American Considering Migrating to Oz

[Guest Kyoto]

Hello, all,

 

Not a Pom, guess you'd call me a Yank (from the South, so, of course dem's usually fighting words), but I've already spent quite a bit of time reading through various posts and threads, and I've already learned a lot.

 

I've spent much of the past five years in Japan teaching English in the public school system. I speak Japanese. I hold a BA in English, and I am finishing up my MA in Government (emphasis on Japanese culture and politics). Coursework is finished, and I just need to complete my thesis. I previously visited Australia in 2010/2011 over the summer (for oz, winter for NH folks) holidays. I spent a few weeks living on savings in Sydney and Canberra, and I really enjoyed both. I actually ended up making friends and connections I still keep up with online. For the most part I mostly just lived, with only a few things actually being "touristy" and when it was time to leave, it actually felt like leaving home.

 

My current contract in Japan is up in February, and I turn 29 in October. I'm single, I have no personal debts, I have savings, and I'm squirrelling away more. I want to take advantage of the USA WHV before I lose the opportunity, especially as I was able to confirm it can be used towards meeting citizenship requirements. I've become increasingly worried about my ability to create a life and career in Japan, as was my original goal. I have seen several schools closed or merged, and the Japanese seem to have a largely blase view of their declining population and the economic effects it is causing, not to mention debt 200% of GDP and -2% growth. Furthermore permanent residency will take me ten years to acquire, and citizenship is out of the question because Japan does not recognise dual citizenship as both Australia and the United States do.

 

I watch Australian politics closely, and I have for years, and I've been pleased with how Rudd managed to put in economic policies which have kept Australia growing around the time the recession hit the US, and I see great potential across all sectors and industries. This makes it a place I'm interested in migrating to, and I think I'm what Australia wants. Young, educated, single, with a variety of work experiences, much of it in foreign countries with which Australia does large amounts of trade. I followed the last election with a great deal of interest.

 

If I move to Oz, I will be doing so with the intent migrate long term, pursue citizenship, and contribute to Australian society. I've been thinking quite seriously about this since a cousin of mine did the same thing. Unfortunately, she ended up having a major medical emergency, and she has moved back in with her parents in the States. She worked for a rugby club doing marketing, I think.... I'd have to check. So I know Americans do move to Oz.

 

As I already have experience picking up and moving to more than one "foreign" country (and after Asia, Australia hardly seemed "foreign"), I don't think I am being hasty, but I'm interested in commentary.

[pablo]

Hiya Kyoto

Sounds like you tick all the boxes re Aus anyway,Japanese gotta be a big help,there's a few Americans on here who i'm sure you'l come across,good luck with it all anyway mate

[walvia]

What would you say your occupation is? Primary school or secondary school teacher? I think the first step is to check if your specific occupation on the Skilled Occupations List here:

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/_pdf/sol-schedule1-2.pdf. When you find your occupation, contact the organization in charge of assessing your skills and find out the requirements for your skills assessment. You might want to go for independent skilled or state sponsored visa, depending on the number of points your age, years of experience, IELTS score can get you.

 

I wish you the best of luck.

[Guest Kyoto]

Secondary ed. I have one year experience working with elementary students, but all of my other experience has been working as a JHS teacher. I much prefer working with adolescents. Once upon a time, I intended to be a high school English teacher in the States, but the school districts either offered ridiculously low salaries (like, unliveable) or (as was most often the case) were in the middle of hiring freezes. My city and the surrounding cities have been in a hiring freeze since 2007. God knows when America might come out of this...

 

However, I have a wide variety of other experiences, talents, and skills. I spent my first two years out of university working as a press secretary, fundraiser, and video editor in American politics. I've also written for newspapers, worked in TV production, and of course done plenty of low-skilled jobs, including retail and even grocery bagging, although with nearly an MA finished, one would hope I wouldn't be relegated to that kind of work for long (not that I think less of it, but I'd like to use my level of education).

 

...Why on Earth would I need an IELTS score? English is my native language, all of my education has been conducted in English, I have a degree in English, and I've been an English teacher for five years.

[VERYSTORMY]

The main issue is, are are a qualified teacher? If not, then that may be an issue.

 

Most people need to take the ILETS in order to gain enough points

[Guest Kyoto]

Even if they're from another English speaking country? That seems odd, but okay. I don't have teaching certification, just everything up to that point. So the idea of "qualified" is subjective, depending on what agency/country/etc is asking. In the US, many states do not have reciprocal agreements, so you need to decide where you want to go before being certified. I can gain certification in Texas very quickly if I need to, however, since I've done all of the pre-reqs. I considered picking it up while I was finishing my MA, but since the hiring freeze situation hadn't changed, I figured it wasn't worth it. If I was staying in Japan, I'd get Japanese certification. I assume that Australia does not recognise outside teaching certifications, so I'm not sure how a certification helps me.

[Petals]

Welcome I am sure you will find plenty of opportunities here in Aus. My son has friends who are teaching English in Japan and have been over there for quite a few years now.

 

Here in Victoria you have to have a post grad diploma to teach even if you have a PHD. When my son did his one of his friends had a PHD but was taking time out to do something different, however he has since returned to research.

 

Unfortunately teachers are not well paid and the ones that are are more like Managers, being the principles and vice principles. My son is teaching maths and science but he will never take up a principle position way too much politics and then there is p a r e n t s lol,

 

My daughter is also a teacher and she did post grad teaching but she works for a insurance company. Her oh is has dual citizenship in that his mum is Australian and his Dad is American and he and his brother both went to ivy league unis on scholarship in the States. They have come back and are doing ok. Plenty of opportunities for people who get out there and give it a go.

[Guest Kyoto]

I assumed that I would need to get an Australian (State? Federal?) certification, and there would be certain Australian specific education courses I would most likely need to take. Most countries are like that, but with my BA and MA, I didn't think that would be difficult. At least the coursework would be in English! In Japan, I'd have to do it in Japanese.

 

I think "well paid" is largely subjective. I know precisely how much money I need to put away for retirement each year, and it isn't excessive. I've just decided I want to make a decision about settling around the time I turn thirty, so if I am going to give Oz a try, I should do it while the WHV is still an easily obtained option. I do not think I would be doing any serious teaching on the WHV (tutoring perhaps, and believe me, I love doing that!), but nothing which would put me in a school. I could look into sponsored visa, and what that would require, after I move to Oz. My largest concern was time to permanent residency and time to citizenship, and poring over previous threads and the immigration website.... well, compared to the hoops I've tried to jump through in Japan, it's a cakewalk.

 

EDIT: Did more research. There is a visa for secondary ed teachers, and it does require certification in home country or in country of current residence. Since I have neither the Texas certification, nor the Japanese certification, it appears as though I do not qualify. However, this does not mean I cannot get teaching certification for Australia once I am in the country. I know Teach for Australia doesn't take applications from those who don't have permanent residency, but it doesn't seem that there are restrictions for anyone with legal residency of some sort from pursuing the education and certification (the aforementioned postgrad diploma, which Petals brought up). I'm thinking it would be both economical and efficient to just go straight to Oz, but I can easily see doing the three months or whatever required to get Texas certification before doing that... I just think I could work and study in Oz, but I might only be able to study in Texas... Hrm.