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I just don't get it


belaroy

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I have been back in Oz for almost 2 years now and I am absolutely fed up with the job situation here. I am an ex Police Officer with 7 years experience and welder/ fabricator previous to that. I got a job here within 2 months of arriving and still in it. It is mining based ( not on site but manufacturing for mines) and I cannot for the life of me get a better paid/ rewarding job. I have mostly applied for Govt jobs and have had only 2 or 3 interviews from about 15 applications. I will concede at the very beginning my CV may have been not 100% up to scratch but I had it professionally reworked and now looks great - I can say this as I recently was tasked with taking on a new member of staff and saw the very low calibre of CV layout that was sent to me.

Most Govt jobs have criteria to address using the STAR method which I can do fairly well, yet still I wont get an interview. One interview I went to for an admin officer for NSW Police I was asked 4 set questions - are they serious ?? or was the job already gone ?? how could you possibly recruit someone after asking 4 simples questions without probing further into their work/life history ???

I am not in any way saying that I am the best person for every job but to get such little response is quite hard to accept. I spoke with a family member who works for a federal agency and was told there are a lot of internal moves happening which begs the question why advertise the job if it is earmarked for an internal member of staff.

 

Am I the only one getting this ?? if I am then so be it I am not up to scratch and can work on it. Most times when I ask for feedback I get the old " although your application was of a high standard it was not considered for the position or some crap"

 

I have considered my skills were not the same as Oz skills so forked out for Oz certs but sill no luck,

 

is anyone else finding this??

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I worked for 4 years in WA state government and that sounds like a very standard recruitment procedure - it doesn't mean the job is gone and believe me it is as frustrating as the recruiting manager to be restricted to a few set questions.

 

I can totally recommend this book http://writeawinningjobapplication.com.au

 

I would also recommend asking for feedback - you will usually get an opportunity to speak to the person who did the selection from applications and/or interviewed you. It may point to somewhere you are going wrong. I have also subsequently employed people who asked for feedback because they were able to fill in what appeared to be gaps in their experience from their application and I remembered them when I was recruiting again. It also boded well when there second application had taken on board the feedback - the kind of person I want to employ is someone who seeks feedback and acts on it!

 

15 jobs is actually not that many so chin up and keep going!

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Hi belaroy, sorry to hear about your situation. I too am an ex officer but only of 3 years experience that being in Brixton mind so longer in real terms due to the amount of crap u deal with :-).

 

Prior to that I worked as a senior level PA in London and I've applied for admin jobs here and not even had a bloody reply! I'm now just waiting to apply for the nsw police force as I missed out on the recruitment date last year as they closed recruitment. All going well I will be back in training this year/next year. I personally think it's a lot to do with being an ex copper . That's all I can put it down to as I never had any problems getting work in London and always had temp work in between my permanent jobs prior to the police. Would you ever consider going back into policing or are you over the politics of it all?

 

As Churchill said "if you are in he'll keep going" :-)

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geeez catlover1, I had thought I had put Policing to bed, over dealing with **** end of society on a daily basis and politics too. I am mates with a copper and he is just as jaded as I was and we have come to the same conclusion that the job sucks but pays well. I think I will seriously have to consider it again as we cant get a mortgage on my wage now and cant get anything better. We are classed as rural here but my concern is being posted to the middle of nowhere and have to jack it in before I started as I will not be travelling 8 hours to work for the week.... I have looked at becoming a PI and have got the certificate to go ahead but the majority work on a subcontract basis which I cant do as I need to rely on a regular wage.....

I think I need to bring up policing again with my god wife and hope she doesn't hit me or kill me with her dagger eyes as we have really become accustomed to weekends and tea time as a family....

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It takes me up to six months, and countless applications to get jobs, but that is just the way it goes. I assume my age does count against me, but I don't have many qualifications. I usually pick up data entry jobs, and have had a contract with the ATO for the last couple of years, come the end of the financial years.

 

Maybe try different jobs, do the barista course and the RSA, and look for cafe/bar work?

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geeez catlover1, I had thought I had put Policing to bed, over dealing with **** end of society on a daily basis and politics too. I am mates with a copper and he is just as jaded as I was and we have come to the same conclusion that the job sucks but pays well. I think I will seriously have to consider it again as we cant get a mortgage on my wage now and cant get anything better. We are classed as rural here but my concern is being posted to the middle of nowhere and have to jack it in before I started as I will not be travelling 8 hours to work for the week.... I have looked at becoming a PI and have got the certificate to go ahead but the majority work on a subcontract basis which I cant do as I need to rely on a regular wage.....

I think I need to bring up policing again with my god wife and hope she doesn't hit me or kill me with her dagger eyes as we have really become accustomed to weekends and tea time as a family....

Have a look at AFP - they will require some time on the streets but then you have access to the national squads and initiatives. Much better in the long tun than mopping up drunks on a Saturday night.

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There are a lot of rules around recruiting in government agencies that mean roles have to be advertised externally even if you have an internal person that you want to give the job to. It can take a while to break in to that kind of environment and usually will come from starting as a temp or on a fixed term contract. Keep at it, one of those positions won't have an internal person marked for it eventually.

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MaryRose2 no disrespect but would an ex copper be willing to do bar/barista work?Can you get a morgage on that?Belaroy:Is'nt your mining job well paid enough for a morgage?

 

I suppose that depends on whether you prefer to be working in any job than not having one at all, and once you have one job, there's not quite the pressure to get another. Besides, you start at the bottom and who knows where it will lead? Young-ish bloke in the pub down the road from me started off as a barman, and now he is the licensee/manager.

 

There are plenty of young blokes working in the same place as me, who have degrees and want to start their professional careers in accountancy/architecture/business. Two of them are into their third year working at the ATO, building up experience, adding to their CV's.

 

My nephew got a job in a club here in Sydney, which he has been doing for eighteen months now, since he finished his business degree. He actually loves the place, and I told him he could aim for career in club management.

 

And I never planned to be doing casual data entry, but that's all I can get, and I am not eligible for the dole. I'm not 'precious' about it, and when I'm not working, I also take great delight in telling people who ask what I do? Nothing!

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I have been back in Oz for almost 2 years now and I am absolutely fed up with the job situation here. I am an ex Police Officer with 7 years experience and welder/ fabricator previous to that. I got a job here within 2 months of arriving and still in it. It is mining based ( not on site but manufacturing for mines) and I cannot for the life of me get a better paid/ rewarding job. I have mostly applied for Govt jobs and have had only 2 or 3 interviews from about 15 applications. I will concede at the very beginning my CV may have been not 100% up to scratch but I had it professionally reworked and now looks great - I can say this as I recently was tasked with taking on a new member of staff and saw the very low calibre of CV layout that was sent to me.

Most Govt jobs have criteria to address using the STAR method which I can do fairly well, yet still I wont get an interview. One interview I went to for an admin officer for NSW Police I was asked 4 set questions - are they serious ?? or was the job already gone ?? how could you possibly recruit someone after asking 4 simples questions without probing further into their work/life history ???

I am not in any way saying that I am the best person for every job but to get such little response is quite hard to accept. I spoke with a family member who works for a federal agency and was told there are a lot of internal moves happening which begs the question why advertise the job if it is earmarked for an internal member of staff.

 

Am I the only one getting this ?? if I am then so be it I am not up to scratch and can work on it. Most times when I ask for feedback I get the old " although your application was of a high standard it was not considered for the position or some crap"

 

I have considered my skills were not the same as Oz skills so forked out for Oz certs but sill no luck,

 

is anyone else finding this??

 

Completely - I got 3 interviews following 3 applications. They had to (I think) call me for interview as I did EXACTLY the same job for 8 years in the UK so ticked all the critea boxes. I was told off the record they appoint internally first so basically it doesnt matter how good you perform....no chance. Sooo you have to wait until youre up against only external applicants ?

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Hi all ,

I need help from all of kind people here. I am from India and my husband is on 457 visa in Melbourne. Guys, I am graduated in arts and diploma in architecture. I am not good at speaking but good in learning new work. I will be in Melbourne in few days. I am worried how to get a good job there. Can u help me that what kind of jobs should I prefer?

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I suppose that depends on whether you prefer to be working in any job than not having one at all, and once you have one job, there's not quite the pressure to get another. Besides, you start at the bottom and who knows where it will lead? Young-ish bloke in the pub down the road from me started off as a barman, and now he is the licensee/manager.

 

There are plenty of young blokes working in the same place as me, who have degrees and want to start their professional careers in accountancy/architecture/business. Two of them are into their third year working at the ATO, building up experience, adding to their CV's.

 

My nephew got a job in a club here in Sydney, which he has been doing for eighteen months now, since he finished his business degree. He actually loves the place, and I told him he could aim for career in club management.

 

And I never planned to be doing casual data entry, but that's all I can get, and I am not eligible for the dole. I'm not 'precious' about it, and when I'm not working, I also take great delight in telling people who ask what I do? Nothing!

 

 

The OP has a job though - manufacturing based for the mining industry so hospitality work is unlikely to be better paid or more rewarding.

 

If the OP was unemployed though I'd wholeheartedly agree with you.

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Hi all ,

I need help from all of kind people here. I am from India and my husband is on 457 visa in Melbourne. Guys, I am graduated in arts and diploma in architecture. I am not good at speaking but good in learning new work. I will be in Melbourne in few days. I am worried how to get a good job there. Can u help me that what kind of jobs should I prefer?

 

You might be better posting a thread of your own but I would suggest you get a basic level job where you get lots of contact with the public to improve your listening and speaking skills. Retail or hospitality work maybe?

 

If you have general ICT skills then possibly try a temp agency but you may end up in roles where you aren't communicating much and the key to a professional career will be confidence in speaking English.

 

Good luck!

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I have been back in Oz for almost 2 years now and I am absolutely fed up with the job situation here. I am an ex Police Officer with 7 years experience and welder/ fabricator previous to that. I got a job here within 2 months of arriving and still in it. It is mining based ( not on site but manufacturing for mines) and I cannot for the life of me get a better paid/ rewarding job. I have mostly applied for Govt jobs and have had only 2 or 3 interviews from about 15 applications. I will concede at the very beginning my CV may have been not 100% up to scratch but I had it professionally reworked and now looks great - I can say this as I recently was tasked with taking on a new member of staff and saw the very low calibre of CV layout that was sent to me.

Most Govt jobs have criteria to address using the STAR method which I can do fairly well, yet still I wont get an interview. One interview I went to for an admin officer for NSW Police I was asked 4 set questions - are they serious ?? or was the job already gone ?? how could you possibly recruit someone after asking 4 simples questions without probing further into their work/life history ???

I am not in any way saying that I am the best person for every job but to get such little response is quite hard to accept. I spoke with a family member who works for a federal agency and was told there are a lot of internal moves happening which begs the question why advertise the job if it is earmarked for an internal member of staff.

 

Am I the only one getting this ?? if I am then so be it I am not up to scratch and can work on it. Most times when I ask for feedback I get the old " although your application was of a high standard it was not considered for the position or some crap"

 

I have considered my skills were not the same as Oz skills so forked out for Oz certs but sill no luck,

 

is anyone else finding this??

 

You are not alone mate... will send you a pm:policeman:

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Mopping up drunks can be fun though :-) I wanted to apply for the AFP but I'm only on my green ps so can't. Roll on next Friday when I start my nsw police application! I've waited a bloody year! Mad or what :-) yeah pay is good in the police and unless u are a complete idiot it's a steady job and good salary. :-)

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