It’s common knowledge that Australian employers want candidates to have Australian work rights. They want you to have work rights so that they don’t have to act as sponsors which is what they would have to do if your visa does not entitle you to work in Australia.

Many of our readers here are going to qualify for general skilled migration visas

, all of which have full work rights for very family member and this is Austral Migration Consultancy’s preferred method of migration to Australia, as they are generally unencumbered when compared to business or an investor visa. Some of these general skilled migration visas are permanent residence visas and others are temporary visas but all have work rights.

Those of you who are not eligible for general skilled migration visas can try to obtain an offer of employment, and sponsorship by an employer but this is the more difficult route – good luck

As mentioned above, it’s more difficult because, unless you have work rights associated with your visa, employers will have to act as sponsors which includes making onerous undertakings to the Australian Government such as agreeing to repatriate you and your entire family as well as a financial commitment to training.

It’s therefore a far easier option for an employer to recruit a person who has work rights even though that person might be less qualified.

Furthermore, Australian employers like to meet people face-to-face and securing a job offer is as much about your first impression as it is your skills. This is why you need to be in Australia. It displays a level of commitment and readiness that can’t be achieved sitting and waiting in your home country.

Most organisations don’t plan their staffing needs appropriately and don’t really know what they need until it’s too late. This is why most of them won’t entertain offshore applications, because they have no idea of when you might be ready to start, and they needed you yesterday.

Going directly to employers is the key, alongside direct networking, LinkedIn, Facebook and industry events. Get out there and make yourself visible. Talk to people in the business, make phone calls (yes cold calls) and get your details spread far and wide. Don’t just sit in your hotel/motel room, friend’s house or Starbucks on free Wi-Fi sending your CV via online portals. It won’t work. Yes online search engines such as www.seek.com.au are useful and a good way to find jobs and employers but if you are sitting in Australia sending your CV out, you might as well be anywhere else in the world (refer to my point above).

Finally, there are a few rules around ‘selling yourself’ that you need to keep in mind, after all this is essentially the key to it all – marketing yourself effectively to employers.

Some do’s:

• Keep your CV simple, effective and relevant.

• Tailor your CV and cover letter to the role you are applying for.

• Build your LinkedIn profile and use this to network with people in the industry, but don’t ‘over-connect’.

• Research the companies you are applying to, find out who they are, what they do and their core business values and goals (you can usually find this all on their website).

• Contact industry associations or professional bodies as they may have a jobs board or ideas on how to reach fellow professionals.

• Prepare yourself for the call/walk in, show you are serious and have done the research.

• Be presentable, you can never ‘dress up’ at an interview if you are too casual; but you can dress down if your interviewers aren’t dressed as formally (remove the tie, jacket etc).

Some don’ts:

• Don’t add a photo to your CV, leave it out.

• Don’t overdo the task list in your CV’s. Keep it relatively short and focussed. Add in key achievements to show you not only can do the job but can do it well.

• Don’t add in qualifications that you haven’t finished. This is a particularly strange trait for many countries. If you didn’t complete a degree, you don’t have a degree.

• Don’t be over confident. Employers like confidence but not arrogance. Remember to talk about your skills and how you can accomplish the tasks required. You don’t have to talk about whether you met the queen or toured with Led Zeppelin.

• Don’t put anything on your CV that you can’t explain. Nothing goes against you more than not being able to recall details from your CV accurately and clearly.

There are many other tips and tools that we utilise in the job search process but ultimately it comes down to hard work, patience and knocking on as many doors as you can.

Finally, we here at Austral Migration Consultancy, truly believe that finding a job should be the least of your worries. The entire migration process is tailor made to ensure that should you qualify for a PR, your attributes and skill sets would make you highly employable in Australia.

If you are interested in migrating come speak to us at 03 5613 2800 or email us at migrate@australmigrate.com