IT TECHNICAL SPECIALIST jobs, HELP NEEDED.. been applying for 6mths now :(

[joanne]

HI ALL

MY PARTNER, SON AND I HAVE HAD OUR 189 VISA NOW FOR 6MTHS AND BEEN RELIGIOUSLY APPLYING FOR JOBS (INITIALLY IN PERTH TO WHICH HAVE ALL DRIED UP) SO NOW APPLYING IN SYDNEY, BUT NOT A SNIFF

 

IS ANYONE ELSE APPLYING FOR JOBS FROM THE UK? I HAVE STATED I CAN BE AVAILABLE IN 4WEEKS AS I NEED TO GIVE MY CURRENT EMPLOYER THE 4 WEEKS NOTICE, NOW RESORTING TO JUST HANDING IN MY NOTICE AND GETTIN OVER TO THE PERTH SIDE AND RENTING A ROOM IF POSS ... THEN KNOCKING ON DOORS, AGENCIES ETC (TO WHICH HAVE ALREDAY JOINED)

ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE IN THE SAME SITU??

6MTHS LEFT AND THE VISA RUNS OUT EEEEEKKKKKKKK

[Parley]

How is the IT market in the UK ?

 

Probably better there than Australia at the moment.

[Bungo]

Some people manage to secure work from overseas, but most cannot. I would be very surprised if anyone in IT could do it, because employers are going to prefer someone already on the ground and there are no particular shortages such as to drive employers to look at overseas candidates.

 

So yes you might want to think about taking the plunge. But think carefully about where to head to, I would have thought Perth opportunities would be far more limited than Melbourne or Sydney. I agree with Parley that the UK would be better than either at the moment.

 

By the way, your CAPS LOCK was stuck on. It is generally deemed to be hard on the eyes to read all capitals and sone consider it shouting! You might want to think about switching it off, I am sure you will get more people reading and responding that way.

 

Also by the way, your visa does not run out in six months. You presumably just need to validate it within the next six months. But your visa has five years.

[Catsrus]

Hello, my hubby is in IT and we recently moved from the uk to melbourne. Here is our experience with finding a job in oz. we applied for roles before we moved - we got hubby's cv rewritten for the oz market & a new covering letter written - this was invaluable. We would apply for roles then hubby would call that night (daytime in oz). Sometimes the recruiters would speak to him & offer guidance etc - sometimes not). Everyone said wait until you are actually in oz then contact us.

 

we carried on applying but only got 1 interview lined up before we went - one bit of advice put 'permanent resident' in bold at top of cv & covering letter. As soon as we booked our short term rental we put that address & an oz mobile on the cv as contact details.

 

then we arrived in oz! Over an 8 week period we must have applied for approx. 250 roles - each one with a specific covering letter. The interviews began to trickle in. Some jobs needed 3 to 4 interviews until job offer - some offered job then a company restructure happened & job was pulled. It was hard work - one day hubby had 6 interviews in one day!

But it paid off as like buses 2 job offers materialised at once - 9 weeks after arriving in oz he started in a senior IT role with a global company.

 

So my advice, re look at your cv - apply for lots of roles - phone recruiters & meet with them - accept it may be a few months in oz before you get a role. Sorry posting this on my phone hence why it's a bit bullet pointy!

[Catsrus]

Also update your LinkedIn - it's used a lot out here. Change your location to oz about 2 weeks before moving.

[adaminoz]

How is the IT market in the UK ?

 

Probably better there than Australia at the moment.

Don't pay too much attention to comments like this. There is no such thing as an 'IT Market' - it's hundreds of different occupations and it all depends on how many of those occuptions would line up with your skills and experience. The size of *your* IT market in Australia depends on that.

 

To the OP: When we look at IT candidates (we're an IT firm) coming from Seek, a very very significant number (a majority) of the are not in Australia, and the vetting process throws them all out. The reason for this is that first working out working eligability for hundreds of applicants is too laborious, and on top of that the logistics (and differing levels of commitments) from overseas candidates makes them a bad bet. Agree with about that shouting PERMANENT RESIDENT might help.

 

What I can tell you is the following:

 

1. Melbourne and Sydney as a whole are better bets for IT occupations overall

 

2. If you are well skilled and experienced in a relevent occupation, you will find work in either mel or syd for sure.

 

3. Either be prepared to wait, come to Australia without a job, or fake it somehow. One of those options

 

Good luck.

[Parley]

Well I work in IT and I know what I'm talking about.

 

The Australian market is dominated by large employers, The banks, Telstra, Woolworths etc.

Depending on the economy these companies sometimes have hiring freezes and the whole market within those companies grinds to a halt.

 

I don't think it is happening now but it does happen. I recruited people myself at one of the big 4 banks.

 

Yes there are different jobs, but that is still within the overall IT market and relies on the big employers spending money on projects and bringing people on.

[joanne]

Hello, my hubby is in IT and we recently moved from the uk to melbourne. Here is our experience with finding a job in oz. we applied for roles before we moved - we got hubby's cv rewritten for the oz market & a new covering letter written - this was invaluable. We would apply for roles then hubby would call that night (daytime in oz). Sometimes the recruiters would speak to him & offer guidance etc - sometimes not). Everyone said wait until you are actually in oz then contact us.

 

we carried on applying but only got 1 interview lined up before we went - one bit of advice put 'permanent resident' in bold at top of cv & covering letter. As soon as we booked our short term rental we put that address & an oz mobile on the cv as contact details.

 

then we arrived in oz! Over an 8 week period we must have applied for approx. 250 roles - each one with a specific covering letter. The interviews began to trickle in. Some jobs needed 3 to 4 interviews until job offer - some offered job then a company restructure happened & job was pulled. It was hard work - one day hubby had 6 interviews in one day!

But it paid off as like buses 2 job offers materialised at once - 9 weeks after arriving in oz he started in a senior IT role with a global company.

 

So my advice, re look at your cv - apply for lots of roles - phone recruiters & meet with them - accept it may be a few months in oz before you get a role. Sorry posting this on my phone hence why it's a bit bullet pointy!

 

THANKS ever so much CATSRUS!! GREAT ADVICE, i really appreciate the time you have taken to give me this insight thanks again

[joanne]

Don't pay too much attention to comments like this. There is no such thing as an 'IT Market' - it's hundreds of different occupations and it all depends on how many of those occuptions would line up with your skills and experience. The size of *your* IT market in Australia depends on that.

 

To the OP: When we look at IT candidates (we're an IT firm) coming from Seek, a very very significant number (a majority) of the are not in Australia, and the vetting process throws them all out. The reason for this is that first working out working eligability for hundreds of applicants is too laborious, and on top of that the logistics (and differing levels of commitments) from overseas candidates makes them a bad bet. Agree with about that shouting PERMANENT RESIDENT might help.

 

What I can tell you is the following:

 

1. Melbourne and Sydney as a whole are better bets for IT occupations overall

 

2. If you are well skilled and experienced in a relevent occupation, you will find work in either mel or syd for sure.

 

3. Either be prepared to wait, come to Australia without a job, or fake it somehow. One of those options

 

Good luck.

 

thanks adaminoz, its my partner whos looking for IT work, hes 16yrs in the trade and all certs up to date, he does virtualisation atm so im guessing its a specialised job.. the only trouble with moving around will be moving my 8yr old from school to school which is defo not an option..moving overseas will be daunting enough for him, we had our hearts set on perth but realistically im thinking we need to re look at this, best get OH back pack packed and send him off travelling around oz thanks again!!

[GoldcoastMAD]

thanks adaminoz, its my partner whos looking for IT work, hes 16yrs in the trade and all certs up to date, he does virtualisation atm so im guessing its a specialised job.. the only trouble with moving around will be moving my 8yr old from school to school which is defo not an option..moving overseas will be daunting enough for him, we had our hearts set on perth but realistically im thinking we need to re look at this, best get OH back pack packed and send him off travelling around oz thanks again!!

 

Hi Jo,

 

A few things:

 

 

• has your partner revised his Cv for OZ?

• Have you tried networking on LinkedIn?

• have you had any responses whatsoever, from companies ( ask for feedback)

 

 

i'm keen to learn how you get on as i will be going though this process myself next year....if you want someone to cast an eye over his CV, please PM me.....I'm a senior engineer at the place i work now and am forever doing this for internal staff...and i sit in the interview board as the technical bod.

[Chortlepuss]

Very little in the way of start-up projects here in Brisbane - still the odd vacancy but huge number of applicants for each role - say 5 agencies allowed to submit 2-3 candidates here - a lot of competition and that's local. Getting an Australian IT job from UK nigh on impossible unless you have very specialist or in-demand skills. Many more jobs Sydney/Melbourne but many more applicants. I'm with Parley on this one - not impossible but hard work, and especially in Brisbane 'who you know' getting more important than ever.

[wolvesaussie]

Hi, I got an IT in Melbourne from the UK. The one tip I can give you is avoid agencies, they will not take the time or effort to deal with people that are not in the country. Once I realized this I started applying only to companies that advertised directly themselves, that had their own HR people. Yes there are less jobs, but I believe you have a much higher chance.

 

For one company I was interviewed in the UK in person by someone who was in the country on business.

For another three there were Skype interviews.

 

And I got a job, left my job in the UK Friday night with my suitcase jumped on the plance landed here Sunday and went to work on Monday. It can be done, job was as a SQL Server DBA, other jobs interviewed for where different programmer jobs and another SQL based role.

 

The only thing (I dont know if this made a difference), I am actually Australian was returning after 10 years in the UK.. maybe that made a bit of a difference I dont know.