National Account Manger/ Sales Job needed

[JoelBecci]

My husband and I are due to land in Adelaide in July. We have a 190 Visa and have both been applying for jobs for months.

 

I am a nurse - the only successful job I've been offered is with HCA and agency despite my experience in Recovery, medical and surgical units.

 

My husband has a law degree and has 6 years experience as an account manager and is currently working with key construction companies in the UK. He has the best sales record in his large team and is a very hard worker with a great Resume/CV.

Not one company has looked at his CV. When he has contacted recruitment agencies they say for him to come and see them when we arrive, but we were hoping to obtain a role before we arrive.

 

Can anyone suggest any companies or any reason why 2 skilled people are finding it extremely hard to find a job? I understand I will find a more secure job as time goes by so I am not to worried. But my husband is used to working in a high management role with a good wage and i worry he will find it hard and we will end up having to come back to the UK!!( NOOO!)

 

We have chosen Adelaide because we love the city and because we have a lot of family and freinds there.

 

Thanks

[NicF]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is you won't be here until July which is still 3 months away. Generally when recruiting employers want someone to start in the next few weeks not in three months time. It is possible to obtain work from the UK - my OH did - but you are likely to have more success nearer to your departure date.

[JoelBecci]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is you won't be here until July which is still 3 months away. Generally when recruiting employers want someone to start in the next few weeks not in three months time. It is possible to obtain work from the UK - my OH did - but you are likely to have more success nearer to your departure date.

 

 

Hey,

 

Thank you so much for your reply, yes I can understand the 3 month issue however if OZ is anything like the UK then after several interviews and police checks and all the a paper work it takes several weeks to actually start.

Everyone says its not what you know, but who you know and that the job market is slow? is that the case? because even with the recession here we both kept and got good jobs.

I will try closer to the date and when we arrive, its just been a shock to us as we've never had issues with getting jobs. and were so desperate to make it work

 

thanks

[NicF]

A lot of employers here don't like taking risks and the fact you are not here is a risk to them. Especially given the fact the current job market means there are lots of people actually here applying for roles. While the recruitment process can take a while it rarely takes three months. And there is definitely an element of needing to be known here - lots of people start as temp, casual or fixed term contract employees before getting permenant work.

 

My OH was recently involved in recruiting someone at his work and he immediately discounted the overseas people because it wasn't clear from their applications when they would be moving or even if they had the right to live and work in Australia. When you apply for a job make sure you are clear about when you will be arriving in Australia and the fact you already have visas with work rights. The other thing to be aware of is if there is selection criteria with job adverts it is important in your application to address these selection criteria in detail. An A4 sheet of paper with each criteria as a heading and a paragraph or two explaining how you meet it and giving examples of how you have done that thing in your working life is the kind of thing that will help. And sell yourselves. Job applications are no time for modesty in Australia.

[soo_the_panda]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is you won't be here until July which is still 3 months away. Generally when recruiting employers want someone to start in the next few weeks not in three months time. It is possible to obtain work from the UK - my OH did - but you are likely to have more success nearer to your departure date.

 

Hi, I understand what you mean that it takes several weeks to start - but that still doesn't mean job vacancies for July will exist now. If it takes say a month to re-write a job spec, advertise it for two weeks then schedule interviews, then most jobs that will be available in July onwards won't exist yet - eg people who will leave their jobs to make those vacancies available will have not yet resigned...

 

I agree that in Aus you need to sell yourself more than in the UK - and also make very clear, in simple terms, high up on your CV that you have the right to work here. Don't confuse employers will details of visas etc - most have no idea - just a simple 'Permanent resident - full rights to work in South Australia' or similar. Also, using an Aus address will work in your favour too if you are able to?

 

Finally, whilst Adelaide is a small place and who you know can certainly help, it is by no means the only way to find a job. Out of four long ish term jobs I've had here, only one has been a word of mouth recommendation from a previous employer - the other three have all been applications direct to adverts. I also recommend calling employers to make yourself stand out, not just submitting a CV with likely 100 other people. Good luck and don't stress!

[Diane]

If your OH is in Sales his best bet is probably to wait till you get here then get out and sell himself to employers. However good a resume is, a sales person probably has much better face-to-face skills. Make sure you have enough money to tide you over for a while when you get here for a few months.

 

On the downside, the Adelaide job market is a very different one from the UK - particularly at the moment - so he may need to be prepared to take a step back (or several steps back) and start in a much lower position to start with than High Management with a good wage, to 'prove' himself. He should be prepared for the fact that employers here may not consider his experience in another country to be totally relevant, particularly when competing with more local, home-bred candidates. For more senior roles especially, companies are wary of getting their fingers burned and spending time and money recruiting a migrant, only to have that person fail to settle here for whatever reason and head back to the UK within a short time, leaving them in the lurch and out of pocket! However confident you are that it will all work out fine, until you get here you won't really know for sure and that is what an employer will have to consider.

[KennyKen]

Just avoid a thread called "considering leaving SA"

[Jessica Berry]

My husband and I are due to land in Adelaide in July. We have a 190 Visa and have both been applying for jobs for months.

 

I am a nurse - the only successful job I've been offered is with HCA and agency despite my experience in Recovery, medical and surgical units.

 

My husband has a law degree and has 6 years experience as an account manager and is currently working with key construction companies in the UK. He has the best sales record in his large team and is a very hard worker with a great Resume/CV.

Not one company has looked at his CV. When he has contacted recruitment agencies they say for him to come and see them when we arrive, but we were hoping to obtain a role before we arrive.

 

Can anyone suggest any companies or any reason why 2 skilled people are finding it extremely hard to find a job? I understand I will find a more secure job as time goes by so I am not to worried. But my husband is used to working in a high management role with a good wage and i worry he will find it hard and we will end up having to come back to the UK!!( NOOO!)

 

We have chosen Adelaide because we love the city and because we have a lot of family and freinds there.

 

Thanks

 

I am wondering where your perception comes from that as 2 skilled migrants your belief seems to be you should both be offered good, permanent jobs with high salaries before leaving the UK and you are both shocked this hasn't happened. I am not having a go, I am just interested where this expectation has come from.

[traygo]

Maybe because jobs are to far between here in SA and Adelaide ATM... Very tight job market..

[Guest Guest14361]

Maybe because jobs are to far between here in SA and Adelaide ATM... Very tight job market..

 

couple of years ago my old boss got transferred across to Sydney promotion, he's just been made redundant, he typed into seek .com his job he was looking for, results came up Sydney 102 ....Adelaide 1

[JoelBecci]

Thank you for your advice I shall apply your suggestions to our resume!

[JoelBecci]

I suppose as a Nurse you are told constantly your in demand and will have no issues. I have a good degree and good experience in specialist areas and i thought i would at least get one call back. My husband I'm not surprised he's found it harder but to have not one response i just find odd. but after being explained how the system works etc i can now understand (sort of)

Maybe its just that neither of us have ever had a problem securing a job ..... i suppose were both about to have a reality check

[Lazy Cow]

I

Maybe its just that neither of us have ever had a problem securing a job ..... i suppose were both about to have a reality check

 

You might not . You might get over here, and find you both slip into a job quite easily.

 

I think it's a fair leap of faith for a company to get excited about employing people who are still halfway across the world, so I wouldn't worry yet.

 

Try using Australian contact details, if your friends and family can lend / set you up with an email address, modify your resume, and relax.

 

LC

 

(But cover all possibilities and make sure you have a financial safety net...just in case!)

[spanners]

As already mentioned, the jobs are here but you're not. When theres more applicants than jobs why would an employer consider someone who's yet to arrive? I know it sounds harsh but thats how it is. Make contacts and links and then really work on them when you arrive.

[Jessica Berry]

I suppose as a Nurse you are told constantly your in demand and will have no issues. I have a good degree and good experience in specialist areas and i thought i would at least get one call back.

 

Who has told you in Adelaide that you will be constantly in demand and have no issues? HR/Managers in the hospitals here? Recruitment agencies based in Adelaide specialising in your field? Your friends and family already based in Adelaide? Have you seen multiple job adverts in Adelaide for your specific skills? Are these permanent jobs? Casual work is very common in Australia and the Aussies have a different attitude towards casual work (imo) compared to people in the UK. Would you be happy to work on a casual basis for an extended period of time (some people work for years as casuals) with no guarantee of hours, no sick pay, public holiday pay, annual leave, but a higher rate to compensate this?

 

I am not saying you and your husband wont find work, but you need to be careful about making generalisations and assumptions. Often people get caught up in the notion of 'living the dream' and dismiss anything they don't want to hear. I met up with a couple on a reccie a while ago that wanted a honest opinion of their work situation. They had previously been advised at an expo in the UK they would both earn high salaries and would both have no trouble finding work. I totally disagreed with the advice they had been given, the husband worked in a dying industry in Adelaide and the wife was likely to earn half what she had been advised. They had a high standard of living in the UK and the husband had a good well paid job. They stated they would only move if he was offered a job beforehand. I never say never because I have seen people gain work in Adelaide through all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, but the chances in my opinion were very slim. To date they haven't come.

 

I am not sure how long you have been researching the Adelaide job market, but there has been many posts over the past few years about people facing difficulties finding work (on this site and poms in oz). We also watched Wanted Down Under last year when we were in the UK for a holiday and that featured a nurse (from memory) along with others and imo it painted a realistic picture of the current job market - did you watch those episodes?

 

Maybe its just that neither of us have ever had a problem securing a job ..... i suppose were both about to have a reality check

 

If you have family and friends here already you have an advantage that a lot of people don't have. They should be able to offer you moral support and advice and guidance. If your husband can sell ice to an eskimo he should have no problem selling himself and gaining work.

 

Most of us have all been in the same position. We arrive with no jobs. Some people thrive on the challenge and are determined to make it work, others struggle if things do not fall into place straight away and find it difficult to cope with setbacks. Starting a new life from scratch can be hard and it isn't for everyone, but I believe Adelaide still has a lot to offer people (depending on your circumstances), but people need to do their research.