Sydney Job Market

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: Okay then, so I am finally graduating Uni (Thank God!). So now, my status is a graduating student or in other words = BUM/Unemployed. I need some help from fellow sydney-siders on how do you get into the job market. I have noticed that alot of the jobs required are experience needed. It is kind of ironic because I am looking for experience to get into jobs that need experience. Any tips around there where to look and such in Sydney? (Sydney area not Sydney CBD only) [img]tongue.gif[/img] oh yeah, I took up Bachelor of Commerce so field is in Business.

I was in your shoes about 10 or so years ago, mate. I'm guessing you're graduating in December and will be entering the workforce in Jan 2008?

I spent much of my undergraduate days partying and only started to seriously look for a job when I was 2 months out from graduation - I luckily found a job just after graduating, but it was stressful. So I'm going to give you the advice I wish someone had given me.

There are a number of ways that you can access the job market as a graduating student:

1. campus interviews - I assume that UNSW (I think that's where you are) will have organised milk round interviews with employers who normally hire from UNSW around about this time. Work with your careers office to find out when these info sessions/interviews are and apply for them. Usually big companies like Unilever, Accenture, J&J, etc normally come to campus - I interviewed with Unilever and Mars Inc when I was still an undergraduate. These companies will not be expecting you to have experience, but they will need to find a way to stratify the applicant pool, so make sure your grades are up to scratch or you have a killer resume (even with no experience you can make your resume a killer).

2. career fairs - if you're not attending these you should - it's a great opportunity to get yourself in front of companies and find out what process you need to undertake to apply for positions. Make sure you have your resume and your elevator pitch ready, as you will probably have about 90 seconds to impress someone enough to "take things further" with you.

3. networking - talk to your professors about possible opportunities. Tell them what you are interested in and see if they can connect you to a company. Many business professors generally have industry experience and might be able to point you in the right direction. It's important to build and maintain your university network.

4. contact headhunters - this might not be as appropriate for you as you lack experience. But there's no harm in contacting recruitment agencies and asking for an "informational interview" to talk to them about opportunities. I got my first job via a recruiter that I met while I was still at school at a career fair.

5. get the Sydney Morning Herald every Saturday and check out the employment section (or look up the corresponding section on the online site) and look at what jobs are coming up.

Some things to consider as you undertake this process:

1. Do you know what industry/function you want to work in? You mentioned you're doing a commerce degree, but what specific area do you want to go into (eg marketing, finance, consulting, operations, supply chain, IT management, etc). And what industry (FMCG, telecom, services, etc). You need to at least have a general idea of what you want to do, to focus your search (otherwise you will be looking all over the place and will waste your time). If you don't have a clue what area you want to work in, then consider a leadership rotational program which gives you exposure to a number of those areas. But it helps to have a general professional objective (or even two or three of them).

2. make sure you have a killer resume. Getting a job is a two-step game: the first step is to get to the interview stage. The second step is to impress the interviewers (through all the rounds) to the point where you get the job. The first step is frustrating as the only way you can influence events is via your resume and cover letter - the second step, while often more stressful for inexperienced applicants, is actually easier because you have a lot more influence over the process and are competing with a smaller application pool (though probably more qualified).

Since your resume is the only way you can differentiate yourself initially, you need to make sure it really grabs someone's attention (harder now since most companies ask you to submit your resume online in either text or PDF format). But there are many ways you can structure your resume to make sure it is clear, concise and gives an insight into your decisiveness and character.

Eg. you can have a "Professional Objective" line at the top that states what position/experience you are looking for - this seems simple but it tells the reader that you know what you are looking for. Then you can maybe have a Professional Profile section just after that where you can summarise in point form some transferable skills (eg great communication skills, demonstrable leadership skills, participation in extracurricular activities eg AIESEC, data manipulation skills, teamwork skills, etc). As you have little real experience coming out of school, it's important that you direct the reader's attention to the skills that you might conceivably bring to bear in a job. If you have a 4.0 GPA this might be a good place to bring that up too.

And make sure you spend a lot of time crafting your cover letters as well.

3. practice your interview technique. Make sure you have a "story" that you can build the interview around. This story will centre around:

- what are your career goals
- why do you want to work for the company
- how does working for the company help you achieve your career goals
- why should the company hire you - why are you better than all the other applicants

Don't expect to just turn up to the interview and BS your way through it - impressions are crucial and if you are lucky enough to get to the interview stage you don't want to eff it up. I will post some sample questions that you can prepare for in the next post.

[ 04-22-2007, 11:42 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

[Memnoch]

Some questions that I used to ask applicants when I was at Unilever (I've also been asked these when applying for jobs):

- Why do you want to work for [company name here]:
- What kind of work experience do you have? Did you do an internship while at school?
- What do you think you have to offer us?
- What do you want to get out a career with our firm?
- Tell us about your biggest project / challenge at university?
- What do you know about us?
- Why did you decide to go to [insert uni name here]
- What did you like most about [uni name]? The least?
- Looking back, what would you have done differently in your university experience?
- What are your main strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What is your ideal job?
- What other jobs are you looking into?
- How do you work with difficult people?
- What are your short and long term goals?
- Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
- Which leader inspires you the most?
- What do you look for in a company? If you were deciding between 2 job offers, what would make you decide between the two?
- What differentiates you from other people in your graduating class?
- What do you do in your spare time?
- Talk about your favourite extracurricular activity at UNSW - how did you find it?
- Give me some examples of leadership that you displayed at school.
- what excites you in life?

Those were just what I could think about off the top of my head.

[Memnoch]

Just to clarify - have you graduated? Or are you graduating? I'm assuming that as you're posting this in April you are going to be graduating at the end of this year. If you've already graduated then my advice re campus interviews and career fairs are less relevant.

Re recruiters, I know a few in Sydney - I can probably connect you to the guys that got me my first job 12 years ago (I don't know if the guy - his name is Terry Sturgess and he's a partner at the firm - will still remember me, but you can mention my name and see if he does). The rest of my contacts are generally in exec search firms which hire for mid-to-high-level management positions unfortunately.

Here's a (incomplete) list:

Sturgess & Purtill (they were in Pymble)
Management Recruiters Australia
Michael Page Intl

Have you gone to www.mycareer.com.au? They have profiles of all the recruiters there, and some useful tips on graduating jobseekers.

http://content.mycareer.com.au/advice-research.aspx

Note that working with a headhunter has advantages and disadvantages - you will need to sell yourself to them just the same as you would with a company. The bonus is if you convince them of your quality, they can open a lot of doors for you. The disadvantage is that they may "push" you in a job that you might not want, because they want to place you and get a commission. You need to be careful in working out whether their interests coincide with yours, and make sure you don't do anything that you don't want to. Keep that in mind. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 04-22-2007, 11:41 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

[Memnoch]

BTW, you can call me here in Boston if you want some advice - just keep the time difference in mind (I don't want to be rung up at 3am ). I'm guessing you still have my cell number?

[Harkoliar]

lol is it even the same cell no. here in Australia? . Thanks for the info mate. And some clarifications about my status.

I have "technically" graduated from Uni last Dec 31,2006. While my formal and official graduating ceremony will be officially this coming May.

My University is Sydney Uni btw [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I done a double major in Marketing, and I am pretty much generalized with all aspects of business. My major however is Marketing. I am hoping to get into the backend operations of marketing (meaning Brand Management, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Distribution, Market Research or New Product marketing) but I am willing to brave the front end (mainly sales "shudder"). Definitely not interested in going into Public Relations or Advertising however.

My big mistake is not attending those campus fairs which were held last Feb and March. During that time, I was busy applying for a visa so I could stay here legally. Also, I was not here in Australia in Febuary because I was in Philippines attending Big Family events, mainly a 90th bday, huge family reunion and a wedding [img]smile.gif[/img] . By the time I came back, most of the job events are long gone (doh!).

I know its going to be tough and I admit my grades arent the prettiest to look upon. Any bit of advice helps alot . Im looking over your list of questions and taking down notes just in case.

Oh another thing, i do have an interview tomorrow, (tuesday), I am stumped on the dress code for the first interview. A suit is too much for an entry level job interview right? Would it affect drastically during the interview should I wear just long sleeves with a tie with a coat? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

What would justify you wearing a suit anyway? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Thanks for the heads up mario for dropping by .

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: lol is it even the same cell no. here in Australia? . Thanks for the info mate. And some clarifications about my status. I have "technically" graduated from Uni last Dec 31,2006. While my formal and official graduating ceremony will be officially this coming May. My University is Sydney Uni btw [img]tongue.gif[/img] I done a double major in Marketing, and I am pretty much generalized with all aspects of business. My major however is Marketing. I am hoping to get into the backend operations of marketing (meaning Brand Management, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Distribution, Market Research or New Product marketing) but I am willing to brave the front end (mainly sales "shudder"). Definitely not interested in going into Public Relations or Advertising however. My big mistake is not attending those campus fairs which were held last Feb and March. During that time, I was busy applying for a visa so I could stay here legally. Also, I was not here in Australia in Febuary because I was in Philippines attending Big Family events, mainly a 90th bday, huge family reunion and a wedding [img]smile.gif[/img] . By the time I came back, most of the job events are long gone (doh!). I know its going to be tough and I admit my grades arent the prettiest to look upon. Any bit of advice helps alot . Im looking over your list of questions and taking down notes just in case. Oh another thing, i do have an interview tomorrow, (tuesday), I am stumped on the dress code for the first interview. A suit is too much for an entry level job interview right? Would it affect drastically during the interview should I wear just long sleeves with a tie with a coat? What would justify you wearing a suit anyway? Thanks for the heads up mario for dropping by .

OK, if you've graduated then things will be different - you'll have to rely more on selling yourself to recruitment agencies and just applying to places like monster.com or www.mycareer.com.au (which are basically massive resume drops and very competitive.

I won't lie to you - since you've missed a lot of the university-sponsored career activities, there's a bit of hard work ahead of you, mate, because you'll have to create your own engagements (rather than relying on the school to create them for you). Particularly in the field you want to enter, which is very competitive. It's not the end of the world though - I missed out on a lot of that stuff as well and I was still able to get a job soon after graduating. Unemployment is pretty low in OZ and there are a lot of positions out there - you may need to make some compromises with what you want to do though. Having a working visa is a big deal and will really help you. Plus Sydney Uni is a really good name. I'm not trying to get you down, but rather I'm trying to emphasise that you need to be intensely focused on your search (which I'm sure you are). If I can do it so can you!!

I would suggest:

1. applying online to jobs (this is tedious but you might get lucky)
2. applying to jobs advertised in the SMH (same)
3. cold-calling recruiters (go to that www.mycareers.com.au site I talked to you about and get some names and reach out to them) and asking for informational interviews
4. cold-calling companies and expressing your interest in working for them
5. trying to use your university networks - your friends who may know of openings somewhere, your professors who may be able to connect you with opportunities, and your careers office. Doesn't Sydney Uni have careers services for recent grads? Go pay them a visit and see how they can help you.

ALWAYS wear a suit to an interview - even if the company is a startup where everyone wears hoodies and ripped jeans. You always want to be dressed up than dressed down. Unless you don't have a suit - in which case you've got no choice but to wear a business shirt with a tie, nice pants and a coat. It's all about making the right impression.

I will PM you my US cell - I thought you had it for some reason.

Good luck with the interview and let us know how it goes.

[ 04-23-2007, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

[Memnoch]

I did some research for you Harks - I checked out the Sydney Uni website and they have an option to receive job alerts as a recent graduate.

Current Vacancies All job ads sent to us by employers are posted on our noticeboards at the Careers Centre as well as Departmental noticeboards. Most are also placed in our Current vacancies database on the intranet. Go to http://heifer.ucc.usyd.edu.au/careers/ If you have finished your degree you will lose access to the University's intranet. To continue to find out about job opportunities you should join our Job Alert e-mailing list.

http://www.careers.usyd.edu.au/stude...acancies.shtml

[Memnoch]

How did your interview go, Harks?

[Harkoliar]

if the interview goes with me having a tour inside the office right away, i thought it went pretty well [img]smile.gif[/img] . Cross fingers ill find out by next week on the 2nd interview

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Harkoliar: if the interview goes with me having a tour inside the office right away, i thought it went pretty well [img]smile.gif[/img] . Cross fingers ill find out by next week on the 2nd interview

Great stuff! Just remember - confidence, composure and enthusiasm.