CliveReilly

Folks, How are you all keeping. I am a Unix / Linix admin in Ireland and was wondering what it's like on the ground to land a good job in Australia. I have a good job in Ireland, family, house etc .... so you could say settled. But I have started my visa application for Australia and have my eye on Brisbane. Maybe it is all fairytale - but lets see. We have been discussing it for the last 2 years - so decided to start the application. The reason I opened this thread was to get an idea from people in the same field as myself, living in Australia, what exactly it is like to land good employment. I hear lots of stories generally about employment (not necessarily IT), that there are lots of jobs, but lots of applicants - so difficult to land an interview. I have also seen quite a lot that it is difficult to break into employment as you are not native. I also hear a lot that you need to start your career again and build up your Australian experience. If you could share your experiences, difficulties, differences between home and Australia etc ..... I would really appreciate it. Lastly I use http://www.seek.com.au - is this the only website or are there others? Agencies seem to be used / respected a lot more in Oz (just my feeling) - would you agree? Cheers, Clive

Ok - got this from the ACS I need an official Statutory Declaration (in the legally required format of a Statutory Declaration in the country where the declaration is being made) by a colleague who can verify your work experience. Guess I have to find out what the "legally required format" is in Ireland. Didn't realise there was such a thing. Has anyone from Ireland provided a Statutory Declaration - do you have a template of the format? Cheers, Clive

Hi I already emailed the ACS and the replies I got were as below in quotes. All 3 companies I worked in are big companies and it is against their policy to give detailed references. That's it pure and simple. A declaration from a former colleague will not be on headed paper of any sort - why would they go against company policy. Most former colleagues are not even still working in those companies, Not sure where to go from here. I emailed the ACS again to explain again, but asking the same question a third time will probably get the same answer "In order for your experience to be correctly assessed we do require all of the outlined information to be provided. If you are unable to provide a detailed reference letter from the employer on company letterhead stating the required information we require a statutory declaration from a colleague in a higher position that can state the information." "The reference letters will need to contain a detailed description of the duties and responsibilities for your positions."

Hi, I am an IT engineer and live in Ireland. I am looking at getting recognised by the ACS so I can apply for a visa. In Ireland you can get very basic letters from employers but not to the level of detail the ACS require e.g. details of duties etc ..... How do you get around this? I left one significant employer in 2007 and to be honest most of my former colleauges have left the company at this stage - some to very senior positions in other companies. I have a degree with 15 years experience so I would have thought the ACS piece would be straight forward - turns out not. All my employers are big companies - so you get what they give you reference wise - no compromise. Has anyone else been in this situation and how did you manage to get your skill recognised by the ACS? Hope someone can shed some light on this one for me. Thanks, Clive