Finding Employment in The Field I Studied

[Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 09:04
Last edited 04/12/2019 - 09:36

Dear Amazing People of OZB.

I arrived in Australia in 2010 with a Bachelors of Commerce and studied towards Bachelors of Accounting. Soon after that, I found an internship opportunity in a company's Accounts Payable (Procure to Pay) and worked for 3 months without pay. Applied for a few jobs in a span of the next three years but never secured an interview opportunity. Now, since last 2 years, I am working at a concierge desk of a Govt's Dept. with my eyes set on internal job portal and whenever there is something available upstairs. I have my resume/cover letter professionally designed and checked which I keep updating/changing it when necessary. Sometimes I get too motivated and sometimes I just loose the motivation and give up. How do you hunt for jobs and do you follow any strategies?

I have also done some online courses in Oracle financials and thinking about doing a SAP ERP (Invoice management) course but that is like $800

Education & Work

Comments

  • k-rokfm on 04/12/2019 - 09:16

    I found an internship opportunity in a company's Accounts Payable (Procure to Pay) and worked for 3 months without pay

    Side note, i didnt think australia had unpaid internships??

    Are you getting to interview stages, or are you simply getting cut before you get to that stage? I would look for opportunities to add value onto your resume, perhaps get it redesigned again

    • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 09:21

      Yes but there is loophole in the system. I paid $7000 for a one year qualification called professional year which is was 9 months of training based on learning Australian office ethics and extremely basic stuff follow by a 3 months unpaid internship. I also paid $1750 for an assistant accounting training and this was once again 3 months training followed by 3 months of unpaid internship. These are legit businesses not scams.

      • brendanm on 04/12/2019 - 20:26
        +1

        Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's a scam.

      • SlavOz on 15/12/2019 - 11:33

        lol what? Sounds like you were scammed, or at least got taken advantage of very badly. $7k for a basic course on office ethics (didn't even know this was a thing)??

        You should not be working for free even if it's legal. That's not the way most jobs operate in Australia. The old American idea of being an unpaid intern in hopes of getting a job died a long time ago. The only companies that do unpaid internships are ones looking for free labor and lunch delivery boys.

        • [Deactivated] on 18/12/2019 - 23:55

          all these tricks apply to the mass international audience who come to Australia for studies and wish to settle down afterwards.

  • tsukito on 04/12/2019 - 09:19
    +2

    Personally, I find that I come across jobs in one of three ways:

    • Relationships/networking
    • Recruiters finding me on Seek/LinkedIn and contacting me
    • Applying for as many jobs as I possibly can

    The last 4 of my "career" jobs, I obtained through people I knew, and had worked with previously.

    My current job, I got while I was unemployed and playing Overwatch, and a recruiter called me out of nowhere, after having found my details on LinkedIn and feeling that I was suited to the role his client was filling. At this point, I had been unemployed for 6 months.

    Twice, I have been offered jobs that I applied for the regular way on Seek or LinkedIn, after doing at least 2 interviews with them.

    Considering all of the above, I think the key is to never rest and slow down when looking for work. Always scan Seek and LinkedIn for openings, apply for as many as you can where you fit at least 80% of the requirements, and continually make good friends and relationships in your jobs, so you can contact these people later, and see if they know of any openings anywhere. Keep all the fires burning, and eventually, hopefully, one will pay off.

    Regarding motivation, while you're doing all this, you might feel disheartened, sad, deflated, hopeless, angry, or even maybe a bit depressed. But you need to grit your teeth and keep hunting. I find job hunting to be one of the worst things in life, and many people would probably agree with me. But we all get through it eventually, and you will too.

    • 87percent on 04/12/2019 - 09:32

      Yeah i agree with the LinkedIn AND the networking. I've been called a couple of times asking if i was interested in a position at another company, but i'm content where I am right now in my current company.

  • Skramit on 04/12/2019 - 09:27
    +2

    Have a friend or a random from OzB review your resume and give you feedback. The amount of garbage resume's I see is sad. So many job seekers out there have never had any advice on how to put one together.

    • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 09:33

      True, I worked in a recruitment firm overseas and can fully understand the level of crap resumes and cover letters but mine is designed and reviewed by a professional resume writer who has great reviews online…

      • Skramit on 04/12/2019 - 09:41

        That's good then.

      • ms_caz on 04/12/2019 - 10:26
        +1

        But do you target your resume and cover letter to the specific position description for each vacancy? Or are you just sending a standard form to everybody?

        • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 11:14

          I change it accordingly but a little bit.

        • SlavOz on 15/12/2019 - 11:30

          To be fair, this advice only contributes to the problem. Employers are using very outdated methods to screen applicants. If someone is looking for a job, it's completely unreasonable to expect that they're going to write a unique cover letter for every job they apply to. That's absurd. People who value their time and skills are not going to bother dancing from crumbs like that. Is the employer going to write a unique rejection letter to everyone? No.

          Professionals get paid for results and if your resume is good enough to show that you're achieving results, a company would be silly to disregard you. I've often had cases where I send my resume out without a cover letter, even though the ad asked for one, and the employer will call me back saying my resume is very impressive and they are interested in meeting me, but I should write a cover letter first. In that case, I'm more than happy to write one as I have confirmation that my technical ability is adequate and there's a guaranteed interview. Otherwise, the hours I would lose everyday writing unique cover letters for every job can be better used improving my technical skills.

  • loke on 04/12/2019 - 09:32

    Do you have any bookkeeping/accounts experience outside of those? It may be an issue of not having recent experience.

    Have you tried looking for small business bookkeeping experience on the side to improve your resume, e.g. myob/quickbooks/xero software experience, bank recons, GST & BAS reporting; how about studies towards CPA or a CA? (CPA probably being the easier of the two)

    • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 09:44

      I worked on Myob and SAP ERP (VIM Module) during the free internships other than that, I do not have any paid or extensive experience in the field. I am married and expecting a baby next year so CPA can be difficult and secondly I am going for an entry level role why would an employers look some who is studying towards CPA? I think the reasonable approach will be enrolling myself in CPA once I have a relevant job.

      • brad1-8tsi on 04/12/2019 - 11:16

        I would suggest you try and find a community organisation, charity or sporting association (try and find something that you have a genuine interest in) that requires assistance with their bookwork. You don'y have to give a huge amount of time. It's about appearing to be "the go-to guy that can work independently" on your CV. I was on the committee for my daughters sports based youth club and it only needed 1 hr a week and they were nice people.

        How is your LinkedIn profile?

        Are you active in any relevant professional associations? (ie: are you networking?)

        When applying for internal positions offered by your current employer, what feedback are you getting when unsuccessful?

        • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 11:27

          Feedback I got for a finance accounting role interview I went to was that other candidate had more customer service experience. I literally work on the ground floor and serve hundreds of people everyday and the lady knew it. During the interview I was not asked a single question related to accounting or its principles but most questions were straight away copied from some online web.
          '

          • brad1-8tsi on 04/12/2019 - 11:47

            @[Deactivated]: From my experience in engineering roles in government, they never ask you directly about the role. I have never once been asked "How do you go about planning and scheduling a preventive maintenance program." I assume because they haven't got a spare 2 days for the answer.

            They will ask you targeted questions about how you react or organise yourself and your ability to work with others and be part of a team. If you think they were irrelevant or "off the web" you haven't a chance. You have to play their game with their rules.

            eg: "Tell us about a time when a project didn't go as planned and what did you do to get it back on track."

            "What are your weaknesses and how do you compensate for those weaknesses"

            "tell us about a time you gave great customer service"

            "Tell us about a project that you are really proud of" (I hate this one because i don't do projects, i do repetitive tasks)

  • QW3RTY on 04/12/2019 - 09:39

    From feedback I've got from mates and given research conducted by the Government, it would appear that there is no shortage of accountants for job vacancies. In April 2019, 28.5 applicants per vacancy and 20.2 qualified applicants per vacancy. So those who are getting these jobs really have to stand out. I'm not sure if I have any wisdom for your situation, but it sounds like you're being proactive in managing your job hunting process. Keep at it, there are 27.5 unsuccessful applicants per vacancy, so you're not alone — don't lose hope!

    The same paper does say however that there were only 2.2 suitable applicants per vacancy. So suitability for the role is a big issue in the accounting world it seems. Is there anything you can do in the accounting world to specialise yourself further, so you can rise to the top of more junior, less qualified applicants? Or is it just a case of "I can't give you a job, because you don't have enough experience, which you require a job to get".

    • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2019 - 10:18

      When i completed my degree in Melbourne. I noticed this qualification was quite popular among the international students and I am pretty sure most of them had no knowledge of the contents of a balance sheet or income statement and I do acknowledge the fact the most recruiters get heaps of submissions from such candidates.

      • Icecold5000 on 04/12/2019 - 10:53
        +1

        It’s quite popular because the path to PR is easy.

        • [Deactivated] on 05/12/2019 - 08:06

          True. but the quality of accounting education in Uni's is below par. I know it because I studied accounting in my other bachelors degree :P

          • Icecold5000 on 05/12/2019 - 08:48

            @[Deactivated]: That’s why it crap, just a pr cash cow.

            Have you thought about quantity surveying? Check out seek to see how many jobs there are.

    • brendanm on 04/12/2019 - 20:31

      That employment info is very interesting. My field has 0.4 suitable applicants per position lol.

      • [Deactivated] on 05/12/2019 - 08:04

        Lol. which field is it?

        • brendanm on 05/12/2019 - 14:09

          Mechanic. My specific one would be even worse than that.

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