Just arrived on a Working Holiday Visa and wondering why your phone isn’t ringing off the hook?
First things first……… have you updated your resume with an Australian number? No matter how good your CV and experience are, you’ll never get that call if you haven’t. As a temporary and contract recruitment consultant, speed is of the essence, so finding the perfect CV with a number that doesn’t work or is a digit short is frustrating, to say the least. The temporary and contract market moves quickly, as do us recruiters, and picking up the phone is our first point of contact. You need to “be in it to win it”.
So, before hitting “upload my CV” on any recruitment websites, here are my top tips to enhance your job search and secure a job opportunity down under.
- The correct contact details are essential - add your suburb as well as your mobile number. Knowing where you are based can be useful, especially if you are reliant on public transport. There’s no point asking you about an assignment that you’ll need to take three buses, a train and a ferry to get to.
- When are you available from and to? Include your visa type and expiry date. Your Visa may be for a year but if you’re only planning to stay in our city for a month or two, we’ll need to look for short term roles, not a six month contract.
- Include the location of your previous roles – London, Paris, etc. It’s advisable to also add a link to the website of your previous employers so that we can get a better feel for the type and size or organisations you worked with previously, especially if they are not household names in Australia.
- Interview attire. Make sure you have pack something suitable that is professional and corporate. If not, head to the shops. First Impressions are everything.
- Always format your job duties in bullet points, no one wants to be trawling through chunky paragraphs to decipher previous experience. Although there are different expectations with resumes in some parts of the world, the basics always apply. Keep your resume clear, concise and relevant.
- Pick up the phone and call us – not all our jobs are advertised so you might miss out by not making that introduction call. Research – which recruiter specialises in what sector? You want to be making the right calls to the right people.
- LinkedIn is an amazing tool so use it to your advantage. Ensure your profile is up to date. Recommendations from former bosses, colleagues and clients can be beneficial.
- Keep your phone on! Don’t wait to return a recruiter’s call. If you can call us straight away. Temp jobs especially can be here one minute and gone the next.
Working holiday visas enable young professionals to gain excellent experience whilst travelling the world. They are often an adventure of a lifetime. Make sure you’re set up for success and that nothing is going to stop your phone from ringing.
