The event last evening was all about “How to get that first job in Australia?” Packed house with people from 18 different nationalities and there were so many questions and insights. It was amazing and overwhelming. I have never seen a speaker who puts so much effort and is determined to add value to the audience. Our speaker for the event was Stuart Rattray and there were so many insights that the shared.

There were many key takeaways from the event but I have highlighted 10 here.

1. Be courageous – Do not be shy to walk up to people and talk to them. In the lift, in the train, in the grocery shopping line, or a networking event. I think this was a very important suggestion as many people do not put effort in integrating and taking that first step
2. Ask Questions – In networking or even when you are sitting in an interview, ask questions which leads to generating value or spark an interesting conversation. One of the best questions that Stuart shared was that “How do you think passengers are going to use technology at the airport in the next ten years?” You could imagine that he is passionate about airport and question like this is definitely going to spark an interesting conversation.
3. Have a good recruiter – This was golden. A good recruiter is someone who constantly keeps in touch and can sell you in the market. Someone who is working with you to find you an opportunity. This is more of try and test model, where you have to keep trying and connecting with recruiters and then you will find the one relevant to you.
4. Research about company and role – Before going for an interview, research as much as you can about the company and the role. This will help you in having meaningful conversations in the interview
5. Talk about solutions – This was another good one. In your conversations and interviews, discuss solutions. Interviewers would like to know the solution that you can bring to the table to help them solve their problems and address their pain points
6. Why should you hire me? – This is a great question to answer in your resume and also raise it or take an opportunity to answer it during your interview. What is your unique selling proposition?
7. Turn your education and skills into achievements – Do not say that you are a C++ programmer but highlight achievement of the project that you worked on. It could be that the project would have reduced the effort for a person from 6 months to 1 day due the process optimization. Highlight things like these on your resume. People are good at demonstrating their skills but not their achievements
8. Every conversation is an interview – I think this one was such a simple suggestion and yet so powerful. Whenever you meet someone, always think that you are giving an interview and what is it that you would like to share. Generally, when people meet, the first question is what do you do? What is your answer going to be? Prepare and rehearse your answer in front of a mirror and use it properly during each conversation, wherever it is.
9. Be creative and flexible – Think out of the box. Everyone is applying online, what are you doing differently? Highlight your skills and find jobs appropriate to the skills. Do not be attached to the role but be attached to the skills and the value that you can add to the role
10. Create your brand – This last one is something that I thought will be useful for everyone. Create a brand and it all starts with how you present yourself, how you talk to people, how you network, how you write your resume, your LinkedIn profile (a separate blog will be required for this alone)

I am sure there are many more points but I felt that these were some key highlights. Finding a job is a tough thing but hang in there and keep trying. Remember, it is you who is going to help you in getting a job and no-one else. What is that one thing that you are going to change so that you are going to get that job?

If you want to attend such events or need help in finding a job in Australia, you can join our group on meetup and you can get in touch with me through LinkedIn.