itegoa

That's a very good point re: old degree. The IT industry is moving pretty fast. Pretty much all of the contracts i've been in (both UK and Oz) i've been hired mainly for my past experience yes, but mostly i've had to learn a lot of new stuff.

Software dev here, and i've been in Oz for almost 3 years. I have no degree or vendor qualifications, but around 18 years experience. I had a permie job before I got here (which I got via Skype interview before arriving), and now i'm on my 2nd contract. I have seen job ads asking for degrees, but a lot that don't ask for that. So, at least for me, degrees do not matter. Back in the UK i'd seen jobs (contract) asking for a degree as well, I applied for one and got it.

I applied from UK, had a Skype interview and got the job. It all depends on your skill set I suppose. My 2nd contract I got having a phone call. 3rd contract the same - just a phone call. It's worth considering contracting. I'd been contracting in the UK and my first job here in Oz was perm. It didn't go well and I left after 12 months. It reminded me how crap permie work is. One thing that helped me when applying from the UK - put in capital letters at the top of your CV, "PERMANENT RESIDENT VISA" or similar. Also make it clear that you're ready to fly out to start a job at a couple of days notice, you can pay your own air fare and accomodation (if this is possible). The employer/client does not want baggage. Worked for me.

Congrats! It all depends on your skill set. I'm living in Brisbane, but did a 6 monther in Sydney last year because I couldn't find anything in Brisbane at the time. Your best bet is to get the daily emails from seek.com.au and see what's about there. I would not recommend coming here in December to find work though, as it can be quite hard over the xmas/new year period. Agents are quite good over here, meaning most of them will actually stay in touch and even phone you back to say you didn't get a gig or job. Where as in the UK you'd get dropped like a rock and no phone calls returned. It's worth connecting with agents via Linked In right now, and maybe call them to let them know you're in the market soon. I found a few agents are British expats anyway, so they understand what you're going through. Good luck!

I know someone who this has happened to them aswell. They showed up to the test, got told they need a full birth certificate, and got turned away. Test rebooked for a couple of months time. You can order a full birth certificate online here: https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate

Mazda RX-8 (2004). I've been trying to sell it in the UK. It started at about £1500, but since then i've gradually dropped the price to £600 and still can't find a buyer. Looking on carsales.com.au a similar aged car is selling between $10K to $13K in Australia. Engine has been rebuilt so it has value to me. What sort of price would I be looking at shipping it from the UK (South Wales) to Brisbane?

It's a fact of life, but that's the way agencies treat people everywhere, at least in my experience here in the UK. When applying for contracts or jobs, "fire and forget" is the best method. Apply for it, then forget about it. Let them do the chasing - they will come back if they want you. Spend your efforts trying to increase your chances applying elsewhere. When I phone around garages for quotes to get my car fixed, after i've chosen the best one, I don't phone all the other garages with feedback. About buying a small company, that's probably a good idea. I'm looking at the job market and thinking the best way forward is to start a business over in Oz, doing what exactly I don't know!

Looks detailed enough to me. Is this the only reference/job you've had? Regardless, if all references have detail like this, you'll have no problem with ACS accepting this. Just ensure that references also show start/end dates (if you can get the actual dates to, i.e. the day of the month rather than just the month). Go through the ACS guides but IIRC, at least 70% of your duties must be related to the occupation code.

This thread is 3+ years old.

How the hell are you supposed to make a decent living with such a low rate?

We're planning to move over to Oz late-2015. I run my own contracting business currently in the UK, developing web software with Perl, also learning Node.js. We're hoping to move in or around Perth, but I don't see many jobs for Perl in those parts - the odd 1 or 2 pop up every now and again, which doesn't give me much confidence. There seems to be more requirement around Sydney and Melbourne fo that skill. Currently earning £385 per day (around $700 per day), so it looks like i'll definately have to take a pay cut when we move over. Who knows, I might get lucky when the time comes. It's possible that we could decide to move to Sydney just because of jobs, but then the cost of living seems to be higher. Arrgghhhhh!!