Walking with an Australian Hiring Manager: What Migrants Need to Know Coming to This Lucky Country

By Kin Kok Low

This is my personal journey as a migrant looking for his first job in 1992. Later, as a hiring manager and volunteer in two NGOs working with migrants integrated into our lucky country. It contains stories of hundreds of migrants I worked with, mainly from non-English-speaking backgrounds. They travel the journey with hope and endurance, often facing challenges testing their faith, strength, and survival skills in a country they now call home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Oct 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543743432

Kin Kok Low

KK Low started his career working for Nippon Steel and The Chase Manhattan Bank in Malaysia before migrated to Australia in 1992. He retired as Human Resources Manager for Dow Chemical Australia, New Zealand in 2010. He has 38 years experience as human resources professional and had worked for global companies covering Asia, Middle East, United Kingdom, United States and Australia, New Zealand. KK and family lives in Melbourne. He volunteers in two church organisations helping and mentoring those especially migrants looking for work. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to assist the disadvantaged.

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Copyright © 2017 by Kin Kok Low.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5437-4342-5

      eBook         978-1-5437-4343-2

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 Why This Book?

Chapter 2 Personal Branding

Chapter 3 Resume Your Job Passport

Chapter 4 What Do Employers Want?

Chapter 5 The Recruitment and Selection Cycle

Chapter 6 Targeting Employers

Chapter 7 How Do You Market Yourself? Networking

Chapter 8 Interview Skills. How Do Decision Makers evaluate you?

Chapter 9 The ‘Psychologist’ facing You during the Interview.

Chapter 10 Behaviour Based Interview.

Chapter 11 Putting All Together. Selection Interview

Chapter 12 Decision Making By Hiring Managers

Chapter 13 During the Interview. I am the ONE

Chapter 14 Managing Your Emotion

Chapter 15 Managing Change

Chapter 16 Total Package

References

Foreword

D uring the first quarter of 2016 Australians are again divided over the issue of asylum seekers arriving by boats using the services of peoples’ smugglers. In 2015 both political parties the Labour and Coalition Party in one of those rare acts of unity, passed a law taking away the rights of refugees who landed in Australian territory from seeking asylum. New arrivals were sent to detention centres outside Australian territories in N auru.

More than one hundred refugee children seeking medical treatment in mainland Australia would be sent back to the retention centre at Nauru. Medical doctors and paediatricians caring for these sick children took great risks with possibility of jail sentences voiced their disgust returning sick children to the retention centre. The media had a field day filing reports. Demonstrations were held throughout the country with some doctors and medical staff refusing to discharge the children unless ‘a suitable place’ is found for them. Suitable place means staying on the mainland. The year 2016 was also an election year. At times elections were won and lost over the refugee or migration issue. And this is a country of migrants until lately White migrants.

According to Australian statistics in the year 2013/2014 net overseas migration to Australia was 212,700. Up to June 30, 2014 about 6.6 million or 28% of the population were born overseas. The main sources of migrants (June 30, 2014) come from United Kingdom (5.2%), New Zealand (2.6%), China (1.9%), India (1.7%), Philippines (1%) and Vietnam (1%) changing the social, cultural, economic and political landscape. Australians now begin to call their community multicultural. In Clayton, Melbourne more than 100 ethnic communities live and work in this once predominantly white suburb.

Since English and European settlement, Australia is a magnet for people seeking a ‘better life’ for whatever reasons is not available in their home countries. In the earlier days of colonisation, Anglo Saxons, Irish and Europeans were encouraged to come to open this huge country. Whilst migrants were accepted our First Australians, the Indigenous people were displaced from their traditional land and pushed further inland to inhospitable areas.

During the 1840s saw the influx of Asians or the ‘Yellow Peril’ from the North. In the 1800s most of East Asia with the exception of Japan was in turmoil either from foreign colonisation or their government extracting resources from their own citizens. In the case of China there were famines, civil wars, exploitation by foreigners as well as the local political elite. So when news of the discovery of gold in the New Gold Mountain (California was termed the Gold Mountain.), poor Chinese were enticed, in most cases conned to come here to provide the necessary cheap labour. The early Chinese found this a hard, discriminatory, difficult and lonely place eking a living. Discrimination was accepted as the Yellow Race was considered inferior to that of the White Anglo Saxon Protestants. (WASP). In fact the infamous saying by an Immigration Minister Two Wongs to not make a White described the thinking of the day.

In the 1960s Australian politicians convinced by the Americans on the Domino Theory participated in the Vietnam War. The Communist North won the war but there was no Domino Theory. The rest of South East Asia did not fall to the Communists. However life was extremely difficult and dangerous for those who were deemed against the Communists. During that time Vietnam and her former ally Communist China fell out. In fact they fought a war. When the two elephants had a dispute the mouse deers (ordinary people) suffered. More than a million Vietnamese people (70% ethnic Chinese Vietnamese) were forced out of their own country. Many became the boat people taking the treacherous route from the coastal towns of Vietnam to Thailand, Malaysia, passed Singapore and Indonesia. Their destination was Australia. Initially Australians out of compassion welcomed the few hundred refugees. When this became a flood of hundreds of thousands the people told their elected government to ‘stop the boats’. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser saw it the responsibility of the government since Australia participated in the war destroying that country to accepting these refugees. They have no way to go. Since then the Vietnamese community have prospered contributing tremendously to Australian society. Pho, Vietnamese noodle has become a common favourite food among non Vietnamese Australians.

In 1986 the incident at Tiananmen in Beijing aroused Australian sympathy. A tearful Prime Minister Bob Hawke in television allowed more than 10,000 Chinese students to stay in the country with the possibility of applying for permanent resident visas.

Baby boomer Malaysians benefitted in having ‘free education’ as member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Australia granted Colombo Plan scholarships to deserving students from Malaysia and Singapore. Some returned to their homeland while others remained and became Australians. This started the ‘chain’ migration basing on professional qualifications. Walking in most suburbs in Melbourne and Sydney one finds Malaysian restaurants or takeaways with some owners having engineering, accounting, marketing, information technology degrees or professional qualifications.

Political, social unrest in the Middle East, Africa, Afghanistan, India subcontinent saw a new group of ‘refugees’ using people smugglers coming to Australia. These people were at times termed ‘queue’ jumpers. Those who do not follow the normal migration route by sending in their applications to be processed by the Australian government. Initially under Australian law when a refugee landed in Australian territory Australia under the United Nations Charter is obliged to house, care and process their refugee status. Over a period of time the government, more so some Australians deemed these people are not asylum seekers due to persecution. They are classified as economic migrants wanting a better life here. Also these people are ‘different’ as most of them come from failed and derailed countries, mostly Muslim nations. The question of integration is fiercely debated openly in the media. It did not help with the rise of Al Qaeda, IS and some terrorist activities happening within Australian community. These people were deemed ‘unable to integrate’ into the fabric of Australian society. This was the same case used against the Yellow Peril Chinese and the Vietnamese Boat People.

Lately in the 1990s with the rise of China and more relaxed exit permits, mainland Chinese are coming in their thousands as students, professionals, business people, a few as ‘political refugees’. In the midst of all these we also accepted corrupt government servants, business people and triad members.

But then not all who come here have abundant cash to start their own business or pushing up house prices. Most migrants come here on professional work visas. This is it. Most find it difficult finding their first job in Australia.

This book is my own personal experience looking for my first job in Australia as well as working with migrants looking for work. These are their stories.

Acknowledgements

I told my family writing this book seemed easy as I have 38 years in human resources management. Most of the contents in this book are from my engagement as a volunteer working with migrants or people looking for work in Australia. This is their life sto ries.

This is my first book and getting a publisher interested is extremely difficult. In fact I could not instil interests in the publishers I approached. I tried self publishing but my limited knowledge in this industry posted huge hurdles.

There are many people who came to my help, giving valuable advice, editing, encouraging and praying for me. I cannot name them all. Following are some of them I am extremely grateful without their support this book will just be hidden in my computer hard drive. Many people whom I counted as friends have given their invaluable time and advice in bringing this book into existence. Some have requested not to be mentioned and I respect their wishes. They know who they are and my acknowledgement goes to them is no less than to those whom I mentioned here.

Christine Chong a specialist in publishing gave me an insight into the publishing world in Asia. We communicate through email. Pastor Roland Seow and Pastor YC Goh provide much suggestions and encouragement. They never give up sponsoring me. I am sure they pray for me. I also thank friends at Full Gospel Assembly Melbourne among them Dr David Diong, Michael Oh and Steven Lee for reading, editing and giving me much encouragement. My former boss David Wong was ready providing support distributing the book in Malaysia. It became a team project. I thank the team at Partridge Publishing Singapore walking with me in making this book available from manuscript to sales.

Thanks to the many ‘clients’ I know during my volunteer work. We walk the ‘job hunting trail’ with anxiety, fear and hope supporting and encouraging each other when we were tired. They taught me endurance, determination and faith. They are a great inspiration to me. In the process I am blessed with many new friends. I found achievement is when you help others to succeed. It is so rewarding.

My special thanks and love to my wife Kathryn, daughters Alicia and Suan Li, my son Hok Meng constantly encouraging, supporting me in my volunteer work and in writing this book. They bring so much joy and purpose to my life.

I want to give thanks and glory to Jesus for His unconditional love upholding me as I walk with him in this ministry. I am always comforted never get tired serving Him. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9. Often I am encouraged by the Holy Spirit giving me the wisdom and strength not to give up.

God Bless

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Chapter 1

Why This Book?

Mate. Sorry You Have No Local Experience.

MINE STORY

O ur family migrated to Australia in 1992, the year then Treasurer Paul Keating said in the radio The recession Australia needs to have. It was not a good year for job hunting but then the Aussie dollar versus my hard earned Malaysian ringgit was still affordable for my family to buy our own home. Also I was 43, the threshold age looking for a job in Australia. My permanent resident visa expired in September the same year.

Like all new migrants we came to Australia hoping this is not only a Lucky Country but also a clever one. Australia or rather the government have been embracing a new word, Multiculturalism. Migrants including non Europeans were invited to apply for Permanent resident visa that is if you have the qualifications, skills and experience (and some money) the country needs. Some come in with money on business visas others as refugees or asylum seekers.

Both my wife and I were economics graduates from the relatively ‘prestigious’ Faculty of Economics, University of Malaya. The year we graduated (1972), our degrees in Macroeconomics still have good standing at least with local and foreign companies. With an honours degree and 20 years working experience, 18 years working for the Chase Manhattan Bank, I thought getting a ‘lower’ level job in Australia should not be a problem. Difficult but not impossible I was telling myself when our Malaysian Airline flight landed in Tullamarine airport on a wintery early Spring morning in September 1992. My profession, the job I used to feed my family and bought a semi detached home in the middle class suburb of Damansara Utama, Kuala Lumpur was human resources management. What the older workers called Personnel. I was blessed Chase gave me the opportunity working for the Asia Pacific Regional Office. I had wonderful bosses (Occasionally one or two nasty ones.) who nurtured me from a ‘country pumpkin’ to become a Vice President, Regional Human Resources manager for ASEAN, India and Pakistan. That was the title I had before coming to Australia. Prior to this I was the Human Resources Partner for the Corporate and Investment Bank for North Asia, Hong Kong. This was in addition to my position as human resources manager for Chase Malaysia. My ego was not overblown but very healthy leaning to pride and over confidence. With an honours degree specialising in Analytical Economics and ‘blue blood’ experience working for one of the largest banks in the world, I thought Australian employers should (I used the word should.) give me the opportunity.

After settling in our new home, finding the children good schools, I started scouting newspapers, magazines. (During that time there were no internet job advertisements.) Initially I applied for human resources management positions in banks. In 1992 there were four ‘Big Local’ Australian banks but they were not in good shape, financially and business wise. In fact most banks local and foreign were restructuring due