Finding a job in Sydney

There are a variety of jobs available in Sydney, and even in the wake of the financial crisis, Australia's job market has remained afloat. The most recent figures (from November 2009) show Australia’s unemployment rate to be 5.7 per cent – a relatively low rate when compared to other countries, such as neighbour New Zealand, with an unemployment rate at 6.5 per cent, Britain at 7.8 per cent, the USA at 10 per cent and Spain at 19.3 per cent.
 
According to one of the most reputable Sydney newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales has created an extra 11,800 jobs between October and November 2009. That’s 100 new positions a day, most of them on a full time basis.
 
Positive statistics are good and well for expats planning to move to Australia, and even for those already here job hunting. Now, where can you find those job openings and how can you get the position? Well, here are some good tips and leads to keep in mind when planning your rise to the top in Australia.
 

First of all, where can you find the available jobs? Actually, the main question here is when to find it. Every Wednesday and Saturday, especially the latter, all the newspapers (local, regional or national) have a big section of Job Classifieds.

The main publications in Sydney are:
•    The Sydney Morning Herald
•    Daily Telegraph

Also take a good look at the local ones, that’s your best shot to get a job close to your place of residence. Some of the best are:

•    Blacktown Advocate
•    Fairfield Advance
•    The Glebe
•    Hawkesbury Gazette
•    Liverpool Leader
•    Manly Daily
•    North Shore Times
•    Parramatta Advertiser
•    Penrith Press
•    Wentworth Courier
 

Another common way to look for jobs is of course through the Internet. Looking for a job this way has many advantages: it’s free; you can find many ads every day, not only on Wednesdays and Saturdays; you can start job hunting even before you arrive in Australia; and you can filter your search by location, sector, salary, type etc.
 
The most popular job search engines are:
•    My Career
•    Seek
•    Career One
•    Gumtree
•    Craig’s List
•    Job Seeker
•    Career Jet
 

If you already know what type of work you want, you can go to recruitment agencies. There are hundreds of them in Sydney. You can find agencies for all types of jobs: admin/office, hospitality, construction, industry (factories and warehouses), management, promotional and artistic, communications/media.