Looking for H.R Job Opportunity in Melbourne

[shahbaz.arshad]

Hi
I have about 5+ years of experience in Recruitment as well as General H.R., mostly in IT Industry.
I have graduate degree in HRM and have Managed H.R Department for almost 2 years in an U.S based MNC in India.
I moved to Melbourne as I have to support my Wife living here in Melbourne.
I m looking for a Job Opportunity as a IT Recruiter or in General H.R., I have a Work Permit on the Visa

Pls suggest me where do I have to start? I Have been applying for job through seek and career one but with no luck.
Is there any thing i have to do....? like taking up a training course etc ..?
i m open to work in junior positions too..

Looking forward for your precious suggestions

Thanks and Regards
Shahbaz Arshad

[CherylS]

Hi Shahbaz,

My next step would be contacting HR specific recruitment agencies such as 'The Next Step' or HR Partners to help you find something suitable. May I also suggest that you consider temp work that may be below your current level of experience to gain some Australian experience (from what you said I take it you haven't currently worked in Australia). Not only will this give you some exposure to Australian practices, but it will give you something to do whilst you look for that ideal opportunity.

Cheryl

[Moz]

Hi Shahbaz,
I'm going to contradict Cheryl, because I don't want to raise your expectations about getting a job through a recruitment agency.

The reality is that recruitment agents will (or should) strive to find the very best candidates available for their client (the employer), because that's what they are being paid to do. Most agency recruiters will give preference to HR people with local experience. In Melbourne the likelihood of recruitment agencies having local candidates to choose from is very high which means your chance of even getting a call back from an agency recruiter is very slim.

This may seem discriminatory, but people with local experience would be expected have less of a learning curve than a recent immigrant.

In my opinion you need to be proactive and contact employers directly - lots of them - and let them know that you are available for temp/contract work, even short term. This is less of a risk to them than employing people in permanent positions, however temp/contract jobs can often go on longer than originally envisaged and it is not uncommon for them to lead to a permanent position. Also as Cheryl said, it will give you some local experience, and frankly even limited local experience in a temp/contract role looks better on your resume/CV than no local experience! It is possible that public sector employers are less likely to discriminate.

Let us know how you get on.

Moz

[shahbaz.arshad]

Dear Cheryl, Moz
Thank You very much for your suggestions .
As Suggested i m very much open for temp/contract role to grow my Knowledge in Australian H.R Market.

Still the Job hunt is on, hoping i get a brake soon..
Thanks for your support and suggestions again .

Regards
Shahbaz Arshad

[Laydeeblu]

Hi Shahbaz

I know the feeling! I am pretty much in the same boat as you and looking for a HR role in Melbourne. I have recently moved here from the UK. Look, I have been told that this time of the year is quiet and things should hopefully pick up in the next few weeks or so.

Hang in there and like Moz said, contact employers directly!! Hopefully something positive will come out of it!!

[shahbaz.arshad]

Hi all,

Here are few records on my job searching till date.

Total applied jobs from November 2009 till 15th February 2010:

Source: Seek, CareerOne, Jobsjobs: 368

Applied for positions: Recruiter, H.R Consultant, Assistant H.R, H.R Officer, H.R Adviser etc

Replies on the application: 50

Respond: Application unsuccessful

Over all successes ration for my candidature: 0:368.

Over all Moral and Emotional Quotient : ???

Kindly suggest me with alternatives and approach towards my job search.

[Moz]

Shahbaz,

Have you had your resume and cover letter reviewed by someone local?

There are people who do this for small fee. A career counsellor would probably be able to do it for you.

There is one other thing I could suggest, which I suspect you are not going to be happy about - adopt a western first name.

I know this suggestion will horrify many people, especially with the recent claims of racism in Australia, but the reality is that racial discrimination does exist, it exists everywhere, in every country, to varying degrees, whether it be conscious or subconscious discrimination.

However, I know from experience that changing your first name can help. As an agency recruiter I have helped people get an interview by persuading them to adopt a western first name. I have actually witnessed the discrimination by some employers when I have sent through a resume with a "foreign" first name. I have also seen the difference it makes once that first name is changed to something familiar which people don't give a second thought to. In many cases, once the person is established in a job they revert back to their original name (although some don't).

Of course this is more palatable for some people than others. For a start, some names have an English language equivalent, but others do not because they have a more complex meaning. Also some people will understandably take the view that they don't want to work for an organisation who discriminates in this way. However organisations don't discriminate - individuals do. Sometimes they don't even know they are doing it.

When a recruiter (internal or external) is 'culling' resumes to get to the first short-list, it can be just too easy to find a reason not to interview someone simply because they're not sure how to pronounce an applicant's first name. This is often a sub-conscious decision. The problem is, these people are often the gatekeeper who decides who's resume gets seen by the hiring manager and who gets a rejection letter. There are of course some employers and recruiters who don't even have the courtesy to respond!

So Shahbaz, you may need to decide whether you are going to tough it out and continue down the path you are on now, or work around the discrimination, try adopting a western first name, and possibly improve your chances of getting a job in HR.

I hope you are not offended by this, but I think we are kidding ourselves if we don't acknowledge the fact that some of the rejections you are receiving are down to discrimination.

Moz.

PS. Don't forget the resume and cover letter - they still have to be good

[Laydeeblu]

Hi Shahbaz, have you managed to meet with any employers (for interview) and also have you been in contact with any agencies to discuss your skills and experience and how to move forward with regards to finding a job?
I am no expert as still looking for a job myself but interested to know if you are you sending a standard CV to all HR jobs posted on websites or are tailoring your CV to meet the selection criteria? What exactly are you doing?

[HRIMHO]

I would suggest quality over quantity. As an employer, you get countless resumes/applications from Seek where people haven't bothered to read the job or tailor their approach to the organisation etc. These would generally get binned without a reply given the volume and the spam-type issues employers have to put up with.

So rather than just playing the numbers game, making each application suit the vacancy is the best approach.

Moz - research backs you up...

Australian bosses are racist when it's time to hire PETER MARTIN
June 18, 2009

A FOREIGN or indigenous-sounding name gives people less chance of landing a job in Australia, a study has found. Unless your name sounds Italian and you're in Melbourne, in which case it can be an advantage.

Full article:
Australian bosses racist: study | Foreign or indigenous names 'decrease job chance'

[shahbaz.arshad]

Hi Shahbaz, have you managed to meet with any employers (for interview) and also have you been in contact with any agencies to discuss your skills and experience and how to move forward with regards to finding a job?
I am no expert as still looking for a job myself but interested to know if you are you sending a standard CV to all HR jobs posted on websites or are tailoring your CV to meet the selection criteria? What exactly are you doing?

Hi Laydeeblu,
I have tried to contact few Employers but in vain .. I m getting job calls from US and Europe through my Network, whom i have worked in past.
I Do modify my Cover letter as well as my Resume according to the job requirement posted.

In Brief my work Experience is a mixture of both General H.R as well as Recruitment mostly in IT industry. I prefer IT Recruitment at present and much interested to join a Recruitment Consultancy.

[shahbaz.arshad]

Hi Moz and HRIMO,
In past we were educated that Human Resource personal has to abide by his Ethics and Norms, giving every indusial equal right being into organizational Boundaries and according to labor Law.
Petty that now we are stepping aside from this.
Where are the H.R Values...? Where is the notion that being multicultural, an organization can grow more prospers and Productive ultimately helping the economy grow?
If this continues we will see there will be a huge difference in skill and Education in the society. Community those who are preferred and easier to get jobs in present will take Education and skill training granted as Education and Skill will not matter the most to them to get a suitable jobs. Where as in other hand the other unpreferred communities will get in to more casual and labored incentive jobs, creating a huge vacuum in skill and knowledge to the job market which will cluster the wealth in the Economy.
“Forgive me if wrong, I m not an expert in this issues but this is just my view.”
Coming but to the topic of changing my first name …. If doing this gets me a job…. Then I will cuz all my financial savings are finished and I have to support my family somehow soon

[HRIMHO]

I truly believe in the value of a diverse workforce - I was not advocating that it is the right thing to discriminate at all. As a HR practitioner I work hard to stamp out this behaviour in any organisation I'm involved with and embrace diversity and its benefits. However, like Moz, was just highlighting that it does exist which is verified by research. It's not right.

[if.if]

I would suggest quality over quantity. As an employer, you get countless resumes/applications from Seek where people haven't bothered to read the job or tailor their approach to the organisation etc. These would generally get binned without a reply given the volume and the spam-type issues employers have to put up with.

So rather than just playing the numbers game, making each application suit the vacancy is the best approach.

Moz - research backs you up...

Australian bosses are racist when it's time to hire PETER MARTIN
June 18, 2009

A FOREIGN or indigenous-sounding name gives people less chance of landing a job in Australia, a study has found. Unless your name sounds Italian and you're in Melbourne, in which case it can be an advantage.

Full article:
Australian bosses racist: study | Foreign or indigenous names 'decrease job chance'

I find the paragraph about having an Italian surname quite funny. It doesn't help me. Getting an agency to even acknowledge a job application is a total waste of time. And if you dare get through to some on the phone they are very stand offish and insist you email your CV through..and of course you don't hear back. How things have changed. Once upon a time, you could call an agency and be given an appointment to get on their books. A face to face meeting in my experience can make the difference between being considered or not for any positions. Granted they can't possibly meet all candidates, however one would think, that with recruiters flooding the job market, one would have to strike it lucky once in hundreds of applications.

I came across this website and hope that some HR people in the recruiting sector might take note of my comments. Without candidates you wouldn't have a job.

[Moz]

I find the paragraph about having an Italian surname quite funny. It doesn't help me. Getting an agency to even acknowledge a job application is a total waste of time.

In addition to outright discrimination, there's also the (recruiter's) fear of not being able to pronounce someone's name. Incredible as it may seem many people are fearful of this, they feel embarrassed that they cannot pronounce a name.

I used to have a neighbour who couldn't pronounce my wife's first name. It's not like it's difficult to pronounce, but it's a Gaelic name and it's just not common here in Australia. I made the mistake of correcting my neighbour once (not in front of my wife) and from then on I am quite sure my neighbour avoided my wife. Whenever they did come into contact my neighbour visibly blushed with embarrassment. Fortunately they moved!

But imagine if my neighbour was in recruitment, she's going through a pile of CVs and there's one or two names she can't pronounce but there's a bunchy of other applicants who look suitable for the job anyway - guess who won't get called for an interview?

I'm not trying to make excuses for this, I am just trying to explain how human nature comes into play.

Personally if I'm not sure how to pronounce someone's name I just ask them. I have yet to meet anyone who is offended.

[pallavikawale]

Hi Shahbaz,
Since it is getting hard for you to find a job in HR why not start finding work in any other related field,I mean other office jobs . This will not only give you some local experience but will help you to expand your networks and support your family for a while.
Start looking for job adverts in local magazines and newspapers. Small companies often have their adverts published in these local papers.
I would also like to suggest that you join a course where you can gain Australian HRM knowledge which is quite different from India.
All the best,