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Australia - Gave up prematurely?

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  • 02-01-2016 9:22pm
    #1
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    So I went to Australia (solo) in October and due to still not landing a job, I came for Christmas. My head was wrecked from job hunting. I've no idea if this was the right thing to do. I'm just looking for thought or opinions really.

    The idea to go to Australia was to just get out of Ireland for a while and experience living abroad. A bit of excitement and an adventure. I without doubt wanted a job by my third week and I would do the travelling in time. I had no interest in farm/regional work.

    I was in Perth for the first three weeks as I had family there. However, I didn't like Perth at all and the jobs market there seemed really tough. I couldn't even find jobs to actually apply for. My background is banking and was looking for a job in finance or even a call centre/admin job. I eventually convinced myself I hated Australia and would return home back to Ireland. I don't know why, but tend to instantly hate new places, but it wears off after a few weeks. I still saw Perth and around though so at least I did that.

    Before I decided to go home, I said I would give Sydney a go. I got to Sydney and I loved it straight away. I even managed to make some friends. I applied for hundreds of jobs during my 4 weeks in Sydney with the intention of giving it a proper go. But I had zero luck. I met so many recruiters and was very close to interviews but I think a few things were against me: the time of the year (quiet market) and the Aussie citizen/permanent resident requirement for a lot of jobs, although it's not always mentioned in the job advertisement. I had no luck with admin or call centre jobs due to lack of experience and being over-qualified. Feeling beaten with no job in line, my initial negativity still hanging around and with funds running low, I got a flight home to Ireland for Christmas.

    It's now January and I am wondering if I have made a huge mistake. I could totally see myself living in Sydney for a few years with the right job. I think I totally under-estimated the jobs market and I should have tried retail/hospitality jobs as a the short term solution. I'm just afraid of the same thing happening if I go back out. Has anyone been able to secure a job in Australia before heading out? Is it likely?

    Thanks in advance for any replies.


Comments

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    #2
    catbear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,092 ✭✭✭catbear


    Dec into January is the worst time for job hunting in australia. It's their silly season like Ireland in July and August.
    If you're on a working holiday visa then you can't really be too choosy.
    BTW, Perths economy is in freefall so no surprise there.


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    #3
    pete4130
    Registered Users Posts: 3,944 ✭✭✭pete4130


    Quiet time of the year at the minute. Get back, apply for jobs outside your comfort zone.

    Get a construction white card so you can do some labouring to get some cash together. You don't specify if your male/female. A lot of traffic controller jobs (lollipop people on construction sites/roadworks) tend to go towards women but not exclusive to women by any means. A lot of Irish girls get into this work. It's about $500 for the tickets but the money is quite good, the 6 month rule isn't really that much of an issue with this kind of work either. Most guys on WHV tend to get into the labouring side of things.
    I'd prefer holiday a lollipop all day compared to labouring.

    Have several different CV's made up to suit different roles too for jobs that you don't need to be as qualified for.


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    #4
    arms_n_legs
    Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭arms_n_legs


    pete4130 wrote: »
    Quiet time of the year at the minute. Get back, apply for jobs outside your comfort zone.

    Get a construction white card so you can do some labouring to get some cash together. You don't specify if your male/female. A lot of traffic controller jobs (lollipop people on construction sites/roadworks) tend to go towards women but not exclusive to women by any means. A lot of Irish girls get into this work. It's about $500 for the tickets but the money is quite good, the 6 month rule isn't really that much of an issue with this kind of work either. Most guys on WHV tend to get into the labouring side of things.
    I'd prefer holiday a lollipop all day compared to labouring.

    Have several different CV's made up to suit different roles too for jobs that you don't need to be as qualified for.

    I agree with pete4130, Australia is a great excuse to get out of your comfort zone, I spent 5 years there working every job imaginable! Have some great memories and life long friends from it too.


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    #5
    FernandoTorres
    Registered Users Posts: 648 ✭✭✭FernandoTorres


    Should be plenty of jobs in Sydney/Melbourne. I also work in finance here and it took 2 months to get a job. It's an absolute slog in terms of doing applying for literally hundreds of jobs, meeting with time-wasting recruiters and trying to convince people you're not just here for a few months of a piss up but ultimately you will strike gold if you're willing to persist. Once you get your foot in the door anywhere you start to get offers all over the shop!


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