Working in IT in Australia

[andrewfx]

Hi all, looking for some insight into the IT industry in Australia. We have been thinking h about making the move for a few years now, which would be in the next 2-4 years. 
I work as a network engineer in the UK, and have worked in this job for the past 2 years (will have the adequate experience when it comes to making the move).

I wondered if anyone on here works as a network engineer, or even in IT? What is the industry like over there? I currently work for a UK government department, but worked for a big service provider previously. I am CCNP certified and have a BSc in network engineering too. 
 

We would like to move to Melbourne, as I have done research which shows that is one of the best area in Aus for IT. I notice that not a lot of jobs are advertised with salaries - but from what I found I think I could earn 90k+ does that sound reasonable?

I work from hone permanently in the UK, I also wondered how common this is in Aus? Or at least partial WFH? And also about flexible working - I work flexi time, which means I can fit my working hours around my family life which I love. Is this common practice in Aus?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation and if you think you made the right move to go to Aus and work in IT!

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Marisawright]

Do you know whether you can get a visa?

[Ausvisitor]

3 hours ago, andrewfx said:

Hi all, looking for some insight into the IT industry in Australia. We have been thinking h about making the move for a few years now, which would be in the next 2-4 years. 
I work as a network engineer in the UK, and have worked in this job for the past 2 years (will have the adequate experience when it comes to making the move).

I wondered if anyone on here works as a network engineer, or even in IT? What is the industry like over there? I currently work for a UK government department, but worked for a big service provider previously. I am CCNP certified and have a BSc in network engineering too. 
 

We would like to move to Melbourne, as I have done research which shows that is one of the best area in Aus for IT. I notice that not a lot of jobs are advertised with salaries - but from what I found I think I could earn 90k+ does that sound reasonable?

I work from hone permanently in the UK, I also wondered how common this is in Aus? Or at least partial WFH? And also about flexible working - I work flexi time, which means I can fit my working hours around my family life which I love. Is this common practice in Aus?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation and if you think you made the right move to go to Aus and work in IT!

 

Thanks in advance. 

Melbourne is nowhere near the best area for IT in Australia, most multi-nationals are headquartered in Sydney and the start-up market tends to be based out of Perth

[JetBlast]

5 hours ago, andrewfx said:

Hi all, looking for some insight into the IT industry in Australia. We have been thinking h about making the move for a few years now, which would be in the next 2-4 years. 
I work as a network engineer in the UK, and have worked in this job for the past 2 years (will have the adequate experience when it comes to making the move).

I wondered if anyone on here works as a network engineer, or even in IT? What is the industry like over there? I currently work for a UK government department, but worked for a big service provider previously. I am CCNP certified and have a BSc in network engineering too. 
 

We would like to move to Melbourne, as I have done research which shows that is one of the best area in Aus for IT. I notice that not a lot of jobs are advertised with salaries - but from what I found I think I could earn 90k+ does that sound reasonable?

I work from hone permanently in the UK, I also wondered how common this is in Aus? Or at least partial WFH? And also about flexible working - I work flexi time, which means I can fit my working hours around my family life which I love. Is this common practice in Aus?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation and if you think you made the right move to go to Aus and work in IT!

 

Thanks in advance. 

Good morning,

 I work in IT and gained a 489 visa (something they don't issue anymore) a few years back. They have replaced it with the 491 visa. I migrated as a Network Engineer with my only qualification being a Cisco CCNP, certified 4 years before I applied. Although I never actually worked as a network engineer but as a network manager. The 491 is a temporary visa but with a pathway to permanent residency. Things have changed since I went through the process and I believe for the worse. You may find in IT the only way you can get here is to be sponsored for work in a regional area. This discounts Melbourne.  Although if you're a Citizen or have another visa path this but can be ignored!

I am in Adelaide. Here cost of living is much less and network / systems engineers can gain $90k easy. There is a lack of them here. I am a manager and it took me 4 months to find a good candidate in a vacant position. I can't comment on the Melbourne market but I would guess it would be quite a bit more than $90k.

@Ausvisitor - That is true but there are many areas of IT. There is a need for network engineers all over the country as much of the work can't be done remotely. These guys setup and maintain the networks that provide the remove access so if they are offline they can't get in themselves. I would advise people in these positions to where they want to live as there is plenty of opportunity in all the states.

Edited April 26, 2021 by JetBlast

[Paul1Perth]

Decide where you want to live first, each City has different climates and can affect your quality of life.

Any major City will have opportunities in IT. House prices and what you can afford will dictate where you can settle. Melbourne is my second bottom of the list, Canberra would be bottom.

90k would be a pretty average salary for a good network engineer, even for Perth.

[Parley]

4 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

Melbourne is nowhere near the best area for IT in Australia, most multi-nationals are headquartered in Sydney and the start-up market tends to be based out of Perth

Lots of large corporates have their head office in Melbourne, eg NAB, ANZ, Telstra, Coles. Historically they have employed a lot of IT people.

[Marisawright]

@andrewfx, I suggest you take Jetblast's advice seriously.   Melbourne does have some IT jobs but Sydney has far more opportunities.   However, both are very expensive places to live compared to the rest of Australia, so if you are worried about affordability, I suggest you look elsewhere. 

Also, worth noting that Melbourne is probably not the vision you've got in your head of Australia.   We often see cruise ship passengers, looking bemused under their umbrellas, wondering where the gorgeous sunny weather and long sandy beaches are.   Don't get me wrong, I love living in Melbourne, but it's the least Australian of all the capital cities, I think (except Canberra!).

[andrewfx]

Hi all,

thanks for the advice. In terms of places to live, we have looked for a while and there’s only a handful of places which we think sound a good fit for us - Melbourne, Perth and possibly Brisbane. However the latter 2 I’m not sure we’d cope with the constant heat. I’m aware Melbourne is cloudy/rainy a lot, but we’re used to that in North East UK!

Visa wise I probably need to do more research, but I was under the impression I could qualify for 189/190 visa although I hear this one is difficult to get points for, or 491 (once everything is back to normal). 

I guess one thing to consider is our salaries would go a lot further in somewhere like Perth than in Melbourne!

[Tulip1]

2 hours ago, Bobj said:

AIR CONDITIONING, dear girl, it is in all  the major cities...except for Melbourne and Hobart, apparently. Do they not have air conditioned shops and supermarkets? I seem to remember big shops in Melbourne having aircon and that was 1963, as for Hobart...
I have no idea why your comment to my post has mentioned distances as I never even  mentioned it. Anyway, thanks for the geography lesson.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

4 minutes ago, andrewfx said:

Hi all,

thanks for the advice. In terms of places to live, we have looked for a while and there’s only a handful of places which we think sound a good fit for us - Melbourne, Perth and possibly Brisbane. However the latter 2 I’m not sure we’d cope with the constant heat. I’m aware Melbourne is cloudy/rainy a lot, but we’re used to that in North East UK!

Visa wise I probably need to do more research, but I was under the impression I could qualify for 189/190 visa although I hear this one is difficult to get points for, or 491 (once everything is back to normal). 

I guess one thing to consider is our salaries would go a lot further in somewhere like Perth than in Melbourne!

I think your main focus and starting point is whether you’ll get a visa as all this is irrelevant otherwise.  From my understanding, many have enough qualifications and experience to get enough points to qualify but only those with the highest amount of points ever get through.  People get more or less points based on many things like age,  English tests etc. The best thing you can do is have a consultation with a migrant agent who will be able to give you a more realistic chance of success. There are several who post on here that are highly regarded and a consultation will cost a tiny fraction of the overall cost and  will be worth its weight in gold.  Best of luck.

[andrewfx]

9 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

 

I think your main focus and starting point is whether you’ll get a visa as all this is irrelevant otherwise.  From my understanding, many have enough qualifications and experience to get enough points to qualify but only those with the highest amount of points ever get through.  People get more or less points based on many things like age,  English tests etc. The best thing you can do is have a consultation with a migrant agent who will be able to give you a more realistic chance of success. There are several who post on here that are highly regarded and a consultation will cost a tiny fraction of the overall cost and  will be worth its weight in gold.  Best of luck.

I have seen down under centre mentioned online by a few people, just wondering if anyone here has used them? I think it will be worth speaking to them closer to the time, especially since at the moment visas are hard to get due to covid. 

[Marisawright]

4 hours ago, andrewfx said:

I have seen down under centre mentioned online by a few people, just wondering if anyone here has used them? I think it will be worth speaking to them closer to the time, especially since at the moment visas are hard to get due to covid. 

I would go to Suncoast Migration or Go Matilda rather than Down Under. 

Whst do you mean by ”closer to the time”?  If you want to migrate permanently, then you normally have to get the visa sorted first. The process takes about a year, so no point getting a job first, because no employer is going to wait that long.

[andrewfx]

Just now, Marisawright said:

I would go to Suncoast Migration or Go Matilda rather than Down Under. 

Whst do you mean by ”closer to the time”?  If you want to migrate permanently, then you normally have to get the visa sorted first. The process takes about a year, so no point getting a job first, because no employer is going to wait that long.

Okay thanks for those recommendations. 
As I mentioned in my first post it’s likely we wouldn’t move for another 2-4 years. My partner is finishing up university and has to do a pharmacy pre reg year in the UK first. I simply posted here to get an idea of working life in the IT industry in Aus vs UK. I’m not currently looking for a job, just researching. 

[Marisawright]

14 minutes ago, andrewfx said:

Okay thanks for those recommendations. 
As I mentioned in my first post it’s likely we wouldn’t move for another 2-4 years. My partner is finishing up university and has to do a pharmacy pre reg year in the UK first. I simply posted here to get an idea of working life in the IT industry in Aus vs UK. I’m not currently looking for a job, just researching. 

The whole visa process takes about a year. Then you just have to make an activation visit - literally one day if you want but most would do a short holiday. You then have a window of about 5 years to make the permanent move. 

Competition for visas is always fierce even for highly qualified professionals. The only thing you can predict about visas is that Australia closes its doors a little bit more every year. So don’t delay even if you’re not ready to move, because you may find you miss out altogether 

[DrDougster]

On 27/04/2021 at 07:21, andrewfx said:

Okay thanks for those recommendations. 
As I mentioned in my first post it’s likely we wouldn’t move for another 2-4 years. My partner is finishing up university and has to do a pharmacy pre reg year in the UK first. I simply posted here to get an idea of working life in the IT industry in Aus vs UK. I’m not currently looking for a job, just researching. 

Don't worry, if you asked how much a pint of milk costs in Australia the response would likely be "Very expensive, your experience in milk buying won't be recognised here you know and you'll never get a visa. Also, I can't help but wonder why you want milk? You know you can buy almond milk, and, it's litres not pints..."

[Jon the Hat]

8 hours ago, DrDougster said:

Don't worry, if you asked how much a pint of milk costs in Australia the response would likely be "Very expensive, your experience in milk buying won't be recognised here you know and you'll never get a visa. Also, I can't help but wonder why you want milk? You know you can buy almond milk, and, it's litres not pints..."

Point well made.  The truth of the matter is though this takes 1-2 years, and delaying only increases the cost and reducing the likelihood - and you get points for being younger and can't apply at all after 45!

[andrewfx]

4 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Point well made.  The truth of the matter is though this takes 1-2 years, and delaying only increases the cost and reducing the likelihood - and you get points for being younger and can't apply at all after 45!

Yes, aware how long the process takes. Luckily we are not in a great hurry or urgently looking to migrate. I am only 26 so have plenty of time before the cut off, but am aware you get more points for being under 30 i think it is  

[Jon the Hat]

17 minutes ago, andrewfx said:

Yes, aware how long the process takes. Luckily we are not in a great hurry or urgently looking to migrate. I am only 26 so have plenty of time before the cut off, but am aware you get more points for being under 30 i think it is  

The risk is more that Australia finds it has plenty if IT Network engineers and takes it off any visa list, and your chance is gone forever.  I really would start sooner rather than later.

[ali]

5 hours ago, andrewfx said:

Yes, aware how long the process takes. Luckily we are not in a great hurry or urgently looking to migrate. I am only 26 so have plenty of time before the cut off, but am aware you get more points for being under 30 i think it is  

I just want to say welcome the forum and everyone has to start somewhere in gathering the information they need and having their own timeline.  We do have some agents who regularly post and have good reputations and they are the experts on visas the rest of us are well meaning armatures in regard to that,  but offer opinions from our own experiences.  You'll get positive and negative stories and you have to sift through those for which are meaningful to you.  Good luck with your fact finding and hope it all turns out sell.

[ali]

18 hours ago, DrDougster said:

Don't worry, if you asked how much a pint of milk costs in Australia the response would likely be "Very expensive, your experience in milk buying won't be recognised here you know and you'll never get a visa. Also, I can't help but wonder why you want milk? You know you can buy almond milk, and, it's litres not pints..."

You've made my morning Dr D with this comment - it's made me really laugh out loud

[Marisawright]

5 hours ago, andrewfx said:

Yes, aware how long the process takes. Luckily we are not in a great hurry or urgently looking to migrate. I am only 26 so have plenty of time before the cut off, but am aware you get more points for being under 30 i think it is  

The point is, it's not your choice, as Jon the Hat says.  Don't assume things will be the same in three years' time as it is now.  For instance, two years ago, you could've got a 189 visa with only 75 points. Now, you'll need at least 95 points to stand any chance of even being considered.   People are saying it will be 100 points soon.   They keep raising the bar higher and higher, because they can:  there are always far more people applying than there are places.  It's exactly the same as applying for a job:  you can have all the skills and experience they've asked for, but there might still be someone better than you who gets the job.

If you're still not sure what you'd like to do, then by all means take your time. But if you've decided you want to migrate and it's just a question of when, I'd seriously urge you to get started asap. Like I said, if a miracle happened and you got a visa tomorrow, you wouldn't have to make the move for another 5 years, so you don't have to feel rushed.  

Good luck.

[DrDougster]

I'd get your ducks in a row and look at what is best for you. I don't agree with the "certainty" that there will be fewer and fewer places. If we've learnt anything over the last year it is that the only certainty is uncertainty. If you have all your qualifications and experience and points look good for an occupation on the list then crack on and apply but don't imagine options will definitely vanish. People on here have been proved very wrong about this assertion in the past.

Is your profession one where Australia is going to need fewer of you in the future or where home grown talent will begin to fill the need? Seems unlikely...

[Marisawright]

26 minutes ago, DrDougster said:

Is your profession one where Australia is going to need fewer of you in the future or where home grown talent will begin to fill the need? Seems unlikely...

Who'd have thought, ten years ago, that accountants and auditors would be taken off the list?  Nurses ?  They were all slated for removal pre-Covid. 

Another poster (in the same industry) has said his only option will be a 491. If that is the case, it means Australia already doesn't want his profession unless he's willing to live in a regional area.  That might change in the future, or it might not. Why gamble if you don't have to?

[DrDougster]

11 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Who'd have thought, ten years ago, that accountants and auditors would be taken off the list?  Nurses ?  They were all slated for removal pre-Covid. 

Another poster (in the same industry) has said his only option will be a 491. If that is the case, it means Australia already doesn't want his profession unless he's willing to live in a regional area.  That might change in the future, or it might not. Why gamble if you don't have to?

Cost, time commitment, unsure if want to move, not got qualifications yet, not got experience yet, not got skills yet, other commitments in UK at the moment, all of these for partner...

But, as to the original question of insight into the IT industry, I can't really help mate as it's not in my lane.

[Marisawright]

Just now, DrDougster said:

Cost, time commitment, unsure if want to move,

Fair enough, I read the OP's post as being uncertain WHEN to move, not IF.  However re-reading it, I may be wrong.

[Marisawright]

57 minutes ago, DrDougster said:

.....don't imagine options will definitely vanish. People on here have been proved very wrong about this assertion in the past.

Examples?  Nurses have got a reprieve due to Covid but that's only temporary. I can't think of any others and I think I've been here longer than you have.