Wolf Wanders

[Guest]

I had the same conversation with my South African friend just the other day. I wondered whether she was having the same experience as I was, where I can be going about my day, maybe shopping, walking to Kindy to pick up my son, and suddenly I get this amazing feeling of complete happiness as I cannot believe I am living in Australia. Its a really strange but wonderful sense of well being. I am sure I am not the only one ?

Edited September 18, 2016 by Guest

[SDTCPT]

GenDemo, one of your previous posts mentioned that you will miss the Woolies vanilla yoghurt. I don't know if you have tried it before or not, but Farmers Union makes a Greek style yoghurt with vanilla beans that my wife absolutely loves. Maybe you would like it too...

[GenDemo]

On 24/10/2016 at 0:38 PM, SDTCPT said:

GenDemo, one of your previous posts mentioned that you will miss the Woolies vanilla yoghurt. I don't know if you have tried it before or not, but Farmers Union makes a Greek style yoghurt with vanilla beans that my wife absolutely loves. Maybe you would like it too...

I'll try it, thnx  

[GenDemo]

Well Peeps of the Interwebz, its been a while since I wrote something.

Lets start with the most interesting, the most serious, the highlight, the most important topic - work (also including interviews).

• Work & Interview : I mentioned in a previous post that I found the interview process here in Aus to be quite different and much better than in SA. I'll try to explain. It seems that the system here works on the principal that your CV need to sell you and get you not just into, but through 'round zero' (the round before the first interview round). From this imaginary space, we move to the Cartesian plane where you hopefully get invited to an interview. The fact that you get an interview is a much better sign than in SA - it means they are interested. Unlike in SA, where this initial round means they select a whole bunch for interviews and they decide who they like.
  SO on that note, lets talk about the CV. Short is not the way to go, contrary to popular belief. The Aussies want to read. We tried this new idea of Elon Musk's to fit your whole CV onto one page, and it nearly cost me dearly. Obviously you don't want to bore them, nor give them a book, so 3-4 pages is good and well received. Explain with 4-8 bullet points what you did at each (or at least your latest) job. Also, they read the fine print, they read between the lines and they check your time lines. I could go on for a while on this topic, but I'll try to remain focused. Cover letters are very important. If you hate them, like I do, then suck it up and do it. Also contrary to internet advice, stick to Times new Roman, Ariel or Calibri. Read your cover letter...let someone else read it...think of how it can be interpreted. I wrote an 'innocent' line, near the bottom of my cover letter, about which I was put on the spot.
  The Interview (this sounds like a movie title....in fact, it might be....?). Dress your best, no matter what the position. Someone wise said (now I can't remember who), dress for the position you would one day like to hold. Take a copy of your cover letter, CV and reference letters with you - they might not have gotten it, or you might have made small changes that they might need, or they just want a copy to give to a colleague. Take a diary or notebook with you, even if you don't plan to write in it - it shows you are professional, you come prepared, you mean business...oh and take a pen!. Be early - I arrived 30mins early for one interview and it took me 20 mins to get access to the building.  Also if you take public transport, plan for the unexpected - this is a 1st world country but trains to get cancelled. I found the people to be extremely friendly at the interviews. They were genuinely interest in who I am, where I come from and what I did. Remember that these people don't know the South African economy or industries, so be prepared to explain it. Know how many people your company in SA employed or what their annual turnover & profit was (this is for them to judge the size of the company you worked for). All these things I mention, as it was asked of me and I had to explain it. So it is not random things I am spewing forth. Be prepared to talk to people from all ethnicities, and they might have very strong accents. Be prepared to 'defend' each and every word you put on your CV. They actually check your time lines and how things over lap. They will ask you "where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years". They will ask you "what are your strengths & weaknesses". These are quite the same as in SA....but it felt friendlier and they were genuinely interested. Oh, and if they ask you what your salary was, then your answer is "Industry standard". Because if you convert your decent and well respected Rand salary to Dollars...well then you are below the poverty line - and you will feel like a right idiot (well, I did).
  So where does it differ, you may ask?  Well all the other questions in this so called 'behavioral' interviews were nice and easy. They asked me to describe different situations in the work place and how I would handle them. They asked what forms of media or tools I used to present results and analytics to senior management. How did I handle conflict at work. How did you handle a request from seniors, that you might not have agreed with. I just found all these questions easy and comfortable (perhaps I am just wierd). My interviewers interacted with me on the examples and scenarios I gave. Again, they were interested and asked me to elaborate. I never got the feeling that they were out to get me, as it did in SA.  They did ask me something about the company I was applying to, but not extensively.
  I just realised what the difference is - in South Africa, the interviews were all about they employer, the interviewer and them. My experience here in Aus, that it is all about you, the potential employee. They want to know who you are, where did you come from. They give a greater weighting to the aspect of 'will you fit into the social environment', rather than 'is your skin the right colour and do you have the experience'.
  
  I was very lucky not to have a telephone nor video interview. I was also lucky not to have a, so called 'informal' interview. This is where you go to a coffee shop to have an interview.
  To be quite honest, I didn't prepare much for my inerviews...and just went in with an open & confident mind. And they liked me, don't get me wrong (well perhaps it was my sparkling personality).
  
  Then you get invited to the second round of interviews. This means they are really interested, genuinely. They wont come back and say your skin is the wrong shade of grey (hark hark). This is so that you can meet other possible collegues, HR or senior management. Here I got asked, "So where do you see yourself in, say, 5 years?" so I gave the stock standard answer, "Well, I'd like to get a manager or junior manager position, with a small team under me." You know one says this, because this is what they all expect you to say. I really wanted to say "I don't give a damn...right now I am living off my savings, so I don't really care about 5 years in the future...just employ me PLEASE!". Well then I got hit between the eyes, when the HR lady said "Yeah I know every one always says that. But why a manager? why does everyone want to be a manager?" .......... I was stumped....mentally treading water; smoke coming out of my ears & CPU running at 120% , I said "Well, I would like to think up new solutions and implement them. Present and interact on a higher level than I currently do.". They smiled and seemed to be satisfied - but whether with the answer, or the fact that I gave an answer...I could not tell you. Then they asked me to rate aspects of the job in order of importance. "The job needs to be challenging, but you need to enjoy it, and also be happy an comfortable with the remuneration." I said. Then my two interviewers said, with out missing a beat, "Oh don't worry, we both do this for the money."
  Then lastly came the ace of spades, "If you were to describe your self as a brand...what brand would it be and why?" I thought, damn that is a bloody good question...but how to answer. With all honestly, I said, "Well that is a difficult question as I am not a sales person." This made them smile. After thinking a moment, I said "I think, a German car brand. Good quality, trustworthy, reliable...and it can perform when you need it to" ... damn I though, that was good. And they seemed to think so too.
  
  Now the question most people will want to have answered is, how long did it take you? From the time I seriously started applying online for work - 2 weeks to my first interview. In the following 2 weeks I had two interviews, and a follow up interview. The following week I had two job offers. It did then, take a month to get the international PCC and International Credit History Check done.
  
  who noticed that I did not mention personality tests, and behavioral test and all these other test that are probably the biggest waste of time & money on the planet? The reason I didn't mention them....is they didn't happen. And heaven help the soul who introduces these test into the Aus market - I will track you down and kill you...
• Batteries : Clearly there is something going on with batteries in this country. At most shops you can buy bulk packs of penlight batteries. But when I say bulk, I mean packs of 20 batteries or more. And there are tons of them. What do people do with it?! and I struggle to get rechargeable batteries. Clearly I missed something?
• The country of abbreviations : Get into the lingo - PR, PCC, GE, BYO, arvo, EOFY, GOTY, and more. Man oh man, what a way to get confused. We spend so much time deciphering these signs and adverts. EOFY - end of financial year. BYOx - Bring your own x, with x being what ever...and you need to figure out what x is. For example, Pax is on next week and they don't have a LAN....it just says BYOC....goodness, took me a while to figure you they mean Bring Your Own Computer.
• Give them cake : As the infamously & incorectly quoted Princess Marie Antoinette, said "Let them have cake"....well not quite cake (coz that is a lie, and you know it), my fellow bacon eaters will be please to know that bacon is cheaper than ham or salami....Put that in your pipe and smoke it....what is wrong with these people! why would anyone in their right mind then settle for ham?!!! Bacon for the masses!!! Moe-hahahahahaha!
  
  um, *cough, cough*
   
• Stacking tins : to the collectors, baby boomers & children of baby boomers out there....tins need to be collected and stored, right? Hey, I completely agree....but here's the catch...so far, we've only found that the tins don't stack. "What do you mean, 'don't stack'?" you may ask. Well my fellow collector of tins...You know how you take two cans of Coke, stake them and take then in one hand to carry to the table. Its almost like its instinct, right. Well those days are behind us. The cans of Coke are not made to stack. Nor to the tins of corn, or tomato paste. Nor do the coffee and hot chocolate tins...Tuna is the last standing member of the tin society that remains ever stackable.

 

With this, my fellow interweb-eneers...I leave you for the time being...

 

See you somewhere, sometime, Space Cowboy...

 

 

GD

[GenDemo]

Updated Google drive link - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_XfIs89L_1nYjI4MU1ZeER6MU0?usp=sharing

[Nickyvd]

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to write these posts @GenDemo! This thread has been most helpful, practical and entertaining.  Also appreciate the link!

[GenDemo]

@Nickyvd its a pleasure...I'm glad you like it.

[GenDemo]

So...its been a while...again (rolls eyes).

 

I have now been working for 2 months (well, almost). For those who know me and the company I worked for...it was extremely difficult to resign and walk away from a position where I was comfortable, well known, trusted, knew how everything worked. On top of that, to turn down various, for lack of a better word, 'counter offers': perks, increases and even a promotion........its really difficult. And I really liked the work environment, the people and the job that I did. This was, in one part, difficult; while the other part, made me fear what I might encounter across the broad waters. To make matters worse, many of our friends did not land 'smoothly' on this side and were very unhappy. I am very blessed & grateful that I got the job that I got here in Aus. At first, it looked very corporate and up tight. But that seems to be a front, presented to the public (or to intimidate the interviewees). Though we suit up, the office environment is very easy going and relaxed. This was a huge relief to me and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Though we suit up during the week, its not strict, and we still have casual Fridays...though I do miss the wackos in their gangster get-ups and traditional clothes (people proudly flying their freak flags). The people I work with are varied and diverse, but all of them are friendly and curious to hear about South Africa. I truly think South Africans have an advantage in dealing with the cultural diversity, as there is much of it back home. I have yet again encountered this phenomenon where, even though we all speak English, there is difficulty communicating as you just have a different frame of reference. An young Indian lady and I regularly hold up meetings, as every sentence of every meeting has some obscure abbreviation or acronym...and we stop the conversation to ask what it is.

Also, on the job seeking process: Try your very best to make a good first impression as you will need to over come some hurdles that you might not even be aware of, or are completely out of your control. I'll give an example from my own situation, shortly. Now, your skills and first impression need to convince your interviewer to like you so much, that they can make a case for having you, when you are not around. So, soon after I started working, I found out that there was some resistance to my appointment from higher levels, with one of the main reasons being that I don't have any experience with Australian credit law. I didn't tick all their boxes, but my current boss and team leader liked me very much and they wanted my skills that they made my case, when I was not even aware that this was happening behind the scenes. One of the hurdles I faces had to do with frame of reference and jargon (once again). In my interview, they the head of the department asked me about my experience in a certain topic and if I was familiar with a business methodology. I had to honestly reply that I did not know this methodology, yet I also stated that I might just know it by a different name. When I got into the job and got more familiar with their way of doing things, I sat there one day and had to keep myself from smacking my palm to my forehead. This business methodology in question, was in fact exactly what we did in South Africa, but there we didn't have a name for it. It was just 'the way you do business'. I also very quickly realised that the position, team and department I am in right now, is very  similar to my position, team and department in South Africa - its just called different things...but the work is the same.

 

A word to the wise, if I may...always keep in mind why you came over. I can guarantee you that there are going to be a lot of things you are going to complain about...because I do. However, having said that, it is all really minor things (in my case, mostly food and junk food related   *grins*). Things are different here, and it can be difficult, especially for someone of my nature who like and are very set in the South African way. The other day I thought of something: at times when these 'little' things really get to you and you wonder if you made the right choice...close the book, turn to the back page and read the ending...I am sure that in everyone's book of their emigration journey, the last sentence would read "Though I often doubted my decision...it was an adventure and an experience.". What I am trying to say, is that yes, you have paid a lot of money to emigrate; if you were lucky you got a lot of support, but many depart on rough seas; finding work is difficult and settling in, even more so...thing will get to you, you will get annoyed at your partner, you will miss family and money will be tight.......but do you know what? its a bloody good adventure and an amazing experience. It is an opportunity that many don't have. A couple of our best friends want to move, but they can't due to finacial reasons. If you just put aside a couple of the main reasons we all move over - be it, economy, crime, government, school...whatever. It really is a very rare opportunity - just keep that in mind.

A tip that I can give is "Skype/Facetime regularly". We live in such a connected world and it is so easy to pick up the phone and phone home. My sister in London Facetimes us once a week and we just chat. We don't arrange it, we often don't discuss big topics, we just talk. My two best friends and I arrange to play games almost every weekend...and while we game, we chat and catch up. Oh..and exercise regularly...you'll be amazed at how good it makes you feel.

 

Well, with that ...I leave you for now. All the best to you all.

 

GD

[planningahead]

@GenDemo, thanks for the update! It was a refreshing read 

[Husky]

Love the analogy of turning to read the last page of the book @GenDemo

Especially since we get to write our own stories. Great practical advice on entering the job market as well. Thank you. 

[GenDemo]

Well now its been a while ... again... hehehehe

 

Life is good here...every now and again you think about things, and realise that life is just so good here.When you go into a shop, looking for something spesific, you can explain your dilemma to the assistant, and you can see they actually process and think with you on how to solve it. They are usually full of ideas and suggestions. Also, be forewarned the Aussies are chatty! Also, they are much better to deal with in person than over the phone - they can seem very irritated and brash.

 

So whats going on...well we bought a house...and participated in the great Australian past-time of DIY renovations. We still need to tally up, but we think we came in under a third of the price quoted by a professional - sure, its not the same result...but we are quite content with the end results.

 

Also, you'll be surprised how many South Africans are around. Everyone always tells you so...but its still quite amazing. Also very entertaining when a telemarketer phones you, and you realise the call centre is in RSA...

 

 

yeah just a quick update in the spur of the moment...didn't have a structured message in my mind...

 

See you around space cowboys...

[TeeTMI]

13 hours ago, GenDemo said:

Also, you'll be surprised how many South Africans are around. Everyone always tells you so...but its still quite amazing. Also very entertaining when a telemarketer phones you, and you realise the call centre is in RSA...

 

Congratulations on your home and the fun of DIY renovations!

 

I think we must have had a similar Telemarketer.  I had a call this week said no within my first few comments - and then commented on the telemarketers accent.  I assumed at first she was in Australia - but she was based in Cape Town.  We had what must have been a 15-20 minute chat about Cape Town & Franschhoek, wineries and ice cream, and life in both countries in general. 

If only all telemarketing was like that!

 

[Bonny]

I asked for a decaf in France and got a cup of hot milk recently. Meh!

[BlueBaboon]

@GenDemo Great read boet, Thanks for posting, just made my Friday afternoon.