Interview: How I got my job within 2 months of search as a new migrant?- Hetal Bhimani

Job finding in Australia is hard for many but some crack it within a short period of time. This happens only with lots of planning, determination and perseverance. I would like to bring the interview of Hetal Bhimani who belong to the later category. She has secured job within 2 months of her job hunting in Australia. Let’s get into more details how she did it and what was the strategies adopted.

#1. Please introduce yourself.

I am a Computer Engineer and have 8 years of experience in IT in India. I came to Australia in December 2017.

#2. Tell us briefly your first experience in searching for job?

Job Searching itself is a job!

When I arrived in Australia I was 32 Weeks pregnant. I started job hunting when my son was 1 year old. Because of the gap, I almost lost all my memory on my technical skills. As a first step of job search, I contacted friends within my network developed during this 1 year. Forwarded my resume to them but didn’t get any response from any company because of lack of  “LOCAL EXPERIENCE”.

#3. What was the first outcome?

I appeared for first interview where all my technical skills were matching. My interview went awesome (After any interview you always feel like you are in!) I had experience in all the things they wanted! Perfect match! but I got my results saying we found candidate with same domain experience.

#4. Did you had to make any changes to your resume after you moved to Australia? if so, did anyone helped you in doing so?

Yes. In India my resume had all the details of all the projects in each company.

Here  resumes are precise and short. Company name and overall experience detail. Resume not more than 2 pages. Since I have previous experience I knew what employers were looking in my resume, so changed accordingly by  myself. 

#5. Was there any change in your strategy when you were unsuccessful first time?

More focused on scenario based questions and practiced myself answering them in the most appropriate manner. For example: Past challenges and how did I overcome them. I made a list of them and chosen the most effective challenges to demonstrate my skills and knowledge. 

 #6. How many hours did you spend on applying for jobs? Did you search in any other specific sites except seek and Indeed

Linkedin. Send request to all the recruiters because they post all requirements on linkedin posts. Ask them in message or call regarding any new openings.

 #7. What was your routine while applying for jobs? Example: apply only once a day or constant applying as soon as you see the new job ad.

Don’t be so desperate for applying all jobs at once. There are some times where you need to update your resume words as per job description. Just change the words e.g. some companies call artifacts and some calls use cases, class diagrams etc. Apply for the job as soon as you feel confident in undertaking that role. 

NOTE:I am not saying to add anything in your resume which you don’t know and to lie to get an interview.

 #8. How long did it take to get your first interview?

4 weeks after I started applying

#9. What was your preparation for your interview?

All the answers are in your resume. Ask why and how on each line of resume. Do some hands on coding basics and scenario based questions like challenges faced or situations tackled.

#10.What advice do you give to new immigrants like you or people who are looking for jobs?

Keep patience. It is not a overnight thing. I know few people migrate here with job or find job on next day or same week or with in few days or months. But everyone is on a different journey so don’t give up there is always a place for you somewhere which will come in right time. 

 #11. Tip from my experience.

Always keep interviews in pipeline. Keep on applying even after few interviews are scheduled.

Take away lessons from above:

1. Job searching is a job in itself.
2. References may take you to the interview level but may not necessarily fetch you a job.
3. Change your resume according to the requirements of the employers (if you have knowledge and skills).
4. Prepare for your interview based on the experience mentioned in the resume. 
5. Be proactive in looking for jobs.
6. Try to gain local experience.
7. Hetal contacted and followed up employers using Linkedin as the medium of contact.
8. Last but not least, just be patient and persevere until you find one.

This may help you:

List of companies in Australia that offer jobs on continual basis