MaisieK Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hi Everyone I'm new to this so please bear with me! I'm 25 and my partner is 26, we have a 6 month old baby. I have a 1st class law degree which is pretty much redundant as I don't want to become a lawyer any more but I'm thinking of retraining as an Occupational Therapist when our daughter's a bit older. My OH is nearly at the end of his apprenticeship in Aeronautical Engineering but like me is thinking of retraining and going into Computing & IT. We've both lived in Australia on a WHV but want to move over there permanently. Obviously neither of us have a job which is currently on the SOL but we're both willing to train and get jobs that will enable us to migrate. I know the SOL changes every year but I just wondered what would be the most consistent, a career in IT or healthcare, or both? I will be training as an OT regardless but who knows whether it will still be on there in a few years time. If I'm qualified by the time I'm 30-32, roughly how long do you think the process of moving could take and is it doable? So many people have told us that we're wasting our time and won't be able to do it but we can't give up on our dream. So do you think we can do it? Should we start saving now? We also have family over there (partner's brother and Australian wife). Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasanga Herath Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Ok. let me put it on this way. First of all I’m not an immigration advisor , but just a visa applicant as of you. so all these are only my views. You have Law Degree and your partner is in Aeronautical. Good. Now with regard to change to career to IT and move to ausi will be a headache. I myself a IT Professional , but struggle. Last time NSW has stop IT guys to apply for it's State nominations indicating they have received more than 80% application in IT. So this will give you a hint. OT is might a good choice than IT :-X with regard to the migration under skill migration category, i would say you should have at least 12 month of experience for the nominated skill for skill assessment. Obviously both of you will received 15 marks for education and 30 marks for Age . I believe both you could manage at least 7.o in IELTS which will give you another 10 points minimum. all together 55 and then you are lack for 5 additional mark which you can get under the state sponsorship. So better to research on CSOL on various states. This will allow you to get 189 Visa. Since your family also there you could defiantly show a good tie to nominated state. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaisieK Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Ok. let me put it on this way. First of all I’m not an immigration advisor , but just a visa applicant as of you. so all these are only my views. You have Law Degree and your partner is in Aeronautical. Good. Now with regard to change to career to IT and move to ausi will be a headache. I myself a IT Professional , but struggle. Last time NSW has stop IT guys to apply for it's State nominations indicating they have received more than 80% application in IT. So this will give you a hint. OT is might a good choice than IT :-X with regard to the migration under skill migration category, i would say you should have at least 12 month of experience for the nominated skill for skill assessment. Obviously both of you will received 15 marks for education and 30 marks for Age . I believe both you could manage at least 7.o in IELTS which will give you another 10 points minimum. all together 55 and then you are lack for 5 additional mark which you can get under the state sponsorship. So better to research on CSOL on various states. This will allow you to get 189 Visa. Since your family also there you could defiantly show a good tie to nominated state. cheers Thanks for your reply We're just trying to decide which would be the best route to take. I'm not sure whether my partner will have to study for a degree in Engineering or whether his current qualifications plus a lot of experience by the time we get there will suffice. As for me, I will hopefully be able to get onto an OT course when our daughter starts school but I'm not sure whether doing an access course or something similar in the meantime will look good on our application? Another thing is that we would like to have another child but I don't know whether to do this before I go back to Uni or to wait, that's a separate issue altogether though lol. I should probably try posting this in the jobs section too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Without a degree in IT your partner would need 6-8 years experience to get a positive skills assessment from the ACS & I think the way it now works is that only experience beyond that then counts for experience points in the application. https://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/7324/Summary-of-Criteria-2014.pdf He would also have to be very careful which field of IT he chose as very few are on the SOL - I would say that programming is probably the best option but because you are planning something so far ahead it is almost impossible to predict. OT is probably a quicker route although the registration requirements have got more difficult recently from what I have seen on here, you will be able to find more information on the requirements here - https://www.ahpra.gov.au. The best option may be for your partner to stay in there current field as Aeronautical Engineer is on the SOL - the skills assessment would be by Engineers Australia - I don't know much about their process and whether the only route is with a degree but you will be able to find the information on their website. Bear in mind the skills you use for migration aren't necessarily what you then have to work as. I migrated as a social worker but already worked in IT and continued to do so in Australia. A risky but possible option if you are both considering retraining is to retrain in Australia - your baby is so young that if you spent 4 years there studying and had to move back it wouldn't be disastrous. With a student visa, the partner is able to work and the student can work 20 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuroro2 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 What Rainicorn said, You already have a degree in law, so use that to get the PR under Barrister. even if your guy doesn't have a degree, or if his qualification's isn't enough to get assessment from engineers australia, you can still get him a pr via defacto. The latter isn't ideal but its a better alternative to training in IT, only to be removed from the sol later. Also note that IT related sol occupations are often pro-rata due to stiff competition. Get the PR, then retrain at a suitable institution with government subsidy, as well as other benefits like free healthcare and, after a waiting period, centrelink(don't abuse this) if necessary. Remember once you become a PR, you can be a barrister or firefighter, it won't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engaus Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 What Rainicorn said, You already have a degree in law, so use that to get the PR under Barrister. even if your guy doesn't have a degree, or if his qualification's isn't enough to get assessment from engineers australia, you can still get him a pr via defacto. The latter isn't ideal but its a better alternative to training in IT, only to be removed from the sol later. Also note that IT related sol occupations are often pro-rata due to stiff competition. Get the PR, then retrain at a suitable institution with government subsidy, as well as other benefits like free healthcare and, after a waiting period, centrelink(don't abuse this) if necessary. Remember once you become a PR, you can be a barrister or firefighter, it won't matter. Look at your partners degree. I wouldn't bother with your degree because you will need to have it assessed and do additional study which will cost close to $20,000 if not more in international student fees. A waste of money if you don't plan on using it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuroro2 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Look at your partners degree. I wouldn't bother with your degree because you will need to have it assessed and do additional study which will cost close to $20,000 if not more in international student fees. A waste of money if you don't plan on using it. Why would she need to do additional study? Is her law degree which she has already obtained not sufficient? No matter what occupation she does she still needs to get them assessed, albeit different assessment bodies. She said her partner is finishing apprenticeship, so we don't know if he has a degree even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engaus Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Why would she need to do additional study? Is her law degree which she has already obtained not sufficient? No matter what occupation she does she still needs to get them assessed, albeit different assessment bodies. She said her partner is finishing apprenticeship, so we don't know if he has a degree even. A UK law degree is not sufficient. My partner had a UK law degree and was asked to complete 4 additional units to make his degree equal to an Australian one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaisieK Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks for your replies everyone. engaus is correct, my law degree is not enough on its own as I would have to do extra units even if I went on to become a solicitor or barrister in the UK beforehand. It's such a shame, I wish I'd gone straight into health care rather than the legal route but oh well! My partner doesn't have a degree yet but he's considering doing an Open Uni degree in engineering alongside his job. Someone suggested mental health nursing for me which sounds like something I would really enjoy, my only concern is that I don't want anything too time consuming because I don't want to miss out on seeing my little one grow up. I know it seems like I want the best of both worlds but I really am willing to work hard to get to oz and achieve a better life for all of us. I'm just worried that time is ticking because by the time we're both qualified we'll probably be early 30's and then I'd have to get experience in whatever I chose. I had a look at the ahpra issue and that does concern me as well. Ahh why is it so complicated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serendipity Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hi there. Have you looked at a two year accelerated OT course? You need a degree to qualify, and I'm not entirely sure that law would be relevant enough , but its worth looking into! Look at the link below. http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/occupational-therapist/entry-and-training/ I don't think its impossible getting a job in Oz for overseas trained OT's, but you just need to find an employer prepared to help you jump through the supervision hoops to get fully registered in Oz. I've emailed a few OT's from this site who have successfully got jobs in the last few months. I've been an OT for 20 years and am currently waiting for PR visa grant. No ides if I will get a job but am going to give it a good go! The thing with OT is that there are so many different clinical areas to work in, and if you choose the right one, where the demand is, you'll increase your chances. Vocational/ workplace Rehab is a big one at the moment (in Oz and getting bigger in this country). So if you plan your career accordingly, you can increase your chances. Have a look at seek.com and search for rehab consultant rather than OT, to see what type of work background you may need to work in that setting. Good luck with it! Becky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaisieK Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hi there. Have you looked at a two year accelerated OT course? You need a degree to qualify, and I'm not entirely sure that law would be relevant enough , but its worth looking into! Look at the link below.http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/occupational-therapist/entry-and-training/ I don't think its impossible getting a job in Oz for overseas trained OT's, but you just need to find an employer prepared to help you jump through the supervision hoops to get fully registered in Oz. I've emailed a few OT's from this site who have successfully got jobs in the last few months. I've been an OT for 20 years and am currently waiting for PR visa grant. No ides if I will get a job but am going to give it a good go! The thing with OT is that there are so many different clinical areas to work in, and if you choose the right one, where the demand is, you'll increase your chances. Vocational/ workplace Rehab is a big one at the moment (in Oz and getting bigger in this country). So if you plan your career accordingly, you can increase your chances. Have a look at seek.com and search for rehab consultant rather than OT, to see what type of work background you may need to work in that setting. Good luck with it! Becky Hi Becky Yeah I've considered the accelerated course and I wondered whether I could somehow manage to get accepted. Thank you for all the helpful advice. Does being an OT offer a decent work/homelife balance would you say? It really does appeal to me but need to do more research really. Which area of OT do you work in may I ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serendipity Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hi. I have a really broad clinical background. I've always done physical OT and did my first 5 years in hospitals (orthopaedics, medicine, stroke rehab, Rheumatology etc). I then got REALLY BORED and did an MSc in Ergonomics and that opened a lot of doors into private work, to do workplace assessments, seating assessments, DSE assessments etc. I've worked in social services for most of the last 13- 14 years so am very experienced in major adaptations and specialist equipment for children and adults. I've also done private work in the last 3 years in vocational rehab and occupational health, and that required me funding courses and buying kit for my assessments (which cost over £3K in total) but now means I can work privately and that is the best option for me for a good work life balance. Community/ Social service work is much more flexible when you have a family. Hospital work is very regimented and rigid in terms of start times, flexibility etc Last year when I started to apply for my 189 visa, I decided I needed to update my experience in hospitals (to increase my options of work when we go to OZ and update my NHS experience). So I applied for a temporary job in a local hospital as a specialist stroke OT (not thinking for one minute I would get the job!!). I got the job!! and have been working back in a hospital since last November and I can categorically say this is the last time I work in a hospital!!! LOL- if I could put the clock back I would have a word with myself when I applied!!! Private work is the way to go for me. I have a 5 and a 7 year old and if I am working for 3 or 4 main companies I can usually get enough work to keep me going. I can do reports in the evening or weekend to suit my schedule. I can choose whether I work full or part time, and whether I work over school holidays. I can get up at 3am to do a report if I need to!! The down side is I have no holiday pay as a private OT. So if I take the summer off with my kids, I get NO MONEY. Versus being employed where you get paid holidays, sickness etc. As I said in my earlier post, work rehab is the area that you need to focus on. In this country there are massive moves to get people back to work who are on sickness benefits and OTs have a prominent role in this. Feel free to PM me if you want any additional info. Becky xx So, its swings and roundabouts. You can make it work for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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