Australian Diaries 08 - Sydney Diaries 02 - Marketing, Selling....

26 Nov 2015 – 75 days since I landed in Sydney and time is flying. The one great news is I am now employed in Sydney. It has been five days joined since I joined my new employer. I have been analysing people about the way they act; project themselves and the actual capabilities. On the first count, looks like you have to really sell and market yourselves remarkably well, irrespective of the actual content that exists with individuals.

Marketing, Selling and creating dramas has never been my cup of tea. I am already beginning to wonder how to cope with these requirements. Success seems to be dependent on these traits. For someone with a laidback personality yet works with agility, sincerity coming over other aspects of work, the environment here seems to provide a challenge. Mind you, I only said, the environment not the work.

An example in the recent five days has been evident of my thoughts and apprehensions. A colleague assigned me a task (indirect assignment by an indirect manager). At first, I was asked if I was good at excel. I only replied downplaying my skills to – ‘Decent’. A couple of email copies served as the information and the task was assigned. Two hours later, with the task completed and issued back to the assigner, I only had admirations and positive feedback directed to me. All good things come to an end. Yes, this point ended my good times. For the next four hours, all work Mr. X performed was to keep staring at the excel sheet I had provided, make cosmetic changes and present it to the manager as ‘their’ work. I heard it over again and again, but alas as a new member I could not do anything. Well one man’s pain was another’s gain.

I am wondering if my way of working would indeed be successful. For someone who does not possess the traits to be successful in this environment, the struggle begins. All I remember now is the famous saying, Survival of the fittest!

Time to search a new one?

Australian Diaries 07 - Sydney Diaries 01 - The curious case of "Local Experience"

02 Nov 2015 – 50^th day in Sydney today. An incredible journey so far, with disappointment superseding all other positives. This disappointment has been on a professional front. Yes and as everyone must have guessed it by now, it is all owing to my ‘not employed’ status.

The picture you see on the internet is lot more different to the reality in Australia. I did get an intrinsic feeling of the unlimited jobs that were available when I found them on job boards. I was so engulfed in the outer picture that my brain ceased to work on the details. It was only when I landed here and understood the way recruitment works; I realized the real depth of job availability. Well, I should say, the depth was very shallow. The reason being, one job, is advertised by many recruiters in different styles. Alas, I was blindfolded, apparently by the effective marketing capabilities of the innumerable recruiters.

I have always believed that my profile, skills and talent was commendable by any knowledgeable industry professional. Whilst this may have partly played part in the recruiters picking up the phone and enquiring additional details, the one common question I am asked is – “Do you have experience working in Australia”. It is a lethal question indeed, to crash and diminish the hopes of a candidate like me. No matter what you have done elsewhere, people are very concerned about your local experience, in an era of globalization. More importantly, even though they know I am a new / legal skilled immigrant in line with the very policies of the federal government to address the so called 'skill shortage' issue.

I have tried to answer this question in many realistic ways. I had drawn comparisions with Australia’s demographics and explained the far more multi-cultural environment I come from, say, middle east. I have tried explaining people that people skills takes lead in people management and is not a concern irrespective of the location. But, well, all said and done, these have fallen into deaf ears. I have had a recent experience wherein the recruiter was highlighting the fact that the construction methodology was different. I only had to ask him, if the roof was laid first here, before the foundations? Understandably, I had no answer on this point.

Just as I am writing this piece, I receive yet another call from a recruiter, asking me if I have a local experience. This time, I had to be brutal and straight. I responded by stating that, well – all the callers, like you, have only been asking me if I have local experience. But everyone seems to forget that unless someone gives me an opportunity, I will continue to have NO local experience. A deafening silence and a typical smile followed from the other end. All I get to hear later on was the routine closure dialogue – Thank you and we shall come back to you later. 50 days and I now know, nobody does!

Australian Diaries 6 - Melbourne Stay - Part 2

21 June 2015: My personal journey in Australia ended and it was time to return back to Qatar. I have encountered many events, analysed the place, people, situations and the services in general what Australia had to offer. Whilst there may be many more intricate details available or to be explored in the future, I have written and shared my thoughts below based on my stay of nearly one month in Australia.

 

Government Services:

Our first trip mandated that we register and enroll ourselves in various government services. Contrary to my experiences of visiting government offices in India and the Middle East, Australian experience was “EXTREMELY POSITIVE”. Everybody listens to you, treats you with dignity, accords respect and most importantly gives a sense of belonging. At first, most of the government offices we visited were paperless. Ipads were the norms for personnel working in the reception area. They carefully enter the purpose of visit, enquire the details and request you to be seated for the name to be called up. Then, a courteous government official coming out of the chair, calls up your name and greets you with respect. Subsequently, we are escorted to his seated area and ensured that all requirements are completed. What drew me was the fact that these officials went out of their way to help, assist and ensure there were no hassles in domain areas not related to them as well. We could have easily been directed to another department, but then as we lay seated, the official went up to altogether a different department, enquired the status and was worried that we were not onboard the medical system despite being 3 days since submitting applications. The official finally had a sigh of relief when he was told that the centre in which we registered for medicare was very busy and had a lag of applications that were supposed to be entered on the system. A week later, we were up there on the system. I could have easily cribbed and complained about the slow system, but this is a testament of the fact that human touch in customer service overcomes any minor negativity. Lack of adequate staff is visible and, therefore, everyone is encouraged to enroll online for the services that are offered online. An interesting notice board on all government offices is - “Aggressive behaviour is not tolerated”.  Wow!!! Good for me atleast J else I would have been lost amidst aggressive humans.

 

Banking Services:

By now, we got to know courtesy and politeness are key in dealing with people in Australia. Please, sorry and thank you are very common words used, for very basic and simple things. The process was easy too, as I had opened my bank account from overseas. All I had to do was activate my account and grab my debit cards. The debit cards experience seemed creepy. Not going further, considering the security aspect for banking in India and especially the Middle East, I guess Banking security in Australia needs a lot of improvement.  So, my personal rating for this service is – NEUTRAL. Unlike in other countries, banking is a very costly element in Australia. Account holders get charged (monthly) for maintaining accounts in Banks (apart from one bank which doesn’t charge the account holders). There are no free transactions for with drawls from ATM. Every transaction is charged. Interest rates are very low for savings accounts. I was wondering if this is the reason for the ‘no saving’ culture J

 

Shopping Malls:

Shopping Malls in Australia is an interesting subject of my Australia visit. As a Middle East resident, I am used to shopping malls being open till 1am (late night!). However, Shopping malls in Australia are shut down by 5.30pm in the evenings. I was surprised to note that the malls are open for only two days till late night, that too, the late night being 9pm (on Thursdays & Fridays only). The reason I have been told by some Australian Residents is that it is part of the Health & Safety Culture (read – Crime Prevention). Oh, gosh! It took me a week to took me out of this shock. Whilst I still cannot come out of this weird mall culture, I guess I will have to leave with it.

 

Entertainment:

As an avid cricket fan (former), I have heard that Australia is known for Beer. Rather, Australians are known for their love of Beer, BBQ and the Beaches. Summer times in general are known to have beaches crammed with people sunbathing, surfing, swimming and many more! We were there in winter and obviously the beaches were empty. I guess not the right place to be when temperature hovers in the range of 0-12 deg Celsius during the day. The little penguins though were a sight to watch.

Well, all that is left for the entertainment is the scenic natures beauty, pubs and the clubs. I am wondering if there is anything else for entertainment except for seeing, eating and drinking. A paradise for the tourist and avid nature followers, I must admit.

 

Society:

Australian society in general encourages people to be ‘Independent’. Nobody bothers about what you do, as long as you don’t come in others way. They are helpful when you seek help though. The numerous helps we received when we were lost in our navigation to the desired destination was an example.

For those, especially from India, who are often used to hearing that beggars exist only in India. Well, be aware that they do exists in Australia too. Again, they are classified in different terminologies. If I am not wrong, they are called as ‘Buskers’ in Australia. I have witnessed talented buskers with impeccable  acting skills, street dances, musical abilities – drums, guitar, saxophone, key boards etc performing in an effort to seek money into the hats they place in front of them. I guess the singers on the trains or the street performers in India are equally talented. The only difference lies in the way people behave. The request for money is not assertive or forceful in Australia.

The homeless exists too, often accompanied by the trusted dogs. Many of them have their names and reasons for begging written on cardboards and placed in front of them. These guys do not perform or even open their mouth. All they do is show the cardboard expecting a few coins in their hats. I did notice though few gentlemen offering them food and exchanging words with these homeless people.

The other jobs:

The lure of the dollar often encompasses the human feelings and strives to strengthen necessity of earning to sustain a living. Australia, in general, does not alter the respect to human kind irrespective of the nature of job you perform. BE it laundy or the cleaning jobs or the waiter jobs in pubs, clubs or hotels, you are respected in the society for being human. This in the basic reason for people to take up these jobs irrespective of the education background possessed.

Competition is intense, irrespective of the nature of jobs. Voluntary jobs are equally fierce, as these serve as a stepping tool to gain local experience for the often job hunting immigrants who are skilled but lack local Australian experience.

 

Conclusion:

The first personal opinion is that it is not AUSTRALIA. It is just Australia, another country in a different hemisphere on this planet Earth. From an Indian perspective, Australia offers a diverse range of options just like India. The cleanliness and the orderliness apart, the only difference between touring Australia and India would be the Kangaroos. I guess India has Royal Bengal Tigers in lieu of the Kangaroos. Jokes apart, Australia has varied versions of flora and fauna, true to its regional existence in the southern hemisphere.

One major factor noticeable in Australia has been the existence of “Human Values”. I guess most of the world has seen human values being diminished. But for some reason, Australia still possesses in my personal opinion a very high respect for human values.

The value of dollar is very high in Australia. Every dollar is highly valued. I guess this is related to the fact that dollar is actually drying up in the hands of people, with not enough jobs and of course not being paid enough. The cost of living is noticeably high, but the salaries are strikingly low. This makes me feel scared though!

Finally, what did I achieve out of my Australia trip? Well, I seem to love India the more I explore the world (Incredible, isn’t it!) Second, I have begun to love Qatar for what it has to offer (Yep!). Third, I did decide though, irrespective of all my observations and opinions, the ten thousand dollar bill spent immigrating to Australia can only be recovered by accomplishing the ultimate objective of Australian Citizenship (Hurray!!!)

So……well; the Australian journey continues!

 

 

 

Australian Diaries 5: Melbourne Stay - Part 1

18 June 2015 - It has been 20 days in Australia. These 20 days has given me an altogether different insight of Australia. I am pretty sure that if not for this on the ground visit, my illusion of Australia would have been contrary to the reality that exists in this part of the world.

Let me take you through the journey I have had since landing on 29 May 2015. Whilst my previous post detailed my observation on the landing day, this post blazes through my eyes, brain and heart.

30 May 2015 : Our landing was on a Friday, so the weekend (Sat & Sun) was planned as the time to search for our accomodation for the remaing duration of our stay in Australia. Strolling around in Melbourne without local mobile phone and cellular data was difficult for someone new here. So our first stop - Local mobile phone service providers. We discussed options with our hosts, had a rough idea of the route and the proceeded to our journey. As always, we were lost. Fortunately, we found two Indian guys walking on our way. Understanding our enquiry, they lead us through the desired destination. Exchanging of info revealed that they were from Bangalore. Namma kannada overtook all emotions. We also accepted their advise and knowing were less than 14 hours in Melbourne, they personally took us to the Railway station, made us purchase local public transport cards for easier movement in Melbourne. They also showed us the service provider after some suggestions. There you go now, we were at it all alone again. But this time in the right direction and at our destination quickly.

We chose, Telstra, as our service provider. Telstra is similar to BSNL in India. Uncertainity in our final destination made us pick this option. Easy number portability at the back of our minds, we chose our respective plans. So, finally secured our local phone numbers. It seemed as though we would have our tasks easy after securing our local phone numbers. Actually, it did in reality.

We chose to go back, register on local classifieds, use our local phone number and identify spaces for rent. All done, a couple of hours later, we were their at one of the spaces for inspection. One shot, One view and our accomodation for the remaining duration of my stay was accomplished. I guess, target well achieved. I bet nobody else would have even dared to think of taking up a search in an unkown country with unknown people at this quick pace. Not even 24 hours since we landed in Melbourne, we closed a deal.

In the midst of all the above, our stomachs were scramblling with emptiness. A visit to an indian restaurant was mandated by brain and heart. A $25 bill for 2 thali's seemed a good deal. But all we had on the plate was half naan each, a small cup of rice (read so called Biryani) and 2 curries. Well, this was not what we wanted. Our stomachs remained empty and we were on a seach for some vegetarian respite. Ever wondered who the saviour was? Well, it was SUB-WAY. I first tasted subway in Doha. Good that I did in Doha, else we would still be searching for our vegetarian option in the streets of Melbourne.

31 May 2015: Our planned targets achieved, we had the almigty to thank. Thats when we decided to visit "Hare Krishna Temple" (ISKCON). This also gave us an opportunity to move in Trains, Trams and walk around the city. Heading to South Melbourne, crossing through the downtown (CBD area) gave us an insight into what Melbourne offered. I must admit, for a tourist, the weather, place, people would have been heavenly. As a job seeker, this did not matter much. Probably the enthusiasm and zeal would only be reflected once we accomplish the objective of securing jobs for ourselves, however small it may be.

ISKCON had australian priests. A small but beautiful place in a posh locality. Most of them would not know it exists, barring Indians. They provide free food. We did have it along with the many Indians who gathered in the temple vicinity. A noteable observation was we also saw many local homeless families / people queing up for this free Indian food. Our thoughts wandered on seeing this plight. But I guess this is something that we did not expect.

All done, in the cold afternoon, we headed to South Melbourne beach. The winds surpassed our walking pace, making us go back and get into the tram service to the downtown. In downtown area,, we visited National Gallery of Victoria (Museum). A stroll outside on the road, we saw roadside hawkers and buskers. India seemed reflected here, just that here it is orderly and sensible with no shouting. The Arts precinct, GPO, Yarra river and the buildings made a good view. A mall on the south bank of the river gave us an opportunity for window shopping. Across the river, crossing the railway station, we had an insight into the interior spaces of downtown.

A recce of our destinations, based on the planned tasks, was also executed. We surely did make use of technology. GPS was our best friend, guiding through the streets. The locals were very kind and helpful. Making sure we understood their directions correctly. On the way, we found one more vegetarian option. The middle east famous "Falafel"   was our companion to satisfy our hunfer. The falafel rolls, french fries, subway sandwiches made sure we were alive and kicking in Melbourne.

It was an interesting two days. The week may have ended, but a new start in our life was already made. No matter the place, all kinds of people exist everywhere. These two days made us love INDIA more and more, for as the saying goes, there is no place like INDIA. Infact I can strongly say, now, there isn't a better place than INDIA.

Australian Diaries - 4: Landing in Melbourne

29 May 2015 - 21:00 hrs - Landing at Melboune Airport, I had a huge breath and sigh of relief. Our long journey of non stop flight for 13 hours came to an end. Vegan options on the flight were limited. But then, who cares about the details of the food, when the excitement and nervousness of leading a life in an unknown country surpasses all other emotions.

The landing was the smoothest I ever encountered in my entire life. The immigration was polite and nobody had any questions pertaining to our visit. As a planner, I envisaged many questions to prop up during the immigration. But we hardly had anyone asking us questions. The stamping was done and the immigration officer chanted "Welcome to Australia". Well, that sounded cool. A smile on both of our faces was evident to each other. Australia would be our next home. I am unsure if its forever, but am sure it will be for the next 5 years - until the time we have an Australian passport.

As an outsider perspective, I thought I will only view English advertisements in Australian. But I guess, such is the chinese influx and domination, that we found welcome boards and other advertisements in Chinese (Mandarin). Deep inside my heart, I felt we are not dominating this part of the world, as we do in middle east.

We found people of varied nationalities in Australia. Immigrants seem to be very welcome. I guess evryone except the aborigines (australian natives) are immigrants in one way or the other. But we had one feeling deep inside. Our skin colours and the way way we look, differentiated us inside. We were the odd men out. The slang (or lingo) was different. Our english was superior but the way we spoke sounded inferior. But then, we are sure, going down the time, we would be more australianised than the australians.

The above thoughts dispersed the moment we had our school friend - Sudarshan, visible to us. Comfort factor kicked in. Pleasantries exchanged and we were off in his car to our pre-booked accomodation. A 30-40 minute ride on near empty roads was a complete contrast to the high density roads back home or even the middle east. We were told many shops and restaurants don't work after 5pm or on weekends. All this in the name of work-life balance to all individuals. Wow, what a contrast to the part of world I come from. Certainly sounded interesting.

All along the road, Australia reminded me of India. The two main differences between India and Australia are - Cleanliness and Orderliness. The paintings or the writings on the walls are a commom sight in both countries. Australia calls this as 'Graffitti' and I wonder what India calls these as. I am sure if the 'Swatch Bharat Campaign' by PM Modi is a success, India and Australia will be alike in the way we see and feel the country.

The first day's thoughts hover around. I guess more to follow, observe and write. Until then, Australian dreams seem to undergo transition from the cold vibes; just like the bloody cold winter we are encountering in Melbourne.

Australian Diaries - Post 3

23 May 2015 – One week to go for our Australian journey. We are super excited. The very thought of landing in Australia makes us feel anxious too.  Irrespective of the outcomes, the journey in itself is sure to give us more than a couple of lessons.

Packing is in full swing. I can never think of a time, where we have been so much concerned about the baggage limits. Blame it on the horrendous costs for the extra baggage; we are better off having a couple of kilos less in our baggage. So much time spent on optimization, we were using our professional skills to enhance our personal lives J. Finally, we decided to barge in the remaining stuffs through a cargo service from Doha at a later date.

Our mobile phones are now loaded with the apps – ranging from Australian banks to travel guides. Not to forget the app of Melbourne transport. Planning the first week has been complete, more or less. With winter settling in Melbourne, we had all our winter wear up and running, considering the fact that it has been more than 2 years since we used them here, in this part of the world.

The first weekend in Melbourne is planned to scout for permanent accommodation. Casual search on the internet serves a reminder of the large Indian settlements. Plenty of rooms are available on sharing basis, especially for females. Reading through those messages would sometime give a feel that you are actually in India and not in Australia. Albeit the large presence of Indian community, you can still feel and sense the typical Indian feeling. No offense directed, but sometimes you feel like running away from the exemplified attitude of my countrymen. I hope I will be able to find some good accommodation quickly.

The first week day after our landing is planned at the Central Business District (CBD) area. Our bank accounts need to be activated and yes, we need to get the much awaited debit cards. Then, we have to walk around 350m from our Bank to register for medical and centre link services. This done, I also need to visit an Australian post office to register for a tax file number. I am sure; this would call for a delicious Indian lunch. Will I be able to grab one? This is something I cannot tell you now.

The second weekday – it will be time to move out of the booked accommodation. I am hoping success would have prevailed in our weekend search. Else, the contingency plan will be to extend the stay at current place or move into a budget hotel.

Third weekday is a time to hit up and run to the recruiters. Meeting the recruiter would seriously bring out the best of our sales skills. Experiences till date indicate it is all about selling our capabilities. This is where I will have to use my Middle East experience.  I am hoping the holy angels are up waiting for me. Ha ah ahah

I am laying my fingers to rest at this moment; but my mind is nowhere resting – as it continues to run countless trips to Australia, without any air tickets!!!!

Australian Diaries - Post 2

07 May 2015 – Sometime in the afternoon, my ‘highly smart ‘phone notified me of an incoming mail. I unlocked my screen and noticed I received a mail, into an email address which I use it for professional purposes (read – job search!). As I opened and read through my email, I was delighted. By now, you might have known me as a highly optimist person. The inner traits took control over my mind and I was hoping that the opportunity this mail presented was the one I should grab. Did I grab? Yes. But then as typical Indian movies, that have been successful theatrically, there was a twist. Here is an update on this incident, which I personally encountered.

The mail originated from Australia. The company is a reputed project controls expert serving high caliber clients. Now, how did I get here? I am unfolding the background here - I used my business development skills (again!) through LinkedIn and approach a higher level manager in the UK branch, for positions in Australia. The gentleman from UK was kind enough to have replied to me - stating that my resume would be forwarded to an Australian branch if I was interested. Not the one to hold back, I immediately provided a positive response with a request to forward my resume to the Australian Branch. A couple of days later, the Regional Manager of the Australian branch sent in the subject mail I highlighted above. Joy knew no bounds when the content of the email, extract derived, read “……….I would be keen to do a telephone interview tomorrow……….”. I felt my hard work would eventually bring me happiness. I was already dreaming of leaving Qatar. But destiny said, not so fast, my son! There is more to go!!!!

Now coming back to the subject email, I responded to the email with high energy. I was hoping I would get a confirmation for the telephone interview within a reasonable time (not more than 60 min). But, alas, the response never came. I spent the so called ‘tomorrow’ looking at the phone, hoping there would be a telephone interview (again, optimist in me beats the realist). The day ended and I was reminded of the tagline – “Tomorrow never dies”. Rather, for me, the tomorrow I was looking for, never came. L

You might be wondering, why am I disappointed? Well, there are several reasons. For one, not many know in my circle know that I have published a couple of articles on project controls expertise. I am of the opinion that my skills would have been the best fit for the potential role I missed out, oops!..rather never had a shot at. Two, I could have completed writing my book on project control expertise and used it to sync with the role of training the industry personnel. I lost out on the opportunity, at this moment, to earn the name and fame J Three, the role would have given me chance to travel and use my skills at multiple locations, enabling me network better. Four, experts are paid ‘more’. And I missed out on a heavy pay cheque, for a start, in Australia.

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My wife keeps reminding me that I am unique. My wife continues to say, that, less than 1% of the people in the world are sincere like me – adhering to timelines, commitments, accepting statements made, even if it was wrong and more importantly having 100% trust on the ‘other’ person. The world is not the same, I am told always and repeatedly. I have always argued with my wife, that, as humans – ‘trust’ in its basic sense is eternal and privy to human kind, for, that’s the only element, the human kind is differentiated. I now have the unfortunate history of such scenarios repeating over time and again. But no matter what, I still yearn to be different, irrespective of the consequences. Professionally, I am a strong advocator of ‘change management’, but personally, looks like I am not ‘managing to change’ some of the elementary characteristics developed in me, throughout my life cycle till date. What are the risks and consequences? This is something I have to wait and watch.

I have always believed life teaches us more than the books. For a fact, I do not remember, much of the civil engineering subjects nor the mathematics I studied at school nor remember even the science experiments that I used to hate. All I have used in my life is the basics of English, the 26 alphabets, the jugglery of which constitutes my ability to communicate with people in life. Events in life have taught me more. Some of the events make me feel stupid, whilst the vast majority gave me the confidence in reiterating my thoughts that my intellectual capability is far higher than the successful people. It is just a matter of time, when the luck around the corner has to creep and crawl into my life. For this, all I need is the fruits of the ‘good karma’.

I guess I will have more to write as the days pass. For now, I can’t wait to unravel my experiences as and when I experience the experience :). I am just reminded that Tourism Australia has a tagline – “There is nothing like Australia”. Well, with my experiences, I can’t disagree with this tagline, right?

Australian Diaries - Post 1

January 30, 2015 – I was confirmed of my Australian Permanent Resident status. I was offshore at that time. But joy knew no bounds. The fantastic landscape that I often come across on TV and the web was going to be a place, I would see it in real, through my eyes. For someone coming from India, the grass on on the other side looks green. I was no different, expecting Australia to be the land of my dreams. But will this dream remain a dream or will Australia match my expectations? That is something to be experienced and am sure, I will let my opinion out here.

Immediately after receiving the PR, my job search started. LinkedIn profiles were updated. Optimism was high and was running through the blood. Did I expect miracles? Well, I did. But now almost three months later, I don’t expect miracles to happen. Rather I am compounded by the ground realities, even before I land in Australia.

I have had numerous conversations with people who have experienced Australia. I have used my sales skills and business development skills to connect with cold contacts and obtain all requisite information. The web searches yielded a lot more of information and within a month’s time, I knew the transformation will not be easy.

For an optimist like me, it was a shot in the arm, for having realised the dark secrets. For once I felt, India is good. In fact I sometimes feel my job in the Middle East would have made me comfortable, at least financially, over a period of time. But then, I was never satisfied with the good. I always left the good, for the better. Hope, Australia will be better, over the longer run.

I realised no country is perfect. Pros and cons exist in every country. This calms me down in handling various scenarios in Australia. Now, what am I talking about? Well, its all about the job search for new migrants. Here is my short story and experience.

In a span of three months, I mastered the art of writing applications for government jobs. The long list of questions and the equally long sought after answers was something I enjoyed. In fact I sometimes feel, I was blessed with this trait of writing lengthy answers to demonstrate each of key selection criteria. I think, my English is something I have to thank. Never mind the fact that, I learnt  English in my - India! How do I quantify success in this area? Simple, it is - the number of interviews you get!. Till date, out of the three matching roles I applied, 1 went to the Interview and the remaining are in consideration for interview. I wish, I had my job with the very first interview had with a government agency in Sydney. I realised, me not being in Australia was a major negative point that deprived me of furthering my career within the Australian business. For the remaining, alas!  I wish I had divine intervention to accelerate the slow progress. For all the time we blame the Indian bureaucracy, try Australia. It is no better than India. :(

The private jobs are very scary in Australia, as most of the recruitment's are done only through recruitment consultants. I have heard stories wherein recruiters just follow a checklist policy. I wonder if they ever use brains. But that is something I don’t wanna write here. Who knows, if a recruiter finds this post and blacklists me for jobs! ha ha ha.....I know my opinions are not indifferent to the majority in Australia. Hopefully, one day, I will eventually overcome this hurdle.

I hope I grow to a stage wherein I start a recruitment company in Australia, which operates differently to the existing ones. Oh! I realised that..Australia is driving out in me the idea of entrepreneurship. Not a bad start, I guess. Let’s see how it works out in the future. Until that time, of course, I will still be on a job hunt for that elusive first job in Australia...............:)