Contents:

1. Working down under before the recession
2. How the recession has impacted work opportunities in Australia
3. Working down under in today’s market
4. A list of ways to make you more appealing to the Australian employer
5. Summary

Working Down Under before the recession:

Note: To an Australian company an overseas worker is classed as anyone who is not a permanent resident or citizen in Australia. This includes people on a one year working holiday visa also know as backpackers regardless of  whether you are backpacking or staying in one place for the duration of your visa, and also people who are looking for sponsorship by an Australian company (457 visa employees).

Before the recession begun Australia was in a boom time in several states, with only 4% unemployment (Most of which was people who were unemployable or just did not want to work) for the rest of the population is was a great time where you could change jobs frequently and in many cases get a pay increase from your next employer.

For the overseas worker Australia was the land of opportunity much like America was 100 years ago. For a Skilled overseas worker it was relatively easy to get a one year working holiday visa (once you were 18 – 30 years old) and find a job, Those over 30 years old were capable of getting sponsored by an Australian company. In many parts of Australia companies were advertising at the airports and skilled people were welcomed and employed shortly after they arrived. Others were recruited from their country of origin.

For unskilled workers on a one year working holiday visa there were many job opportunities as fruit pickers, labourers, bar workers and so on.

Although in some cases the skilled & unskilled Backpacker was not looked at as an ideal employee as they tended to be unreliable and they could only be employed for 6 months by anyone company, but the fact that Australia had so much work and lacked in so many skill sets the backpacker was still employed in many cases, with skilled backpackers often being offered sponsorship after a trial period with the company.

Basically work was plenty full and times were pretty good for the overseas worker.

Note: Sponsoring employees has often been undesirable by Australian companies due to the strict rules for employment set by the Department of Immigration, but never the less many companies who were capable of sponsoring did so out of necessity.

How the recession has impacted work opportunities in Australia

When the global recession hit things in Australia changed dramatically. Many companies started to shed large amounts of their staff, with temporary staff usually the first to go (Temporary staff were in many cases staff hired from recruitment/labour hire companies). Eventually when all the temps were let go the Australian companies had no choice to start letting go of their permanent staff including their 457 visa workers. Tens of thousands of Skilled 457 visa workers were let go in a relatively short period of time. This for Australia fortunately did not affect the Australian unemployment statistics as 457 visa workers are not entitled to social welfare payment and many were forced to pack up and move home.

For the first time since the eighties Australia had large amounts of unemployed Australian people in the market looking for work, so Australian companies that were still employing had a fantastic opportunity to employ quality Australian staff without having to consider looking at the overseas employee market. Also Australian companies were targeting Australian employees only as Australian’s in general have a very strong loyalty to their country and countrymen and wanted to ensure that the unemployed Australian was given first preference over the overseas worker.

Many overseas workers may say that Australians were being discriminative; others would say that they were just being self preservationists, either way things in Australia have changed since the recession begun and the overseas worker in most cases is now fighting an uphill battle when looking for employment in Australia.

“It’s not all doom and gloom down under” Although we are going through a global recession Australia is still well positioned compared to the rest of the western world, often boasting that they have been the least affected westernized country. Australia is rich in minerals and oil and gas and has strong ties with China as well as a strong property market compared to many other western countries. Their Prime Minister Mr. Kevin Rudd also introduced a stimulus package which debatably has had a positive effect on the Australian economy, which when all added up has managed to keep Australia in reasonably good comparative economic standing with an unemployment rate of 5.8 in July 2009.  (Remembering that Australia in boom time had an unemployment rate of about 4%)

The fact that Australia was capable of shedding their overseas employees while not effecting unemployment statistics and the fact that they had so many jobs available for Australians to jump into has also helped to keep their unemployment rate only 1.8% above norm. In fact there are over 100,000 available jobs being advertised in Australia today.

Working down under in today’s market

Finding a job in Australia has rarely been so difficult but it is certainly not impossible even for people on a one year working holiday visa although those who have a chance to get sponsored are mainly people whose occupations are on the “Australian Critical Skills List”. The most employable people are Australian Permanent Residents and Australian Citizens.

Before the recession recruitment companies were an excellent place to find work in the Australian market but now the recruitment companies are struggling to win jobs as their clients are being inundated with candidates CVs directly and are effectively  bypassing the recruitment companies altogether. The fact that companies during a recession try their best to save money compounds the problem for the recruitment company as their clients are now not in need of their services and are more than happy to avoid paying recruitment company fees.

For example:

Let’s say  two different but equally experienced Hair Dressers from Ireland arrive in Australia (John and Mary) – now for example only lets say that currently there are loads of Hair Dressers looking for work in Australia and only a limited amount of positions available.

Now let’s say John goes to 5 recruitment companies and the recruitment companies send his CV to 50 Hair Salons – if any of the 50 Hair Salons now what to hire John they will need to pay a fee to the recruitment company. Now these Hair Salons are currently being inundated with CVs from people in person eg: People walking into the Salon and handing in a CV directly to the Manager, or people emailing CVs directly to the Salons email address. Let’s say Mary was one of these people.

Now If you were a Hair Salon Manager and you got two equally good Hair Dresser CVs, one from a recruitment company (Fee required to be paid) and one from the Hair Dresser in person (No Fee required to be paid), which Hair Dresser would you hire?

Now add in the fact that every company is penny pinching due to the recession and you can see that John who went with the recruitment company does not have a chance of being employed compared to Mary who does.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................

So in today’s market the person who applies directly to companies has a better chance of being employed. The person who has a quality CV displaying their skills and experience has an even better chance of being employed, and the person who has all of the above plus Australian Recognized licenses/qualifications is the most likely to be employed. Note: the Permanent Australian Resident or Australian citizen with all of the above will almost always get first preference.

Due to the fact that there are unemployed Australian’s also looking for work in the market the overseas employee now has a lot more job competition, when you add this to the fact that Australian companies love Australian qualifications or Australian recognized qualifications. They will almost always choose the person with Australian or Australian recognized qualifications before the person with just overseas qualifications.

This means that getting your overseas skills and qualifications recognized has never been so important in regards to finding a job in the Australian market. Unfortunately for many occupations this can take 2 – 6 months but on the up side in most cases it can be done before you arrive in Australia.

Temporary work such as general labouring was one of the best avenues for unskilled overseas workers in Australia before the recession. This type of work was usually through a recruitment agency or labour hire company and was in abundance. Unfortunately this work was one of the first hit by the recession with many companies choosing to let go of their temporary staff as their first move to combat the effects of the recession, meaning a lot of these positions no longer exist for overseas workers to apply for. Note: Not all temporary positions are gone but there is a lot less than usual. Again the unskilled worker with a quality CV who is making applications directly to companies stands more of a chance of being employed. If a company is still using a recruitment agency to supply their temporary staff they will usually let you know if and when you apply to them directly and they will also be happy to tell you which recruitment company you should speak too.

Fruit picking is still a good source of work for the backpacker in Australia, yes its hard work but it is a job, it makes you money for your travels and is quite easy to get. Note: working rural in a job such as fruit picking for a period of 3 months will make you eligible for a 2^nd years working holiday visa.

Here is a list of ways to make you more appealing to the Australian employer:

1. Have a quality CV that displays your skills and experience in a format which Australian employers will understand and relate too.
2. Apply to companies directly.
3. Have your qualifications Australian recognized and make sure it says that on your CV
4. If your trade/profession needs an Australian licence, get the licensing process started long before you move to Australia – many can take 3 -6 months.
5. If you are really certain you want to make a go of it in Australia then check if you are eligible for permanent residency and consider applying for it – the Permanent Resident will almost always be more employable then the One Year Working Holiday Maker.
6. Buy a car as soon as you arrive, this will increase the area you can apply for work in and the types of jobs you can apply for. Australia is a big place and many jobs are not reachable by public transport.
7. Do some market research before you go and find out where there may be job opportunities for your skill sets, be prepared to work in a rural area if necessary.
8. Try to organize interviews with Australian companies before you leave home.

Summary:

Australia is still one of the most attractive destinations for Irish people today. There are currently more work opportunities in Australia than almost any other western country. Australia offers a fantastic lifestyle and standard of living and they have many openings for skilled workers to emigrate permanently. Due to the excellent Irish education system many Irish people are now highly skilled making many eligible for permanent residency.

The fact that Ireland is far deeper in recession than Australia and that Ireland looks like it is in it for the long run means anyone can see why Irish people would consider moving to the Land Down Under.

This article has been supplied by Jason Greene from Skill Shortage Solutions – Australian Employment & Migration Experts.

To learn more about Australian CVs, Australian Employment, Australian Trade Recognition, Australian licensing and migrating to Australia, go to: www.skillshortagesolutions.net