How Do I Get A Job? (University Student Full Time)

• 

  Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 30/12/2015 - 13:15

  Well, you have no experience… can't expect them to hire and pay you if you have no experience, qualifications or past work history in the industry.

  Try your careers or faculty at Uni for unpaid placements, traineeships etc.

  • 

    Tuttorix on 30/12/2015 - 13:55

    But I figured that with a different industry work experience for over a year would at least somehow suffice. I mean, it's insane how I can't get even a medical receptionist job working at minimum wage -.-

    • 

      Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 30/12/2015 - 14:14

      +1

      Supply and demand.

      It's not insane at all. Why would they employ you when there are a dozen other applicants with experience or qualifications?

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 31/12/2015 - 14:48

      +1

      Medical receptionist are mostly supplied by agencies that specialise in that line of work.

      Your best shot is going to one and getting some temp placements to start with

      • 

        Tuttorix on 31/12/2015 - 15:14

        How do I go to an agency exactly? And how would I find one?

• 

  jimbobaus on 30/12/2015 - 13:21

  My friend was in a similar situation than you
  He contacted places around his home and offered his services for free… after a few weeks working at a local surgery he was put on the payroll.

• 

  pao2x on 30/12/2015 - 13:59

  Have you tried NSW erecruit (or whichever state you are in)? They hire a lot of allied health, even regular college students for ward clerks wardsperson etc
  What kind of allied health are you studying for?

  • 

    Tuttorix on 30/12/2015 - 14:00

    Nursing. And i've been using NSW E-Recruit for the past couple of weeks. No luck as of yet.

    • 

      pao2x on 30/12/2015 - 14:47

      +4

      First off nursing is not allied health, it's Nursing, 60% of the health workforce. If you're doing nursing might as well get into the gritty stuff now. AINs are in demand and it would help you apply later for a job after you finish. I would not normally recommend AIN as even a cleaner gets a few bucks more and the job is sometimes downright impossible, but it will look nice on the resume.

      And a 2nd year RN student technically has an AIN qualification already.

• 

  rambutann on 30/12/2015 - 15:08

  +1

  I was in a similar situation to yourself, uni student wanting to work in their field of study.

  I obtained full time work at the end of my second year of study (studying Logistics and Supply Chain Management).

  My previous experience was entirely in hospitality so that was even less useful than your admin experience.

  Whilst the job I obtained wasn't classified as the 'best' job, I did learn a lot.. (I was on minimum wage). After a year I decided to resign as I had that experience and I wanted to see what was out there. I recently obtained a job at Qantas in the field that I study in.. and I still haven't completed my studies.

  My advise:

  • I'm not sure whether you are only looking at casual/part time/full time work but my suggestion is to look at them all! (including contract roles). Even if it means decreasing study levels in order to work full time. I myself studied a bunch of units through open universities that I will just credit back to my degree on campus (I completed 6 units this year fairly easy working full time and studying through OUA).

  • Its not about what you know, its about how you come across as a person. Confidence without being cocky and friendliness without being mega professional tends to work for me.. I struggle to get interviews, but once I do 9/10 I am offered the job.

  • Professional communication on the phone/in emails etc.
    I found that I receive a higher rate of response if I directly email a company as my personality is much more evident than it is on my resume.

  • Look broader, maybe even apply for jobs that you believe are out of your skill set. Doesnt always work but it could.. Maybe look into working with a health insurance company? I know its not directly related but it looks better than nothing.. I could be completely wrong I have no idea about your industry im just throwing ideas out there.

  • Is there a course you can do to become a medical assistant? I know you can do a 6 week course to become a dental assistant, thought there might be something available along those lines.

  • If you are foreign, try and make yourself look as Australian as possible on a resume. I know this sounds racist as all hell but I have watched resumes of Asians tossed due to the fact that they come across as so asian. All a company wants is somebody who can fit into their organizational culture as easily as possible.

  Essentially I know it sucks but you just need to keep apply for jobs - you have experience in admin so somebody will hire you. There will be somebody who sees it and goes 'yay I can cheap the hell out and pay this person minimum wage'. Maybe also be a tad more flexible with the location of employment, even if it requires major travel. I lived a 30 minute drive + a 30 minute train ride from my first ever job (it was 1 hour 45 minutes by public transport).

• 

  p1 ama on 30/12/2015 - 16:02

  +1

  I feel like you're a little misdirected with this whole "medically relevant" thing. Being a receptionist at a medical clinic isn't "medically relevant", it involves you answering phone calls, putting bookings into the computer and administrative tasks that have nothing to do with what you are studying at all, so don't think that it'll somehow be related to what you're studying and will help you later on in life.

  My honest advice is you have to pick either one of two things - either become entrepreneurial or suck it up and go work at Woolworths/Coles/Target…etc. The reason why you haven't found a job in 3 months is because you haven't been looking in the right places and you're looking at things which aren't suitable for your skill set.

  During my time at uni, I would never fritter away my time working for $15 an hour stacking supermarket shelves or making burgers at McDonalds. I would use that time to study hard, make sure what I was doing was relevant - this allowed me to earn a scholarship of $6,000 per year from my second year of study onwards.

  I was also always interested in teaching (I wanted to be a secondary school teacher before I started studying, but these days I'm aiming to become a professor), thus, I also begun a tutoring business, where I began tutoring high school students for $30 per hour, which I soon increased to $40 per hour and then in my third year of study, I began tutoring uni students, many of whom were after someone who can work through exam questions with them and guide them to a pass - I charged $50 per hour and had several hours of work every week during semester, even more closer to exam time.

  I got involved in publishing and published a VCE (equivalent to your HSC) study guide which ended up selling over 10,000 copies and making thousands of dollars for me. I also started a photography business, transforming my hobby into a regularly paying job and soon I had regular clients from my university itself to various clubs and societies to word-of-mouth recommendations amongst my peers. I am now a semi-professional photographer.

  In my penultimate year, I applied for an internship and worked full-time over summer in a real job doing real things and from there on in, everything was just a breeze.

  It's about taking initiative, being smart and using your time wisely. If you have been applying to a particular field for 3 months and you're getting nowhere, what does that tell you? You're probably looking in the wrong place, move on and look elsewhere.

  Working for someone is easy, but you'll always be a slave because until you've graduated and been working for several years developing unique skills and talents, you have nothing that others don't. Any person with arms and legs can stack shelves at supermarkets and any person with some sense can take phone calls and enter records at a medical reception, thus, those jobs will never pay well and all you're doing is being a slave. Take initiative, do something you love, be your own boss and turn your hobbies into something that can earn you money. Good luck!

  • 

    Tuttorix on 30/12/2015 - 16:36

    +2

    I understand your point of view, and I understand that working as a medical receptionist is more about answering calls, however it would also entail aspects such as Bulk Billing, input of patient data, requiring patient confidentiality and various other clerk or administrative tasks only relevant to the medical field. Thank you for your input, and I definitely am going to study to my best potential.

• 

  Lysander on 30/12/2015 - 16:06

  -3

  Forget qualifications and experience.

  Unfortunately in Australia it is not what you know or what you can do, but ONLY who you know.

  • 

    p1 ama on 30/12/2015 - 16:18

    +3

    Rubbish. Absolute rubbish and you know it.

    Myself and plenty of my friends got jobs straight out of university based on working hard to get good GPAs, getting relevant experience, writing good cover letters and putting in strong interview performances. None of us "knew anybody" and we all managed to get plenty of offers.

    Why would you go out of your way to discourage OP from working hard and getting to where he/she wants to be?

    Funnily enough, the only people who I hear saying "forget qualifications and experience" and "it's who you know" are people who have no qualifications, have no skills, have crap work ethic, are lazy and are simply making excuses for the fact that they can't get places.

    It's not about who you know, it's about the skills you have, the way you present/market yourself, the way you're able to justify that you'll be a good fit for the job and most importantly, how hard you work and how much work ethic you have.

    • 

      Lysander on 30/12/2015 - 19:03

      +4

      Mate, I have a sufficient amount of degrees, so do not even go there. On all my degrees I won uni prizes for perfect GPAs so I do not think your argument applies. In fact your argument can almost be interpreted as a personal attack which in my humble opinion and professional experience is a strong indicator that your arguments are weak as otherwise there would be no need to resort to personal attacks.

      It is not about the skills and qualifications - it is about who you know. There are other factors, too such as being an Aussie or an immigrant etc. but I really do not want to go into that.
      I will give you one example (of the many I could provide).
      I know several people that applied for a temporary legal researcher job at the Brisbane courts. All of them were qualified lawyers, had practised, and had PhD degrees. There was no mandatory qualification requirement for this position although an interest in law was desirable. Purely based on qualifications all three or at least one of them should have been shortlisted. None was. The feedback given was that the successful candidate had a bit of registry experience. Well, the three people were lawyers and had plenty of registry experience. They also had a minimum of three years research experience.
      When I met the successful applicant it turned out that he was a mate of the person responsible for the selection and was also friends with some of the people on the selection committee.
      Yes, it is who you know and nothing more.

      In fact, if you have better qualifications than the people who do your interview and supervise you you stand no chance as they are afraid you will take their job in the future. Hiring you would be stupid from their point of view.

      Lots of people and friends I advised only got a job when they hid their degrees the only exceptions being medical and university jobs.

      • 

        p1 ama on 30/12/2015 - 19:13

        -1

        Okay, so you have degrees - that's great, I'm assuming you also have a job? Would that be correct?

        You've given one really obscure example to demonstrate a really obscure point. There are a few flaws with what you've just outlined - the job is temporary, there was no mandatory qualification and it seemed like it was only for one position. So I don't think an obscure temporary job really counts as sufficient evidence.

        You say it's about who you know, but try getting a job in engineering without an engineering degree, try getting a job as a surgeon without a medical degree, try getting a job as an actuary without IAA accreditation - you can't can you? So it is about the qualifications, it is about the skills, is it not?

        Your argument falls apart when you consider that there are at least a hundred thousand students graduating from university every year, many of whom go on to find jobs. You're implying that all of them know someone and are mates with someone who got them a job? Do you really think that's a valid argument?

        What about myself and all of the people I know? I can tell you that I knew nobody, got no special treatment and I got multiple job offers the proper way, by applying, presenting myself well, addressing their requirements and doing well at an interview.

        Whilst I might agree with you that you need to know people to get to the top and that most promotions are made based on whether you get along with your colleagues and are friendly with your managers, the idea that somehow you can only get a job if you know people is just rubbish and you know it.

        Note that I'm not saying there is no use to getting to know people, I disagree with the fact that it's "ONLY who you know", because that statement is clearly logically wrong, because I can find plenty of counterexamples. Also, believe me, I have no intention of personally attacking you, I just believe your ideas are wrong and contrary to what I have seen plenty of times.

      • 

        Lysander on 30/12/2015 - 19:48

        @paulsterio:

        I do advise loads of people as a community service (and some of these have sent off hundreds of applications with no success. And yes, their applications had no typos, the cover letter was good, was checked by experts in the field working pro bono etc.). I could give you hundreds of examples. But is that really what you want?

        Obviously I was not talking about jobs where a degree is required. But even then, all things equal it is about who you know.

        I have advised many people who had more than sufficient experience and qualifications plus a very good degree who were not even shortlisted while the eventual successful applicants had worse degrees, less experience etc. but they know somebody in the company.

        For example, some companies such as IBM even openly tell you that children of existing employees are given preference.

        Regarding promotions, if you are interested, there are plenty of independent studies and articles showing that it is not the best people who get promoted (of course there are exceptions) but rather the average people the main reason being that the really good people are not replaceable if they get promoted out of a department which means that a supervisor rather recommends an average employee for promotion due to easy "replaceability" and for fear that if the exceptional employee leaves the department the department results suffer which looks bad on the supervisor.

        Also, my experience is focused on Queensland and we all know there is plenty of corruption and nepotism, not just in the police service, which unfortunately still exists very much despite the Fitzgerald Inquiry.

        Also, keep in mind what the Tall Poppy Syndrome is - if you stand out - either way - you don't have it easy.

      • 

        p1 ama on 30/12/2015 - 21:26

        @Lysander:

        I do advise loads of people as a community service (and some of these have sent off hundreds of applications with no success. And yes, their applications had no typos, the cover letter was good, was checked by experts in the field working pro bono etc.). I could give you hundreds of examples. But is that really what you want?

        Yes, but I can also say that I know loads of people who didn't know anybody and got in via traditional means. This includes myself, people I went to uni with and coworkers I have now. I'm not saying that knowing people doesn't help, but I disagree with your assertion that it is the "ONLY" thing that matters (as per your original post).

        What I'm trying to say is that there are many ways to get a job and there are many ways to become successful and I would even go so far as to say that an important deciding factor is simply luck. I think that to assert that knowing people is the only way to get a job is only demoralising to people who are already having trouble. If knowing people is the only way to find a job then I reckon more than half of Australia would be unemployed.

        For example, some companies such as IBM even openly tell you that children of existing employees are given preference.

        Perhaps, but that does not mean that knowing someone is the "ONLY" way to get a job as you initially said.

        I think maybe it is best to agree to disagree, but given that, I think it's wrong to assert that the ONLY way to get a job is by knowing someone because this just demoralises people who are looking. Yes, I know people who have gotten jobs simply because they knew someone despite them not being a strong candidate. I know this happens and I have seen it 100%, so yes, I know where you are coming from and I do agree knowing someone could help. However, from my experience, this is only a small group and plenty of people get jobs without knowing anyone.

      • 

        Lysander on 30/12/2015 - 21:49

        @paulsterio:

        Look mate, sure there are people who get in without knowing someone. Sure. Just like there are people who drop out of school and then build up something like Microsoft and Virgin. Absolutely agree.

        But in Australia, more than in any other country I have lived and worked (and there are 5 of them), it matters most who you know.

        Yes, for certain jobs you must have a a degree but after that the applicant who knows someone has a substantially better chance of getting the job than someone who doesn't even if that someone has a better degree and more experience or qualifications.

        I have just talked to a colleague of mine and he has the same experience (and he has been doing this more than 25 years and is Aussie). So I severely doubt that all of my experience and that of my colleague are outliers. I would probably say that what you describe is the minority of cases (but they happen I agree) while mine is the majority).

        If you got a job without that great. But the OP's story is so similar to that of many people I and my colleagues advise.

        Hell, when I did my PhD I was already qualified lawyer with work experience in London and Belgium and couldn't -like the OP- not even get a filing job in a law firm let alone a paralegal position while law firms overseas were happy to give me work despite having to do it purely remotely (due to me being here and the office being in London). Same with work at uni - those students that knew lecturers would get the marking jobs while the ones with better qualifications and grades (say seasoned lawyers) would not get in as they obviously had no prior relationship with the lecturers who were the sole decision makers for their courses. It is very much based on a kind of "nepotism:.

      • 

        DeafMutePretender on 01/01/2016 - 05:22

        +1

        @paulsterio:

        sufficient evidence.

        Myself and plenty of my friends got jobs

        Eh, you both offered anecdotal "evidence"

        Regardless, you're both right. A degree increases your chances of getting a job. "Networking" AKA nepotism also increases your chances of getting a job. Having both even more so.

      • 

        p1 ama on 01/01/2016 - 11:36

        @Lysander: I didn't reply straight away because I wanted to take some time away to think about it and because I didn't want my arguments or points to be based on simply emotion or unfounded reasons.

        However, I think it all depends on perspective. You mention that you've lived in 5 countries and Australia is the worst, so I'm not surprised that in your mind, it's all about "who you know" in Australia.

        However, I'm of Asian background and for many (perhaps even most) countries in Asia, corruption is rife, nepotism is well and truly out in the open and discrimination against those who do not have relatives who are high ranking officials or who are poorer is a real, real thing.

        So from my perspective, Australia is great. In some of the countries I'm talking about, you can buy your way into uni courses and get into certain degrees just because your parents are high ranking officials. That sort of thing doesn't happen in Australia. I'm not saying that there is no nepotism here, but I think that the places we know about and compare with have a great impact on how we perceive things.

      • 

        Lysander on 01/01/2016 - 13:16

        @paulsterio:

        I agree with most of your points in your last comment (and understand your perspective which is very reasonable) except for one.
        In a way (different than in Asian countries but nevertheless) you can buy your way to a degree in Australia. The requirements and quality is so low here and is getting lower all the time due to education being treated as a business which must grow every year.

        When I did my MBA at Sunny Coast 50(!) people out of 250 people who were doing the online version cheated twice(!) and were caught. Instead of them being kicked off and expelled they were simply given a caution and were given as many opportunities as necessary to pass the course.
        In the US, Germany, France, Netherlands etc. you will get expelled for this as education there has high standards and is not treated as a business.
        From a business perspective it makes sense that you will not forego 1 million dollars income but from a moral and quality perspective you should get rid of those people as it dilutes the quality of the education and ruins it for the honest students. If they already cheat in the uni course, how honest will they be when it comes to real life business?

        As long as Australia treats education as a business and sees money as priority, one can kind of buy their way to a degree over here I am afraid. Yes, it is in a different way and sense than in the Asian countries you mentioned but it is bad nevertheless.

        Finally, while I understand that you compare Australia with Asian countries as that is your background, I do believe that Australia should be compared (and held up to the standards of) other Western industrialised, "first world" countries such as the US, Canada, the European countries as that is how Australia also sees itself.
        Of course, if I compare Australia to Sudan, Australia is a paradise and wins hands down. Or many South American countries where nepotism is also rife.
        But I believe that the measure stick should be the countries where it is better, not where it is worse so that the situation in Australia can hopefully improve through awareness. Australian recruiters must put the business' interests first rather than their own private interests - hopefully that will happen sometime soon in the future.

        Have a happy new year.

      • 

        p1 ama on 01/01/2016 - 14:38

        @Lysander: Unfortunately, I agree with you. I've seen many cases of leniency throughout my time at university as well - including common issues such as plagiarism and collusion to having even heard about rumours of certain students cheating during exams and the like. That said, however, I've also seen strong action taken against students for cheating, though I'm not sure if this is always the case.

        In many ways, I think the problem is that there is a disconnect between university academics and university administration. Academics I've met, from junior academics to professors, all despise cheating and all have extremely high levels of integrity in what they do. However, I think there is genuinely a problem with the administration side. That said, I think the situation isn't too bad at universities. Private education providers, however, is a whole other issue - especially with all these rorting scandals involving international students, so I'm all for cracking down on them.

        Also, I'd also point out that it's not just the poorer Asian countries which have high levels of nepotism, but also the most "industrialised, first world" countries too. Singapore, a country which probably has equal living standards to Australia, has very high levels of nepotism.

        I guess just as a last point, I wanted to clarify why I reacted so strongly initially, it's nothing against you personally. In my opinion, I've gotten where I am through my own hard work and achivements. I got good marks during undergrad, I started several (very) small business ventures, I managed to get many offers from both public and private sector employers despite the fact that I didn't know anybody. Today, I work as an economist with a major government department and am about to start a PhD in Economics. I worked hard for these opportunities and, personally, I don't think anybody has ever given me any sort of preferential treatment. So I guess that's why I'm very much against nepotism and the fact that it exists in Australia is something that bothers (or, more accurately, angers) me greatly.

      • 

        Lysander on 01/01/2016 - 15:24

        @paulsterio:

        Academics cheat and plagiarise as bad as students. I have had to report several academics for those offenses before. One of them copied his whole course from the internet.
        Others took credit for work done by others - sanctioned by the Dean of Research.
        Again, unfortunately, this has only happened to me in Australia despite having experience with educational institutions in the US, Germany, Belgium and the UK. My experience is only with universities, so cannot speak about private education providers although I would stay clear from them personally as I just see those as "money-printing" and "immigration circumvention" ventures.

        As regards the PhD: for example, if you worked in your job in Germany and then got a PhD that would result in a pay rise of about 15000-20000 euros a year as you would be recognised as an expert and your expertise and efforts would be acknowledged and valued.
        In Australia, this does not happen as a general rule. On the contrary, unless you are already in a job a PhD will make you overqualified for any job outside an university (I speak from experience here).

        Also, as a final point. The fact you are Asian might actually be an advantage in places like the government as they have a mandate for cultural diversity. Caucasian white immigrants are disadvantaged in this respect as there is no quota for them and yet they are treated less favourably than Aussies (again, speaking from experience advising and counselling many hundreds - we even conducted "experiments" and used different names indicating different cultures but with identical CV - guess the results).

        You are right, virtually all Asian countries have nepotism. When I worked at the UN all delegates from Asian countries there were somehow related to the ruling class in their countries - it was clear they were not sent there based on qualifications and merit but merely because of who they were.

        I am happy all your hard work and efforts paid off. Unfortunately, in my experience too often in Australia it does not (and that includes my own situation to an extent - which is one reason I do pro bono work to help other people avoid falling into the same trap)

• 

  captobvious on 30/12/2015 - 16:36

  Allied health. The only one that comes to mind is a pharmacy assistant where you can do checkout and also give clients advice under the supervision of a pharmacist. That's medically relevant and should help you out with some hands on. You will slowly learn what some things , their interactions, patient counselling etc which may compliment you in your profession when you graduate

  I have a few friends who did this whilst studying to be a GP, physiotherapist and podiatrist.

• 

  holdenmg on 01/01/2016 - 12:10

  Hi,

  I'm in Sydney (travelling) and I saw an advt on 1 January, in the window of a Medical Practice Located @ Central Sydney.

  If you (or anyone else) are in Sydney and would like the details send me a Message with your E-mail address and I'll E-mail you the details from the photo of the Vacancy in the Window.

  The vacancy is for a Medical Receptionist, 3 Days During the Week, Experience Preferred.

• 

  systema on 09/01/2016 - 16:54

  Avoid medical receptionist, you don't really get much in terms of skillset that would set you apart from other candidates in the future.

  If you are desperate, apply to be a support worker at any disability services organisation. They will snap you up in no time and you get training around working with people with disability, which can be handy if you are thinking of going into the disability sector. Alternatively, some employers may employ you as an AIN, which gives you the hands on skills to move forward and a slight advantage in future placements.