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You may have already read the first article in this series Pre-Departure – What do I need to do before I leave my old location? – and if you have already arrived in Australia, the information in this article will still be useful (so please take some time to read it).
You have managed to leave your previous location and arrive in Australia. Welcome! Your life is beginning all over again and during the first three months, you are likely to be in the ‘honeymoon’ stage – where you are finding everything new, interesting and exciting. You may also be overwhelmed with finding somewhere to live and all of your essential resources to become established (and this means more than making sure all of your boxes are unpacked). Nowadays, choosing a mobile phone plan, an internet hosting package, an electricity and gas supplier etcetera can be very time consuming as there is so much information to compare to make a considered decision.
In your previous location, many of your daily duties were completed in an unconsciously competent fashion – like being on automatic pilot – you knew where to find things, how to access whatever you needed and deal with everyday challenges. You also knew something about the local workplace culture.
But now, everything is different. Every task requires effort. You are now consciously incompetent – and it will take time to become consciously competent and at least six months to become unconsciously competent once again. This is why you will feel more tired doing less work and why so many tasks will take longer than usual.
But this article is supposed to be about finding work isn’t it? Well, yes. But what I have found is that so many people who have moved to Australia end up wasting too much time setting up all of their new arrangements and not spending enough time on looking for work as soon as they arrive.
Your most effective time to find new work is when you arrive. At this point, you are considered ‘desirable’ because you have probably just finished your previous role. However, one of the most common complaints that newcomers to Australia have when they arrive is that every employer asks if they have ‘local experience.’ This is often a polite Australian way of saying you are not suitable for the position.
For various legal and equal opportunity reasons, there are some comments that employers and recruiters cannot say to candidates. For instance, it cannot be as a consequence of your age, gender, background, ability (or disability), religion, family circumstances etc – but the employer may have a preference for a particular type of person for their organization (I could joke in Melbourne that you need to barrack or not barrack for the Collingwood Football Club!).
As with any challenge in life, you need a strategy. So what steps can you take to improve your chances? What can you do, despite the possible barriers to employment that exist (although there are many initiatives currently being implemented to educate employers about the benefits of hiring people with international experience) – your concern is immediate – so what will work best for you? See which of the following options you can use to your best advantage.
1. What resources must you have ready?
2. What can you start doing immediately?
The most important technique to begin is networking. It cannot be stressed enough how important this particular technique is for people who are new to Australia. In most cases, after someone has met you face to face, they are much more likely to either refer you to someone else or consider you for a position than if they just see your resume in a pile of other resumes submitted for a job application.
But part of the networking process is research.
Do not rely on any one particular technique – have as many of these strategies as possible all running concurrently – and make sure you allocate a minimum of two hours per day, five days per week, to the job search process.
3. What do you need to learn?
There are many cultural norms in the Australian workplace and understanding that every country, every employer and every industry has their own style is important. You will need to replace your current thinking about what is ‘normal’ and be ready to accept a ‘new normal.’ It may be more appropriate to say, ‘in the past’ rather than ‘in Japan’ which can be viewed as a comparison rather than a sharing of knowledge. Do not make assumptions about what you see – your current frame of reference may automatically encourage you to make certain assumptions but these may be incorrect.
For instance, many Australians enjoy Friday night drinks after work. This is not necessarily about consuming alcohol – you can have a non-alcoholic beverage. It is simply a custom where people can chat more informally in a relaxed way – and if you do not participate, you are missing an important social aspect of working in Australia but you may also feel less accepted on a daily basis as it is a way to share stories and build relationships beyond discussing work all the time.
In some workplaces, Monday morning is spent talking about ‘what you did on the weekend’ or what happened during sporting activities. Alternatively, you may find yourself being asked if you will join the football tipping competition or the Melbourne Cup Sweepstakes. These activities can also seem like a waste of time but they are very traditional Australian activities.
Australians, on the whole, are very straight forward and up front about work matters. If they ask a question – like ‘Can you do this task by 9am tomorrow/’ and you answer ‘yes’ then they assume that you can complete the task by 9am tomorrow. If you cannot, then please do not say that you can. If you feel uncomfortable about saying that you cannot do it by 9am and you do not want to say ‘no,’ then you can simply say that you will do your best but cannot guarantee it or that if you need help, can you ask for assistance? However, if you say yes and then do not deliver, this is very frustrating for an Australian who would rather you be upfront in the first place than say yes and then cancel at the last moment.
It is also important that you be aware of any Occupational Health and Safety requirements so that you can be safe at work. You need to find out if there are any Induction Processes that you are to go through, if there is any sort of buddy system for new employees, if there is a mentoring program available (mostly for larger organizations) so that you can feel comfortable asking questions when you do not understand something.
It is probably best when you first start work (or at the interview) to only answer what has been requested and not to discuss too many of your significant achievements unless asked to explain them because some Australians can feel threatened by someone with more extensive international experience. It may have taken the Australian person many years to achieve their current status and it is more polite to be humble and reveal more information over time than to share all of your knowledge immediately and overwhelm the people around you.
Like many other locations around the world, it is important to build trust. You can do this by doing whatever you say you will do. Most Australians like friendly people – so smile, be relaxed and participate in the local work life. Do not share personal information with everyone you meet – this is best shared with close friends outside of work (so make sure you are making new friends outside of work as well). Some newcomers have found that sharing personal information has been detrimental to their promotional opportunities.
Be punctual and reliable at work. Arrive ready to start work at the designated time (not flying through the door with another 15 minutes spent unpacking your bag, setting up your workspace etc). Do not spend all of your idle time surfing the internet or communicating with friends – ask your supervisor if there is some other work you can complete. Ask if you can take care of personal matters during your scheduled meal breaks or if you need additional time off during work hours, ask for this with as much advance notice as possible.
You also need to have excellent communication skills. The quality of English used in Australia is generally of a very high standard and professional language is required for all written correspondence (including emails). It is most inappropriate to denigrate another person in writing and if you have a personal or professional issue with another staff member, please ensure that you handle this correctly speaking to the appropriate supervisor before escalating the matter to senior management. It is important not to react instantly but to work out the best way to handle the situation. If necessary, seek external advice or assistance if it is a serious or delicate matter. Improve your Business English through this free resource ‘The Business of English’ – www.australianetwork.com/businessenglish/
Be aware of what your rights are – but also your responsibilities. As an employee, you may be required to abide by a Code of Conduct and not publicly declare some information – find out what these rules are before you start work. Have important matters confirmed in writing (like your salary, hours of work, duties etc) so that this is clear and that you can meet your performance requirements. Find out what performance review processes may be used to make sure that you know how your work will be assessed and so you can do your job to the company’s expectations.
Lastly, I have found everywhere that I have worked (including voluntary community groups), that people enjoy activities that are fun, involve eating food and are free! You can make many friends by bringing in food to share at work – particularly if it is something a little unusual that they may like to sample. If you receive an invitation to attend other events, see if you can go and if not, see if you can make arrangements to go some other time. On some occasions, you will only be asked once and if you refuse, you may not be asked again.
Finally, for the job search process to be successful, you need to realize that it may take around two years to establish yourself at a similar level from your previous location (but this is not always the case). If you work strategically and methodically, doing the necessary research and working on various strategies at the same time, you will increase your chances of success exponentially. Your skills are in doing the job, not necessarily finding a job, so if you not getting to the interview stage and need further help, consider paying for some assistance on an hourly basis (probably starting with three hours in the first instance). Make sure you do some good research before you hire this person to find out exactly what you will be paying for. Obtain price and service quotes from at least three people before you select someone to help you.
When you have secured work, you need to start planning the next part of your career and how you will achieve that too – it is an ongoing process.
However, as you have just arrived in Australia, even if you do not want to spend money, there are still plenty of places to go to, activities to participate in and events to attend that are either free or low cost. Find at least two new things to do every week so that you can get out of the house and learn more about your new location – you will have many more anecdotes to share in an interview and hopefully you will also have some fun!
Happy Job Hunting!
Sue is the Founder and Director, Newcomers Network and the Convenor of Victoria International Human Resources Management Network, Australian Human Resources Institute. Sue is passionate about helping newcomers to Australia make the most of their new work life in their new country.
Sue has published websites, e-books, and articles in various forums worldwide and is also a proactive networker, hosting a variety of events, seminars and workshops and continually participating in innovative projects with multiple stakeholder groups.
