Help, husband is giving up!!
 

We arrived to Perth just over a month ago and my husband is struggling to find a job. He sent endless of applications through SEEK and the government jobsearch website and nobody is getting back to him. That is the problem really that he gets no reply at all from anyone, they don't even bother to say no to him. He even tried volunteer jobs to get to know people and get some experience and even they don't reply! He worked for Royal Mail in the UK and already tried AusPost but they wouldn't employ him either because he hasn't got motorcycle licence and they have appearently no other vacancies in other departments. He is now really fed up and wants to go home and I find it difficult to try to encourage him to give it longer and keep trying.
And before anybody says that what did we expect especially in these times of recession, we are aware of all that, but what worries me is that nobody replying any of his e-mails, not even the volounteer organisations. Is this the norm? Would he be better off if he called people instead of e-mailing them? Has anybody else been through similar experiences and felt that just hitting a brick wall?
He is really hard working and a lovely person and seems to me nobody wants to give him a chance. And it really upsets me seeing him like this, and I really want to avoid going back to England.
Can anybody give me some advice please as to what is the best way to approach employers and secure some kind of employment.

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

if you have permanent residency then state this on his CV, I found that all too many employers assumed that I didn't and that I would be gone in no time.
I ended up having to take a really low paid job that gave me the ability to prove my worth and get paid more later. It meant that we were skint for the first 18 months, but fortunately the wife got a pretty well paid job very quickly (but then she is an Aussie)

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

I got my jobs through recruitment agencies, within days of registering with them they had interviews lined up for me. Pop to the CBD with a bunch of resumes and hit every agency in sight, it was one of the first things I did, better an army of people looking for work for you then going it alone aye?

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Ill be honest with you, emailing resumes is only a tiny part of the job hunting process.

First of all I would adapt his resume to each and every single job area that he feels he could work in.

If he is prepared to work in a shop then he needs to gear it up to working in a shop.

If he wants to work in an office, he has to gear it up so it fits in with office criteria.

When we moved here, my husband took his resumes and not only did he email them but he went in to restaurants as well being proactive in his approach.

Phoning, emailing, in person - do what you have to, work where you have to but never let an employer think you are desperate for a job even if you are, if you really want a job, adapt your resume for the job that you are applying and put effort in to it.

You are more employable when you have a job so even if your husband gets a job he wouldnt have otherwise picked, he will be able to use that as a stepping stone to get to where he wants to be.

It is hard and sometimes looking for a job can be a full time job in itself but tell him to get up early, get smart, get his resume/certificates/references together and make a full week of going round agencies in person, and employers that may have opportunities.

Good luck, stick with it if you can.

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Recruitment agencys, or just Going into offices, buildings and dropping in the cv (i did this yesterday at 2 malls as just looking for a little part time job in my daughters kindy hours, i just went into all the shops and left my cv) one of the managers called me within minutes!

Local papers, special job papers, online job agencys.

And definately add the permanent residency bit!
I have also applied for hundreds of jobs online and so far only received 2 letters which were No's..lol

My partner took 4 weeks to get a job and had applied for hundreds and he didnt get replies either!!

Just keep trying and be positive, good luck

Kelly

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

For what its worth I have found Australia absolutly crap at answering emails. Even important messages to people who have asked me to email(not jobs).

GEMS

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Like others have said: Don't email resumes. Go and register with agencies. Also phoning companies, asking for HR/personnel officer. And tailor resume for each job: research the company on the internet, then start of resume with a paragraph saying why you want to join the company, what he can bring to the job etc

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

That reminds me... I must get around to replying to some of my email...

Very few employers do the NO replies these days. It may be due to the vast number of applications they receive by email, I don't really know.

But when an employer gets a well written / thought out application, where a decent amount of amount was shown to be used, they 'may' look at it differently.

In what I do, I tend to put preference on anything received by old fashioned mail, but things by email tend to get overlooked very quickly. However, I do tend to reply by email whenever I can, even though I prefer to 'receive' letters ! :huh:

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Its the norm for people not to get back to people. At least now with email no postage needs to be wasted on sending resumes. Calling around may help. Put an ad in the supermarket or anywhere where there is a free place for advertising. These often work. I saw a guy standing on the freeway one day asking for work.

Unfortunately WA is on a bit of a downer at the moment. Would you consider moving to another State if he could secure a job might be worth having a look around. Even take a flight over to the east coast for a bit of a holiday and have a look around before going back.

Its demoralising being out of work and I completely understand why your husband would want to go back.

Good luck hope something turns up for him.

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Why not get him to check with Auspost, if he was to get a licence, would he be able to go out and about straight away once he had passed his test or if there is a "gain more experience time period" for fledgling riders ??

Could be an incentive for him to stick at it maybe ... good luck and hope something comes up soon for him, I know how disheartening it can be.

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Email and follow up with a phonecall - they get hundreds of applications. Also register with the agencies, loads of temp work which more often than not can turn into full-time work if you prove yourself.

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Just out of interest, I wonder how much postie in WA pays? I could always dust off my motorbike licence. Quite fancy getting my hands on one of those bad boy scooters...

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

To the OP,

I know what your husband is going through, I have worked with recruiters for years and this is the worst time to be expecting a good service level, let alone a 'thanks but no thanks'.

take this advice if you can. YOU MUST SIMPLY DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO STAND OUT FROM THE OTHER 200 APPLYING.

it is worth spending $150-$200 on a well thought out campaign. Treat yourself like a Direct Mail Marketing Campaign.

Find 15 roles that you know you could do, go and buy 15 nice cup cakes from a bakery, put it in a cake box with your CV in hardcopy, make sure you have the name of the person hiring and pop a little note saying "Dear X I know you are probably in-undated with CV's for this role I wanted to stand out, so here is a cup cake, enjoy while you read my CV and give me chance to prove I am the right man for the job".....

I guarantee you will get call backs and interviews, the rest is down to your man.

Good luck...

THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX these are unprecedented times...

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

The UK is no different .... all recruiters/job agencies are the same worldwide. They haven't got time to reply to everyone, put yourself in their shoes :). Most jobs adverts that I applied for on SEEK would say that if I didn't here anything within 2 days then to take it that I hadn't got it.

With regard to the OP's husband. He's only been here 1 month. It takes time getting a job ! Again it would be the same in the UK. DON'T GIVE UP.

As other posters have said , get a list of job agencies and arrange to visit them.

Re: Help, husband is giving up!!
 

Wouldn't it be worth doing his motorcycle licence , means he will be proactive, while getting it and also could reapply to Auspost?