supermarket employees, easily able to earn circa 24 bucks an hour for Sunday and public holiday work.

At Aussie post, we were told all new employees, would be taken on as Casuals, The turnover of these new employees is phenominal, at circa 60-70 pct a year as they have no protection, and are given the worst hours. When you consider they work aside people doing the exact same job as permanent employees, With the permanent employees getting Sick pay, holiday pay, and higher super, its like rubbing salt into a gaping wound. When you consider you can have a Casual, who may well have been phoned up to come in at 2am and it's now 1 hour later at 3am, and the Casual is getting 21 bucks per hour on easter sunday, whilst the fulltimer is getting 45 bucks per hour because he is on the public holiday rate @ 2.5 times the basic rate, then it's easy to see how sickening it would be for those casual employees.

However all is not lost, in the last month, at our facility, we have been so short staffed, they Management has done the unbeleivable, they took two casuals on and made them full time permanents, this is against the holy grail of the new work place reforms. Apparently it's happening right around Aussie at present. What this means is, If one is prepared to run the gauntlet, of crap treatment x crap money x the worst work, then you may well get rewarded. I dont know why The Bloke Dissed Apost sorters, as most "full timers" at our facility earn well over 55,000 grand per year, with a couple that earn over 60,000, (they do 8 hours overtime per fortnight, and overtime is unlimted at present) plus circa 12,000 - 15,000 Aud per annum, depending on length of service, in super, thats how our two new permanents are probably going to get rewarded. It's also why we have plenty of tradespeople and other professions working in post.


I'm banging on a bit here, my whole point in posting, is to realise the dream, one has to go and find the money to fund it. The inner cities is generally where the money is. Base jobs at crap unsocial hours is where most jobs are, Its all part of the Assimulation system.

I think thats enough for now, I daren't say how some potential pommy employees are getting entrapped and laughed at by Aussie employers and interviewers, by letting them run off at the mouth, at how they are going to change their new workplace, with their superior experience in what is obviously an inferior country ... Beleive me it happens, it's expected and it causes Aussies a great deal of mirth.



There you go, same as what the bloke said, only in more detail




BTW, if your in the right place, it is easy to get a job here, if your willing to work the crap hours.

Wendy

It's really easy to learn. I'm doing a homestudy course just now in bookkeeping and MYOB and I'm finding it really easy to do.

I've done accounts most of my working life, but thought that a bit of Australian study may help when (IF ) I look for a job.

Pollyana

I am not going to comment on any post or opinion of The Bloke, but as he brought me into this by mentioning my job at Aus Post, I feel I should put the record straight
I did work as a Christmas mail sorter - it was a different job from any I had done before, it wasn't the kind of job I was after - I was looking for fulltime, admin-type, office based, but I took the Aus Post job cos it was offered to me and I needed work. And it was hard work, my health was awful and the heat in the Northgate sorting depot made it worse, but I stuck it. I learnt a lot about Aussie workplaces, met some fab people, learnt some different work practices, and found my own card to The Bloke stuck down the back of a machine that broke down on Christmas Eve - posted in the UK October 16th when I left my flat in Brighton!! They talked about perm work, but didn't like my visa (temporary spiouse) and didn't like my typing speed (not fast enough per minute). I met some great people who loved working for Post and had been there donkeys years, and I gained a lot of respect for people who work at jobs running around and carrying heavy mail sacks in 38 degree + heat.

I don't regret a minute of it although it was hard work of a type I wasn't used to - it gave me an Aussie job on my resume, it showed I was willing to try something different, and it gave me a start in Australia. If you are desperate enough for a job, wherever you are, there is usually something - it may not be the hours/pay/job sector that you want, and you may move on quickly - as I did - in search of something more to your liking - but there is usually something out there that you can do.
I have begged, grovelled, down-graded myself, and am still selling myself short at interviews, because thats what is working for me, and that is what is keeping me employed.

BUT - and yes its a big but, as with everything, everyone's experience is different, and in many cases, with those of you that can't get jobs, a lot of us who are employed find ourselves thinking "there but for the grace of god....."

ozzieeagle

Thats true Polly, I had an awful time, when I left the Gas and Fuel down here in Vic, I took the redundancy package, after 16 years and felt comfortable for a time, then I reverted back to what I knew best, which was typing, courtesy of 8 or so years as a telex op in the UK. So I did casual Data Entry, as the only bloke at age 40+, on piece rates amongst a whole heap of filipino females, and other new migrants. Took 6 months before my established contacts got me a job, luckily for me at Apost, via word of mouth.

If I were unemployed today, I would either do a bar course, or a PCA course for orderly work in hopefully a Psych hospital.

gigi100

Hi Ozzieeagle
Your post was very nice and informative btw. But whats a bar and PCA course please? Also my hubby wanted to work at APost but was informed he needed to have a motorbike licence. Do you know how or who to contact if you want a job in the sorting office? Or do they expect you to have a licence just in case they want to send you out and about?

Thank you in advance
Georgina

Pollyana

I think he means the course you have to do before you can do bar-work in a pub etc here; yep, thats right, no casual bar work until you've been on the course.

To be a postman you need a bike licence as they all ride bikes. You wouldn't need one for sorting office work, hopefully Ozzieeagle can tell you more. Which State are you moving to?

gigi100

Hi Pollyanna

We are already living in Melbourne and have been here for 7 months. My hubby has got a permanent full time job now but believe you me it was touch and go for a while as all the jobs he had before were casual and we thought we were never going to be able to get a mortgage. He would still like to do post office work though.

Cant believe you need to do a course just to do bar work! Next they will be telling us we have to do a course just to work at Woolies! Still dont know what a PCA course is though...Ozzieeagle can you enlighten?
Georgina