Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

I thought you married into money in New Zealand!!;)

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

I am feeling the love, give me a big hug

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

As someone who's lived in Aus for over 10 years in total and had several jobs in that time I can say its absolutely nothing like the UK, not better, not worse, just different, and that takes some getting used to.

1. Recruitment process is MUCH longer, I once had a contract for which I had to do 5 interviews for.

2. Jobs may/may not exist and can easily be cancelled because someone/somewhere changes their mind.

3. What you did overseas (or sometimes interstate) has very little relevance to many hiring managers.

4. Often you will have a great interview, then never hear anything back.

5. Its not what you know but who.

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

The only XMAS Postal sorting jobs will be at Ardeer, Parcel sorting, and only open to relations of current staff.. Saves background checks... Mainly because it pays 33 bucks per hour ;) They've all been filled, courtesy of a memo to all Melbourne staff, in fact people were clamouring to get their relations in... even discussed with my Nurse Wife taking LSL and giving it 4 weeks.... Decided holidays were more important..

As for Xmas delivery.... 12 hour days 6 days a week with the current staff, especially with 60pct of current staff being parttimers
covers it these days.


I think I've said on umpteen occassions these are the more or less the same employment issues my 2nd oldest daughter faced in her 5 years in the UK... complete with background skippy noises and other derogatory comments.

She walked into jobs in Perth and Melbourne, and is now been assured by Lendlease that she would very likely employed in her current role as Project Coordinator in any project around Aus.... She is currently doing the NBN in Perth.

So it's quiet possible that due to a job shortage here in Melbourne at present that his UK background is going against him as well.... My Daughter gave up in the UK in the end for the same reasons. Greener and very likely more successful pastures beckon mate just like they did for my daughter.

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

That, ultimately, will be the reason for us leaving.


.[/QUOTE]

A lot of immigrants have that problem. Same as some locals too.

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

Laughed when I read this comment! My experience of the Australian job market exactly (however, I haven't found any problem with casual racism). The sentence in bold sums up the market in Perth.

I was abhorred when I first began to realise what goes on here. In the UK I was more used to jobs being awarded fairly and purely on the basis of merit. However, once you accept that you're in a foreign country and that that's the way they do things here, things become a little easier. Contacts and networking (read: sorting your mates out) tends to be the way things happen for people out here... Obviously it's tough if you are new to a city and you don't know anyone, but that's the way it goes. Solution: meet people and try to strike up relationships.

On the plus side, at least in perth, there are plenty of Poms in positions of authority and they are often more than happy to help out a fellow countyman... if you can't beat them, then join them!

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

You can actually do this on the fly!

Rough transcript of an interview where I got the job -

Interviewer - "Welcome. Soo... what footie team do you support?"
Me - "err well I'm new to Australia so I haven't picked one yet. Which one do you support?"
Interviewer - "Melbourne, always supported Melbourne"
Me - "Well, I guess I'd better support Melbourne then"
Interviewer - "Excellent, we need some more Melbourne supporters in the office"

(20 mins of vaguely job-related discussion follows)

Interviewer - "Great, can you start next week"
Me - "err can I have 2 weeks please, I only landed 3 days ago and I need to find a house"
Interviewer - "Of course, no problem for a Melbourne supporter"

BB

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

To be honest, this is probably overcooked, Gary.

If on the one hand international experience is valued then how can they value local knowledge.

My experience is that there are many Poms getting work, and that companies love a variety of skills. My international background has never harmed me. Even Australians return from London with good skills.It is slow this time of year. Now is probably the last chance to get signed up - just in time for HR to get the paperwork out before Christmas. And it's a buyer's market, in particular.

Nespotism is alive in the City of London and saying that this behavour died out outside Australia years back is just naive and absolutely silly. The capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne are smaller than you might expect that is all.

It is slow this time of year. Now is probably the last chance to get signed up - just in time for HR to get the paperwork out before Christmas. And it's a buyer's market, in particular.

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

My first interview was a bit like that - nice and relaxed.

:)

It also helps you are a good bloke not yet another IT drone...
Lots of usual cliches on this thread! If Poms help Poms, then why can't Aussies help Aussies...it's always been like this.
If anything, especially in the public service, Australian companies are acused of being Jobsworths and you've actually got to prove you can do the role...
in front of an entire panel...

;)

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

Just so you don't think it's just Melbourne or Australia here's my experience.

Moved from Australia to Scotland with my wife and sought teaching jobs for both of us. Wife (Scottish) - ok, given temporary job to finish the school year and a permanent job for after the holidays just like that at first interview.

Me - not ok. First I would have to register with the GTC (General Teaching Council for Scotland). I sent the forms away and then got a letter back to say my degrees from the University of Melbourne were not acceptable. (think to myself, degrees from one of the leading universities in the world not suitable, hmmm; it's just because I didn't go to a Scottish or British university they are doing this).

I first had to provide a detailed syllabus for every subject I completed in my degrees and they would give them to an adjudicator who would decide if I was qualified to teach the 3 subject areas I was qualified and registered to teach in Victoria (both state secondary and TAFE system).

The adjudicator came back and said I'd have to do some re-training before I'd get a job in schools. This involved me having to attain a minimum of 60 wpm typing so I could teach Business Studies in any school (despite Accounting and Economics being the 2 subjects I applied to teach). This I did in 3 months of attending the local College for 3 days a week and practising at home for endless hours. In retrospect it's one of the handiest skills I've acquired in my life so I'm grateful for that. ;)

Then I got the GTC registration I needed and started to attend interviews with the Director of Education in the local area as well as with school principals.

I've had all the 'how will the children understand you', 'are you a Celtic or Rangers man' type questions too.:lol:

In short, it is a 'funny old game' everywhere - locals are treated differently.

BUT, I made the move and so I just got on with it and jumped through every hoop I was asked to and didn't expect to be treated as equally as a local candidate for jobs.

Incidentally, I left Australia as a head of a large Business Studies department but the few times I bothered applying for promotion the jobs went to candidates with no managerial experience, no industrial experience and fewer years teaching experience compared to me. C'est la vie, locals rule.;)

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

That happens a lot here in Aus

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

Meh, I don't think it is, really.

There's a lot of remarks of 'that's just how it is here', 'its no worse and no better than any other country' - then delineated examples of exactly how it IS worse, big picture.

The insular, back-scratching nature of the thing holds back business in australia. The market economy doesn't lead to improvement, since Jim gets the job even if he's not the best, and even if he screwed up last time. New ideas, which almost by definition come from outside, are slow on the uptake. End result is when they are exposed to the cold wind of competition in the wider world - they are found wanting.

Australian manufacturing, australian retail, etc. - lose and fail, in part, because their hiring practices are NOT the best, ARE worse than the rest of the world - so the management is worse (less forward looking) and practices are inefficient.

Compare and contrast that to competition in SE Asia, who aggressively employ new ideas, techniques, innovations from around the world, and who are quite happy to bring in people from overseas to suck them dry of what they know. Less red tape, better investment structure - really, what do you expect to happen, big picture?

Kinda says it all, really, don't it?

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

I think nepotism is everywhere but whilst I have sometimes lost out to a more suitably qualified candidate in the UK, suitability to deliver role can take a lower priority here. I once joined an organisation where the Project Manager had been in post for a year at $1k a day. Personal friend of the program manager 'Lovely bloke' but 'struggled to produce a project plan'. This was for a pretty small project! Note that he CHOSE to leave and wasn't sacked! I sorted out the project plan pretty swiftly on less than half that rate, but was asked to leave after raising the issue of potential fraud in the recruitment process (someone making a cool 1 million a year out of recruiting his own staff instead of going thru HR). Silly old me, some people never learn.

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

Whither manufacturing in the UK? Ah that's right, all the basic industries decimated by first Japan, Germany, then Korea and now China. What's been different in the UK to what you say in your 2nd last paragraph?

I think a lot of you have forgotten how much of the old boy network there is in the UK frankly. It is less of the meritocracy and more of the aristocracy than perhaps anywhere else in the world. If my name was Gyles Rivington-Foreskin I'd be in with a shout of getting a lot of jobs. Ditto if I went to Eton, Harrow, Westminster etc (especially in government or the City).

Re: Melbourne Interviews, its a funny old game
 

If your name was Gyles Rivington-Foreskin I don't think you'd need a job!

BB