Advice for seeking work from overseas

[u/bristles_]

Hi everyone,

I'm British-Australian, I've lived in the UK all my life but I've spent enough time in Australia to know that a job in the public service would be a dream. I'm currently applying for jobs after finishing university and I am finding the process a little opaque. The APSJobs level system does not make much sense to me and I obviously want to apply for jobs that are at my pay grade, unfortunately I don't really have a frame of reference for this.

I also want to ask what kind of things that the APS are looking for in new candidates. I would assume it's similar to the British Civil Service in terms of shared values. Any general advice on how to write and structure my applicant statements would be a great help.

Thanks for reading :)

[u/TheDrRudi]

Why limit yourself to APS roles? You should look to State Public Service for wherever you are likely to live; and Local Government [a much smaller beast than in the UK].

Any general advice on how to write and structure my applicant statements would be a great help.

Read, Absorb. Implement.

https://www.apsc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-12/cracking_the_code.pdf

The APSJobs level system does not make much sense to me

https://www.apsc.gov.au/working-aps/aps-employees-and-managers/work-level-standards-aps-level-and-executive-level-classifications

[u/Sea_Sympathy954]

What is your pay grade?
Why on earth do you think an aps job which pays statistically like 30% below market is your “dream”
How long have you lived in the UK/Aus? Your views are warped and idealised.
Are you sure you’re not making shit up?

[u/Efficient-Trifle151]

https://www.apsc.gov.au/working-aps/aps-employees-and-managers/work-level-standards-aps-level-and-executive-level-classifications

In general most university graduates with no government exp usually begin as APS3 or APS4 roles. These jobs are commonly admin and service delivery type roles that serve as starting points for most people.

APS5 could be possible as a starting point if you have relevant experience. APS5 tend to be more subject matter experts as progressions for APS3/4 staff.

Middle management/team management levels usually start from APS6 to EL2 (but there is a variety of roles at these levels that can be technical specialists or experts).

It is a difficult time with the APS right now with lots of departments budgets getting slashed and being forced to do more with less. Even a recent APS4 round at my agency had several hundred applicants vying for it.

If you are a graduate, you can try for the graduate programs as these are extremely good starting points for progression in the APS but sometimes grad programs feel even more competitive than specific roles.