Every Saturday from November to December 2020, WOMEN CAN FLY (WCF) organised and held the online seminar series across four weeks, Job Hunting Skills Support in Australia ~ An Introductory Edition. To give participants practical skills, we invited four teachers working in Australia from different fields and condensed the knowledge and skills essential for looking for work in Australia across the four days. In this article, we’ll share what happened and the participants’ thoughts about the seminar.
Table of Contents
What you need to do to make your dream of gaining employment in Australia come true
Studying abroad takes a lot of time as there are a lot of things that you need to research and don’t always receive support for. For this reason, the seminar provided essential information for those aiming to find work in Australia.
A snapshot of the seminar
Residents between their 20s and 40s living in Australia and Japan participated in the seminar. They asked questions that covered several topics as everyone came from different backgrounds and had different perspectives. These included:
Those thinking about looking for work and wanting to move up in their careers while studying at language schools
Those who have previously worked in Australia, returned to Japan and are thinking of coming back
Those thinking about finding a job in Australia and are gathering information before the travel ban is lifted
Due to the small number of participants, we got to answer their deep and meaningful questions which was satisfying for both parties.
Each time we met, we were able to personalise the program by considering all the participants’ backgrounds and situations. As the final day approached, questions rose and we were glad that it became a mutually beneficial event.
Thoughts from seminar participants
We received a 100% satisfaction rate from the participant survey for all four seminars and all participants felt their perceptions and pre-conceived ideas had changed when responding to the question, “Thinking about how you were before and after the program, do you feel you’ve changed?
Overall thoughts on the seminar
A：I’m worried about not being able to progress during interviews if I can’t summarise my skills to employers. This is something they put emphasis on if I were to stand out as a candidate. However, after hearing from Kimiyo (Founder of WCF) and the instructors, if I come to Australia, they will all be there! When I think about it this way, I think it’s important to have connections. I want to come and live in Australia as soon as possible!B：My study abroad plans were put on hold due to COVID-19 so I joined this seminar to learn some tips and find opportunities. The instructors' stories were meaningful and made an impression on me but it wasn’t a seminar where we just passively listened, it was participatory and I received help with writing my resume. Prior to attending the seminar I wasn’t exactly sure about what to do and was wondering where to start but afterwards everything made sense and my understanding deepened.C: My motivation and self-affirmation improved! My thoughts were verbalised and clarified which made my drive to take action increase. I received a lot of energy from listening to the role model-like instructors talks and advice!D: Ms. Terazawa taught us how to understand ourselves by doing a self-analysis and we used that knowledge during Mr. Kusumoto’s and Mr. Kato’s lectures. Mr. Yamada’s knowledge he shared about Australia’s taxation laws next time!Constructive time
It wasn’t a program where participants just listened, from seminar to seminar, we provided time to work on exercises after each lecture as we wanted to give them something they could take away from the seminars. During this time, participants were provided with important tips on what to include on their resumes while asking questions.
There are many people who are aiming to level up their careers but for mature-aged adults who have a lot of work experience, on top of improving their language skills, they want to add on other skills that will help their careers level up. They build up experience by interning and looking for part-time jobs while going to a language school. Goals and work experience differ from person to person based on their experience. On Day 1, Mr. Takeshi Kusumoto (Career Meister (Master)) who is a pro in finding jobs in Australia, participated every hour to answer individual questions on writing resumes.
How do you feel about attending a series of seminars?
In a survey, 80% of participants said that they would like to see a series of lectures. In our lives where information is scattered, one thing we want to continuously do is to deepen our knowledge in a multifaceted way. We’re glad the participants feel the same way.
Seminar Overview
Seminar Title:
Online Program to support you in finding work in Australia [1st Edition]Time:
All 4 Sessions, Sydney Time: 1:00-15:30, Japan Time: 3:00-17:00
14, 21, 28 November and 5 December 2020 (All Saturdays)Day 1: Finding a job in Australia and tips on writing a resume in English (Instructor: Takeshi Kusumoto)
Day 2: Fundamentals of Australian taxation and employment laws that you should know (Instructor: Hiroto Yamada)
Day 3: How to sell yourself in 10 minutes in an English job interview (Instructor: Keiko Terazawa)
Day 4: My experience of getting PR from scratch, essential skills and creating an action plan (Instructor: Tats Kato)A message from the organisers
As the online seminars were held remotely, the challenge was to boost student morale and increase their satisfaction. We felt it was important to create a familiar environment where participants tackle the same issues. As a result, they not only had to produce work but also put together pre-assignments. They may have become somewhat spartan-like by the end of it all.
Some feedback we received was, “WCF Overseas Employment Support Program clarified what I needed to do to study abroad which made me look forward to going on exchange."
“I learned tips on how to write my resume in English, the fundamentals of employment and taxation law overseas, defined my strengths and mentally preparede myself to go out into the world without any excuses. I’m glad WCF gave us the wings to fly abroad!”
The instructors who worked with us said that if their knowledge was even just a little bit useful for the next generation they’d be more than happy to have met the participants this way.
Future plans
We received a lot of feedback on desirable topics for future events which we will implement and improve. There were many participants who felt strongly about language barriers so for them, we are in the middle of planning a program that lets participants start by becoming aware of their weaknesses and increase their exposure to English.
On top of continuing our talks, we are also in the middle of planning one-off seminars covering topics like advancing your career and improving your language studies. Stay tuned!
Thank you for reading and we are always here for you!
Women can fly.
Team WCF
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