The IT field Thread

[Frozen]

Hm, with no experience it is going to be hard. The IT industry is quite sluggish at the moment and plenty of Aussie grads looking (I hire peopled and some of our positions have had 100+ applicants). Why don't you stay in the UK for a while and gain some experience? Maybe London could be an option for you. My partner and I are considering moving back to London as the industry is looking better now after a couple of dry years...

[andrewajp002]

Hi Frozen

 

I'm based in London atm and currently applying for my 189. I work in the financial services sector in IT Service Management and SharePoint developments / administration, by the time my application is reviewed by ACS I will have 10 years experience (5 in Financial Services) with an ICT Major degree.

 

You are correct that the market is more buoyant than a few years ago and salaries and getting close to that of pre crash.

 

My move is more personal driven, if I'm there for a few years and it doesn't work then I will head back to London, if it does great.

 

Does anyone know what the industry is like for ITIL / IT Service Management positions or SharePoint developers?

 

Many Thanks

 

Andrew

[Cortz]

Hi Frozen,

Thank you the information, i half expected for that to be the case. I'm trying to get experience while I'm still here so just going to keep trying until I get somewhere. The dates pretty much set for next year so I may have to use my plan b career instead. I'll take a look at London tho and see if anything is feasible.

Thank you

[hookturn]

Hookturn - depending on the level of Oracle skills i may be interested.

 

Just in case anyone here has the skills I am currently looking for a mid level SQL Server DBA, needs experience of replication and all the generic production support skills you would expect. Based in Brisbane CBD i cant sponsor for this role so need to be in OZ already.

 

I am not an Agency i am a direct employer

 

 

Hoffer, I have 10years experience in oracle technologies as a senior dba in the banking sector

[Guest hoffer]

As said if you looking at Brisbane get me your CV and I may be interested subjected to technical,interview and skills used.

[centennial]

We have managed to get our visa 189 sorted and now looking to move to Australia. We are quite excited to leave UK weather behind but equally nervous for leaving our well settled job. I work as contractor with one Media giant as Developer in test (all sort of testing, technical & non-technical) and other half works as Java technical lead with tons of experience.

 

We have no one in Australia but really struggling to get information about Australian job market. Its going to be big decision especially with 2 kids(1 & 5) so putting some questions here (please be gentle even if they are asked hundred times )

 

1. It is possible to get interview without moving there, by putting Australian number with call forwarding option ( or its not good idea ? )

2. We are planning to move to Sydney with around £25k saving to survive initial period so any thoughts on that please.

3. Anyone aware about any UK agency which recruits for Australia (placed booked for upcoming Australian job fair in London).

 

Any other tip/advise/pointer will be really appreciated.

[spangley]

I got my 189 Visa in March, and we activated the visa on a visit in June. We've now postponed our planned move as the IT jobs market seems quite scary. Recruiters I've encountered are contemptuous and unhelpful, emails and calls aren't returned. Many job adverts seem to prefer local experience or Australians....which in IT makes zero sense. And I don't believe half the advertised jobs actually exist.

 

So we're holding out in Switzerland for now...in another tough market, although for me going to Oz now would be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Hopefully things will pick up in a couple of years as we don't want to let go of our chance to live in such an amazing country full of amazing people. It's just IT recruiters I hate

[squarepusher]

I got my 189 Visa in March, and we activated the visa on a visit in June. We've now postponed our planned move as the IT jobs market seems quite scary. Recruiters I've encountered are contemptuous and unhelpful, emails and calls aren't returned. Many job adverts seem to prefer local experience or Australians....which in IT makes zero sense. And I don't believe half the advertised jobs actually exist.

 

I arrived in Sydney in June 2014 on a PR visa , my background is in the London insurance and Banking sector as a contractor. We left london with a fair amount of savings, around £60K for me and the wife. In London I was on rates of £550-650 per day, so we were doing very well. I didn't look for work before arriving as being a contractor the jobs tend to need you there and then. After getting here we spent about six weeks settling in , so I've only started looking seriously for work this week.

 

Before arriving I spoke to many other contractors , English and Australian, who'd worked out here. I was told to expect rates of $850+ a day or more as a minimum for my skills. Unfortunately the reality is not as expected. The are very few jobs currently and although i'm getting offered interviews for everything I apply for, the rates are very low. Even with a cutting edge development skillset i'm only getting offered $700 a day, and thats an absolute maximum.

 

I'm slightly worried as I would have expected a similar IT market to the UK , but in reality its extreme slow and the rates are very low. If im lucky I might achieve half my UK salary here. Whats even more upsetting as I keep recieving calls from UK agents offering me very lucrative roles back in the UK.

Edited August 7, 2014 by squarepusher

[Xenon4017]

So we're holding out in Switzerland for now...in another tough market,

 

What kind of skillset do you have and where do you work there?

[wolvesaussie]

Hey Cortz... my girlfriend and I lived in Wolverhampton and Birmingham, now in Geelong and I work in IT.. we might have a lot in common... look us up if you make the trip .. goodluck.. I am currently trying to find an IT job in Geelong, its difficult not that many come up. I am currently working in Melbourne.

[Chortlepuss]

I arrived in Sydney in June 2014 on a PR visa , my background is in the London insurance and Banking sector as a contractor. We left london with a fair amount of savings, around £60K for me and the wife. In London I was on rates of £550-650 per day, so we were doing very well. I didn't look for work before arriving as being a contractor the jobs tend to need you there and then. After getting here we spent about six weeks settling in , so I've only started looking seriously for work this week.

 

Before arriving I spoke to many other contractors , English and Australian, who'd worked out here. I was told to expect rates of $850+ a day or more as a minimum for my skills. Unfortunately the reality is not as expected. The are very few jobs currently and although i'm getting offered interviews for everything I apply for, the rates are very low. Even with a cutting edge development skillset i'm only getting offered $700 a day, and thats an absolute maximum.

 

I'm slightly worried as I would have expected a similar IT market to the UK , but in reality its extreme slow and the rates are very low. If im lucky I might achieve half my UK salary here. Whats even more upsetting as I keep recieving calls from UK agents offering me very lucrative roles back in the UK.

 

Wow - $700 for Sydney - that's poor - have you considered hitching up to a consultancy as an associate? In Brisbane at least, clients always seem much happier to pay $1200-$1400 for a consultant than $800 directly to the contractor - Not just for short term gigs too. Having said that we were seeing rates of $500-$700 last year for BA/Change Management and these seem to have risen by $100-$200, more for senior gigs....

[Bromney]

I work in IT in Sydney and have been here for 1.5 years on a PR (Aussie wife). Here are a couple of things to understand in the Sydney market.

 

1) If you come from a finance IT background be warned the finance market is much much smaller here when compared to London or other big financial centres. This means there are less jobs especially in the Investment banking side. Having said Wealth Management, Pension funds and Insurance is pretty big. Only downside is they expect experience and a lot of the times they expect specific experience within the Australian market i.e. an understanding of FOFA. I would strongly suggest you do some background reading and at least understand the basic concepts, this will impress.

 

2) There are some that believe you should be able to 'double' your pay in Australia, this is NOT a general rule. Personally I am on a par with what I was on in the UK but with the cost of living being higher I am actually worse off. A friend of mine working in application support has increased his pay in moving from the UK to here from around $60k to $85k, this certainly isn't double. The real killer is the high exchange rate so invariably when you make a direct comparison it doesn't look as good.

 

3) IT consulting services are very big in Sydney. If you have vendor experience or client experience you really shouldn't have a problem finding a role.

 

4) Look up salary surverys to get a feel for the market, there are plenty around. Here's one example, http://www.roberthalf.com.au/technology-salary-guide

 

5) Recruiters will lie the world over, Sydney is no different. Don't be afraid to apply for jobs directly to companies, I have landed 3 jobs in my short time here and two were direct applications.

[Paul1Perth]

I arrived in Sydney in June 2014 on a PR visa , my background is in the London insurance and Banking sector as a contractor. We left london with a fair amount of savings, around £60K for me and the wife. In London I was on rates of £550-650 per day, so we were doing very well. I didn't look for work before arriving as being a contractor the jobs tend to need you there and then. After getting here we spent about six weeks settling in , so I've only started looking seriously for work this week.

 

Before arriving I spoke to many other contractors , English and Australian, who'd worked out here. I was told to expect rates of $850+ a day or more as a minimum for my skills. Unfortunately the reality is not as expected. The are very few jobs currently and although i'm getting offered interviews for everything I apply for, the rates are very low. Even with a cutting edge development skillset i'm only getting offered $700 a day, and thats an absolute maximum.

 

I'm slightly worried as I would have expected a similar IT market to the UK , but in reality its extreme slow and the rates are very low. If im lucky I might achieve half my UK salary here. Whats even more upsetting as I keep recieving calls from UK agents offering me very lucrative roles back in the UK.

 

Mate, what are you after? $700 a day should be fine for a great lifestyle in Sydney. Just because you've been used to creaming it in London in the rat race, relax a bit and be prepared to take a bit less.

[Xenon4017]

Mate, what are you after? $700 a day should be fine for a great lifestyle in Sydney. Just because you've been used to creaming it in London in the rat race, relax a bit and be prepared to take a bit less.

 

"Creaming it" is a relative term, at least in this context. 700 per day would be 3500 per week. How many weeks per year would you actually have billable work? 40? which gives 140k annual top line. At nearly 2 x the national average, it certainly livable, but I bet it's easy to burn through that kind of cash in Sydney. Especially if you're buying a house. And like the OP says, the same skillset would pay more elsewhere in places where the local costs aren't significantly higher. I grant you that compared to most migrants' dilemmas, this is one of the nicer ones. I think the OP was only trying to illustrate with real numbers that the rosy picture often painted isn't always a reality.

[wolvesaussie]

700 a day still seems pretty rosy to me .

[Paul1Perth]

"Creaming it" is a relative term, at least in this context. 700 per day would be 3500 per week. How many weeks per year would you actually have billable work? 40? which gives 140k annual top line. At nearly 2 x the national average, it certainly livable, but I bet it's easy to burn through that kind of cash in Sydney. Especially if you're buying a house. And like the OP says, the same skillset would pay more elsewhere in places where the local costs aren't significantly higher. I grant you that compared to most migrants' dilemmas, this is one of the nicer ones. I think the OP was only trying to illustrate with real numbers that the rosy picture often painted isn't always a reality.

 

But wherever he chooses ain't going to be Sydney with everything it's got going for it. He must have wanted to move away from London for some reason.

[hookturn]

I got my 189 Visa in March, and we activated the visa on a visit in June. We've now postponed our planned move as the IT jobs market seems quite scary. Recruiters I've encountered are contemptuous and unhelpful, emails and calls aren't returned. Many job adverts seem to prefer local experience or Australians....which in IT makes zero sense. And I don't believe half the advertised jobs actually exist.

 

So we're holding out in Switzerland for now...in another tough market, although for me going to Oz now would be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Hopefully things will pick up in a couple of years as we don't want to let go of our chance to live in such an amazing country full of amazing people. It's just IT recruiters I hate

 

I totally agree with you spangley as I am in same situation and think same as you! Anyone can provide an update on IT job market situation?

[knightrider7]

I don't know why folks out here are being negative about the IT job market in OZ. I received 3 job offers from overseas (India) from employers based in Sydney and Melbourne.

The market seems to be really very positive and the pay rates are also quite good.

I got two daily rate contract offers for AUD 650 per day + superannuation and one fixed term contract offer for about AUD 100,000 + superannuation.

 

 

I guess what the people here on this forum are missing, is getting the cv right in such a way that it should get the utmost attention of the employers just by reading a few lines.

 

 

I have not even planned my move to OZ yet, although I have got my PR visa last month. I will be landing in OZ next month and will hopefully take up one of the job offers.

I have asked the Aussie employers to give me atleast a months time to arrange for my travel and come down to OZ, to which they have happliy agreed. Also I still have to give notice to my current employer here in India.

 

 

Hence I wud suggest to all of you out here on this forum tht plz don't hold back your plans to move to OZ. The market is great.

[cava83]

I don't know why folks out here are being negative about the IT job market in OZ. I received 3 job offers from overseas (India) from employers based in Sydney and Melbourne.

The market seems to be really very positive and the pay rates are also quite good.

I got two daily rate contract offers for AUD 650 per day + superannuation and one fixed term contract offer for about AUD 100,000 + superannuation.

 

 

I guess what the people here on this forum are missing, is getting the cv right in such a way that it should get the utmost attention of the employers just by reading a few lines.

 

 

I have not even planned my move to OZ yet, although I have got my PR visa last month. I will be landing in OZ next month and will hopefully take up one of the job offers.

I have asked the Aussie employers to give me atleast a months time to arrange for my travel and come down to OZ, to which they have happliy agreed. Also I still have to give notice to my current employer here in India.

 

 

Hence I wud suggest to all of you out here on this forum tht plz don't hold back your plans to move to OZ. The market is great.

 

It depends where you are and what skill set you have and experience. Neither which you have stated

 

Sydney - I could get a job no problem.

Melbourne - I could get a job no problem.

 

Where I am in a smallish area, no luck and I am not wanting to commute everyday, done it for many years in the past.

 

Therefore, the next logical question from the others and I is, what job roles have you been offered?

 

Nevertheless, good luck and enjoy.

[Lennie]

My partner is struggling finding an IT Business Intelligence job in Adelaide. He has been looking for job through seek, newspaper, apply direct, and knock at the companies' door for the past 6 months. Unfortunately, he doesn't has any luck. Perhaps because he is not white? He has good qualifications and experiences in help desk and Business Intelligence. We are thinking whether we should move to Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane.

[squarepusher]

But wherever he chooses ain't going to be Sydney with everything it's got going for it. He must have wanted to move away from London for some reason.

 

We wanted to move away from London due to the overcrowding, violence, filth and general unpleasant side that you only see if you live there. Other careers seem to at least pay the equivalent rate in Australia, for example a senior nurse in the UK on £45K can expect to make $95-100k in oz. On that principle and having spoken to a number of contractors who'd worked in OZ , my daily rate translation of $1100.00 per day seemed achievable.

 

The point I was making is that if you're in IT in London, don't for one minute believe that the rates in OZ are comparable. Essentially the rate i've taken , with "Australia largest bank" is half what i'd normally earn , its the same rate I was earning in 2006.

 

With the price of houses in sydney starting at $1.2 million for a two bedroom flat in a "Nice Area", a sub 200K salary isn't going to cut it.

 

As for skills sets, I'm a senior full stack microsoft and open source web developer with multi-million pound mobile and ecommerce projects in my portfolio , extensive banking and finance skills and a bleeding edge skillset(webapi, Angular.js, WPF, oracle, TDD and agile) as well DevOPs, team lead, managerial and business operational change experience over the last 16 years.

 

The other issue is that my wife, a senior blood transfusion scientist with two degrees, a masters degree in haematology and 10 years experience at one of London's busiest hospitals, is unable to find work in NSW due to a recruitment freeze. in order to apply for NSW health jobs you need to already work for NSW health ....

 

On the plus side it is nice and sunny here

[Paul1Perth]

We wanted to move away from London due to the overcrowding, violence, filth and general unpleasant side that you only see if you live there. Other careers seem to at least pay the equivalent rate in Australia, for example a senior nurse in the UK on £45K can expect to make $95-100k in oz. On that principle and having spoken to a number of contractors who'd worked in OZ , my daily rate translation of $1100.00 per day seemed achievable.

 

The point I was making is that if you're in IT in London, don't for one minute believe that the rates in OZ are comparable. Essentially the rate i've taken , with "Australia largest bank" is half what i'd normally earn , its the same rate I was earning in 2006.

 

With the price of houses in sydney starting at $1.2 million for a two bedroom flat in a "Nice Area", a sub 200K salary isn't going to cut it.

 

As for skills sets, I'm a senior full stack microsoft and open source web developer with multi-million pound mobile and ecommerce projects in my portfolio , extensive banking and finance skills and a bleeding edge skillset(webapi, Angular.js, WPF, oracle, TDD and agile) as well DevOPs, team lead, managerial and business operational change experience over the last 16 years.

 

The other issue is that my wife, a senior blood transfusion scientist with two degrees, a masters degree in haematology and 10 years experience at one of London's busiest hospitals, is unable to find work in NSW due to a recruitment freeze. in order to apply for NSW health jobs you need to already work for NSW health ....

 

On the plus side it is nice and sunny here

 

$1.2m for a two bedroom flat:eek:

[Graemsay]

I've never worked the banking sector in London, largely because it requires prior experience in it before you can get a contract within it, but the rates there tend to be £100 to £200 per day more than a comparable non-finance job. So it's a bit of a special case in itself.

 

But I'd agree with Squarepusher that rates in Sydney's IT sector do look lower, whilst housing is a similar price, possibly more expensive, than London.

 

Melbourne might be a better bet, as pay is broadly similar to Sydney, but property is a bit cheaper, and Brisbane too, though I don't know how big the job market is there. But overall I don't think you're going to be better off in Oz if you're used to contracting in London.

[Nish89]

I don't know why folks out here are being negative about the IT job market in OZ. I received 3 job offers from overseas (India) from employers based in Sydney and Melbourne.

The market seems to be really very positive and the pay rates are also quite good.

I got two daily rate contract offers for AUD 650 per day + superannuation and one fixed term contract offer for about AUD 100,000 + superannuation.K

ol

 

 

 

I guess what the people here on this forum are missing, is getting the cv right in such a way that it should get the utmost attention of the employers just by reading a few lines.

 

 

I have not even planned my move to OZ yet, although I have got my PR visa last month. I will be landing in OZ next month and will hopefully take up one of the job offers.

I have asked the Aussie employers to give me atleast a months time to arrange for my travel and come down to OZ, to which they have happliy agreed. Also I still have to give notice to my current employer here in India.

 

 

Hence I wud suggest to all of you out here on this forum tht plz don't hold back your plans to move to OZ. The market is great.

 

Hello Knight rider

You have got offers from which Indian cos and for what role ? I myself have worked extensively in banking industry as an IT PM.....and PR hopefully on the way

Thanks,

Nish

[Statesman]

i found the australian job market to be a bit discriminatory in terms of type of employments they offer.

Indians and South east Asians are offered only contract jobs whilst the europeans (especially those from UK, Ireland) are offered permenant roles. The reason for this being people who are employed on contract basis are easy to retrench by just giving a week's notice.

I have observed this in a lot of organisations out here where Indians and South east Asians are targeted first when it comes to reducing the workforce.