In partnership with Australian Computer Society's Young Professionals Summit 2019, this is a presentation to international graduates who are seeking to land roles within the technology industry. It provides an overview of Australia's tech scene, what companies are looking for, interview tips and how to stand out. Presented by Rachel Chong, Principal Consultant (Technology) at MitchelLake.

1. In partnership with:

2. The MitchelLake Group is a specialty executive
search and advisory firm. We are passionate
about innovation and have been operating in this
space since were founded in Sydney in 2001
ABOUT US
We have offices in Sydney, Melbourne, San
Francisco and Singapore, with satellite offices
in London and on the Gold Coast.
From start-ups to large enterprises, we deliver
global executive search and talent solutions to
organizations that are re-imagining the way we
live, work and play.
We leverage global reach, influence and
expertise developed through more than a
decade of focus on digital innovation, disruption
and transformation.

3. PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
TECHNOLOGY
Clients
ABOUT ME
/rachelsychong

4. Slido.com
#ACS2020

5. AGENDA
1. Thank you and survey findings
2. Australia’s tech scene overview, culture & environment
3. Careers in tech, career progression
4. Typical interview process
5. What are companies looking for?
6. Stories of personal experience
7. How to stand out as a candidate
8. Where to look / networking
9. Interview tips
10. Q&A

6. SURVEY FINDINGS

7. SURVEY FINDINGS

8. SURVEY FINDINGS

9. SURVEY FINDINGS

11. AUSTRALIA’S TECH SCENE
Startups Scale-ups Mature
tech
businesses
ConsultancyEnterprise Non-tech
driven
businesses

12. BOOMING TECH INDUSTRIES
● Fintech
● Healthcare & Biotech
● Data & Analytics
● Proptech
● eCommerce
● Martech
● eSports
● Cybersecurity

16. AUSTRALIA’S 2019 TOP GRADUATE EMPLOYERS
source: topgraduateemployers.com

17. CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
Dare to speak
up / challenge
ways of working
Curiosity and
initiative
Culture of
collaboration
Mentoring and
helping others
Best practices

18. CAREERS IN TECH
● Software Engineering - web applications (Java, Ruby, .Net,
Scala, Python)
● Data Analyst / Data Engineer / Data Scientist
● Site Reliability Engineering
● DevOps
● Consulting (Analyst)
● Technical support

19. CAREER PROGRESSION
Source: songkick

20. TYPICAL INTERVIEW PROCESS
Job
application
First screening
First screening
Usually by company’s
internal talent team, or
coffee with hiring manager
Technical
task
Technical task
Usually a take-home task,
anywhere between 1-4
hours of work.
Second
interview
Second interview
Might involve pair
programming, extension of
code task, technical
discussion on software
engineering practices.
Assesses your working style,
communication skills, how you
receive feedback.
Third
interview
Third interview
Usually focused on
behavioral and cultural
aspects, meeting the wider
team.
Offer

21. WHAT ARE COMPANIES LOOKING FOR?
I like to assess a number of things:
● Passion & Love for learning
○ I like to see people keen and enthusiastic about technology and
wanting to learn more. They should demonstrate a hunger to learn
while remaining humble.
● Behaviours & Values
○ What drives you? What motivates you?
○ How do you make decisions? How do you work in teams? What do you
do if having problems?
○ How do you handle conflict?
○ I wonder if language makes it hard to assess behaviours for
international students?
● Skills
○ Skills can be taught, but I look for people that have a good foundation in
the area of computer science. They don’t have to know everything, but
that should have a firm grip on the basics. It is more important to
demonstrate a hunger to learn more and be prepared to put in the work
to master one skill after the other.
If I had to summarize this into one sentence: Be Humble, Hungry and Smart
Michael Ridgway
VP of R&D Engineering
Culture Amp

22. WHAT ARE COMPANIES LOOKING FOR?
The most successful candidates are those who have already demonstrated their
tech skills before applying, and are able to confidently talk to their industry
knowledge and skill set.
Some of the best ways to stand out:
● Do at least one personal project outside of your curriculum and showcase it
on online. It can be anything from replicating a recent research paper to
FOSS contributions to a video game. Make sure to include a link to your
project or github profile In your CV.
● Be ready to talk about your personal project in detail during the interview.
It's a good segue into tech skill assessment.
● Be aware of current research and happenings in the sector you're applying
for. Candidates who demonstrate a solid understanding of the industry
stand out.
● Applicants who are passionate about their field stand out significantly
compared to those who just meet the bare minimum requirements for
their degrees
Serge Rogov
Associate Director
KPMG

23. WHAT ARE COMPANIES LOOKING FOR?
How do you assess candidates?
We need to make sure every new employee aligns to our company wide values, in
all teams.
Hiring managers then want to understand a person’s specific skill set in more
detail and how their strengths and areas for improvements complement the rest
of the team to ensure we have the strongest team possible. This also helps us
manage diversity of thought to ensure we have a well rounded and diverse set of
skills rather than lots of people who are all good and bad at the same things.
Advice for international candidates:
Candidates need to answer to the question asked and not rely on pre-rehearsed
answers. We observed some candidates practice so much that they miss the
actual question asked and fail to deliver an example that is relevant.
Ellie Smith
VP of People & Culture
Who Gives a Crap

24. WHAT ARE COMPANIES LOOKING FOR?
How to stand out:
How a candidate handles challenges and failure provides insights
into their character. Even more powerful is their reflection, knowing
what they’ve learnt, and what they would do differently next time.
Careers are full of mistakes and missed opportunities, but what you
learn is most important, makes you stand out, and grabs my
attention.
Advice in job seeking:
Many managers will hire you because they see that spark unique to
you, yet attempt to build you in their image. Find the one that fans
that spark until it becomes a flame and you become the best version
of you, not a mediocre version of them. Be you, be different, add to
the culture, and find the person who will make you shine.
Daniel Gordon
Digital Technology Manager
MYOB

25. What have you learnt from your time working in some of Australia's best tech
companies ?
It is nothing specific to Australia but in general whether you are already working or
want to work in some of the best companies out there, you need to be abreast of all
the changes that are happening in your area of expertise. Always be on a look out for
latest changes happening out there. The mantra is “Learning is a lifelong journey”.
What are some areas you observed which International candidates can improve
on to be successful ?
1. Be more open in communication.
2. Don't hesitate to share your thoughts. If you find anything wrong in a process /
workflow / anything, feel free to share your feedback. Feedback is almost
certainly received positively and drives many organisations forward in
Australia.
3. Don't hesitate to ask for feedback and use it constructively.
Satya Avarasala
Senior iOS Developer
Flatmates.com.au
STORIES OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

26. What areas can Internationals leverage to their advantage in Australia?
If you have worked in large organisations or worked on products that
catered to consumers / customers in countries like China, US, India, Europe,
then you have a significant advantage / experience of building for scale.
This is something very much sought after in Australia. As most of the local
talent doesn't usually get that opportunity to cater to or be exposed to.
Satya Avarasala
Senior iOS Developer
Flatmates.com.au
STORIES OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

27. When I moved to Australia five years ago, it was really challenging to get an IT job
here.
My challenges include:
1. Language barrier: taking English exams and living in an English speaking
country are completely different stories
2. Lack of confidence
3. My previous experience didn’t match the Australian job market well
How I tackled my challenges:
1. Getting involved in the community which helped improve my English. It was
also great for mental health.
2. I reflected on what kind of jobs or which domain I wanted to work in, and listed
all of them
Bobby Wang
Software Developer
Xero
STORIES OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

28. 3. Research the AU job market in each domain by using Seek or LinkedIn, understand
their requirements and ask myself questions like:
● Can I use some of my previous experience for this job?
● What knowledge do I lack?
● How I can bridge my knowledge gap or gain experience, in order to get the
job?
4. Never stop learning.
What I love about working in Australia:
1. Great work-life balance.
2. Opportunity to fulfil your potential and passion, no matter what they are.
3. Cultural diversity helps me to be more open-minded and curious about new
things.
Bobby Wang
Software Developer
Xero
STORIES OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

29. Pichratanak Ky
Mobile Developer
Oneflare
STORIES OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Challenges:
● Not having any local experience on my resume
● Getting knocked back when applying for roles on my student visa due
working restrictions
How I overcame the challenges:
I began by applying to part time roles from highly to slightly relevant to my
profession, but I couldn’t find any.
Finally, I secured a six months unpaid internship in a local tech company and
that brought me to my next role as a part time paid iOS dev which then
became full time.
What I think that made me successful was not giving up. I tried various ways
to apply for jobs such as online, university community, meet-up and more. I
also continued to invest in learning. I spent some time to understand role
requirements and developed myself to adapt to it. For example developing
skills in demand such as Swift, CI/CD, Fastlane and Jira.

30. STORIES OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
What should international candidates be mindful of?
I would strongly recommend valuing time more than money.
One of the biggest mistakes we make is working part time in a field that is not
relevant to our profession. Income is useful in the short term but finding
relevant work is an investment for the future.
I’ve also found spending some time improving my English and preparing for
the language test to be very helpful. I’ve noticed some of my peers who
neglected this area faced time and cost difficulties when extending their visa.
Any advice?
I would suggest starting early in your professional career like finding
internships, attending Meetups, and leveraging your peers and lecturers’
connections. Anything you believe that could contribute to your long-term
career plan.
Some said I was lucky to secure full-time roles as soon as I graduated, but I
believe it was because I started early, worked hard and formulated a clear
career plan.
Pichratanak Ky
Mobile Developer
Oneflare

31. HOW TO STAND OUT
1. Have a growth mindset - always be learning
2. Have evidence of your work, and be able to talk about it
e.g. Github portfolio, blog (personal, Medium, LinkedIn), personal projects
3. Show how your experience is relevant to the role you’re going for
e.g. transferable skills, lessons you’ve learnt
4. Be creative in showcasing yourself, leverage social media
5. Improve your communication skills, both written and spoken
6. Be open, both in sharing your thoughts and receiving feedback

32. WHERE TO LOOK / NETWORKING
1. Targeted research
2. Job boards (Seek, Glassdoor, Universities, LinkedIn)
3. Internships / tech relevant boards (Hatch, Paddl, ribit.net,
Github, Stackoverflow)
4. Meetup Groups, industry events
5. LinkedIn connections

33. WHERE TO LOOK / NETWORKING
Tips:
1. Find a way to get yourself in front of real people, rather than a
screen
2. With target companies, find out who is the recruiter or hiring
manager. Send a personal note
3. If you’re not getting any hits from applying, attend industry
events or interest groups

34. INTERVIEW TIPS
What are you aiming to answer in the interview?
● How quickly can this candidate pick up new things?
● Approach to problem solving
● How does the candidate receive feedback?
● Is the candidate an individual contributor or team player?
● When faced with a challenge, how does this candidate approach
overcoming it?
● How does this candidate add to our culture?
● Does the candidate demonstrate curiosity and passion in what they do?
● What drives this candidate?
● Will this candidate thrive in our environment? (e.g. fast-paced / structured /
scrappy / high pressure)

35. INTERVIEW TIPS
Examples of common interview questions:
● Can you describe a project you’re most proud of, and why?
● What was the biggest challenge for you in your last role (or university) and
how did you overcome it?
● What was the last thing you learnt about X?
● Why are you interested in working with us?
● Technical: pros and cons of X vs Y
● Technical: Why did you pick X vs Y

36. INTERVIEW TIPS
DO:
● Elaborate with STAR method (situation, task, action, results)
● Research and prepare questions for the company
● Clarify the question if you’re unsure, instead of assuming
● Ask the interviewer, “Have I answered your question?”
● Take the time to formulate your answer, even if you need a minute of
silence
● Take hints from the interviewer (if they’ve prompted you with leading
questions, they are hinting for you to try a different approach)
● Reschedule the interview if you’re sick and can’t perform your best

37. INTERVIEW TIPS
DON’T
● Give one sentence answers
● Say, “I’m happy with anything” or “I’m open to anything”
● Say, “yes, tell me” when you pick up the phone
● Only answer with technical buzzwords when asked about your technical
ability
● Focus on the negatives of your previous role
● Lie about experiences you don’t have

38. FURTHER READINGS / REFERENCES
● Insight to what Australia’s leading companies look for in hiring
tech talent
● Rachel’s case study on being creative in your job search
● Interview techniques - STAR

39. Q & A

40. Thank you
Connect with me:
/rachelsychong