Tips to Find a Good Job in Australia as a Foreigner

Finding a job in Australia as a foreigner isn’t easy. Whether you have a decent looking resume or not, companies won’t usually won’t recognize the names of previous employers unless they also operate ‘Down Under.’ They’ll sometimes be skeptical about claims of past work experience or its relevance to their open position too.

There’s also the worry whether a foreign worker will be worth training for a new position because they might not choose to stay if they don’t like the city or country. This can lead to lost time and money for the Australian company should they choose their people poorly.

Here are a few tips for foreigners wanting to spend time working in Australia.

Getting Sponsorship

Getting sponsorship via Sponsorship Australia or another organization is useful for people who are not from Australia and wish to avoid getting off the plane without a clue what to do next. Using a sponsorship program, potential employees can find open-minded employers looking for foreign staff who bring with them knowledge and experience of international markets and different working practices.

Foreign work experience is useful to local employers getting into new fields or areas that they haven’t done business in before, but which are popular abroad. This is especially true in Australia where the economy has typically been focused around only a few key industries like mining, rail transportation, and tourism.

Be Willing to Adjust Your Resume

The way resumes are presented in each country is different. Some countries will expect to see a passport-size photo adhered to the top corner of the first page whereas in other countries that would come across as weird! Sometimes a resume is whittled down to a single double-sized page. Other countries may prefer to see all your work experience from your first insignificant position through to the most recent one.

Resume design and the expectations that a prospective employer has when viewing a resume varies tremendously. You don’t want your resume to stand out for all the wrong reasons and be dismissed instantly. Therefore, it’s a clever idea to do some research on Google.com.au or find an Australian HR expert or Aussie friend to make layout suggestions.

Don’t Give Up Quickly

Finding a job in a foreign country takes considerably longer than securing a full-time position in your home city. For one thing, there are fewer companies interested in filling a post with a foreign worker. Depending on your field of expertise, there could only a handful of open positions at one time and many highly-qualified foreigners from around the world applying for them.

With job hunting, even when finding an ideal position, you’ll likely go through several interviews as the company whittles the field down to a handful of the best candidates. Be prepared to be interviewed over a Skype video call (dress appropriately). Depending on your current location, you may be asked to fly in for an in-person meeting either in Australia or a mid-point location. This is difficult due to how far the country is away from other well-populated places, so some companies may skip this step.

Never discount the value of referrals in a job hunt. If you have Aussie friends, they may have a previous employer that takes on foreign workers and can put in a good word for you. Also, look for expos where Australian employers become exhibitors in the hope of meeting people who would be interested in working for their company. The Down Under Live Expo London and Working International Expo are good examples of this. There are other expos in the United States and Canada with international exhibitors’ present that are worth researching too.