'Penny wise, Pound foolish' do a job search myself first strategy?

 As a ‘Career Coach for new migrants’ I meet a lot of new migrants who have come to Australia with lot of hopes, dreams and ambitions. I ask them how their job search is going and v rarely do I get back a positive response. The reason being most new migrants especially from Asia, think they would try to search a job on their own first and then, if later on, they are not successful, they will approach a Career Coach. How difficult can it be? Why pay career coaching fees? You just apply for jobs?

Well the main reason they don't approach a Career Coach is not because they don’t think career coaches are useful but because they want to save money. This is not a strategy that suits everybody. If you are a new migrant with latest, hands-on, in demand, technical skills with an ability to sell yourself, well, then yes it would work, but otherwise it’s going to be difficult. It’s a 'penny wise, pound foolish', strategy for others.

Firstly, if you try yourself as a new migrant you are going to face different and unknown hurdles. What happens is you think career coaching fees are cost prohibitive as you multiple the fees X exchange rate and do $ rate conversion. This sort of calculation does not work out and further puzzles you. (But it also doesn’t work out for the cost of a train ticket or cup of coffee or anything else!)

Secondly, you keep searching for jobs on your own, applying and struggling, so slowly the rejections bring in the negativity in your mindset. You begin to doubt yourself and get frustrated. Thirdly, after you have struggled to find a job for 2 or even sometimes 3 to 6 months, if you add up all the costs of renting, food and transportation etc without considering anything else, you suddenly realise (sometimes a bit too late) that it would have been cheaper (and smarter) to use the expert advice right at the start.

Another view point is you don’t have the contact network, knowledge of the job market and insight of years of recruitment experience that a Career Coach would have. You miss out on this expert insight. Sometimes you might get lucky and get a job on your own, but is it the best job for you? or another struggle street opportunity?

The best Career Coaches have a recruitment industry background. They have migrated here like you have and trekked along the tough job search road themselves. So they have been there and done that. They know how recruitment happens within Australia. They know exactly what to do, where and how you can find a job. They can create a proper road map for you rather than you using a compass and finding a way out of the job hurdle maze. They offer you the helping hand of trust and act as your guide. I would suggest you take that option.