Australian Recruitment Agents

Shy Ted

I'm currently applying for PR through the 190 visa.
My application has been sent off and now I'm pretty much just playing the waiting game. I know its probably pointless to apply for jobs without first having the visa, but I would like to test the water and get an indication of my opportunities over there.

I know here in Ireland, recruitment agents are paid commission by the company hiring. I've heard tales that in Australia, the recruiter takes a percentage of the applicant's salary. Is this true or just BS?

If I were to forward my CV to various agencies now, would it end up in the bin or would they even bother to take notice of my interest?

I have come across various company websites that have a section for expressing an interest for any future roles that become available.
Again, would I be wasting my time in contacting them?

I should probably point out that I will be visiting Australia early in the new year on holidays. Ideally I would like to use it as an opportunity to arrange meetings or interviews. Not sure if I'd have any results on the visa application by then though.

mandrake04

It depends if you are working for the recruiter who is contracting out your services, their client pays them an hourly rate and they then pay you.

You could look at it the recruiter takes a percentage of your pay or on the other hand you get paid a percentage of what the recruiter gets for your services... its the same thing really.

If a company is trying to recruit a permanent employee to work directly for them then a recruiter can find the client a suitable applicant who if successfully placed receives commission like at home. It all depends on the nature of the job, some employers like to use contractors because if work slows the can off load staff when it suits them.

Having PR visa will give you more bargaining power to avoid working for recruiters and work directly for employers.

woolymammoth

RPM7 wrote: »

I've heard tales that in Australia, the recruiter takes a percentage of the applicant's salary. Is this true or just BS?

It's not really BS, but it's not how you think it is either. Like Mandrake said, if you're hired by the Recruiter, the end employer pays the agency, then they pay you. So while they're taking their cut, they're not taking a cut of your salary. They're paying you what you've agreed with them.

RPM7 wrote: »

If I were to forward my CV to various agencies now, would it end up in the bin or would they even bother to take notice of my interest?

... would I be wasting my time in contacting them?

I should probably point out that I will be visiting Australia early in the new year on holidays. Ideally I would like to use it as an opportunity to arrange meetings or interviews.

Honestly, from experience, it's not a complete waste of time, as it'll prepare you and help you get your CV in order, and your CV won't end up in the bin. But it more than likely won't go anywhere either, so it's probably not worth the effort or expense of meetings & interviews and everything else until you're actually here with the legal right to work.

I know that's probably not what you wanna hear, but you should know it.

Lucifer-0

Just enjoy your holiday.

Waste of time talking to agencies until you get here and are able to start a job.

mandrake04

woolymammoth wrote: »

It's not really BS, but it's not how you think it is either. Like Mandrake said, if you're hired by the Recruiter, the end employer pays the agency, then they pay you. So while they're taking their cut, they're not taking a cut of your salary. They're paying you what you've agreed with them.

Actually it's pretty much the same as back home companies like Grafton and Manpower on-hire services, they always get their cut of what the client is paying for the employee.

karl bracken

I would say complete waste of time (i have heard the odd story of people getting work, experience, industry and location dependent), recruiters there are pretty lazy and its hard to find good ones. I know a few if your in IT and il pass them on, the first question they all ask is what visa are you on.
People who havent experienced Oz really have no idea how important visa is unless maybe you have been an immigrant before but it was a first for me.

I would approach companies, register online with them or set up alerts for new jobs. Some of the bigger ones are very used to visa stuff and if your the right person its no big deal but it all depends on industry and experience.

Realistic if you have just applied for a visa its very hard for a company to start you in say 6 months with a risk of visa being delayed for any period of time.

Shy Ted

Thanks for all the replies. Makes things a lot more clearer now.
The stories I heard were based on people on WHV and it would make sense that they were employed on contract basis.

As for submitting my CV, I'll hold off a bit longer. I don't intend to make the move until next summer so I've plenty of time.
It would be nice to have something sorted out prior to the move, but that mightn't be realistic.

turq10

How did you get on Shy Ted?

I am in a similiar boat, I would like to organise a job before I pay for a visa in the hope I can get some help in paying for the visa (I cannot apply for WHV, too old at 34). Basically I cannot afford the visa+flights+job hunting in Australia. I have to get a loan to pay flights+visa, and thus I would need a guaranteed job for when I land.

I am hoping to find a good recruiter to put me in touch with an employer who might be interested.

Shy Ted

Hi turq10,

I was applying for a PR visa as I didn't want to be tied down to a single company and to also allow me to have more freedom/security with my job applications. All the stories of work slowing down made me nervous too.

I paid my migration agent their fees and completed my skills assessment and IELTS test; however, something came up at home and I had to postpone my application. I'm now waiting until this summer to finalise the process and move early next year.

Myself and my OH want to travel for about 3 months first, just to get a feel for things and see some of the country. We still haven't decided where we want to stay and are torn between Perth and Melbourne. Leaning more towards Melbourne, but its the unpredictable weather there that's a bit off putting.

It seems that getting sponsored is much more difficult now that ever since the regulations tightened up last year. I don't know how realistic it is to get sponsored from abroad without having done a probationary period of work with the sponsor, unless you have skills that are in very high demand. (Someone can correct me on this though).

There is a lot of talk about New Zealand having plenty of work now compare to Oz.
Perhaps that's an option?