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!