The long hunt is finally over!! The end is now in sight, I am only waiting for my background checks to clear and I will be employed!
Very much looking forward to joining the team at Bankwest. Bankwest is the largest bank in WA and owned by Commonwealth bank, the largest bank in Australia. I will be joining their Enterprise Services business unit, working as a Business Analyst. Currently, this is all I know, but should learn more shortly. Both Bankwest and myself would like to get me up to speed as quickly as possible.
It was not too long ago that I was getting a little discouraged with the job market in Perth. I was working hard trying to get my foot in the door at many different companies, trying to get that interview and wasn't hearing anything after my Bankwest interview. I know these things take time, but after two weeks you begin to think that no news is probably bad news...this however was not the case.
I received a phone call while waiting in the queue to board a ship to Rottnest, an island just off the coast of Perth. Thinking that the call was to let me down formally, I simply asked if I could call the hiring manager back after I got off the ship. Plus I needed time to prepare follow up questions about why I was not hired, what skills was I missing, was the fact that I am on a 457 a deterrent? etc.. I needed the answers to those questions to re-energize myself for my continued job hunt. I was a little nervous for the call when mum and I got off the ship, but the way I looked at it was that I was on a beautiful island, it was 74 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, I could handle a little bad news. It was not going to ruin my day.
After finding a proper writing utensil I wrote down some questions, found a quiet place on the island and made the call. To my surprise, I had it all WRONG!!! It was not a call to let me down formally, it was a call to offer me a job, formally!!! I even got the salary I was looking for! I was in shock, but I tried to keep my cool on the phone with the hiring manager. Asking the appropriate questions, next steps and so on. He forwarded me a link to a background check company, which had forms I needed to fill out. I also needed to provide 100 points of certified (notarized) identifying documentation. No problem, I did all that when we set up our visas earlier this year. I was ecstatic !! In shock, disbelief, I could not believe I had been so negative about this very much positive phone call. I do consider myself a fairly positive person. I politely hung up with the hiring manager gave a few fist pumps to myself and ran over to tell mum the good news. She had been sitting around the corner thinking of ways to cheer me up, after my formal let down. I think she was more excited than I was when I told her the news. Her son taking a huge risk/gamble moving thousands of miles away from all of his friends and most of his family, landed a job!
Funny note here I missed a call back from the hiring manager, minutes later saying that he was able to increase my base plus super (superannuation, social security in Australia). They had me at the first numbers, but hey I will take it!
This day just turned out to be one of my top ten days ever. Got a job, went on an island adventure with mum, and went out for a fabulous celebration dinner after we got back.
Our day at Rottnest can be captured in photos. Rottnest is a beautiful island with great wave breaks, pristine beaches and unique wild life. The bike trek around the island, down all the paths was a little over 30 km. Mum and I were tired to say the least after our tour, but there was no whining, only celebrating.
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| These are called Quakas (like a rat/kangaroo mix) |
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