Advice for Success - Part 4 - Post study / Post PR professional job hunt

On popular demand, here comes the part 4 to complete the student success series in Aus. 

So far what have I covered:

Part 1: Overview on how you can be successful as a student in Aus. General guide.

Part 2: Part time jobs

Part 3: Pre-Aus arrival survival guide on do's and don't

However if you have made to Aus, survived your student life, not drowned, eaten up by a shark or a croc (including human Crocs), beaten depression, and survived loneliness then this is the post for you.

Ok, so I will start off with my story, reason is that it shows struggle, perseverance and strategy. These are attributes for success in my opinion. Although I come from a field of Medical science and Research, however, this can be applied to any successful job hunt with minor tweaks according to your field.

So here we go, it was July 2015 and I was in the final semester of my PhD (Sports Medicine and Exercise Science). As soon as I finish the degree, I become a Sports Scientist, yaayyyy!!! Initially to a big fat booooo!! as I soon figured out that this degree is not in SOL. I cannot get a PR with this PhD! Which I could have got if I was a Plumber or an Electrician but being a double Dr with a MBBS and a PhD, I cannot stay in this country. Now my situation is this:

a. I have spent 4 years on a degree through which I cannot get a PR.

On top of that to make matters worse, the immigration tells me that I can't even get a TR! Why I ask? they say you came in 2011 so TR only applies for 2012 + students.

b. My Visa runs out in March 2016.

So I have only 9 months. Before I am kicked out of this country.

c. My scholarship ran out in my final semester so I owe the University $26,000.

d. To make matters worse, I broke my knee, while playing cricket.

Surely, I have done something horribly wrong in my life I said! But then I remembered am in a fortunate position, I am atleast sitting in Australia, I am about to graduate with a PhD, I have had a wonderful time over the past 4 years, I have explored, I have learnt, not many ppl get this opportunity. So decided one thing, I will not die wandering, I will work hard and make the most of these 9 months.

Game begins: July 2015 - I start my quest for getting the PR. I told my self, I will not quit till I have given all my efforts. So started inquiring:

After taking to multiple ppl, I only had 2 options:

1. Do another degree which is in Sol list
2. Get a job that sponsors me

1. The number one advise I got was: (take a guess) ???

.
.
.
"Yar accounting Kar le"

You guys know very well who would be giving that advice.

One thing I decided when I came to Aus was that I will not be the sheep that follows the herd. So surprise surprise, I went for option 2.

Now the question is who can sponsor me?

1. Sports teams
(No experience with them)
2. Hospitals
( I am a paki Dr but not done registration exams, so no way they will hire me) - these exam require atleast 2 years.
3. University. ( Worked as Tutor for 3 years part-time).

So after several unsuccessful attempts with sports teams, I quickly figured out that option 3 is the way to go for me. However, I dont have PR,
so many jobs don't even Want to look at my CV. I need to be special to get a job.

Here is my strategy:

I quickly made a list of all the newly appointed staff in my Uni. I sent them an email or approached them through a mutual contact. I tried to get their CVs made list of their key attributes on their CVs. Over the next few months I improved the things in my CV replicating the profile of successful candidates.

Sometimes I got to meet them over coffee and asked them about interview Qs. Made a list of all of them. I also asked them who were the people in interview panel. I tired to approach them (this was very difficult), but luckily a couple of them had an interest in Gym and I was a member of the same gym so made contact and got a lot of insider info (Australians are generally helpful).

The whole time I was applying for jobs and by Dec 2015 ( 3 months left in visa), I applied for 22 jobs, and got only 1 interview and 21 rejections. However after every rejection, I rang the employer and asked for feedback. I developed an Excel sheet and wrote all feedback. I then systematically Incorporated it in my job application.

At this point of time I was very dejected and went to one of my professors. I told him the situation and he gave me a good tip saying 'apply where there is less competition'! Boy that advice worked for me, so from Jan to March, I applied for another 11 jobs and got 5 interviews and 2 offers.

I only applied jobs in regional and remote Australia.

Application Tips:

1. Call them before applying. I sometimes made questions up and even told them that I am in the area visiting and found it great. Can I come in to have a look. If they invited me, I spent the $ to visit them.

2. If rejected, I gave them a thank you call and asked them to remember me if something comes up as am interested in working with them.

This strategy worked dividend and soon a rural University campus offered me a job with sponsorship with 10 days remaining in my visa.

So after 34 rejections, I got my job, Thanks Allah. I had to work hard and smart and Allah rewarded me.

Now rules for post:
Plz only comment, no inbox, unless it's a special issue.

Reason, I want to benefit everyone.

Secondly, if you have landed a job, plz share experiences.

Naj Soomro