How is IT job market in Australia compared to NZ?

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oakland

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#230460 24-Feb-2018 21:42

I am thinking of trying my luck there. I have support experience mainly in Microsoft Client and Server OS stack with PC and server hardware and application support experience. I have 5+ years of experience in NZ.

Since my last job ended I didn't have any success in getting another job. I had many interviews but I found out that for all of those jobs employers give priority to your ability to kiss people's rear ends rather than your technical know-how. Most of my interviews for purely technical jobs were focused on pleasing end users at all costs. An interview with a finance company gave me an impression that all their users are mentally deranged and I have to be a punching bag for them. In all those interviews, I barely got a chance to talk about my technical skills which I am most confident about.

I wonder how different the situation would be for IT support jobs in Australia? I know there is a tough competition there and salaries are a little higher.

Can someone with a knowledge of both job markets share their thoughts of my chances in OZ job market if I am struggling here?

networkn

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#1964074 25-Feb-2018 21:25

I can't speak to the kissing backside part, but interviews with me tend to be as focused on what we need as what you have. This means you and I can determine if you are a fit for the position, which in IT is as much about communication as IT Skills. There is a real focus now on making sure that IT engineers are interactive and not just robots who turn up, press a few buttons and leave without saying a word. The reason being that people appreciate that not every issue can be immediately resolved, but being able to impart a plan, show confidence in an upcoming solution and showing empathy for an end users frustration.

If your job is back end only, the requirement might be less about that, but certainly in my staff communication is considered very critical as well as being able to manage workloads and keep on top of paperwork.

Attitude is everything. I can teach you technical skills, it's much harder to teach someone attitudes and soft skills competency.

I have no experience with the market in Australia, though it's a bigger market and they are crying out for people.

You may need to consider if your communication skills could use a polish or even consider going back a step to get in the door at a place with a decent career path for you.

Kiwifruta

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#1973593 12-Mar-2018 21:35

Not related to your question, but I do second the comments above about communication skill, it's the #1 skill employers look for in IT professionals.

lokhor

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#1973599 12-Mar-2018 21:58

Kiwifruta: Not related to your question, but I do second the comments above about communication skill, it's the #1 skill employees look for in IT professionals.

I think it is highly related to his question though. The criteria in Australia will probably be even harder to meet than NZ and communications skills will be important there as well.

OP sounds like he either doesn't interview well due to a lack of social skills, or he is sitting at the lowest level of the four stages of competence.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

billgates

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#1973607 12-Mar-2018 22:06

Explaining to someone in finance what is a network cable might seem deranged to you but if they were technical, they would not ask for your help. Imagine a Doctor thinking that all his patients are deranged because they don't know what acute bacterial prostatitis means. We are all good in our respective fields. Our job is to make it easy to understand with what you are trying to sell them or help them with.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Kiwifruta

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#1973618 12-Mar-2018 22:26

Just saw my typo, so corrected employees to employers.