Perspective of an International Professional

Each country has a different employment market with diverse codes. That’s what I discovered back in 2021 when I arrived in Sydney from France. Let’s take the resume for example. Down under, the work experience is developed within a four to five pages CV, while in my home country, a one page CV is the norm.

As a new migrant in Australia, I took the most common option: rewrite my resume with the help of job websites. These websites give condensed information; some of them offer advice from HR manager or career consultant.

Armed with my new wonderful Australian CV, I then made applications on these websites: I spent long hours in search for up-to-date information on the company, their position on the market, their perspectives etc. Spent time writing a personal cover-letter showing I knew about the company, that I sent with a personalised resume highlighting how my experience was related to their needs. During almost a month, I send a personalised application each day.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited.

No answer. Total blackout. I tested my email box to be sure my provider was not down. No problem there. I also checked that the website did really send my application to the employer. No problem here either.

As I was wondering why I didn’t get any reply, I asked some Australian friends. “No worry”, they told me, “Australian company don’t answer”.

They even don’t take the time to reply with a “No, thanks”. I understand their HR department may receive hundreds of applications for a position, but they have the choice either to copy/paste a general text, which will take them, let’s say 10 seconds each. Or if the company is wealthier, invest in a Human resources software that will automates the process. Letting applicants without answer is from my point of view very rude.

That’s one of the reasons why I took the next step: Working on my resume and cover-letter with a career consultant.