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A selection of articles all about job searching in Australia. Not only for migrants - this job search advice applies to everyone.

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The Two Biggest Problems for Migrant Job Seekers

Last modified on 2009-03-03 23:00:09 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Employers all complain about two major things when it comes to employing migrant job seekers.

One is a reasonable complaint - the other is just short sighted.

Lack of English language skills

This is a reasonable complaint. More than 50% of all migrants to Australia have poor to disgusting spoken English skills. Even though you might have passed the IELTS test to get into Australia what many don’t realise is that IELTS is very poor at assessing spoken language.

Coupled with the fact that often your first contact with an employer is via phone only makes matters worse.

You must get up to speed with conversational English. How? …..

  • Go to specialist lessons
  • Place yourself in situations where English must be spoken
  • Speak English at home
  • Socialise with your neighbours
  • Search the internet for English pronunciation courses

Quick English Tips

  • Open your mouth more
  • Use your tongue and lips fully - watch Mr Bean!
  • Speak s-l-o-w-l-y
  • Listen properly and mimic
  • Correct yourself - friends won’t tell you
  • Practice continually

See this starter list of migrant English language resources. There are a number of Government supported programs to help pay for the costs of tuition - but only for certain Visa categories. If you don’t qualify for Govt supported tuition then your only option is to pay. Costs range from $500 to $5000 dollars. We have designed this English language course for migrants in South Australia and Victoria for paid tuition starting at $1100 - it could be right for you.

I guarantee that you will not get the job you want and reach your full potential without good spoken English. Start doing something about it today.

Lack of local work experience

I think this is a largely unreasonable employer complaint and is often used as an excuse to fob you off.

Lets face it, 2+2=4 everywhere in the world, the same laws of physics apply, good customer service is the same the world over. There are a few specialist jobs for which local experience, qualifications and licensing are mandatory but not in the main.

But you are never going to change that employer attitude in the short term - so get local experience. How? ….

  • Volunteer
  • Work for free on a project or team
  • Offer yourself for ‘work experience’ or an internship
  • Do any job to get references

But there is a trick to this. When you put that work on your resume or talk about it never mention that it was ‘only’ volunteer, casual, contract, work experience or for free. That immediately demeans the value of the work and makes it almost irrelevant to the employer. Don’t lie and say it was something else but simply write or state “I did X for Y” and leave it at that. Most employers will take that at face value and assume it was a ‘proper’ job!

So work hard on your language, practice continually, work at volunteering or some other useful activity and in about 4-8 weeks you will be well on your way to overcoming the 2 major barriers to migrant employment.

Happy job hunting!