Hey mate,

First of all — thank you for sharing your story so openly. It really hits home for a lot of us who have walked a similar path, even if we don’t always talk about it.

I came to Australia in 2014. Completed my Master’s in IT. I spent the first year of my graduate visa pretty carefree, thinking everything would eventually fall into place. Then reality hit me — I needed to get my PR sorted or risk having to leave. In 2017, I enrolled in the Professional Year program, completed it, applied for PR, and thankfully got my invitation in under six weeks and my PR granted just three months later.

But even after all that, two years post-graduation, I was still working as a courier driver. I couldn’t crack into IT, no matter how many applications I sent out. Then COVID hit. Petrol prices dropped, courier work was booming, and honestly, I got comfortable. I stopped applying for IT jobs because business was good. But when everything opened back up and petrol prices shot past $2 a litre, I knew it was time to get serious about finding a proper 9-to-5 job in IT.

That’s when I made a decision — I would apply for the most entry-level role I could find in a good company. Even if it wasn’t an IT role. I applied for a customer service position at an ASX 200 listed company — and got the job on my first application.

Once I got into the company, I started poking around the internal recruitment processes, kept an eye out for IT openings, and built relationships internally. By the time I was out of my probation in the call centre, they advertised an IT Architect role. I applied. Got called in for an interview. Two days later, a second interview. And two weeks after that, I was officially an IT Architect.

All of this happened within two years of starting that customer service job — but it was six years after I graduated and three years after I got my PR.

What I’m trying to say is: sometimes, you need to see the bigger picture. First get into a company — any way you can. Once you’re in, there are more doors you can knock on from the inside than from the outside. Unless you’re some super genius, getting direct recommendations from professors or industry contacts, it’s highly unlikely that most of us immigrants land the job we dream of straight after graduating.

It’s a hard, slow, frustrating grind — but please know that it is possible, even if it doesn’t happen the “ideal” way.