This post is about using your Working Holiday in Australia to find Job Sponsorship.
Applying for jobs in Australia is always easier when you are in the country, for the obvious reasons that you are readily available for a face-to-face interview, and you can even start in the role before your Working Holiday Visa expires, allowing the Australian employer to “try before they buy”.
Also, visiting Australia on a Working Holiday will offer you these further benefits:
- You can gain valuable Australian experience in your field, which will strengthen your resume enormously
- You can get your foot in the door of several organisations and expand your networks
- You can get a real feel for Australia and whether you would like to live there long term or not.
- You can make a deision about what part of Australia you like and could see yourself living long-term so you can focus on that area for employment
- You also get to ‘try before you buy’, and experience living and working in Australia so that you can really decide whether it is something that you want.
Now, I know that the countries that are allowed to enter Australia on a Woring Holiday Visa (Subclass 417) are limited to the following coutnries due to the relationships with them (and the commomwealth tying us together):
- Belgium
- Cyprus
- Canada
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- HKSAR
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Sweden
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
New Zealand is in a different realm altogether, due to their close ties with Australia. What this means is that if you are a citizen of New Zealand, you can readily leave New Zealand and move to Australia and automatically be allowed to work there without having to apply through the traditional means for a work permit. This is a recipricoal agreement with Australia, and works vice versa for Australians going to New Zealand.
Further notes on the Australian Working Holiday, gathered from the Australian Immigration website are below:
Note:
- Hong Kong Documents of Identity cannot be used to apply for this visa
- German Documents of Identity or Children’s passports cannot be used to apply for this visa
- European Union and national identity cards cannot be used to apply for this visa. You must apply using a passport from an eligible country. If you lodge an application using an identity card, your application cannot be accepted, and you will need to lodge another application using your passport
- If you are from Chile, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia Turkey or USA, you may be eligible to apply for a Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462), which provides similar opportunities for tertiary educated people aged 18 to 30.
Exemption: Applicants from the USA are exempt from the tertiary education requirement.
See: Work and Holiday visa (Subclass 462)
Great news if you are from Bangladesh! Australia has signed a Work and Holiday visa arrangement with Bangladesh, which meas that soon, there will be the opportunity for citizens of Bangladesh t participate in this program (and vice versa for Australian residents). At this time, the program has not yet commenced, however, keep an eye on the Australian Immigration website for more information on when it will be possible for Bangladeshi Citizens to apply for this Working Holiday Visa.
There are some other requirements, such as age, for the Auatralian Working Holiday Visa (ie you need to be between the age of 18 and 30 years old), and further details can be researched on the Australian Immigration website.
So, just how to do make the most of your time in Australia when you are on a Working Holiday Visa?
Keeping in mind that some people do their Working Holiday in Australia for the fun of it – to travel, experience, and explore Australia. These people are usually wanting a break from their careers and are willing to do any type of work just to provide them with the necessary funds to travel around Australia. For those people, I recommend the following resources:
- Work to Travel – a website with suitable short-term working holiday maker jobs, such as fruit picking
- Gum Tree – website where you can find jobs, short term accommodation, buy and sell etc. If you are from the UK, you are probably already very familiar with the UK version of this website.
- TNT Magazine Australia – Information about working in Australia, travelling in Australia, living in Australia, finding accommodation and jobs, and making new friends and connections
For those people going to Australia with the idea that they would like to further their careers, or try it out before deciding to migrate, or use it as a tool to migrate; I have some tips for you on how to use your time wisely.
Since you are coming to Australia on a limited time frame, always aim high for your first job in Australia. Australian employers are more likely to hire you when you still have the majority of time left on your visa. This is in relation to more longer term employment. Temporary employment (short term, being one month here, a couple of weeks there) is another story.
So, aim for your ideal job when you arrive in Australia, and even start applying before you arrive in Australia. Try to set up some interviews for the first week of your arrival (unless you want to take a bit of a holiday first). Make contact with recruitment agencies in your field and build a fruitful relationship with these people. That means phoning them regularly, making sure you have interviews with them, and stay in contact regularly. As the old saying goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”, so make yourself heard and known! Coming from a Recruitment background myself, I found that those candidates who stayed in contact the most, stayed the freshest in my mind, and so I was more willing to help them find employment – and sometimes it was enough to motivate me to get them off my back! Whatever, works, I say!
The good news is, due to changes in the economic climate over the past few years, Australian employers are more likely to offer contract employment, or what they call “contract with a view to permanent”. This is due to the uncertainty in the market, and what it means is that you are more likely to find employment in your field, even on your working holiday visa.
Sometimes it is good to aim at working for more than one organisation in Australia so that a) you can get a real feel for what its like working in AUstralia, whereas one Australia workplace will not give you a true picture. And b) you are expanding your networks and therefore your realm of opportunity of finding job sponsorship in Australia.
You should keep in mind the time frame you have on your Working Holiday visa, and the potential to extend your visa. Did you know that you may be eligible to extend your visa for an additional 12 months (Working Holiday visas are usually only 12 months in length). See here for more information on this: Second Working Holiday Visa Eligibility . The main requirement appears to be gaining three months of specified employment in Australia within the first 12 months of your initial Australian Working Holiday Visa. The ‘specified work’ is usually agriculaturally based, such as fruit picking. Again, where Work to Travel can assist!
When you find yourself in a company and a role that you really like in Australia, then you need to make the most of your time! That means making friends with as many people as you can, particularly those in more senior positions. Make great friends with the Human Resources department, because they will then vouch for you and recommend you for permanent roles within the company. Particularly, become the best thing that has ever happened to your manager! Everyday, commit to delivering above and beyond expectations. Offer a feeling that they will not know what they will do without you. Become a “Yes Man!”, and always offer to take more on (so long as you have the capacity to do so). Really show the Australian employers your worth, and if you do this, it will make the decision quite easy for them to sponsor you.
Also be sure to make it well known that you love working for the company and would love to be considered for any sponsorship opportunties. However, do not make this clear to the company until they are starting to really value your worth. Feel out with your senses when is a good time, however probably wait at least one – three months into the employment so they really get used to you being around. Certainly do not mention that you are looking for sponsorship at the interview/application stage, unless they offer the information that it could be an opportunity/possibility.
Now, it is always more difficult to find job sponsorship in Australia if you are not already in a skilled profession or qualified in a skilled occupation. However, it is not impossible. Networking is particularly important in this situation, and also finding employment in AUstralia in a skilled area or in a job that could lead to further skill development.
Construction is one such job – this is an area where there is potential to learn a wide range of skills,and where there is scope to specialise in an area of your interest. If you focus your working holiday on gaining valuable skills and expanding your networks, then you will certainly increase your chances of finding sponsored employment in Australia. What you may need to consider is transferring your working holiday visa over to a student visa at the end of your studies, so that you can become skilled in the area of your choice. You may even find an opportunity to be sponsored as an apprentice for a trade, although this is more likely to happen if you have personal relationships with people who are in a position to sponsor you for employment in Australia.
Something to note when approaching this topic with a suitable employer, is to do all of your research on what is involved with job sponsorship in Australia, so that you can present them with all of the facts, such as time frames, what is required from the employer, costs involved etc. This is particularly important for an employer who may not understand what is involved and therefore may make the decision that it is too much effort before even looking into it.
You should also consider offering to cover the costs involved in the sponsorship. This is a wonderful gesture, and also shows your own commitment to wanting to stay with the company. Explain to the employer or potential sponsor, in such a way, that the sponsorship process is very simple and easy. Certainly do not highlight any of the downfalls, but focus on all the positives involved in the process.
Stay focussed during your entire time in Australia, with your goal being to find an Australian sponsor. Focus has a power of its own that can bring the goal closer to you. AS mentioned before, focus on expanding those networks – join industry groups and memberships of your profession and attend networking events. Use your social networking to build your Australian contacts, particularly Linked In – the professional social networking platform.
NOTE TO REMEMBER – This is important. Take the time and investment to really work on improving your self-marketing tools. This means your CV and your cover letter. Have these assessed by professionals, such as Nab That Job in Australia!, to find out whether you will be competitive when applying for jobs in Australia, and if not, learn what you can do to improve your CV and Cover Letter, or have them professional written and tailored for the Australian job market. Nab That Job in Australia! offers a free Australian CV Assessment Tool which enables you to answer a few key questions, and then instantly receive results on what you are doing right and particularly what you are doing wrong. You then have the option of a more detailed assessment from the Australian Emigration Job Search Strategist, Nadine Myers – a highly valuable and necessary service, if you are serious about furthering your career in AUstralia, and particularly if you are seeking job sponsorship in Australia.
I hope you have found this information useful. If you have any further questions or topics you would like us to cover, please feel free to offer your suggestions, comments or questions below.
