"And What's Your Visa Status?"

Over the last few weeks I have been re-introduced into the world of the shite recruitment agent and the good recruitment agent. If you are one, then you will know on which side you sit.

I have also been up some very high skyscrapers to be interviewed by the said recruitment agents.

You see, I am still looking for work. I am in my sixth week of looking (although I have really got into the swing of things in the last couple of weeks) and have so far been to four job interviews, with three different companies, not to mention the eight agency interviews. I've also been introduced to the joy of a competency based interview. Twice. I think I did a lot better in the second one than the first, but I'm wating to hear on the outcome of both.

There does seem to be plenty of work in Sydney but at the moment I am being quite selective. I am hanging out for a decent job that will utilise the skills I learnt with LTSB, in a similar enviroment, although I am now getting tempted to take any old contract, just to get some bucks coming in. It's a bit of a tricky situation, and it certainly hasn't been for any lack of effort on my behalf. I am ready to work now and looking forward to it. But if the job isn't out there, it isn't out there. Yet!

I've been using two websites over here to aid me in my search. When I first started looking I was very particular as to who I sent my CV (or resume, as it's called down here) out to. I wanted to retain a marketing focus to my job search. Five weeks later and twenty four agencies now have a copy of my resume. And some of them are terrible. In fact, I haven't even spoken with some of them. They leave an email address on a job spec and request that you send them a copy of your resume if you are interested. Then you hear nothing. For days. And days and days. I haven't even heard back from some of them. Others phone you back straight away. It's the joy of the job market I guess. If you are one of these rubbish agents who is spending their days surfing the web and not doing your job (hence the reason you have discovered this site), then I'd really appreciate it if you responded to my job application. Actually, sod that. I don't want to give you any potential commission.

Oh, and whilst on the subject of crap recruitment agents, I am gobsmacked (or maybe I shouldn't be) that so few of them actually read the resume after you have sent it to them. Over here you have to have a visa to work. I have Permanent Residency which, apart from Citizenship, is the best status to have. I have clearly written this on my resume. So I guess it makes sense then, that rather inevitably, one of the first questions each bad agent asks me when we speak is "And what's your visa status?".

Anyway, I had a good (well I thought it went pretty well anyway), second interview with one company today and whilst I wait to see if I am going to be put forward to a third stage I think I will go back to the labouring. Apparently the flat-conversion has been given the go-ahead by the residents who live in the block so I have been told that there should be plenty of work for an un-skilled labourer like myself. Hopefully I'll get my hands on the sledgehammer again soon.