Bui Nhu Hoang Ha, 27, graduated from Deakin University and currently works as a business data analyst at Bunnings Group, a leading interior design retail company in Australia and New Zealand, with over 53,000 employees.
Previously, she had applied to 100 jobs and gotten offers at several of them.
Ha said there were two main waves of recruitment in Australia, the first wave from January to March and the second from June to September. Candidates usually send their CV, take online tests, go through video interviews and finally a face-to-face interview.
She went to job search platforms like LinkedIn, Seek, GradConnection and Glassdoor, took note of application deadlines, created application emails and monitored updates to avoid miss a vacancy.
Ha uses the resume templates and tools her school provides her. She also attended career fairs to learn about the job application process.
Ha said a resume should be a single page to make it user-friendly, with font sizes around 10-11. You must also use active verbs and highlight your leadership skills. She paid particular attention to how the data is presented to highlight the scope of her work and her productivity, which is an opportunity to showcase her experience and abilities.
“When I applied for the data analysis position, I wrote ‘process 1.5 million Yelp data to build a model with 84% accuracy using Python’ instead of ‘use Python to processing and visualizing Yelp data,’” Ha said. Applicants without prior experience can write about academic projects and relevant experiences, she added.
Portfolios and personal profiles can be a plus for job candidates. Ha said she uses the Tableau app to describe a project she did. For the tech or design industry, candidates can show off what they’ve done using Github or Behance. A candidate can also simply use LinkedIn to post updates about their achievements, certificates, and relevant experiences.
Before sending out her resumes, Ha often checked them to filter out unnecessary words. Ha said companies can take up to a month to respond to an application, so people should stay calm and keep their phones handy in case a call for an interview comes in.
For the online tests, Ha looked at some frequently asked questions via search engines. These questions may relate to personality, how to handle work conflicts, and how to work in a team.
Ha said some large technology companies like IBM, Auspost and Westpac use the Revelian test during their recruitment process. Canva and Thoughtworks use specialized tests, which require candidates to have relevant knowledge and skills.
Video interviews would require candidates to answer questions about specific scenarios and demonstrate their knowledge of the company culture. Each question requires two minutes of preparation time and must be answered within four minutes. Ha prepares for these questions by researching the most frequently asked questions and then modifying the answers by fitting them into her own academic and professional experiences.
Ha also researched details about the companies she’s applying to, including their mission, vision and culture. To answer the questions, Ha applies the STAR method (situation, task, action, result).
The final interview often takes place in two ways: an individual and group interview, or an individual interview combined with the resolution of a case study.
First, candidates will be part of a group of 6 to 10 people to discuss a scenario. Interviewers would observe how candidates interact within a group and how they solve problems. Ha would share his honest opinions and ask questions without fear.
“There’s no right answer here, they just want to see how you interact with everyone in the group,” Ha said. After that, candidates will have a one-on-one interview with a high-ranking employee. The questions would be similar to online interviews, and Ha would try to highlight his personal experiences more, rather than just giving generic answers.
For the second method, the HR team would give candidates a problem to solve within 2-3 hours, before having them present the solution. It is then followed by an individual interview.
Ha was interviewed this way at the Bunnings Group. He was asked to prepare a presentation for clients on how to create an organic food website. Ha created a website template, calculating the time and money needed, as well as the website’s goals.
“The key to getting a job in Australia is to develop your profile while you are at school, through your results and projects. In addition, candidates will also need to make connections, apply for positions and improve their communication skills for the interview,” she said.
