Job Seeking in Melbourne - Grrr!!
Well I've been in Melbourne looking for work every day since Sunday 18th of June.. it's now June 28th and I'm still seeking. I'm trained in everything and a great potential employee damnit, so why am I still finding it hard to find work here?...
My background is in computing, internet, helpdesk, call centre, data entry and hospitality, as well as the recent fruit picking/labouring type positions. The things I "won't do" is outbound call centre work, door-to-door sales or be those pestering people at supermarkets and walkways.. but those jobs seem to be the only thing that you can get 'easily' here.
I've sent my resume to more than 50 employment agencies who deal with temp work. I've been visiting backpackers places to look for the promised job-boards, only to be told that either I'm 'not allowed to look because I'm not staying there' or that most backpackers get work by 'walking into places'... not really great advice since you don't know where to go when you are new to town, and what kind of jobs can you 'walk into' anyway? cafe & dishwashing jobs I'm guessing!.
Some good advice I was given by one hostel (St Kilda Coffee Palace), was to call all the agencies rather than email them - yeah I think he's right. Even though I hate making phone calls and I can't really afford to call all around with $9 in the bank and no cash on hand.. it still seems like the best way to make yourself known. I'll give it a go tomorrow.
I found a great little magazine for backpackers called JobMap, applied for all the positions in there excepting the outbound/door-to-door jobs, and am yet to hear from any of them, excepting one.. I got an interview, but before I got off the phone she noticed how "great my accent" was, and when she realised I was Australian, said I couldn't apply for their jobs because they need those on a working visa for tax reasons.
*WAH!!!!*
I'm still hopeful that sometime this week, I'll be employed... stay tuned!
My background is in computing, internet, helpdesk, call centre, data entry and hospitality, as well as the recent fruit picking/labouring type positions. The things I "won't do" is outbound call centre work, door-to-door sales or be those pestering people at supermarkets and walkways.. but those jobs seem to be the only thing that you can get 'easily' here.
I've sent my resume to more than 50 employment agencies who deal with temp work. I've been visiting backpackers places to look for the promised job-boards, only to be told that either I'm 'not allowed to look because I'm not staying there' or that most backpackers get work by 'walking into places'... not really great advice since you don't know where to go when you are new to town, and what kind of jobs can you 'walk into' anyway? cafe & dishwashing jobs I'm guessing!.
Some good advice I was given by one hostel (St Kilda Coffee Palace), was to call all the agencies rather than email them - yeah I think he's right. Even though I hate making phone calls and I can't really afford to call all around with $9 in the bank and no cash on hand.. it still seems like the best way to make yourself known. I'll give it a go tomorrow.
I found a great little magazine for backpackers called JobMap, applied for all the positions in there excepting the outbound/door-to-door jobs, and am yet to hear from any of them, excepting one.. I got an interview, but before I got off the phone she noticed how "great my accent" was, and when she realised I was Australian, said I couldn't apply for their jobs because they need those on a working visa for tax reasons.
*WAH!!!!*
I'm still hopeful that sometime this week, I'll be employed... stay tuned!
