Job Centre
The Australian economy is buckling under a severe skills shortage. Companies fight over candidates as the states – in particular Western Australia and Queensland – struggle to keep up with the booming economy.
For many job applicants, the most difficult task will be deciding what job offer to accept.
This has put the pressure on employers to differentiate their offer and stand out early in the recruitment process to avoid a tug-of-war.
The obvious way to entice the candidate accept the employment offer is the salary or wage as shown here:
Salary Snapshot
| Executive | $105,076 |
|---|---|
| Construction | $101,567 |
| Engineering | $98,554 |
| Self-employment | $95,735 |
| IT | $91,601 |
| Administration | $46,329 |
| Retail | $48,087 |
| Hospitality | $50,019 |
| Graduate | $50,933 |
| Education | $59,416 |
Where are these skills shortages?
In the following table you’ll notice that the first listing is the construction industry. So gone are the days where mums and dads said university was best way to secure your future.
Now in 2008, a trade or apprenticeship is the way to secure that dream job you’ve always wanted.
The demand for construction industry trades and apprenticeships are growing at 15% pa.
It’s been 25 years since traditional trades have been in favor as the lucrative career path. This fact shocks the tertiary education sector as many school leavers look forward to rolling up their sleeves and immediately earning an income.
Top Jobs
| 1 | Construction |
|---|---|
| 2 | Engineering |
| 3 | Child Care |
| 4 | Architect |
| 5 | Dentist |
| 6 | Radiographer |
| 7 | School teacher |
| 8 | Solicitor |
| 9 | Sheetmetal worker |
| 10 | Carpenter |
| 11 | Chef |
Together with the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) released a “Skills in Demand List” that said the skill shortage is here to stay for the foreseeable future!
So does your boss recognize the hard work and extra hours you put in?
Now is the time for a “don’t thank me, pay me” attitude – you’ve got nothing to loose!
Hi Bushy,
How are you today?
Why is it so difficult to get a job over the internet? The jobs get advertised, and we apply, but no response. My husband is a software developer, no degree but long years experience. Will it be better to hop on a plane, go over and go for interviews then? Hubby’s brother is living in Oz and is very happy, says he’ll never come back to SA. We also want to live and work in Australia.
He is a specialist in Workflow, C#, Sharepoint, BizTalk, K2Blackpearl, .Net, VB.net
Please HELP !!
Have a good day
Regards
Elsabe
G’Day Elsabe,
Trying to secure a job over the internet is a waste of time because you’re a migrant with no LOCAL experience or LOCAL REFERENCES. As an engineer with a masters degree I thought I’d just walk into a job – no such luck.
Employers here in Australia want to be able to see and touch the candidate or have the ability to ask some local previous employer about you. They also want to throw some skills tests at you – something which isn’t always practical over the internet.
Bottom line is this. Companies here in Australia are very fair – they’ll take anybody who proves that they can do the job. It helps to be down under!
As for your husband skills, I know that as a developer myself, C# is in demand and Sharepoint is starting to appear on the wanted skills lists. Chuck the CV out the window and write a well formed RESUME. A couple differences that sometimes aggravate employment agencies. Always send a resume in an editable format – never PDF or some other strange format. Be short and sweet to the point.
Hope this helps!