Harvey21 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Hi all, I'm just interested to know what Australia's general perspective and view is on British skills and qualifications? I appreciate this is quite a broad question. I work in construction (about seven years on the tools and 3 years on the PM side of things) and when i look at jobs in Australia, i often find that they ask for 'knowledge of the local construction market or words to that affect. I obviously don't have this so any advice would be much appreciated as how best to mitigate for this? Visa secured and I will be moving to Brisbane in May. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 (edited) The skills are pretty much the same and SOME of the qualifications are (especially in white collar/management roles where things like UK Engineering Institutions/RICS etc are recognised, and PM qualifications are to some extent understood and accepted). On the trade side the qualifications aren't generally recognised and local licenses have to be obtained, as the skills are essentially the same this isn't hard but it is a pain Some of the custom and practice is different, especially in the way work is procured and the way contracts are managed. On big projects there's a lot more contractual litigation than in the UK. Unions and employment law works differently. Some techniques and common materials are different. Checking/sign off/statutory approvals work differently. Commercial staff are organised differently Knowledge of the local market is really about understanding these differences in custom and practice, and building up your network of contacts in customers and suppliers. We all have to go through a learning curve and rebuild our networks, so some of this you just have to grin and bear it. I think it's a bit overdone because as per the above, the skills aren't really different, it's just the local knowledge, and that can be picked up *fairly* quickly As everywhere, if the market's buoyant then lack of local knowledge gets overlooked pretty quickly. Depending on sector of construction you work in, there are quite a lot of poms in it so it's not like people aren't used to them and the way they work. My observations are there are tons of pom tradies, pom design engineers, pom construction, commercial and general management people in infrastructure (not so much in building). Once your get your first gig, you're away Don't know the Brisbane market very well but I think it's OK. Sydney and Melbourne are red hot and that tends to warm things up for the whole east coast because they suck some of the resources away from interstate Edited February 22, 2017 by northshorepom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wa7 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Hi all, I'm just interested to know what Australia's general perspective and view is on British skills and qualifications? I appreciate this is quite a broad question. I work in construction (about seven years on the tools and 3 years on the PM side of things) and when i look at jobs in Australia, i often find that they ask for 'knowledge of the local construction market or words to that affect. I obviously don't have this so any advice would be much appreciated as how best to mitigate for this? Visa secured and I will be moving to Brisbane in May. Thanks again Basically, you should come here with the view that you need to get back on the tools initially and then take it from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey21 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 Thanks for the responses guy's. Excellent insight there northshorepom, much appreciated. I had never considered going back to the tools to be honest. How necessary or beneficial would this be? I mean I have a degree in Building Surveying, which I understand doesn't really exist in Aus to the same extent of the UK? (is there something in its place in Aus?). I've also been an asisitant PM/co-ordinator for the last 3 years which I had hoped would count for something. I guess its just a case of building up some local knowledge and contacts as soon as i get over there and taking it from there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallyman Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Australia likes it qualifications, you can apply for your visa with uk qualifications ( city guilds ,I have craft ,advanced craft and HNC) and you get your visa, but if you wish to trade out here they don't recognise them to get your licence , I did a intense 29 day course through master builders and Taffe to get my licence all up cost me around 13k , lots of course work and the time off work was hard going to keep on top as well as work i sub contracted when I first came out and once they know you are switched on and capable I got promoted quickly to run jobs and then a project manager. I now run my own company Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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