Australia Actually: July 2014

July 14, 2014- First Time Making Tom Yum!

by Chelseawroteit - 7:08 AM

July 8, 2014 - Job Searching in Melbourne (Part I)

by Chelseawroteit - 1:52 AM

Chelsea

Hi guys! If you're planning on grabbing a working holiday visa in Australia, or simply curious about how the "working" bit works, I may have information that could be useful to you. This was our experience in looking for jobs around Melbourne.

First let me tell you how crazy busy this city is. Everywhere you turn they have restaurants, cafes, markets (farmers and artisans selling their own products), supermarkets, and a good selection of shops to choose from. Each suburb has a "specialty". For example: I live in the Western region of Victoria which is more of an industrial area. Most of the highly sought-after administration jobs are in CBD (central business district = downtown). South Yarra is well known for its abundance in cafes, restaurants, shopping, schools and culture. It might not have been a coincidence then that I landed a job at one of the cafes in South Yarra. I seriously love that place, and no wonder.. it's Melbourne's favourite suburb!

Click here to see a list of Melbourne suburbs' & their liveability ranking!

So that's one thing to keep in mind when you're looking for a place to live in relation to the kind of job that you're looking for. That said, a lot of people won't mind travelling long distances if it means saving money on rent *cough*.

Second: Expect to get rejected a LOT because working holiday visas only allow 6 months per employer. Most employers would probably prefer someone who'd have a lot more time to offer them.

One of the worst things (in my opinion) was finding a job posting that WAS suited for a working holiday visa, but 700 other people already applied to it. LOL

At one point I contemplated taking the "working holiday visa" off of my resume because there seemed to be a lot of bias against it.

Sure it's frustrating, but it's probably a good thing. I wouldn't want to work for a snobby company anyway!

Also, do not believe claims like this:

This really confused me, because I called more than 10 agencies and asked if they recruited people who were on a working holiday visa, and more than half of them said yes. I don't like how Pinnacle People made it sound like they were the only agency who could offer hospitality-based employment to backpackers. Not to mention, reading this made me question whether all my other job applications were "rejected" from the other agencies. Pinnacle People, stop making bold statements like that to disqualify your competition!

Third: If you want to find a job faster, come after Winter (September onwards). Imagine our horror when we came here in the beginning of May (start of winter) and hearing a lot of things like, "Business is usually dead in the Winter".

If you do come in the Summer, make sure to really pimp out your resume because there will be a lot more competition from other backpackers! Barista/Waitressing experience of at least one year is a good one for quick employment. There are also a TON of general administration/receptionist jobs available for those who have had 2-3 years experience working in that field. Your best shot at finding a job (unless you have connections) is by applying through the internet. We utilized websites such as Seek.com and Gumtree.com.

Last and the best advice that I can give is to stay positive. It's normal to get discouraged and to doubt your capabilities when you get 10 rejection emails at a time, but I hope that you won't take it as a personal failure. After nearly two months of moping and feeling discouraged, I finally decided to stop worrying and learn to just enjoy what I had then and there. That's when I got 3 calls in two days and got hired in less than a week.

On my way to the interview, I sat and talked to a nice old lady who told me these few inspiring words: "If you don't get the job, don't get put off. It just means that it's not the one for you, and the right one is still out there waiting for you."

June 30 Applied for the job

July 2 They called for an interview

July 3 Interview

July 7 I came in for a 2 hour trial [they put you in their workplace for 2 hours, see how you work & take initiative]

July 8 Hired!

No comments

Australia Actually

Curing the Homesick

July 14, 2014- First Time Making Tom Yum!

July 13, 2014- Sunday Night

July 8, 2014 - Job Searching in Melbourne (Part I)

recent posts

Blog Archive