According to a consultancy expert for migrants, even the most successful people in the United States would not be able to find work in Australia. This is because they don't have local experience. This is because Australian employers value local experience more than their Western counterparts.
As Australia's economy continues to flourish, many job opportunities open up for not only local employees but also foreign skilled workers. The latter group though would lag far behind in fully realizing openings in the bountiful job market because of their lack of local experience.
This parochial thinking as to employment experience has been thought to be due to the geographic isolation, leading many to view work experience overseas with a tinge of suspicion. One of the worries is the communication skill of the employee seeking employment Down Under. Second would be the difficulty with assessing the overseas experience of the individual worker.
In order to overcome this, it would be best for the migrant applicant to provide background as to the places that they have worked. This includes describing the challenges and goals of the business where they were formerly part of. This would help provide context for Australian employers who are quite conservative in their employment choices as well as avoiding risk that may affect their businesses in the long run.
Another issue would be the need to be flexible with regards to employment opportunities in a different industry from their employment in their home country. These major differences even go into the workplace setting where Aussie sayings and expressions often become misinterpreted. This can be further exacerbated with the different body language and customs.
This can be as simple as a handshake and eye contact to come in for a chat being misconstrued as an informal discussion but would actually be a formal interview. Even for an interview, the cultural differences regarding eye contact can lead to inaccurate determination of lack of confidence, lack of interest or even being untruthful. In many migrant's cultures, looking directly at the eye of the interviewer is a sign of disrespect, thus the issue and the many misconceptions as to the capability and capacity of the applicant.
Thus it is highly advised that a migrant be able to overcome old customs and traditions to be able to adjust to the Australian way of doing business and social interaction. Adaptability, together with communications skills and a background similar to the business they are applying to can help the migrant in landing a good job Down Under.
Bobby Castro is the online editor at the Australia Forum, where he has published a number of articles about jobs for immigrants and many other topics.
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