Fern Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hey everyone I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has been employer sponsored (457 visa) in either the Marketing Specialist (225113) or Market Research Analyst (225112) occupations... I'm a 26 year old Brit who is currently working in Adelaide on my working holiday visa; I've secured a role with a university here and can currently work for six months on my existing visa. It was a permanent position, and the university decided they would rather hire me, if only for six months, rather than any of the other candidates that applied. I've been in the role for nearly a month now and the Director of my team would like to sponsor me (on the 457) but her initial discussions with our allocated HR person have suggested that it wouldn't be possible because my role isn't specialised or senior enough to pass the immigration process. So, my Director is encouraging me to find examples of people at a similar level/in a similar role that have managed to get sponsored under these type of roles. She's introduced me out to one of the most senior people in the university, and has their support to progress discussions with more senior HR staff. A bit more about me and my profession... I work in a relatively new sector for Australia called alumni relations and development. It's essentially relationship marketing and fundraising in higher education - hence why I'm looking into the Marketing Specialist category. I am in a level 6 'Officer' role which pays around $70,000. My role basically involves identifying contacts with the ability to make major donations (5, 6, 7 figures) to our institution (through various types of research and analysis), and developing fundraising campaigns and strategies to secure those gifts. I have five years experience of working in this sector for a university in the UK, as well as level four professional qualifications in marketing and fundraising (Chartered Institute of Marketing and Institute of Fundraising) and lots of additional training. The main downside is that I do not have a degree, though I understand that a minimum of five years relevant work experience could be considered as an alternative. I'd love to hear from anyone else working on a 457 visa under either of these marketing categories, particularly at 'Officer' or 'Co-ordinator' level. Any information on how straightforward your employer-sponsored application was, and any other information that would help my case with HR would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Fern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Grey Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 A lot of companies and HR departments do not understand the requirements of the 457 visa program as the information on the immi website doesn't even scratch the surface of the actual regulations and policy. Look at the ANZSCO tasks and duties and information for the occupation of Marketing Specialist - http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Product+Lookup/1220.0~First+Edition,+Revision+1~Chapter~UNIT+GROUP+2251+Advertising+and+Marketing+Professionals It doesn't say you have to be responsible for the overall marketing strategy of a business, it doesn't say you have to be at a senior level......Your position just has to be comparable to the ANZSCO description. Again with the experience, as long as you have 5 years worth that is relevant to this ANZSCO description you should be deemed as meeting the skill level. ANZSCO even specifically mentions 'Marketing co-ordinator' and 'Marketing Officer' as being alternative titles! If they wanted confirmation of whether the position would be suitable, most migration agents would offer an instant opinion of it in an initial assessment if they simply provided a job description to look at. A lot of companies including the one I work for will give such an initial assessment for free. All the best, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scattley Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 A level 6 position in a university is a low level position...well below the level which the university can sponsor an applicant for a 457 visa regardless of the area. Your lack of a degree is a considerable hurdle....as even with the experience four years of more of that is deducted for not having a degree....so you only have a max of one years countable experience......no where near enough to sponsor you. Whilst your direct boss might want to sponsor you, the university has to follow strict internal policy on sponsoring staff from oversea....academics must have at least a PhD and the job needs to be advertised internationally for them to be able to sponsor. If your role was not advertised internationally....then they do not have an internal case to sponsor you. At a other university, we have only been able to sponsor level 9 and above staff for 457 visas (non academic)... Anything below that was a straight out No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 A level 6 position in a university is a low level position...well below the level which the university can sponsor an applicant for a 457 visa regardless of the area. Your lack of a degree is a considerable hurdle....as even with the experience four years of more of that is deducted for not having a degree....so you only have a max of one years countable experience......no where near enough to sponsor you. Whilst your direct boss might want to sponsor you, the university has to follow strict internal policy on sponsoring staff from oversea....academics must have at least a PhD and the job needs to be advertised internationally for them to be able to sponsor. If your role was not advertised internationally....then they do not have an internal case to sponsor you. At a other university, we have only been able to sponsor level 9 and above staff for 457 visas (non academic)... Anything below that was a straight out No. I think you are mixing up immigration requirements and university policy. If this university is happy to sponsor the OP then it is only the immigration requirements that need to be satisfied and Adam has commented on those above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I had three Aussie unis try to sponsor me. I don't have a degree and my job was a lower grade than the op's. Only one out of the three was stopped by hr. The other two were visa issues. Infact one of them offered me a 457 but at that time there was no pathway to pr from that so I turned it down and carried on studying here. So, in conclusion, that is definetly not a rule which covers all unis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul Senise Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hey everyone I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has been employer sponsored (457 visa) in either the Marketing Specialist (225113) or Market Research Analyst (225112) occupations... I'm a 26 year old Brit who is currently working in Adelaide on my working holiday visa; I've secured a role with a university here and can currently work for six months on my existing visa. It was a permanent position, and the university decided they would rather hire me, if only for six months, rather than any of the other candidates that applied. I've been in the role for nearly a month now and the Director of my team would like to sponsor me (on the 457) but her initial discussions with our allocated HR person have suggested that it wouldn't be possible because my role isn't specialised or senior enough to pass the immigration process. So, my Director is encouraging me to find examples of people at a similar level/in a similar role that have managed to get sponsored under these type of roles. She's introduced me out to one of the most senior people in the university, and has their support to progress discussions with more senior HR staff. A bit more about me and my profession... I work in a relatively new sector for Australia called alumni relations and development. It's essentially relationship marketing and fundraising in higher education - hence why I'm looking into the Marketing Specialist category. I am in a level 6 'Officer' role which pays around $70,000. My role basically involves identifying contacts with the ability to make major donations (5, 6, 7 figures) to our institution (through various types of research and analysis), and developing fundraising campaigns and strategies to secure those gifts. I have five years experience of working in this sector for a university in the UK, as well as level four professional qualifications in marketing and fundraising (Chartered Institute of Marketing and Institute of Fundraising) and lots of additional training. The main downside is that I do not have a degree, though I understand that a minimum of five years relevant work experience could be considered as an alternative. I'd love to hear from anyone else working on a 457 visa under either of these marketing categories, particularly at 'Officer' or 'Co-ordinator' level. Any information on how straightforward your employer-sponsored application was, and any other information that would help my case with HR would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Fern Sponsorship may be a possibility depending on the specific duties of the role. It is not the title which is important but the actual duties, as they need to be consistent with the listed duties of an occupation on the list for the 457 program. As Adam as stated, be careful taking advice from a HR department as they are notorious for misunderstanding Immigration requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul Senise Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Your lack of a degree is a considerable hurdle....as even with the experience four years of more of that is deducted for not having a degree....so you only have a max of one years countable experience......no where near enough to sponsor you. I am not sure what you are basing your comments on, but the above is not correct and undoubtedly confusing the OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hi everyone and thanks very much for your replies. This initial feedback sounds promising, and confirms my suspicion that any hurdles could be more university policy than immigration policy. I have checked in detail the ANZSCO job description for Marketing Specialist and believe my role to be consistent with the duties listed there. I'm still hoping to find someone that has been sponsored under this category and in a similar level position. Adam, thanks for your advice - I will look into a free consultation with a migration agent to get a professional opinion. Scattley - thanks for your feedback. Whilst I understand that it's unusual to sponsor at a level 6, I have to say that I know of many level 7 roles for which people have been sponsored in this university and many others. Perhaps the criteria is different with academic positions? I actually have support of the deputy VC so I'm pretty confident that it will be approved internally, if we think the role will pass immigration procedures. It is likely that the role may need to be re-advertised though. Blossom79, great to hear from someone else that was wanted for a role at a similar level on this. Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you - i'm hopeful that my case could turn out differently under the Marketing Specialist criteria. Thanks again everyone for your feedback. I appreciate your thoughts and I'm feeling slightly more confident about my situation now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.