Over the years, I received emails from real people out there. Well, I would like to think they were real instead of a single chap who has been trolling me for 5 years. The reason why I have a dash of doubt is some of things I am asked can be so unreal.
I mean, if you plan to migrate to Sydney from Singapore, why do it at all? If you plan to migrate to Melbourne from Singapore, why write to a settler in Perth to ask how the job market is in Melbourne? If you plan to migrate to Perth, why would you ask me what I like about Perth?
Would you ask me what I like about my wife if you are planning to marry your girlfriend?
You may argue that asking about Perth as a common factor is valid but it isn't. Perth means a different thing to each individual. It can mean a refuge for me but living hell for you. What matters is you think and feel about the place. What does Perth means to you as a potential adopted home? If you want to know what I think about Perth, there are 5 years of opinions in this blog. Go read it if you have nothing better to do.
This is a post for new migrants trying to seek a source of income. Look - the reason behind my opener is to emphasize the idea of income. Sell your life for money. That is my definition. If you are seeking self actualisation nirvana achieving jobs, click X on the top right hand of the page and leave. I have no useful advice whatsoever to you. If I do, I will be actively pursuing it and I will not be a pissed poor peasant in Perth writing lame blogs.
Now the topic in proper: How to find your first casual job in Australia
The mentality:
If you think the job market or the economy is bad, go home. If you think local employers are racist and hire only whites, go home. If you think you will not be hired because you have no local experience, go home. Why bother to even come? I am neither confirming or refuting these claims because it does not matter. If you have so much space in your brain for these thoughts, your mentality is wrong. None of these thoughts are productive. It does nothing good for you. If you have so much time for these nonsense, try to think of ideas to find your job instead. Think. Think until your brain hurts.
The common avenues
LinkedIn, seek.com, Facebook groups, job agency and even Gumtree or whatever known job websites or groups out there - use it. Tell the world you are looking for jobs because you go to the jobs - not wait for them to come. If you play football, do you get the ball more often by waiting for the ball or running towards it?
Your jobscope as a jobless peasant
Looking for a job is your job and you are the boss. You have 8 hours to do your job. Spending 1 hour sending CVs to job leads and the rest of the day watching TV doesn't cut it for me. Will you work for 1 hour and rest for 7 at work? Unlikely because you can't finish clearing the work your boss flooded with you. So are you still unemployed now? If so, you have not finished your work, why the fuck are you playing with your mobile phone?
Get out there
If you have been sending your CVs religiously everyday, you will not be spending the rest of the 8 hours doing so because there is simply not enough new job leads everyday. If you have the send-and-forget approach, change it. List down every job you applied for in an excel sheet, sorting by the business type, position, resume and cover letter version link and contact number.
When you have finish sending resumes to new leads for the day, add them to the list and start calling the previous applications to (depending on the status of application) inform them of your interest, check the status or request for an interview. Strike off those you are rejected.
What do you do with the rest of the 8 hours? Get outside. Get to the malls, shops, businesses. There are vacancies in the groceries, marts or FnB businesses and they'll simply stick a piece of paper outside their joints to look for a casual worker instead of going through the trouble placing an ad. Only by getting out, you find these jobs. Despite the so call "bad economy", I saw a barber shop hiring the moment I got outside last weekend. What I would do is to watch Youtube videos and cut my wife's hair and go apply for that job. Fake it until I make it. Of course, that is not what YOU will do. That is why I get your job.
Hidden market
Make friends, tell everyone you are looking for a job, any job. If you say that, mean it and never reject a job when someone takes the trouble to refer you to one. Or that will be the first and last time he or she will bother. Never forget this. Word of mouth is a powerful means and it works in mysterious ways. Never fail to tap the hidden market that can be unlocked by word of mouth referral. Never let go for any opportunities. If you walk-in to a business and are told there is no vacancy, ask if they know anywhere else is hiring and drop your namecard to be contacted in future for any leads. You don't lose anything by doing so and have possibilities to gain.
Cold call
Do the walks everyday. Keep fit, mind sharp and focussed on your mission. Revisit the owners once in a while. A simple "Any luck?" will suffice. If you have completed your daily walks around your suburbs until the business owners can recognise your face and remember your name, spend the remaining of your 8 hours cold calling.
Cold calling reaches places much faster than you can physically achieve. Grab the directory and start calling. You will get rejected until you are numb. Once that happens, it does not hurt anymore and you'll gain traction and speed.
Never forget this is but a number game. If you are prepared to walk the talk, and work much harder than anyone else in the market to look for your first income, you'll win the game eventually.
This is a great post for people seeking jobs and also for those starting out in business. I especially like this part:
ReplyDelete"You will get rejected until you are numb. Once that happens, it does not hurt anymore and you'll gain traction and speed.
Never forget this is but a number game. If you are prepared to walk the talk, and work much harder than anyone else in the market to look for your first income, you'll win the game eventually."
it is not difficult to find a job in oz. i remembered within a month when i set foot in melb., i got a contractor role as a pc/mac techie. it's up to individual, you must have an open mentality, ready to do blue collar jobs. plumbers and electricians are in demand over here.
ReplyDeletehow long ago was that?
Delete