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Many people relocate to Australia through their place of work; they request or are recommended for relocation and get visa sponsorship. When we planned our move to Aus, the company my husband worked for didn’t have an Australian office so there was no scope for a work-based move. This meant he started from scratch in terms of the job search, and in the difficult economic climate we knew he needed to explore all means and ways of seeking employment.

In Top 10 Australian job search websites, we’ve highlighted the main websites to use when searching for jobs down under. Something else we did was make a list of the best firms to work for in Aus. If my husband couldn’t find roles in job searches that fitted his skills, he planned to email his resume (CV) to all the top firms; most have ‘career’ pages for CV submissions.

In the end, networking in the UK before we left lead to the role my husband is in now. However you land your dream job, learning who the best firms are, so that you can spot them in job ads, or contact them direct, is useful.

Australia’s top companies

In November 2006, Forbes.com produced a report of the top 40 Australian companies. Here’s a list of the top 10 and a link to the slideshow produced by Forbes.com, with full details.

  1. Nab (Banking)
  2. BHP Billiton (Materials)
  3. Commonwealth Bank (Banking)
  4. Rio Tinto (Materials)
  5. Australia & New Zealand (Banking)
  6. Westpac (Banking)
  7. Telstra (Telecommunications)
  8. Westfield Group (Diversified financials)
  9. Woolworths (Food markets)
  10. Coles (Food markets)

In the same year that Forbes.com released their report, The Wall Street Journal Asia ran a feature on the 200 most admired companies within the Asia-pacific. Here’s the top 10 for Australia;

  1. Woolworths (Retailer)
  2. Harvey Norman (Retailer)
  3. Qantas (Airline)
  4. St George Bank
  5. Coles Myer (Retailer)
  6. Coca-Cola Amatil (Food and Beverages)
  7. Westfield Group (Shopping centre owner)
  8. ANZ Banking Group
  9. BHP Billiton (Mining)
  10. Westpac Banking

Of course, these companies haven’t escaped the impact of the difficult economic climate since 2006. Many of the companies have frequently had media attention due to job cuts and other financial struggles.

In September 2010, Forbes.com released another list of top firms, this time the Fab 50 companies within the Asia-pacific. From Australia, Rio Tinto and Wesfarmers made the list. Other companies on this list, the majority from China, Hong Kong and India, are worth being aware of as they’re likely to have a presence, or indeed be major players, down under.

Best firm vs the best place to work

The lists I’ve highlighted are based on company performance and financials. These are good firms to target with your resume as they’re more likely to be hiring than smaller or less well-off companies.

Another consideration when looking for work, is finding a firm that looks after its staff. To help you with this, Mum’s been researching the best places to work in Australia.

Australia’s top employers by BRW

BRW is Australia’s leading business magazine; in June 2010 they produced a list of the best places to work in Aus. Here’s the top five, as published on their website:

  1. NetApp (Information Technology)
  2. Diageo Australia (Beverages)
  3. OBS (Information Technology)
  4. Google Australia (Search engine and software)
  5. Sentis (Education)

Look for the career pages on each website…

As Mum mentioned above, when you’re looking for work, it pays to get your CV out there. Most of the firms listed above have career pages and CV submission forms on their websites. Here are a few examples:

Happy job hunting!

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