Three Legs

I'm reading over and over again about how people moving from GB are finding it difficult to secure work in Oz.

It would appear pretty obvious to me that the better qualified you are when making the move the better chance you have of securing work ie, those getting in through the Skilled Independant route may have more joy.

It's a tricky one is this.

Qualifications and a good education count for everything. Experience / personality / ability to adapt are secondary when a prospective employer is weighing up his staffing options (wrongly so in my humble).

I do feel for those struggling to obtain work and it may well happen to me when I eventually get out there.

I think a lot of what transpires is down to luck / fate.

Just an observation.

Three Legs

Pollyana

My observation - for what its worth - I had a respected stable job with a UK police force, a reasonable range of 'O' and 'A' levels, and a B.A degree. Thats maybe not an amazing range of qualifications, but its better than a lot of people........but the only job I could get for 2 months was sorting the mail.......... qualifications counted for nothing, and I think it was pure luck and a determination to apply for any job going until I got one.

Quinkana

Mate, if you have skills which are difficult to find locally and your price is right (the employer can see a quick buck in exploiting your labour) then you're in like Flynn. Any obstacles like unrecognised qualifications then you're out. If you are only worth marginally more than a local then the employer assesses how long you're gunna hang around being profitable. If you look like you won't last long enough to make a reasonable profit then you're out.

sophia

I think you could be right about it being down to luck/fate. My husband is a very well educated man and had a fantastic job in IT back in the UK; however it has taken him the best part of 2 years to secure a job in this area and that was down to sheer luck and him being in the right place at the right time.

The job he does (project manager) is fairly unique and so we would never dream of telling people that IT work is difficult to find over here (Perth), although in our experience it was extremely hard, we know one guy who found work in IT almost immediately and although he has a long slog into Perth everyday, seems to be doing very well for himself. I think it's all down to what skills you have and what skills are wanted over here. But the IT market in Perth is obviously very small so it can be hard to get a foot in the door...but once you have, you're sorted I reckon.

I would say though that qualifications and education are pretty important but the Aussies (again in our experience) just preferred a known quantity rather than your skill set. They will look at you if none of their mates fit the bill. My husband got his job in IT by firstly getting into a place as a casual worker...once his face was known the IT job just sort of followed.

I must stress that this was only our personal experience, but it is good to be prepared for a hard slog and for it to get very demoralising...then when it does turn out good...it's all the more sweeter!!

Good luck in your endeavours, may your luck be better than ours!!

love sophia xx

Pollyana

Sophia,
I think you are spot on - the Aussies prefer qualifications that they know - degrees from their own universities, etc. Beyind that, there is a large element of luck. And you have to be rpepared to start low down and slog your way up - even if you've already done that in the UK. I'm not saying this willbe everyones experience, but its certainly mine, and I've heard of many people in the same position. we are in a new workforce, and we have to prove that we can hold our own.
The job I am in now -I am being told that I am proving myself, so they are happy, and are willing to look at extra responsibility, training courses etc, but I'm also hearing that there was a definite air around the place of - "we do nothing, till she's proved herself, good though she is on paper for the job"

It IS demoralising to find yourself in a job lower than you are used to, having to seek approval for stuff you used to approve yourself, but - think how we would have felt, back in the UK, if someone waltzed in from another country and took a job we felt was ours. Thats the way I kept myself going, I'm in a new place, so I have to prove I can do it - just as I would expect of an Aussie back in the UK.

walaj

timing can also play a major role - A postition has just become available in the city where we intend to move to with the company he (mr W) works for in the UK. Thing is given the current situation and other issues, even if he was accepted for the position, it is best not to accept the position now or make the move. Doubt the position will still be there in a years time, but it won't stop our enquires at that time....

As sophia states getting to know people and them you, is also a big part of getting you foot in the door, that would have otherwise been slammed in your face.

sophia

hiya Pollyana
I remember reading your posts and seeing how demoralised you were, I didn't want to post anything about our experiences tho and bring you down further! Cos I know how hard it is, but also you don't want to come across as being too "negative" and risk receiving the "oh but you're not trying hard enough...you should be prepared to take anything" lecture...especially when we'd been trying for "anything" for almost 18 months!!

It was a very frustrating and demoralising time for my husband, especially as we knew that if he could just get a bloody interview he would get the job; unfortunately they didn't even consider him for interview...even for jobs he did 10 years ago in the UK.

He said to me a little while back (just after he landed this job) that he's only had 2 interviews in Australia, but he's got the job both times (first the casual one, then the IT one) so that improved his feelings of self-worth. It's just a case of persuading the Aussies to take a chance on you. Thank goodness they took a chance on him!!

Pollyana glad you've eventually got a job you want to do (even if you do have to work your way up the ladder!)

Here's to more success stories!

love sophia xx

Pollyana

Hi Sophia,
I think there really is something in that comment of your husband - he got the interviews, then got the jobs; I was the same, the one I have now with the Govt only took 4 interviews to get, and the other 3 posts went internally. It does do wonders for your self-esteem, but proves that you do have to sell yourself - paper qualifications aren't enough.

jjj

You are certainly right but its not just the Aussies that prefer a known quantity - we had exactly the same when we moved to the UK 11 years ago from South Africa. I took a few years of having "not ideal jobs" before we got more suitable ones.

ABCDiamond

It also comes down to how well the individual employers understand the education system/qualifications of the other country.

eg: If an employer in UK has to choose between someone with GCE A level or HSC grades. The likelyhood is that they will know what a GCE A level is.

and of course in Australia, the employer will understand the HSC grades (or whatever it is called in each relevant State), but not know the GCE levels.

tonyk38

I had absolutely no difficulty whatsoever finding casual work in Qld and Victoria. I'm usually a very direct person anyway, so I often went straight up to potential employers and sold myself on the spot, not always with success I might add, must I was more often than not successful.

Getting something more 'permanent' is a whole different kettle of fish as can see by the experience of others. If you're desperate for money however, then you may have to consider practically anything going. Though I guess in some areas this isn't so easy. Maybe I was lucky.....

JAJ

Considering the way the UK government keeps meddling with the post GCSE system, many British employers often don't fully understand the qualifications they're presented with.

One should also be careful about making UK generalisations - Scotland has its own qualification system separate from GCE/GCSE (and probably better).

At the same time, UK qualifications are probably better known and recognised in Australia that those of any other foreign country, New Zealand excepted.

Jeremy

Mercedes

I thiink your age also can have a bearing some employers are ageists.

But I found I had to sell myself and skills and what I was going to bring to the party. The nicest thing that happened to me was I was desperate for work and I applied for a job that was lower than my qualifications, but one Aussie boss called me in for an interview and gave me a bollocking for going for something less. He didn't hire me, LOL but it geve me the encouragement to go for something more.and within 2 weeks I was hired by another company and that was by cold calling. I had a few Aussie employers willing to open up a job for me because they liked my attitude. I even got a job in Sydney for one of the big Insurance Companies as one of their middle Managers against all Australian Graduates, I was actually less qualified, but I identified they had a problem and thats why they hired me and that was against over 100 Australians. Two Australian companies offered to sponsor me to stay in Australia, both which I cold called and both were prepared to train me where necessary. One was for training the government employees and the other was an International insurance company.I went over on a WHV for 12 months. I never left Australia, I did my visa from Australia and the company that sponsoered me got my paperwork in the day before I was supposed to leave. It is generally about Attitude and you have to sell yourself as a product and how are you going to benefit their company and showing them what you did to enhance the productivity of a UK company rather than a load of paper qualifications will be listened to than a load of paper qualifications you took at school or Uni., especially if you are over 28 plus.

I personally have found targeting your areas of experitise and companys you would like to work for a lot easier than going through employment ads in the paper, and often a higher success rate and less demoralising. There are for the business people loads of business networking in most cities and states, its a good idea to go along and network you never know who you meet and often if they like you will sometimes point you in the right direction. That has been my experience so I hope it helps someone and helps give them the right encouragement. Its not easy always, but you have to keep knocking on those doors and think positive. Best of luck to all.