From India to Australia: An HR professional on finding opportunities without ‘local experience’

Subhashree Das shared with The HR Leader her experience as an HR professional moving from India to Australia, looking for work opportunities. Ms Das is now a client services officer in the contract management team at Konica Minolta, but her journey finding work in Australia was not easy.

Ms Das talked through some of the big names she’d worked with in India, organisations that any Australian recruiter would recognise. However, it was still an uphill battle for her to secure a position in Australia due to the common bias for ‘local experience’. Ms Das explained for listeners what recruiters are overlooking when they have a blinkered view valuing ‘local’ above all else.

Being more open to a diverse range of backgrounds is an asset for businesses according to Ms Das, pointing out how advantageous it is when organisations have either internal or external (or both) clients from a variety of cultures and countries. She also reminded listeners about all the soft or human skills that overseas applicants bring with them.

For anyone new to Australia looking for their first position here, Ms Das shared some tips, including focussing on continual learning, gaining local qualifications where possible.

Ms Das was assisted in finding work in Australia by atWork Australia. You can find out more about them here: https://www.atworkaustralia.com.au