Key Points
- Nepali migrants share their experience of building a successful life in Australia
- Finding a job in today’s competitive job market
- Australian Government providing support to help small businesses
While the was 6.9 per cent, the underemployment rate grew to 11.4 per cent. Among the 937,400 people who were unemployed during the month, this could be the first time they would have to look for a new job or start from scratch again.
Starting from scratch is something that Ram Gautam remembers clearly.
Born in Bhutan, the 54-year-old settled in Australia in 2010 with his wife and four children after spending 20 difficult years in refugee camps in Nepal.
“We had a very hard life back then, living under small temporary plastic huts,” his wife Ranamaya Gautam told SBS Nepali.
Following the political tensions in Bhutan, the family were compelled to leave their birthplace and flee to Nepal in the 1990s.
Recalling their first few years in Australia, Ms Gautam says, “It was quite tough for us in the beginning. Although we did get support from our relatives who live here - our children were still very young and me and my husband did not know English language very well.
Ranamaya Gautam at her Sydney home. Source: Ranamaya Gautam
"Even buying train tickets and doing shopping wasn’t that easy.”
With Centrelink’s support, they took English language classes at TAFE.
Entering Australia’s job market for the first time
Ram also took part in horticulture training at TAFE, which helped him land a job in a vegetable farm two years after their arrival.
“For me, it became impossible to find any job in which the English language was a priority,” Ranamaya Gautam explains, saying that language was her main hurdle when it came to employment.
She soon joined her husband at his farming job, where the two have been working ever since.
“First, I was quite unsure about how I would work there with my weak English, but eventually the more I worked, the better I understood. We can now easily understand work instructions and perform accordingly,” says Ms Gautam.
Now, the pair live a well-settled life in their own home in south-western Sydney.
Farming in Australia Source: Getty Images/pixdeluxe
How does the migrant experience affect the chances of getting employed?
Finding a job in a new country can be difficult for many with many .
Nepal-born Govinda Pandey is a chief executive for a technology company based in Queensland. Despite a job confirmation before moving to Australia, he says applying for the job was fraught with complications.
“I had already secured a job for myself before arriving to Australia as a skilled migrant. But I realized during the preparation that the employment process here is very complicated,” he said.
Govinda Pandey arrived in Australia in 2006 and is also currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University.
“Starting from the application process, there are many selection criteria to fulfil, and almost every employer wants his potential employee to have a local work experience.”
Gaining local work experience is not at all possible without getting employed in the first place.
He emphasises the importance of aligning one’s original non-local work/training experiences in a way that addresses the selection criteria in job application processes.
Govinda Pandey (from the left) is the CEO at Rockfield Technologies. Source: Supplied
Increased competition for a post-COVID job market
When it comes to careers, there are four most important things to keep in mind says Anjana Regmi, founder of an online coaching service helping people achieve their professional goals.
Finding the right professional network is very important says Ms Regmi, who first arrived in Australia in 2007 as an international student from Nepal.
From building a professional networking profile to subscribing to platforms related to one’s career choice can be very helpful for finding inspiration or building connections that could lead to job opportunities she adds.
Map your skills
Anjana Regmi runs an online consultancy and coaching service Source: Anjana Regmi
Anjana Regmi says it is important to keep track of useful skills acquired and suggests making a habit of writing them down.
“We think we can remember it later, but journaling helps us contextualize our skills. Since one CV cannot used to address the selection criteria in two different jobs, listing down our skillset can give a more precise idea about which expertise can be used in a particular situation.”
Similarly, Queensland Professor Govinda Pandey suggests everyone focus on agility.
“Most of us always aim to find a job related to what we study, which is not bad of course, but there are many more skills and opportunities that remain unexplored,” he says.
When looking for a job, especially now, we should keep studying about potential opportunities in other industries. It is about looking outside the box.
Some examples of this could be getting a heavy vehicle license training or starting a new business.
Govinda Pandey (front row, centre) Source: Govinda Pandey
Volunteering activities
“In Australia and America, volunteering activities are considered equal to a professional activity,” says Ms Regmi.
It imparts valuable skills such as leadership, community problem solving, event management, managing finances, and many more – all of which are transferrable qualities for workplaces.
Taking up volunteering activities may help build skills.
Find your niche, transferable skills and keywords
Finding your niche is about knowing is simply something that we are very good at, or specialize in. It can be something as small as a simple household chore – anything that we can do very well.
“You do not necessarily need to aim to start a big restaurant in the future. It can be any simple aspect that you are very good at," Ms Regmi says.
This highlights our passion, thus giving an answer to that one question which employers love to ask – “How are you different from everyone else?”
With many organisations now using artificial intelligence to filter out thousands of job applications, highlighting transferrable skills through keywords can be very handy for search engine optimisation.
Shot of a group of busines speople interviewing a candidate in an office. Source: Getty images
Don’t give up or get carried away
Coming from a different country can have numerous challenges including language barriers, but the values and skills they hold can be very helpful while merging into a new environment.
“I would like to suggest everyone to not panic if they are unemployed, and not hesitate to ask for support. There are many organizations that can provide support,” says Ranamaya Gautam.
Having worked in the same job for the past eight years, Ms Gautam suggests working with sincerity and perseverance.
“Do not give up when life tests you, and do not get carried away by happiness too.”
The Australian Government’s 2020-2021 Federal Budget provides in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Gautam and his family in Australia. Source: Supplied
Similarly, the federal government’s initiative also supports people looking for work and employers looking to hire.
