Completely naive young adults!

Hello Everyone!

My boyfriend and I are looking to move to Australia to get some experience in our relative fields. He is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in Product Design and Technology at the in Ireland (where he’s from) and I have completed my undergraduate in Biological Sciences in the UK (where I’m from) and finishing my MSc in Science Communication in September.

We are looking to find work in Australia within our relevant fields (product design and science communication) at around September, but I’m having some difficulties navigating the world of Australian visas, job market, and order of events (what comes first, the job or the visa!)

We are both aware of the 24 month working visa which restricts jobs to 6 months maximum, and the opportunity for sponsorship visas (which appear to be uncommon and rarely in our fields. The 24 month working visas also appear to limit people to small job which are also rarely in our fields.

The advice I am looking for is how Irish and British people have previously got to Australia and managed to find jobs in their relative fields? What sort of visa is best for what we both want, how likely are we to get those kinds of visas, and how likely are we to get what we are looking for.

Please tell me your stories of how you got where you are, I’m feeling rather clueless! I applied to a few jobs in Australia just for the sake of it, some of which don’t offer visa sponsorship, so I am aware that I wont get them since I have no visa plans at the moment.

Hi and welcome,

I don't want to be negative and thwart your enthusiasm but what Australia wants is skilled & experienced workers not well educated ones - they produce plenty of those of their own SO you need to have a skill that is on the SOL to gain a permanent visa. Or at least on the CSOL where state sponsorship may be an option or employer sponsorship (but this is likely to be a 4 year temporary visa). You can find links to the relevant lists here https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/SOL

There are a small number of occupations where post-graduation experience isn't required so if your occupation was on this list (& it's not obvious to me what your occupations would be) do check the skills assessment requirements just in case.

It is much better to get a skilled independent visa (189) & then move to Australia and look for jobs - at this point you are treated just the same as a local. Of course you do need to check the housing market for your chosen occupations in Australia - there are more opportunities in some fields and less in others.

There is the option of gaining employment with an employer able to sponsor you - not all employers would be able to even if they wanted to and one of the criteria is they have to prove there are no suitable local applicants which is pretty unlikely with a new graduate.

In your position I would take the option of a Working Holiday Visa purely to experience living and working in Australia, you may find it's not all it's cracked up to be for you. The chances are you won't be working in your fields but you've got years ahead of you for that - I certainly regret rushing straight into my career after university whilst friends travelled & 30 years later that year or two I felt friends were 'wasting' at the time are meaningless and I'm onto my third career anyway

It's not impossible to get a 'real' job and being in Australia makes it more likely especially if the employer is offering sponsorship. I do not think things would have worked out for me if I hadn't gone out there for just 3 weeks.

My story isn't really relevant but my husband & I are both IT professionals with over 15 years experience each. We went to an 'invitation only' Australia Needs Skills expo at Australia House in London and met a potential employer there. We both got emails afterwards saying that we had been 'short-listed' but then heard nothing for weeks - we had a reccie trip planned so we contacted them and said the dates we would be there & they invited us for interview whilst we were there. We were both offered jobs and no-one else from the expo did - basically we made it easy for them be being in Australia. My husband also had another interview whilst we were there, he had simply applied for the role off Seek.com.au & again the interview was arranged for when we were there & he was offered that job as well.

The chances are though you will need to gain the requisite experience in an occupation on the SOL in the UK and apply in a few years time. If your degrees don't relate to occupations needed in Australia you will need to decide what is most important and consider whether it is really worth training in a different occupation. Do bear in mid the SOL & CSOL can and do change so training in an occupation purely to gain a visa is a risky strategy.

The 2nd year for the WHV is only if you fulfill the criteria of 3 months (88 days) in specified work in rural Australia

To be honest, I think a working holiday visa is your only option and this is very unlikely to lead to jobs in your fields. Partly because Australia has plenty of its own graduates looking for jobs and secondly because you are limited to working for an employer for 6 months. However, as mentioned, this is not a 24 month visa, but a 12 month with the ability to extend for another 12 if you undertake specified rural work such as farm work.

Hi everyone, thanks so much for the feedback, its been super useful.

I have also spoken to people who are currently out in Australia with sponsorships who told me how they got out there. Most of them went out on a WHV and then spent the following months dropping in CVs to companies related to their field, in hopes of finding a sponsor, and networking.

They all make it sound so easy! But has anyone else had experience like this?

Thanks!