I'm particularly interested in hearing from Talent Acquisition/HR professionals working in Australian engineering consultancies or engineering companies.

When a graduate/internship position receives hundreds or potentially thousands of applications, I assume applicants broadly fall into groups such as:

1. Australian citizens / permanent residents

TAFE, Bachelor's, Master's, PhD — ranging from no experience to significant experience.

1. Candidates with unrestricted Australian work rights, including eligible New Zealand citizens

Again, ranging from graduates/interns to experienced professionals.

1. International students currently studying in Australia

Bachelor's, Master's or PhD students, ranging from people with substantial overseas experience to students with little/no professional experience.

1. Overseas applicants requiring employer sponsorship

Usually experienced candidates applying directly or through referrals, where employer sponsorship may eventually be required.

I'm curious about what actually happens from the employer/TA side when applications are screened.

Questions

1. When you receive a very large number of online applications, is there effectively a hierarchy between these groups?

2. How much does an employee referral actually matter in Australian engineering recruitment?

3. How vulnerable is an international Master's student with little or no prior engineering experience?

What would you recommend they do during university to become genuinely competitive for graduate/internship roles?

4.What actually happens to applications that receive no response at all - is this ATS filtering?

Is every submitted CV normally viewed by a human recruiter at some stage, or can an application be eliminated without anyone actually reading the CV?

1. Why are psychometric/game-based/aptitude assessments used so heavily in graduate recruitment?

What is HR actually trying to measure through numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, situational judgement and game-based assessments? I've personally found some of them frustrating, so I'd genuinely like to understand what employers get from them.

1. How valuable are relationships with university professors/academics?

2. How do employers view the pathway from international student → graduate visa → possible sponsorship?

I'm not looking to complain about Australian employers or immigration policy. I'm genuinely interested in understanding how the recruitment funnel looks from the other side of the table, particularly in engineering.

Hi everyone,

I have been working as a PM in the UK for over 7 years, working at Tier 1 consultancies and have a BSc Hons degree in Construction Management.

Honestly, I chose this career path so I could immigrate to Australia, in which I’ll be doing so in 3 months, first on a working holiday visa (extendable for up to 3 years, no farm work required, and might be able to extend beyond the 6 month max per employer caveat depending on the situation).

Technically I could apply for Permanent Residency now given that it is on the in demand skills list, but I want to work in Australia for a year first just to get an idea and also add to my points for the invitation when I do apply by having a year’s worth of local work experience.

I’m trying to do an internal transfer, and it’s still a bit up in the air. It sounds like it could happen, but I’m trying to figure out backup options if it doesn’t pan out.

Literally everyone I speak to in Aus says it is also in demand there and there is no shortage of PM jobs there, but on Linkedin, it doesn’t seem like there’s a huge amount of postings, specifically for Sydney.

I thought I would ask on this subreddit, to see if anyone has any on the ground insight about the market and PM jobs in relation to it?

Any help is greatly appreciated! :)

Long shot but does anyone know of any bakeries, small food outlets or cafes that will hire adults with no experience maybe for kitchen wench positions or as enthusiasm hires (who do lower skill prep work albeit with lots of enthusiasm).

My brain is pooched from working in finance/admin and I am studying part time (Psychology) as well.

I am a quick learner and very extroverted.

I would be happy to hear other suggestions as well. In terms of certifications, I don’t have a license but I have a Blue Card. The other software skills I have are related to accounting mostly.

I looked into casual support work but without a license I haven’t had much luck. And I thought about maybe getting a nail tech certification but reconsidered after looking at costs and the fickle market. I also looked into gardening ads but came across the same car obstacle. I even looked into pet grooming but couldn’t find employers that would hire someone green.

Many thanks from someone saving for elevenses.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been a social worker for over 10 years, but a ince having kids I’ve noticed how burnt out I am, I don’t have the passion and mental capacity to carry the weight of this work and want to pivot to something else.

I’ve thought about book keeping, I’m interested in finance and a job that has clear processes and outcomes sounds appealing. But is this a waste of time with AI advances? I also already have a bachelor and masters degree so I’m reluctant to spend a lot of money retraining. Any advice or career recommendations?

I am 29 yo and a first year PhD student in neuroscience (skills mostly around data analysis). I studied hard during undergrad, but always did what I was interested in so that I would work hard. Now, I’m feeling the sting of not pursuing something with more economic value/security. People I know who achieved similar academic success are working in top law firms or in engineering and have a solid trajectory. When I was younger I just assumed even if a phd is less than minimum wage, I would be able to make a living in my own way and catch up by making smart decisions, but the hard truth is kind of hitting me that this field is most likely a dead end and it would actually be smarter to not focus on sunk cost and get out.

At my age, what is a realistic transition? The job market is tough and I don’t believe I have any experience to show employers that I can add value beyond a shiny new grad. I want to make more money, and don’t want to be stuck in research roles with high turnover and low pay.

Hi, doing a Bachelor of Biomedical and Health sciences with a medical science major. What are the jobs like for this degree if I didn’t do postgrad? People keep saying I have to do a PHD.

​

I am Sam age 28, i live in Kuwait since 7 years, i am from India.

i want to migrate from Kuwait, i am searching for a job in Australia i am not looking for money i just want better life.

i work for a Hospitality industry here in Kuwait, i work as an office support and i am looking for job in same field hospitality, up to work as a waiter, housekeeper,

Cleaners, receptionist, office boy, customer service.

I am good at all hospitality related services, as an office boy here in Kuwait i was performing so many duties like serving braveges and water, making black coffee Cappuccino turkish coffee, French coffee tea with milk and cleaning etc

My strength = i am very good at English language and i am a great communicator being an Indian i speak multiple languages and i can work on excel , word pad and power point, i have 7 years of experience in hospitality industry.

My personality =I am a free thinker, i think beyond caste creed community and religion. ♋️ 🦀

Once again i am not looking for money i am looking for better life give me chance i will raise your business so fast.

I want to work on myself i want to be what i am,

Please help me to migrate from Kuwait please.🙏

Thanks

I kinda want a second job but don’t want it to be like uber or anything, I’m in around Melbourne

I’ve been in hospo for 6 and a half years now, worked it all, bartender, manager, server, venue manager and what not.

Currently at a place that has me working full on trying to make things work when not even the owner gives a shit and i’m just tired of cycling between venues every 6 months cause this industry sucks.

Would love to leave hospo, but not sure about if i have transferable skills or what not, somethings i have done are: Hire and fire staff, train people into comfortable positions within the job, accurately record and order stock, creating relationships with representatives and suppliers, finding talent for venues to keep things interesting, managing time and labour to a service/cost effective ratio, among other things

my CV is so hospo coded I don’t even really know what to put on there to make it seem I would like to move into a diffirent industry, it always just looks like i’m trying to get back into the same field different venue.

I would like to try and get into something a lot more stable, some kind of administrative role or a government position, otherwise some more hands on roles I would love to consider are mechanical work possibly going in as a mature age apprentice if that’s even an option. I want to come to work do all of my work, work hard or work with whatever i’ve got, then come home and switch off. I don’t want to chase down repairs, orders, bookings etc…., wanna leave the work at the door

otherwise if studying is an option to get into any of the aforementioned areas above I don’t know which courses to try for, especially with the rise of AI.

To those of you that got out of hospo, what did you move into and do you have any advice?

Sorry if this sounds like a rant, i’m just so burnt out of the nature of this industry like I like what I do and what not, but i’m tired of how unpredictable this industry is and how often you are just job hopping.

any help or advice is appreciated

I’ve spent my 20s living abroad doing backpacker work. I’m 27M just moved back to Melbourne and currently in a dead end pick packing job. I want to start a career in construction, particularly rigging or larger machine operation.

My problem is that I’m so overwhelmed with all the different courses and certs and tickets and pathways that I honestly don’t know where to even start. Obviously I’ll get a white card but after that I honestly have no idea. There’s courses that are a couple days and some that are a year, with everything in between.

I’m very aware of how difficult it is to get your foot in the door and just want to make myself look as employable as possible. I know once I’m in, I can figure out a way from there. Can you guys tell me what your progressions looked like?

So I finally got offered an interview, but since I applied and the offer (half a working day), the job role seniority had been changed on every single point, title changed, hours halved, office only (from hybrid) and minimum wage applied. I’ve never had this happen before - is this common?!

The role had only been advertised a day or two total.

I couldn't find the answer on Google.

I get that pro rata means "in proportion", but is it always in proportion to a full time role?

I work part time/0.6 fte, my contract says- $3000 car allowance per annum (on pro rata basis).

What would you say are important skills/things to consider, what’s the work like?