Applying to Jobs
Jobs are posted either by recruiters or directly by the company itself . According to the Hays Salary Guide, employers are 'cautiously optimistic' about the future and are hiring more staff.
According to the report,
Numbers are usually provided with the job posting to call and speak directly to the recruiting manager to follow up on an application or to find out more about how to best tailor the resume and cover letter to the position.
Having talked to only but a handful of recruiters so far, I found them to be extremely helpful. One of my Aussie clients who managed to get high into the corporate ladder told me recruiters would be 'connecting the dots' and help me find my way into the right jobs better than I would after a few appointments at the career practitioner's office (listed here) (and it's free!).
Resumes or CVs are typically bland and as plain text as they come. Amazing layouts, fonts, colours and graphics are likely to do more harm than good since resumes are typically copy-pasted into the company's hiring system and this only serves to make complications.
While resumes are typically two to three pages at intermediary level, the Aussie client told me not to let this page limit be taken too seriously. According to him recruiters are 'lazy' in reading the resume, hence the limit, but meaningful content that is relevant to the job will always be taken seriously. Other useful conventions include mentioning the visa details upfront and earliest date of your availability.
At least one company I had spoken to had a positive response and told me that interviews frequently took place on Skype or over the phone, so it was not completely necessary to be physically present. However, said organization was located a few hundred kilometers from Sydney in Illawara, so this might not be the usual case. Mostly recruiters indicated that I had much better chances if the candidate was physically present, probably because then that removed any doubt that he/ she would not be available at the start date. However, if the job is not too specialised the level of competition in the market will easily drown out any chances of being shortlisted if you are not physically present for an interview.
Just like some times of the day are better than others for catching fish, the job market also has fish coming up to bite the bait at certain times of the year. Just before and after holidays are dead seasons for processing applications, but you can utilize this time to write as many applications as possible. One of the recruiters I talked to said that January is the time of year that many contract workers are looking for more work after finishing with their tenures and quickly latch on to the majority of jobs out there. New entrants into the workforce are therefore more likely to be sidelined. He mentioned that February is the best time of the year for immigrants to apply since the contractuals in the workforce have been sponged back into the economy and employers are hungry to snap up good workers. Of course, a high tide means nothing if you're not a good fisherman, so make sure you get plenty of 'practice' and polish your presentation to land a good one.
While SEEK and other sites are excellent for receiving relevant job alerts, above mentioned HR manager asked me to visit the company website and apply there rather than on SEEK. My application would also probably have been disregarded had I applied on SEEK because the website contained additional details and formalities that were critical for a serious application. Similarly, having a copy of your resume on each recruiter's website and applying to the job post from the source may be one level closer than applying through a job search engine.
The largest area of skills shortage appears to be junior to mid management talent in both Operations and Accountancy and Finance. The next highest areas of skills shortage were for Junior to Mid Management talent for Engineering, Technical roles, Sales and Marketing and IT roles.IT and Telco are the most dynamic and upbeat sectors while financial services, hospitality and tourism as well as profressional services are second most. Consumer/ business confidence and current economic conditions are percieved as the main driving factors for business activity as opposed to market and macroeconomic factors.
According to the report,
Unlike most job markets, recruiters and managers are happy to talk directly with job applicants even before they apply, and have the courtesy to respond to each applicant individually even when the answer is no.Buoyant industries for accountancy and finance hiring in 2013 include the online retail, energy, oil & gas, property, distribution and the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors. Candidates working within these areas have been in strong demand and were usually able to command higher salaries this year.
Numbers are usually provided with the job posting to call and speak directly to the recruiting manager to follow up on an application or to find out more about how to best tailor the resume and cover letter to the position.
Having talked to only but a handful of recruiters so far, I found them to be extremely helpful. One of my Aussie clients who managed to get high into the corporate ladder told me recruiters would be 'connecting the dots' and help me find my way into the right jobs better than I would after a few appointments at the career practitioner's office (listed here) (and it's free!).
Resumes or CVs are typically bland and as plain text as they come. Amazing layouts, fonts, colours and graphics are likely to do more harm than good since resumes are typically copy-pasted into the company's hiring system and this only serves to make complications.
While resumes are typically two to three pages at intermediary level, the Aussie client told me not to let this page limit be taken too seriously. According to him recruiters are 'lazy' in reading the resume, hence the limit, but meaningful content that is relevant to the job will always be taken seriously. Other useful conventions include mentioning the visa details upfront and earliest date of your availability.
At least one company I had spoken to had a positive response and told me that interviews frequently took place on Skype or over the phone, so it was not completely necessary to be physically present. However, said organization was located a few hundred kilometers from Sydney in Illawara, so this might not be the usual case. Mostly recruiters indicated that I had much better chances if the candidate was physically present, probably because then that removed any doubt that he/ she would not be available at the start date. However, if the job is not too specialised the level of competition in the market will easily drown out any chances of being shortlisted if you are not physically present for an interview.
Just like some times of the day are better than others for catching fish, the job market also has fish coming up to bite the bait at certain times of the year. Just before and after holidays are dead seasons for processing applications, but you can utilize this time to write as many applications as possible. One of the recruiters I talked to said that January is the time of year that many contract workers are looking for more work after finishing with their tenures and quickly latch on to the majority of jobs out there. New entrants into the workforce are therefore more likely to be sidelined. He mentioned that February is the best time of the year for immigrants to apply since the contractuals in the workforce have been sponged back into the economy and employers are hungry to snap up good workers. Of course, a high tide means nothing if you're not a good fisherman, so make sure you get plenty of 'practice' and polish your presentation to land a good one.
While SEEK and other sites are excellent for receiving relevant job alerts, above mentioned HR manager asked me to visit the company website and apply there rather than on SEEK. My application would also probably have been disregarded had I applied on SEEK because the website contained additional details and formalities that were critical for a serious application. Similarly, having a copy of your resume on each recruiter's website and applying to the job post from the source may be one level closer than applying through a job search engine.
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