Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

can you pls share the agency contacts. I am a senior .net professional, and exploring job prospects in Sydney.

tia!

Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

I was offered a job last month from the UK (IT Network Management) however believe it or not I turned it down, money was good but they could only offer a year contract and after being a ping ponger I wanted a permanent contract.

But it can be done, I do get loads of replies saying they will only consider candidates in Australia but I have had 3 interviews via skype now.

good luck, make sure your CV is good and stands out:thumbup:

Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

I managed to secure a job in Melbourne, whilst still being in the UK and not having completed 176 visa process. The visa grant coincidentally came through 12 hours after I got the job offer... that was a cool weekend :-)

Will share what I went through in case it helps others.

I'm in IT, not a techie, more on the management/consultancy side. Applied for maybe 15 jobs on Seek, generally I think most of those were thrown in the bin cos I wasnt in Aus. Did get a few outright rejections, and also a few recruiters responding saying "your CV is great, pls give us a call when you get to Aus".

The most effective approach I used was to look on LinkedIn for companies of the sort I wanted to join (small IT consultancies). I found around 10 with a first pass, and fired off my CV with covering letter to those. I got interviews with 2 and strong interest from 2 more. tbh I think this reflects the strength of the market for these type of jobs more than my CV - I had something good to offer all of them but was not a perfect fit for any of them.

I had 4 interviews over the phone with my new employers, and they asked me to do a written piece also.

I think one thing that is very important is to spend time on your covering letters. I read a bit about best practice for these on the web (the jist of this was basically to emphasize 3 things from your background that match the job). the covering letter is really your only chance to connect with them, so its important to tailor it for each opportunity and not just send a generic one.

The other tactic I used is to contact recruitment consultants directly (having found them on Seek, LinkedIn etc). You can also say in your speculative applications that you would consider other options also.

Lastly, I put the status of my visa application in my CV at the top. You have to convince them you're definitely coming.

Overall I was lucky though. Good luck to everyone else!

Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

This is great info, thanks for sharing! Were the companies you applied to actively looking when you applied or did you just send out blind applications?

Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

A couple were looking, including the one I succeeded with. But I didn't know they were looking :-) Another one actually habitually recruits people from the UK every year and their guy was across in London when I contacted them, so I had a face-to-face there (not successful).

But I also got interest from a couple who weren't really looking. I think the IT industry, and actually much of the economy in general, is doing well in Aus right now. Much better than UK or the US.

Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

Appreciate the info. Am at the same point as you initially now..."your CV is great but contact us when you are in AUS" :p

Will move into high gear now and start really targeting companies directly as you mentioned. Do you have any good reference sites for putting together a cover letter correctly? Got a funny feeling this is where i'm being blocked off at the moment.

Re: Securing employment from outside Australia
 

Here is one - http://blog.onlymarketingjobs.com/ho...-cover-letter/.

I read another one where it said "focus on 3 points you bring to the role against what they have asked for". Its a simple method, but I think it shows that you have read the offer properly and are thinking about how you can fit to the role.

I forgot one tactic I used, which helped in finding companies. If you can find it, the Aus govt and many of the state govts, have lists online of approved companies providing service X. I managed to find a Vic State list of approved IT and management consultancies. Paydirt for me, it added about 10+ I had not heard of. I was 1/2 way through writing to those when I got the offer.

LinkedIn also worked very well - it has a Company Search you can use. It is not that precise, but if you can work through a list of a few hundred you will find some you've never heard of before.

Best of luck!