Australian Consulate-General, Guangzhou
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Agency |
Department of Home Affairs |
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Location |
Australian Consulate-General Guangzhou |
|
Position Number |
Various |
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Position Title |
Visa Processing Officer |
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Classification |
LE3 |
|
Reports to (title) |
Team Leader |
|
Status |
Non-ongoing, Full-time |
|
Gross Annual Salary |
RMB 104,171 |
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) section of the Australian Consulate-General Guangzhou is seeking applications for the locally engaged staff position of Visa Processing Officer.
About the Department of Home Affairs (HA)
The Department of Home Affairs is a central policy agency, providing coordinated strategy and policy leadership for Australia's national and transport security, federal law enforcement, criminal justice, cyber security, border, immigration, multicultural affairs, emergency management and trade related functions.
Immigration Programs Division delivers the permanent migration and temporary visa programs to maximise the long-term economic and social benefits to Australia across the Skilled, Family and Resident Return visa programs, and through Temporary entry to support tourism, education and international relations.
The Home Affairs office in Guangzhou is one of the largest visa processing offices in the Departments overseas network.
About the position
Under general direction, Visa Processing Officers are responsible for the assessment and/or finalisation of visa applications. Visa Processing Officers undertake these duties while also completing appropriate verification activities to ensure the integrity of the migration program.
The key responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to:
- Undertake visa related casework (assess, investigate, decide) for temporary and/or permanent entry to Australia, applying the relevant legislation and policy to make lawful and fair decisions in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.
- Apply and interpret relevant legislation, policies and procedures to process visa applications, within service standards in a pressured environment, escalating sensitive and more complex cases to senior staff in accordance with office protocols.
- Investigate the integrity of documents and other information in connection with visa applications and escalate any instances of possible fraud.
- Develop and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders including with local authorities and visa delivery teams to achieve departmental business objectives.
- Prepare moderately complex written documentation for visa applicants, including the preparation of visa decision records and client correspondence.
- Respond to and resolve routine telephone and email queries, referring more complex enquiries, and provide information by phone and in writing.
- Organise and take responsibility for own workload, work cooperatively and harmoniously to deliver services to clients in accordance with the client service charter standards and program objectives.
- Provide general administrative support as required.
Selection Criteria
- Demonstrate sensitivity to the needs of clients from a variety of backgrounds and with varying demands. Such situations may include: telephone interaction, interviews, liaison and representation, preparing reports and correspondence.
- Ability to respond and adapt to change. Ability to apply initiative, flexibility and willingness to pursue continued improvement in the context of change within the organisation.
- Highly developed time management skills, both individually and as part of a team, and the ability to work effectively, cooperatively and flexibly in a team environment to respond to priorities and meet deadlines.
- Demonstrated analytical skills with an ability to use multiple datasets and/or interpret and apply complex legislation and apply sound judgement in all cases.
- Good written and oral English language skills and fluency in Mandarin, including an ability to interpret and translate in both languages for operational purposes.
Desirable
- Tertiary qualifications in a relevant field.
- Proficiency in computer software applications including Microsoft Word and Excel, and the capacity to learn new systems.
Additional information
The position is for an initial contract of 12 months subject to a successful completion of probation requirements. Successful applicants may be offered a further contract. The successful applicant is required to complete relevant pre-employment procedures before commencement.
Applications are invited from both Chinese and Australian nationals. Australian national employees receive a salary loading in lieu of local benefits they are not eligible to receive.
The successful applicant(s) will be required to work across a range of teams within the Home Affairs section and agree to change position (at level) if required.
How to Apply
Submit an application via email to [email protected] by 9.00am, Monday 26 September 2022. Applications received after the closing date and time may not be considered. The subject line of your email should include the Position Title you are applying for.
Your application, written in English, should include:
- Completed ‘Application for Locally Engaged Staff Employment’. See Attachment A.
- Your application pitch (maximum 500 words). See Attachment B.
- Curriculum Vitae (maximum 2 pages).
Applications must be in either Microsoft Word or PDF format, with a maximum email size of 3MB.
For inquiries regarding this position, please contact the Human Resources section at [email protected].
Please note that due to the large volume of applications received, we are unable to respond to each applicant. We endeavour to respond to applicants of interest within a period of four weeks from the application closing date. If you are not requested to attend an interview, please consider your application unsuccessful.
Writing an Application Pitch
Your application pitch is a chance to tell us why you are the right person for the job. We want to know why you are interested in the role, what you can offer us, and how your skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications are applicable to the role.
Your pitch is a marketing document, promoting how you are a strong candidate for the opportunity on offer. This means you should:
- Research the opportunity: read the position description, key responsibilities, and required qualifications and experience carefully; and research the department and its role.
- Know what you have to offer that is relevant: identify your relevant skills, knowledge, experience, qualities; map your relationships with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders to identify what experience is relevant; select examples that demonstrate relevant experience using your skills and knowledge, ones that are of a level of complexity to match the position you are pitching for.
- Make a persuasive case that what you have to offer will enable you to contribute, add value and deliver results.
You do not need to use a different example to demonstrate each of the skills required in the position overview. For example, if the position description states we are looking for a confident communicator, the ability to problem solve and work as part of a team, you could use one example that demonstrates all of these skills. You could then use another example that demonstrates the other skills required.
Try not to duplicate information that can already be found in your curriculum vitae but do highlight any specific examples or achievements that will demonstrate your ability to perform the role.
Try the three-part format as a way to organise your material:
- General statement about the criterion
- Specific example/s to support the criterion
- Link to job on offer
Consider using the STAR method when detailing your examples. The STAR method enables the selection committee to determine the context of the situation, what the task was and what actions you took to achieve a result.
Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to complete. This should be a description of a specific event or situation, not a generalised description of what you have done in the past and should give enough detail for the panel to understand the context. This situation can be from a previous job, volunteer experience, university or any relevant event where you can demonstrate your skills against the position overview
Task: What was your role? What were you responsible for?
Actions: Describe the actions you took to address the situation. Include an appropriate amount of detail and keep the focus on YOU. What specific steps did you take and what contribution did you make? Be careful that you don’t describe what the team or group did when talking about a project. For example, the team may have achieved a good result however what part did you play, what specific things did you do to contribute to the end result?
Results: Describe the outcome of your actions. What happened? How was the issue resolved or how did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn and what would you do differently next time? How did the end result impact on the objective of the organisation or team?