6226.0 - Participation, Job Search and Mobility, Australia, February 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/09/2017   
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JOB SEARCH EXPERIENCE

The Job Search experience topic presents information about the experiences of unemployed persons in seeking work, in terms of the steps they have taken to find work and the difficulties they encountered. Information is also provided about employed persons who started their current job in the previous 12 months and the steps they took to look for work or more hours.

The framework below contains information on three mutually exclusive groups:

  • unemployed persons;
  • employed persons who started their current job in the previous 12 months; and
  • persons employed for more than a year in their current job who looked for work in the previous 12 months.

Image: Conceptual framework: Job Search Experience
nb Data have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

Of the 819,400 unemployed persons at February 2017, 76% had been looking for work for less than one year. A further 11% had been looking for work for between 1 and less than 2 years, and the remaining 12% had been looking for work for 2 years or more. (Datacube 14)

The most commonly reported main difficulties1 in finding work for unemployed persons looking for less than 1 year were:
  • too many applicants for available jobs (17%);
  • insufficient work experience (12%); and
  • other difficulties (10%). (Datacube 15)

The most commonly reported main difficulties1 in finding work for unemployed persons looking for 1 year or more were:
  • own ill health or disability (17%);
  • insufficient work experience (15%); and
  • too many applicants for available jobs (14%). (Datacube 15)

Around 12% of unemployed persons reported they did not have any difficulty in finding work. (Datacube 15)

The most common steps taken to find work by unemployed persons were:
  • looked at advertisements for jobs on the Internet, in a newspaper or on noticeboards (89%);
  • wrote, phoned or applied in person to an employer for work (85%);
  • answered an advertisement for a job on the Internet, in a newspaper or on noticeboards (74%); and
  • contacted friends or relatives (53%). (Datacube 13)

Almost 37% of unemployed persons were aged 15–24 years compared to 26% aged 45 years and over. (Datacube 13)

Other characteristics of unemployed persons were:
  • 85% had not received a job offer;
  • 19% had never worked before;
  • 14% had at least one offer of employment in their current period of unemployment; and
  • 412,400 had a non-school qualification, of whom 41% had a bachelor degree or higher. (Datacube 13 and 14)

EMPLOYED PERSONS WHO STARTED THEIR CURRENT JOB IN THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS

There were 2.2 million job starters (employed persons who started their current job in the previous 12 months). Of these, 54% were males.

Of the job starters:
  • 81% did not take steps to look for work or more hours in the last 12 months;
  • 15% looked at advertisements for jobs on the internet, in a newspaper or on noticeboards;
  • 1.4 million had a non-school qualification, of whom 46% had a bachelor degree or higher; and
  • 48% had more than one employer or business in the last 12 months. (Datacube 13)

End Note: 1. Reported difficulties in finding work refer to respondent’s perception in the reasons for not being able to find work. It includes people who reported not have difficulty finding work.