Getting a job with no Oz job experience

[Flitz]

Hello

 

From those that have found work how does one get a job without having any oz job experience ?

do you get work which you overqualified to do eg i am a accountant do i first have to find bookeeping or junior accountant work ?

Edited March 22, 2016 by Flitz

[DeepFriedMatt]

Interested to see what others have to say as we've just updated our cv's and are about to start applying for positions and not sure what we should we aiming for (both CA's)

[Jacques Voogt]

My zimdollar's worth...

 

It differs from industry to industry and also for different employers.

 

The market in IT is about 75% contract jobs. At our company over 90% are foreigners and for most it is their first or second Aus job.

 

Contractors typically work for some labor broker or recruiting company and that company contracts a number of resources to the employer. They take huge cuts. Sometimes over 30%

Eg. Employer might pay recruiter 120k, recruiter pay contractor 80k. If you are cheaper and they can make more money off you, they will push your CV, but that gives you local experience, and some income while you build a new network and time to find the next job or convince them to pay you more.

 

It is a business. Bottom line is money. If they can get 10years of accounting experience for the price of a Junior, they'll take that.

 

Edit: They might even  employ you as accountant and expect you to do such tasks but pay you as a junior.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Jacques Voogt
Clarification

[Mara]

Accountant or CA work... this is just my opinion... In either instance, have you got Australian registration, and have you studied Australian tax laws? If you have not, then it may well be a stumbling block for you. The Australian employers would expect that if they employ you, that you can be immediately productive, so if you still have time, perhaps look into doing a course or two on Australian tax laws. If you will be required to deal with HR Wages/salaries in your employment sphere, then you will have to make yourself au fait with Employees tax and other deductions, a whole new minefield to wade through. I am sure there must be some courses that you can do in this area as well. I do know of a number of CA's that have arrived and walked straight into a job, it would appear though that they were mainly in Audit and Forensic Accounting areas.

 

 

[Pell]

I would suggest the CTA1 course which you can do through the Tax Institute. 

http://www.taxinstitute.com.au/education/single-subjects/cta1-foundations

It is a little pricey (but what isn't in Australia), however it will give you a well rounded overview of the Australian tax system: PAYG withholding and instalments (what you know as employees tax PAYE and provisional tax in SA), GST, Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), Medicare levies and surcharges, CGT, a bit of tax planning etc.

I am currently doing it because even if I came here with a job (I am in group reporting and FP&A), I want to expand my knowledge and if I ever wanted to walk into another job, it would be required. 

Some jobs will tell you "sorry, no Australian experience", some that are below your level of qualifications will tell you "sorry, you're way overqualified", but you have to persevere. There is no rule that says you have to start at the bottom again. You might have to take a bit of a step back (don't expect to move straight into an FD role if that's what you did in SA), but Aussies are pretty astute at recognizing talent and eventually they will promote you. The dip will be temporary.

Good luck!

[Leavingforgood]

Also see if you can get exposure to MYOB or Xero. Lots of accounting positions requiring this.

 

[Minime]

Hi Levingforgood

 

So I was thinking of taking your advice and getting some MYOB experience/ teaching myself how the program works.

 

Do you think that I could just buy a text book and teach myself or would I need a certificate from MYOB to state that I know how their software works? (I see their training courses is REALLY expensive).

 

I have been working with different accounting software and I taught myself how to work most of them, so I am a fast learner.

 

Just wanted to know what you think would be the best? Anyone else of course also welcome to give their opinion.

 

Thanks for the advice also, I am also looking into doing the introduction to Australian tax before we leave.

[21yearsoutofrsa]

www.groupon.com.au/deals/national-deal/gg-e-careers-4-147/90468508?p=3&nlp=&CID=AU_CRM_1_0_0_90&utm_source=channel_goods&utm_medium=email&sid=df8e9380-a09b-4f02-8e7c-fff12baac578_0_20160330&division=brisbane-premium&eh=8555591f31b8a6c299e6d57c39f53d6d23272e6f4f0a76c1fd4008bc35d754d9&date=20163003&sender=rm&s=body&c=link&d=deal-page&utm_campaign=gg-e-careers-4-147-90468508

 

May be of interest to you. You're going to have to copy and paste the whole address and even then I don't know if it will work if you are not a Groupon Australia member.

Edited March 30, 2016 by 19yearsoutofrsa

[DXB2OZ]

CTA1 and CTA2, plus certified Xero advisor (last one really easy to do, very user friendly system), before getting a job as an independent contractor.

 

In the accounting profession, you will not be accepted for a junior position if you are overqualified. No local experience will hinder you for all positions. My advice:

1. Register for a local tax course

2. Get familiar with Xero and/or MYOb

3. As soon as you have a TFN, get yourself an ABN (Australian Business Number - costs nothing) and advise that you are available to work as an independent contractor, temp or permanent.

4. Be willing to take a pay cut on a trial basis, if required.

 

it is a long hard slog, best of luck, you will succeed.

[data]

I'm a beany. I landed a job pretty quickly due to timing (pre financial year end), big 4 or mid tier background and a lot of luck. A lot of the roles are contract or contract to perm. 

 

Accountants are commodities here so you need to be physically present in the country - Not likely to get job offers while in SA. 

 

Met with a recruiter this week and their problem is insufficient candidates not jobs.

 

Generally (not always) you will take some steps back. I was an FM but started here as a Financial Accountant.

 

I didnt need need tax but it can only help. 

 

Good luck

 

 

 

[monsta]

The trick is to apply to bigger companies where you won't be the only accountant. You are far less of a liability if you have colleagues who have already put processes into place. 

 

If your qualification can be converted to an Aussie equivalent then definitely do that. For example,  you can sit a few exams to convert your CA. 

 

The reason I say that is those conversion exams only cover what's different in Aussie. If you have to redo 3rd year accounts,  payroll,  etc..  Then you will already know 80% of it and spend a lot more money and time on exams. 

 

But be careful of the attitude of,  "nobody will hire me unless I have redone a tone of my studies".  If you keep thinking that you need to study more to get a job,  then you will never be hired. Employers can smell when you are not confident that you can do the job. 

Edited April 16, 2016 by monsta

[Minime]

Hi Guys

 

So I was wondering if someone can show me in the right direction.

 

I want to buy an Australian tax book, so that I can read up and do some exercises to get used to the tax. (The tax is not that much different from SA)

 

The only problem is there is so many books to choose from! Does anyone have a suggestion as to what is mostly used and has an easy and clear explanation of the calculations with some examples.

 

I know some of you work in this industry so maybe if you have like this one tax book at work that everybody always goes back to when the going gets tough?

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

[Cazzac]

You can try Wolters Kluwer - Australian Master Tax Guide - available in hardcopy and ebook or alternatively Thomson Reuters - Australian Tax Handbook.  Both are very good.

[Donovan83]

I wish that there was a Huxham and Haupt equivalent book here in Aus for tax! 

[Cujo]

57 minutes ago, Donovan83 said:

I wish that there was a Huxham and Haupt equivalent book here in Aus for tax! 

 

There is. its called the Master Tax Guide. 

http://www.cchbooks.com.au/australian-master-tax-guide-2016-58th-edition/

 

Every accounting firm has one.

[Minime]

Thanks, will check it out!

[Donovan83]

Thanks Cujo! That's very helpful! 

[Sweepea]

does anybody know what accounting systems the big banks use in their finance depts.?

 

thanks

[DeepFriedMatt]

Hey Sweepea

 

I interviewed with two big banks in Melbourne and based on our discussions they both used SAP and HFM

 

[DeepFriedMatt]

To add my 2c to this thread after arriving in Melbourne 3 weeks ago and experiencing the job market first hand.

 

My wife and I set up meetings with about 10 finance recruitment agencies before we arrived. We spent the first week here meeting with all of them and applying for positions directly on Seek. Within 2 weeks of arriving we had both received offers which we accepted.

 

Based on my own experience:

 

1. It is not essential to have Aus experience to get a good position. According to most recruiters I met, aus companies tend to be narrow minded and therefore steer towards local candidates over those with SA experience. However for some reason UK work experience is seen as more "transferable" and they will favour that over SA experience. My wife and I were lucky enough to spend last year working in London and that seemed to hold a lot of weight with both recruiters and the companies we interviewed with

 

2. For some odd reason Aus companies like to hire staff from within the same narrowly defined industry. So if they are a property company looking for a financial accountant and you are a financial accountant with all of their skills and experience they are looking for but you have previously worked only for retail companies, then they will almost certainly no interview you. This was really frustrating as most skills (especially accounting!!?) are the same regardless of what industry you are in

 

3. You do not have to take a step back in your career, accept a more junior position, less pay, just get "a foot in the door" etc etc. My wife and I both were fortunate enough to land great positions. Job title is equivalent if not more senior that what I had in SA (and London). The pay is also better (not just converted to Rands obviously, but in terms of purchasing power over here. So I would advise against accepting the first thing that comes along out of fear of not finding anything better. I had a telephonic interview with an Aus company while I was still in SA. They offered me a position and the pay seemed decent. After arriving in Aus I discovered that what they offered really wasn't in line with what I should be looking for (about 25% lower!). So don't rush into grabbing something.

 

4. The job market overall seems pretty good at the moment. My experience relates to finance positions in Melbourne only. But it's a he'll of a lot easier to get a good job over here than it is in SA. I received tons of calls from recruiters over here compared to when I was searching in SA (probably because I'm not the wrong colour over here)

 

If anyone has any other specific questions or wants any tips on recruiters, interviews etc then just give me a shout!