By Cavan Gallagher

As great as the sun, better food and prettier sights are, each new arrival in Oz from grey ol’ Blighty must face up to one inescapable fact of life: the need to work.

Some come over specifically for work purposes, with working visas and even sponsorship from an Australian employer; others begin their search once they arrive. Either way, the experience is not always a pleasant one. Whether they lose the jobs they had when they arrived or throw themselves into the job market straight away, most expats will at some point have to get themselves some form of employment or another.

The fact is, as much as it is blamed on the Global Ecodowning Recessturn (NOTE TO MEDIA ORGANISATIONS: I am selling this phrase to the highest bidder. Call me), the employment climate in Australia has become increasingly frustrating over the years. The situation now sees the employers gaining all the power and even highly skilled and educated job hunters have had problems securing appropriate work. To make matters even worse, the continual shortening of the required skills lists and repeated promises from the Government to protect the jobs of Australians, has strongly suggested that immigrant workers have lost the favour they once enjoyed here.

Though this may not be quite as big a problem for backpackers (indeed, the current preference for low-paid, cheap to train and expendable casual workers probably makes them more attractive to employers than anything), it has had huge implications for skilled immigrant workers. Experience and skill traditionally demand the kind of permanent employment that is hugely unfashionable at the moment, especially if they don’t even come from Australia. Even professionals who held senior management positions in the UK have been known to have problems getting anywhere, and ‘not enough Australian experience’ is an excuse heard more and more commonly these days in rejection emails (at least from the employers who actually bother to send them in the first place).

What’s more, not even securing work before you come over can guarantee safety: there are many cases of skilled workers coming to Australia on a Subclass 457 visa (through sponsorship by an Australian employer) only to find themselves sacked within a couple of years, or even months of arrival. The options in such a case, as quoted from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, are:

• Find another employer who is willing to sponsor you and apply for another Subclass 457 visa to work for that new employer;
• Apply for another type of substantive visa that you may be eligible for. For example, if you want to study, a student visa, or if you want to have a holiday before returning home, a visitor visa;
• Leave Australia.

Straightforward? Mostly. Encouraging? Hardly. It all comes down to the rules stated under paragraph 116(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958 for breach of Condition 8107 which states that the visa holder must not cease employment with the sponsor, even if the employer themself does the ceasing. In the case of such a breach, the holder has 28 days to fulfil one of the three criteria listed above or be ejected from this fair isle via vigorous anal application of the Governmental Boot.

All in all, it’s just another example of the Aussie Government’s unofficial motto in action – ‘YOU Deal With It!’  In a way these hapless workers are the worst off of all expats; having assumed they’d keep their jobs, they find themselves suddenly thrust into a job market for which they never prepared,and with a 28-day deadline to boot. When you consider that it takes most people who are already au fait with the job hunting scene about a month on average to find something... Well, you can imagine the mountain they’re left to climb, especially if they’re skilled in niche areas such as mining. But as we’ve seen, it’s a tough market for expats of all backgrounds, no matter their background and advice can be hard to come by. So that considered, what follows is a cynic’s guide to Job-Hunting Aussie Style, AKA ‘Bludging Pom’:

1) Keep Records of What Your Sponsor Says
Let’s start off with a quick word of advice to all of you on sponsored visas: If you have any reason to believe your employer might lay you off t some point, it could be worth preparing yourself in case you need to get the help of the authorities in the case of an unfair dismissal. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship recommend you call the Workplace Relations information line on 1300 363 264, but beyond that will only say that you may have grounds for WR to intervene. On the one hand this is understandable, as all cases are different and it wouldn’t be wise for the Government to guarantee any specific course of action. On the other hand, one feels that since the Department approve these sponsorships and hands out the visas, it would be only appropriate for them to be involved at all levels. But then again, Government departments will only ever accept The Buck if it comes greased for easy passing.

So what can you do to prepare yourself for such a situation? Well first there’s all the obvious stuff – keep copies of your contract, payslips etc, preferably all signed by your employer. Also, try and ensure wherever possible that anything you agree with your employer is conducted, or at least summarized, via email. The beauty of email is that it’s not only easy to use and professional, it gives you a permanent record of what they say that will stand up in court. This is also where web-based email like hotmail or gmail can be useful, as it means all these things will also be stored on the net, safe from any hard drive tantrums.

In short, try and leave as little as possible to verbal agreements: wherever you can, either conduct or get confirmation of everything that’s said in words, be they in ink or email. It’s much, much easier to build a case from actual words than it is from anecdotes. So, that was one especially for all the sponsored people. What follows are general tips that are useful for all types of expat jobseekers...

2) Be Patient
These days, job hunting is essentially a job in itself. Not in a work-ethic friendly, ‘diligently work at it every available hour’ kind of way, but simply in terms of the increasingly insane amounts of hoops through which the average employer will make you jump before they even think of giving you some kind of answer.

You’ll be sending off applications by the dozen and not even be guaranteed any kind of reply and, when you do, whether it’s positive or negative, you might have to wait up to two weeks for it. And if they do ask you to come in, this is when things get really convoluted: first step is usually a long, rambling pre-interview phone interview, in which you’ll be forced to repeat stuff you not only had in your resume AND cover letter but quite often said five minutes earlier in the conversation.

And even when you’re asked in for a ‘real’ interview (or to be precise, the post-pre-interview, pre-second-round-interview-interview... Everyone getting this so far?), which often comprises of anything up to a full day of group workshops, numeracy and literary tests, typing tests, computing tests, elaborate role plays that can sometimes need up to an hour of pre-study... All apparently vital so they can determine if you have the right stuff to sit at a monitor and fob customers off for a living. It makes one wonder what has happened to the general IQ level of employers that, when they could once figure out this stuff AND hire you in the space of a twenty minute chat, now they need a full day at school to work out the same thing.

The point is, pretty much every job requires this rubbish nowadays. So if you’re stuck thinking that it’s taking forever to find something and that there must be something wrong with you, please don’t: it really is that slow. Nowadays, Dad’s Army could recruit faster than your average employer, so expect slowness and utter tedium.

3) Don’t Rely On Recruitment Agents
Once upon a time, agents were useful. You would send them your CV, go and have a chat with them about the types of work you were looking for and they would then go out and actively seek out jobs of  that kind to send on to you. It was exactly the kind of professional backup anyone getting familiar with a new country, a new home, needed to feel their way around the employment scene. In a very similar way to the Communist State, employment agents were, once upon a time, by the people and for the people.

That’s right: I’m comparing employment agents to communism. It may not be tasteful, or even particularly original, but just as Stalin and his ilk were corrupted once they reached the top of the Red Tree, employment agents soon twigged that, whilst always helping people equally was just hunky-dory when it came to high-minded manifestos, it wasn’t where the real spoils were at. They could make much more money taking contracts to advertise and headhunt people for the companies themselves than they could the other way round and, over the last ten years, this approach has taken precedence to the point that the majority of them have basically become outsourced HR for employers. Some even cater exclusively for various corporations, even to the extent where they officially employ casuals – and let me tell you, nothing bristles more than having to answer to some muppet from the agency when they turn up once every four to five weeks for a monthly review that, in a sane world, you should actually be having with the people you’re working for.

Don’t get me wrong; they all still accept resumes on spec and will even put you on their books. There are even decent ones who’ll still put some feelers out for you. But don’t expect to hear anything ever again. And if you leave/lose a job you got through them, don’t expect any help – they’re too busy herding people through for their latest corporate contract.

Basically, sign up with these people all you like but still keep doing things yourself. Keep replying to ads just as you would’ve otherwise; in fact, it’s pretty much standard nowadays to have one’s first contact with an agent via a job ad they’ve posted on behalf of another company. Some agencies have become so used to this process, if you do approach them independently, they look at you like you’ve just landed from Planet Qwazspackle. They’ll only make an effort for you if it suits their agenda, so you do the same and keep working on your own.

4) Get Local References
It’s not uncommon for employers to pass on contacting overseas referees because of time differences etc, even if they deal with foreign business contacts (Hear that faint dripping noise? That’s the sound of my heart bleeding). Therefore, it may be an idea to throw in a couple of referees in Australia, even if it’s just a family member or friend who can act as a character reference. Just so the poor dears don’t have to worry about having to deal with the trauma of phoning someone who’s nine hours behind.

5) Ask Questions!
This is vital for two reasons.

First up, it’s an unfortunate fact that the dodgier the job, the vaguer the description will be. If you get to the end of the first sit-down interview and are still not entirely clear on what the position actually entails – and by that, I mean not knowing exactly how you’ll be spending your average workday – come right out and ask for those details, because quite often you’ll find you’re looking at a very different job than what’s been implied.

This is especially true of many twopenny-hapenny marketing companies, who’ll offer you what sounds like an exciting and extremely professional-sounding promotional role negotiating with prospective clients and won’t let slip till the very last second that what you’re actually there for is tarted-up door knocking.

This leads us on to the second reason: pay. Always, always, always make sure you get out of them how much you’re being paid and how you’re paid. Not all companies will give these details honestly (or at all), and it’s often because if people knew upfront there’s no way in hell they’d take the job. Instead, they leave it until you’ve practically signed the contract simply because at that point, with a job dangled in front of them, a lot of people will get scared and agree no matter how much they dislike the deal. This is especially true of commission-only jobs; employers will sometimes obfuscate that little nuggetette right up to your first week on the job if you’re not careful.

The thing is, for some strange reason, there’s something of a taboo in Australia against asking these things. You can ask basic queries about the job all day long if it helps the employer see how super-keen you are to start work but actual hard questions about what’s in it for you are rarely greeted warmly. This is something that, as we have seen, is routinely exploited by the dodgier companies out there, which makes it all the more vital you speak up and get those details. Real professionals will comply, or preferably tell you all this stuff right at the start of the process.

Besides, your time is just as precious as theirs. Do you really want to waste up to a whole day – time you could be spending sending more applications, going to other interviews or at least being by the phone to take other employers’ calls – for a job you’d have never have accepted anyway? If an employer can’t meet your needs, why let them hog your time that could be given to one that can? And if you find out an employer has been deceptive about the job or pay, never be afraid to walk out. Being professional is just as much about putting a value on your time as anyone else’s. In the words of the great Winston Churchill: ’F**k them.’

6) The Best Job You’ll Ever Have Won’t Come From An Ad
Put simply, in Australia networking/word of mouth/nepotism is king. Most likely, you’ll have to aim your sights low, get any kind of job that pays the bills and just keep putting the feelers out, as Aussie employers are more likely to give the good jobs to someone they already know than advertise to strangers. Which, of course, makes the whole interview process/agency thing even more ridiculous, but is also in a way strangely encouraging. If you keep your eyes open, a niche will eventually appear. Any of you who are sponsored and are worried about losing your job might want to meet plenty of people in your field, just to keep abreast of possible opportunities through word-of-mouth; make yourself known to these people just in case you might need them down the line.

Try and keep this last point in mind; this article may seem excessively doom-sodden, but it’s just to clarify that job hunting in Australia, even for natives, is an incredibly bizarre process you need to approach with as much determination as cynicism (and trust me, there’s a lot to be cynical about).

But the thing is, you will eventually find something, even if it is slightly tangential to what you were initially seeking. Keep cynical, keep suspicious but, above all, keep at least enough positivity to believe in your own skills – eventually you’ll find someone that recognizes them too, even if it is via the Grand Tour of What Kind of Monkeys We’re Fitting Into Suits This Fiscal Year.

Oh, and if your interviewer happens to be of the opposite sex, work that damn accent! There are people here who think even Brummies sound exotic...