Looking for a job? Wondering where all the jobs are? Maybe you have limited workplace experience but plenty of life skills and smarts, you're looking for a first job or career change, or finding it hard to get a job. Sometimes we all need a little help, and that's where we come in!
We can help with your job search, help you feel confident about applying for jobs, and give you options to upskill and get job ready. We also know what's happening in your local area, and where the jobs are. Follow the links to find out more.
- How we can help
- Free workshops for jobseekers
- Check out our free jobs board
- Deadly jobs for you and your mob
- What's happening in my region?
- How can I find out about different occupations?
- Know your skills and abilities
- Do I need to skill up?
- Fee-free and low fee training
- Employment pathways training programs
- Applying for jobs
- Get your application act together!
- Writing a winning CV or resumé
- Nailing that job interview
- Help to hang in there!
- Top tip! Using the STAR model for a winning application
- Top tip! Social media and your online self
- Top tip! Networking your way to success
- Top tip! What not to put on your resume
Career Connect
Join the Jobs and Skills WA Career Connect Community!
Career Connect is a Facebook group, connected to our Jobs and Skills WA Facebook page. The group brings people together to share information, advice and resources to support people in their job search and career planning plus great information about jobs in WA. The group is free to join, and we encourage open discussion and participation.
Check out Career Connect at @careerconnectjswa - external site
You can also follow Jobs and Skills WA on Facebook - external site
How we can help
There are 15 Jobs and Skills Centres (JSCs) located throughout Perth and in regional areas across WA that offer free help and support for your job search. Because JSCs work closely with their local community, and with local employers and businesses, they know where the jobs are and what's happening in your area.
Whether you're searching for a job, wanting to change careers, looking for an apprenticeship or traineeship or maybe just some advice about training or career planning, there's no better place to go than your local JSC.
Best of all, their services are free! Call your local JSC today on 13 64 64, or visit for a chat and find out how they can help you.
Free workshops for jobseekers
Sometimes all you need is some guidance and tips from the experts, to lift your job search to the next level and get that job. That's exactly what you'll get with the free workshops offered by Jobs and Skills Centres — they cover a range of topics including career planning, job searching, applying for jobs, resume writing, and job interviews.
Call your local JSC on 13 64 64 to find out what workshops are coming up and book your spot.
Deadly jobs for you and your mob
If you're an Aboriginal or Indigenous jobseeker, Jobs and Skills Centres provide a culturally safe space to explore your options and specialised support services to help you get that deadly job. This video features Nate, from the Rockingham JSC, who has many years of experience helping Aboriginal jobseekers and working with local employers to find jobs.
Find out more about our Aboriginal services here
You can also follow our Deadly Jobs Facebook page, to keep up with all the latest job information and opportunities: @Deadly.Jobs.JSWA - external site.
Occupations and job roles
When looking for a job, it's helpful to know about different occupations and the kind of work they involve.
What will be a good fit with who you are and what you want for your future, and will you need new skills to get into a particular occupation or job?
To help answer these questions, we have over 550 occupation profiles you can browse through.
Visit our Occupation profiles page to explore occupations and careers
What's happening in my region?
Central Regional
The central regional area of WA comprises four regions; the Mid West, Gascoyne, Wheatbelt and Goldfields—Esperance. The region is rich in natural resources and supports a range of industries.
In the Mid West, a 2050 Regional Blueprint has been developed to outline a vision for the future. There's a strong focus on growing industry and business, and boosting jobs in key areas including mining, fishing, forestry, retail and tourism. The Gascoyne has opportunities in civil infrastructure work in road and rail, and in horticulture, with machinery, engineering and technical services (METS) areas of increasing importance.
As WA’s largest agricultural producer the Wheatbelt produces nearly two-thirds of the State's wheat, half its wool, and the majority of several other agricultural and pastoral products. Mining is also a prominent industry in the region. Both the mining and agricultural sectors have a high demand for skilled and experienced workers, and offer opportunities for apprentices and trainees.
Goldfields-Esperance is a significant mining region and home to major gold and nickel mining operations, offering a high number of jobs in mining, manufacturing, construction and transport. As one of WA’s largest regional areas it also offers diverse employment and business opportunities in a variety of sectors including, tourism, retail, education, health and social assistance, community services, administrative services and creative arts. This is a growing region with opportunities for apprentices and trainees in trades and non-trade areas.
North Metropolitan
The north metropolitan region of Perth covers a large area with over 600,000 residents. Its rapid growth over recent years has created fantastic job opportunities in a range of areas including building and construction, retail and hospitality.
The region has many top schools, TAFE colleges and universities, providing job opportunities in the education sector. Newer suburbs in the region attract young families has resulted in the growth of early childhood education centres, creating significant employment opportunities in the education chain and in service sectors such as retail, hospitality and community services. Cultural and creative industries are also expanding in the northern corridor.
The region has strong and innovative business, professional and creative industries. Business innovation is a key area of focus in many areas of Perth's north, with business hubs fostering and supporting new and small businesses to grow and create new jobs.
The healthcare and community services sectors are strong within the region, with the demand for skilled workers continuing to grow.
North Regional
The north regional area of WA includes the Kimberley and Pilbara regions, and is one of WA's richest and most diverse regions.
Key industry areas in the Kimberley include resources and energy, healthcare and social assistance, education and training, and tourism and hospitality. Other sectors with strong employment opportunities include transport, construction, retail and mining, with agriculture and the fishing and aquaculture industries a key focus area for jobs creation. The region's 2036 and beyond — A Regional Blueprint for the Kimberley sets out a plan for continued growth, with a commitment to generating over 15,000 new jobs.
The Pilbara region has a strong mining and resources industry, which offer a range of technical and trade jobs for new apprentices and skilled workers. There's also growth in the healthcare and education sectors, as well as the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors. Aquaculture and agriculture are up and coming industry areas. The region's Strategic Plan 2019-21 outlines its goals for creating jobs and career opportunities.
South Metropolitan
Perth's south metropolitan region includes established, older suburbs as well as newer areas including the suburbs of Rockingham, Mandurah and Peel.
The region has a diverse business and professional sector, and a large number of people work in clerical and administrative roles which provide great opportunities for traineeships. There is also a strong technical and trade focus with shipping, logistics and transport being major industry areas thanks to the busy ports of Fremantle and Kwinana.
Newer suburbs in the region attract young families, creating opportunities in the education and childcare sectors. The healthcare industry is also strong, with several major hospitals in the region.
Other key areas with job opportunities include manufacturing, construction, retail, hospitality and tourism, and in healthcare and community services where the demand for skilled workers continues to grow.
South Regional
South Regional WA covers a large area of the State, home to over 300,000 people (and growing!) with several large cities and towns including Bunbury and Albany. It offers a diverse range of job opportunities across a number of industries.
Retail, hospitality and tourism are key industry sectors in the region, offering strong job and career opportunities. The south west is home to some of WA's largest agriculture businesses, ranging from wine production and fruit farming to cattle farms and grain production.
Forestry and transport are also key employers in the region, offering technical and trade jobs for new apprentices and skilled workers. There is also a lot of mining activity and business development in the region, with new projects underway.
With such a large population, the region's healthcare and education sectors offer strong employment opportunities. Construction is also a key area, with many new development projects offering fantastic opportunities for trades and technical work.
Finding a job
In decades past, it was common for people to have one job (and even one employer) for life. Today, most of us can expect to have a range of different jobs in our lifetime and this may involve having several jobs at one time.
Your search for work will be made easier and more exciting if you don't think just about ‘getting a job for life’ but instead look at exploring a variety of work options.
Don't be daunted by the challenge of finding a job, once you have the right tips and tools you will feel more confident in yourself. After all, who wouldn't want to hire you — right?
Take a look at the following information to help with your job search.
Know your skills and abilities
To give yourself the best chance of finding a job, you'll need to know your skills and abilities and what you can offer an employer.
One of the most important things you must do before seeking work or looking at your work alternatives is to consider what skills and abilities you can bring to the workforce. Your skills and abilities are your most valuable assets! And it's not just the technical or job related skills — like knowing how to build a wall, drive a forklift or work a computer — it's also your employability skills that employers will be looking for.
Take a look at the following information to help you know your skills and abilities.
Do I need to skill up?
During your job search, you might discover that you don't have some of the skills or knowledge you need to get that job. If you need to skill up, there's plenty of options.
- You could do a full qualification, a short course, or even volunteer or get yourself some work experience so you can pick up new skills in a real workplace or business.
- An internship or cadetship is another excellent way to skill up, and an apprenticeship or traineeship combines paid work with on and off the job training.
Applying for a job
Once you find a job you’re interested in, it’s time to go after it! You need to read the advertisement carefully to determine what you need to do to apply, pay attention to the instructions for how to apply, the closing date, and what you need to include with your application.
This is the stage where you need to get everything together – you're ready to go out there and make it happen, so now's a good time to check that you have everything you need. It’s really important to read the ‘How to apply’ instructions very carefully.
If you don’t submit your application the way the advertisement asks you to, or you don’t include everything requested, your application might not be considered by the employer.
The following information will help you get that job application just right.
Get your application act together!
Now that you're feeling more clear and confident about your skills, you're ready to go out there and make it happen! So now's a good time to check that you have all of the documents that you're going to need. These may include your CV or resume, copies of certificates or qualifications, copies of references, and maybe a portfolio of your work.
Here's some useful advice about getting your application act together.
A CV ( Curriculum Vitae) is a description of everything you’ve done in your life so far that an employer might want to know about – like your education, awards, hobbies and employment history. It might be several pages long and is usually written in chronological order, starting with the most recent time and working back from there.
A resumé is similar to a CV but shorter. It is usually only one or two pages long and focuses on your most recent or relevant experiences.
Your CV or resumé can be simple, or you can use colour and fancy layouts to make it look more interesting – the most important thing is that it tells a story about you, and what you can offer an employer.
In Australia these two terms – CV and resumé – are often thought to mean the same thing. It should highlight your skills, knowledge and experience but keep it clear, brief and to the point — most employers will scan through it fairly quickly so using bullet points instead of long paragraphs is one good technique to use.
If you're not confident about writing a CV/resumé yourself, your local Jobs and Skills Centre can help.
Be sure to customise your CV or resumé to suit the job and/or kind of work that you're applying for, to make sure that your potential employer can see straight away how you would be a great match for the job.
A portfolio is like an album that visually demonstrates your work or learning experiences, and gives a potential employer physical proof of your skills and abilities.
They are often used when you apply for a job where the employer wants to be able to see what you can do – for example, art and design, photography, music or artwork (like the example pictured here, for a graphic designer/photographer)
Your portfolio could be in electronic format if this shows your work better. For example, if you're into software applications or website development, then being able to show those things via a website or somewhere online would be a great way to showcase your portfolio.
Your resumé should include at least two ways that employers can contact you; an email address and phone number are the best ones to provide.
Make sure your personal email address sounds professional and is appropriate to send to potential employers – if it isn't, use a free email service such as Gmail to set up a new email account specifically for job applications.
Also check that your voicemail message is appropriate for potential employers to hear – if not, record a new one!
Make copies of these to include with your job applications – never send or leave the originals, as you may not get them back. Potential employers may ask to see the originals at some point, so always keep those in a safe place. You may also have to provide proof of identity such as a drivers' licence or passport. Always read the job advertisement carefully and make sure you include anything that's asked for when you send your application in.
You’ll need to save or store all these documents so they’re safe and easy to find when you need them. If you have access to a computer, you might be able to save them in electronic format to a thumb drive or a cloud service. Otherwise you’ll need a filing system, or at least a box or folder to keep paper copies of them all.
Writing a winning CV or resumé
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If you have tried to write your own CV or resumé and found it difficult... you're not alone! Many people feel this way, and unfortunately they end up with something that isn't going to help them get a job. Your local Jobs and Skills Centre team are experts in CVs and resumés, just like Rod here in this video. They know what employers are looking for. Call your local JSC on 13 64 64 to get some expert help... it's free! |
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Nailing that job interview
Employers use interviews to meet the person behind the job application face to face, to confirm you really are as good as you say in your application, and determine if you will be a good fit for their organisation.
Interviews can take several formats including a one-on-one chat with the employer or the person doing the hiring, a panel interview where several people ask you a range of questions, or perhaps a role play where you have to demonstrate your ability to perform the skills required in the job such as answering the phone or dealing with a difficult client.
Job interviews don't have to be scary, if you're well prepared you'll do great.
Read the following information to help you nail that interview! The good news is, you already have their attention... otherwise, you wouldn't have been invited to an interview!
Hanging in there — Resilience and positivity
We understand that searching for a job can be tough, and it can take a toll on your confidence. Remember... there is a job out there for you, it just hasn't found you yet! Staying positive and being resilient is key to success, so you can keep moving forward and stay focused on your goals.
Staying positive throughout the ups and downs is easier said than done however, maintaining a positive attitude is extremely important both for your own sense of wellbeing and for the success of your job search. Resilience is all about being able to bounce back from negative experiences, and keep moving forward in a positive way. Here are some strategies that can really help you in both areas.
- Have realistic expectations of how long the search will take — you're probably not going to find a job right away, and that's OK.
- Be willing to learn from your experience — reflect on what happened, and think about how you can improve the outcome if it happens again.
- Maintaining a healthy balanced lifestyle — get plenty of sleep, eat well, and enjoy a bit of exercise to keep your mind and body happy.
- Get help and support when you need it — there's no shame in your game, we all need help and support sometimes.
- Get back up again after a knock back — remind yourself of all the good things you have to offer, and that you're worth the effort.
Feeling positive about yourself and the world around you makes a difference to the way other people see you, and the success of your job search.
If you are needing support or want to talk to someone who can help, check out the following websites.
- Beyond Blue - external site provide information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live.
- Headspace - external site —Headspace Centres act as a one-stop-shop for young people who need help with mental health, physical health (including sexual health), alcohol and other drugs or work and study support.
- Health Direct - external site — Free Australian health advice.
- Lifeline - external site — A national charity providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services.
- Healthy WA - external site — Western Australian Department of Health.
Top tips!
Social media and your online self
Do you use social media, like Facebook or Instagram or TikTok?
Do you have an online presence, like an online blog?
Did you know that many employers do an internet search and look on social media to check out the people who apply for their jobs?
To see what a potential employer might find about you, do a search (eg via Google) on your name and see what comes up.
If you are on social media, it's a good idea to check your page/s and profile/s — and other people's photos and content where you might be tagged — just to check that everything's okay for a potential employer to see.
You might also want to consider making your social media content 'Friends only' so that it's not publicly viewable.
What to put on your resumé!
Watch this video from Indeed.com for some top tips about words to avoid and words to include when putting your resumé together.
The STAR model in action
It may take a bit of practice to get it right, but if you can learn to use the STAR model you will find it's a great way to demonstrate your actual skills and knowledge and it really can be quite easy to do. As an example, using the STAR model to answer a criteria such as "Demonstrated problem solving skills" might look something like this.
"When I was working as a sales assistant in a fashion store, we had a huge sale starting the next day. But at 5.30 pm the day before, none of the sale signs for the windows or in-store displays had arrived. (Situation)
I was responsible for doing all of the sale displays (Task) so I had to find a solution.
I ended up staying at work after the store closed and I made some signs on the computer and printed them out. Then I put them up all through the store, so that everything was ready for the next morning. (Action)
The windows and displays ended up looking great, and the sale the next day was a huge success". (Result)
Networking your way to success
The old saying "It's not what you know... it's who you know!" is very true when it comes to getting that job. Many job opportunities don't actually get advertised — they are filled by 'word of mouth' through someone knowing someone else who turned out to be perfect for the job. This is networking in action — it's about connecting with people who can support and assist you in your job search.
Networking isn't just for business people — do it with your mates, your family, the people at the corner store — let people know you're looking for a job, drop off copies of your resumé... you may be surprised to see what opportunities may come your way!
How we can help
Getting that job can take a bit of time and effort, but there's plenty of help available along the way. Take one step at a time – you can do it!
Get into your local Jobs and Skills Centre — they can help with your job search, writing job applications, and putting a winning CV or resumé together. Got an interview coming up? Your JSC can give you some tips and help get you prepared.
Because they work with employers and business in your local area, JSCs can also help you to find work experience if that's something you need.
And remember, all their services are free!