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Silent Alarm

sack Lyon
10k Posts
Jul 9, 2010
24,163
26,547
AFL Club
Fremantle
How have you guys gone about getting a proper, full time job for the first time?

Have a pretty, uh, dumb degree probably most relevant to advertising, writing, copywriting, stuff like that.

Basically just wanna pull 45k in an office baby.
 
Good luck on 45k for a dumb degree grad job. Unless you're a top level student, or going government, you might not get near that. I didn't apply for the big firms when I finished uni, and didn't have any relevant experience, so just applied for everything I could and took the first job I was offered (which, unfortunately was a little low paying). After 3 months and with a bit of experience, I started applying for the jobs I actually wanted to do, and I basically got offered everything I applied for.
So, moral of the story is if your sights are set to high, just take whatever and try again when your resume looks a bit better.
 
Allikat said:
Good luck on 45k for a dumb degree grad job. Unless you're a top level student, or going government, you might not get near that. I didn't apply for the big firms when I finished uni, and didn't have any relevant experience, so just applied for everything I could and took the first job I was offered (which, unfortunately was a little low paying). After 3 months and with a bit of experience, I started applying for the jobs I actually wanted to do, and I basically got offered everything I applied for.
So, moral of the story is if your sights are set to high, just take whatever and try again when your resume looks a bit better.
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How did you apply? Just Seek? Did you also apply for all sorts of stuff, even if there was only a tenuous link to your skills/degree? And if you don't mind me asking, were you working five days a week and pulling $500 or less and was your workload as heavy as everyone else's?
 

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Silent Alarm said:
How did you apply? Just Seek? Did you also apply for all sorts of stuff, even if there was only a tenuous link to your skills/degree? And if you don't mind me asking, were you working five days a week and pulling $500 or less and was your workload as heavy as everyone else's?
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Just seek. I was applying for graduate accountant jobs in public practice. I took a pay cut from my part time uni job, to pull $28k a year as a full time accountant - and yes my workload was heavy, I got to do all the shit jobs no one else wanted to do (and then billed out to clients at $200/hour)
 
Your first full time job out of uni wont be your last - career progression takes time, patience, experience and self development.
 
I'd be flat to be pulling less than 500 a week full time, would take some mental strength, or some sort of greater hope.

Can already get that off a unskilled casual job on much less hours.
 
It took me two years after graduation to find a job in my field of study. I was probably too picky and just focussed on applying for full time jobs as I had a cushy casual job through Uni that paid well and I enjoyed doing that so kept plugging away.

The issue in Melbourne and applying via seek they literally get 100s of apps for 1 vacant position so anyone without experience goes straight into the bin.

I ended up getting a contract role in Adelaide and people over there thought it was funny because most people go from Adelaide to Melbourne to get a job! There might be less jobs in Adelaide but there is also less qualified people so they were more open to training people up from scratch.

What I should have done earlier was sign up to the government temp pools. ATO, DHS etc just to get some experience. The government make changes to super, Centrelink, Medicare etc and they need to update their databases so those positions come up every now and then and they pretty much take anyone that can breathe. I signed up for DHS and they called me like 3 or 4 times practically begging me to work it but was bad timing as my boss was in hospital and I was working 60 hours a week doing my shifts and covering for him so couldn't leave him in the lurch.
 
JG22 said:
I'd be flat to be pulling less than 500 a week full time, would take some mental strength, or some sort of greater hope.

Can already get that off a unskilled casual job on much less hours.
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I’m living at home atm and I’d rather a 9-5 that’s hitting my creativity and good points, than $600-650 doing about 20 hours a week but all over the place sucking dick for campaigner people.
 
Silent Alarm said:
How have you guys gone about getting a proper, full time job for the first time?

Have a pretty, uh, dumb degree probably most relevant to advertising, writing, copywriting, stuff like that.

Basically just wanna pull 45k in an office baby.
Click to expand...
I hate to be a captain hindsight but it is so important to get industry experience when studying. You have all this free time as a student, spend a few hours working a week at a firm in your chosen industry (unpaid if necessary) build some contacts and build a resume. A degree is worth jack shit if you don't have any real work experience.

I did ok with my Uni grades, nothing special averaged about 70 and I was working full time the day after I finished my final unit, simply because I did internships, gained work experience and put my name out there.
 
Allikat said:
Just seek. I was applying for graduate accountant jobs in public practice. I took a pay cut from my part time uni job, to pull $28k a year as a full time accountant - and yes my workload was heavy, I got to do all the shit jobs no one else wanted to do (and then billed out to clients at $200/hour)
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$28k as an accounting grad. Thats just under $14 an hour
What year was this?
 

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I'd be interning or volunteering straight away. Good way of networking.

Got a job straight out with my shitty BA (Political Science, International Relations, History, English Lit) interned a lot during my uni course.
 
I did a Psych degree without becoming a Psychologist - a tough place to be as you effectively qualify for nothing.

I got entry-level support jobs in Ed Support, Youth Work etc and earned very little for a long time. All the experience across the different organisations ended up landing me a good job in the court system.

I wouldn’t have got it without working across 4-5 different sectors. I would have an aim to work across a few different patches by the age of 30 - workplaces are after a breadth of experience (I find) and it seems to open more doors than close.
 
Really depends on the industry, company and position. I know someone who took a grad job in 2008 for $45k (including super) and others who started working in 2005/6 and were offered $70k+.

Big resource companies (and others) during boom times will hire a bunch of grads for whatever the going rate is, plonk them in programs that rotate them around the place and get zero return on investment on some or all of them. Small companies and service businesses don't have the same luxury. Even big 4 companies that carry huge overheads don't offer high grad wages because grads are generally not useful from day one.
 
Scotland said:
Really depends on the industry, company and position. I know someone who took a grad job in 2008 for $45k (including super) and others who started working in 2005/6 and were offered $70k+.

Big resource companies (and others) during boom times will hire a bunch of grads for whatever the going rate is, plonk them in programs that rotate them around the place and get zero return on investment on some or all of them. Small companies and service businesses don't have the same luxury. Even big 4 companies that carry huge overheads don't offer high grad wages because grads are generally not useful from day one.
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I think the comment regarding smaller boutique companies paying less rings very true from my position, would have been much better off I believe working for a larger company a few years ago than I am now. Much better resources in general and pay more to staff also I'm finding.
 
Jordie_tackles said:
I think the comment regarding smaller boutique companies paying less rings very true from my position, would have been much better off I believe working for a larger company a few years ago than I am now. Much better resources in general and pay more to staff also I'm finding.
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There are a lot of trade-offs. Generally, bigger companies offer better money and more security - but you can get stuck doing dead end tasks and not learning anything. Smaller companies often need you to take a more hands on role early on, so you can accelerate your learning. Obviously the rules don't apply across the board.
 
Silent Alarm said:
How have you guys gone about getting a proper, full time job for the first time?

Have a pretty, uh, dumb degree probably most relevant to advertising, writing, copywriting, stuff like that.

Basically just wanna pull 45k in an office baby.
Click to expand...
Volunteer and make meaningful networks. Makes a huge difference. I was in a similar position as yourself once. Also b prepared to move across Australia if need be.
 

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