Working in IT in Australia

[s713]

On 25/04/2021 at 20:25, 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. 

I'm a BA not a tech IT resource, we lived in Perth for 11 years. You would be right to target Sydney and Melbourne for IT jobs, much more plentiful than in Perth. There are some big players in Perth, but not many. So, opportunities are limited somewhat.

I don't know what the WFH opportunities are like, Perth has had nothing like the scale of lockdowns we in the UK have had so I doubt WFH has become as ingrained there. They didn't like it when I was there (different times, granted) nor did I ever hear of flexi working.

[JetBlast]

21 hours ago, s713 said:

I'm a BA not a tech IT resource, we lived in Perth for 11 years. You would be right to target Sydney and Melbourne for IT jobs, much more plentiful than in Perth.

You can’t really compare a network  engineer job prospects to a BA. A BA can carry out their tasks anywhere - ours are based in India. A network engineer not so much so. 

[s713]

6 hours ago, JetBlast said:

You can’t really compare a network  engineer job prospects to a BA. A BA can carry out their tasks anywhere - ours are based in India. A network engineer not so much so. 

I wasn't comparing job prospects, I was referring to IT in general.

[JetBlast]

12 hours ago, s713 said:

I wasn't comparing job prospects, I was referring to IT in general.

I get that. But you’re giving the impression Sydney and Melbourne is where it’s at. However for a position like this it’s evenly spread across the country and in proportion to the population. 

[FirstWorldProblems]

6 hours ago, JetBlast said:

I get that. But you’re giving the impression Sydney and Melbourne is where it’s at. However for a position like this it’s evenly spread across the country and in proportion to the population. 

Ergo more jobs in Sydney and Melbourne

[andrewfx]

Thanks for the replies. 
@JetBlast I get your point, but in my personal experience network engineers aren’t required on site almost anywhere near as much as previously. In my current place we have data centre guys for troubleshooting/incidents/commissions. My old place was a services provider and would usually sub contract out any rack and stack jobs (or sometimes have field engineers for particular clients). 

Definitely interested to hear if experiences are different in Aus! Is there a lot of travel needed to sites? I could count on one hand the amount I’ve had to travel over my last couple of jobs.

[JetBlast]

1 hour ago, andrewfx said:

Thanks for the replies. 
@JetBlast I get your point, but in my personal experience network engineers aren’t required on site almost anywhere near as much as previously. In my current place we have data centre guys for troubleshooting/incidents/commissions. My old place was a services provider and would usually sub contract out any rack and stack jobs (or sometimes have field engineers for particular clients). 

Definitely interested to hear if experiences are different in Aus! Is there a lot of travel needed to sites? I could count on one hand the amount I’ve had to travel over my last couple of jobs.

I wouldn’t expect a company to have engineers at every site. for example we don’t have them in Melbourne and Sydney. As you say they use subcontractors. Someone has to fill those positions. 

[newjez]

Is Canberra not a big place for IT? When I look for jobs in Oz Canberra comes up most for me. Admittedly I'm old school COBOL currently. 

[Paul1Perth]

On 26/04/2021 at 15:07, 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 would have thought going somewhere with a warm sunny climate would have been one of the major reasons why you want to leave North East UK. 

You don't get constant heat in Perth, it can be cold in winter, jumper jeans and coat weather, not ice and snow. Good mix really, by the time summers finished I'm not averse to a few weeks where it's colder. When winters done though I'm hanging out for the summer.

Brisbane is a lot more humid than Perth. We get a dry heat, feels pretty comfortable up to mid 30's and mostly perfect beach weather. Means you can have a great time when you're not at work. Beaches are close to the City too, lots of them and it's easy to live in a coastal suburb and work in the City.

[Paul1Perth]

21 hours ago, newjez said:

Is Canberra not a big place for IT? When I look for jobs in Oz Canberra comes up most for me. Admittedly I'm old school COBOL currently. 

A lot of jobs in Canberra require you to be an Australian citizen and sometimes have a secret or top secret security clearance. 

Also Canberra has nothing that I'd want to come to Aus for. May as well stay in the UK and move to Milton Keynes.

[Paul1Perth]

On 30/04/2021 at 15:47, s713 said:

I'm a BA not a tech IT resource, we lived in Perth for 11 years. You would be right to target Sydney and Melbourne for IT jobs, much more plentiful than in Perth. There are some big players in Perth, but not many. So, opportunities are limited somewhat.

I don't know what the WFH opportunities are like, Perth has had nothing like the scale of lockdowns we in the UK have had so I doubt WFH has become as ingrained there. They didn't like it when I was there (different times, granted) nor did I ever hear of flexi working.

I worked in IT in the defence industry for years. Retired just before covid hit. I keep in touch with a couple of friends and they have been paid a full salary and worked from home since about last March. One guy has been to the office about 4 times since. On top of that there has been hardly any work to do. A lot of the jobs need interstate travel, usually to nice places around Aus on company expenses. 

He's not even been logging in, he says nobody checks. Worked out great for him, he bought a house and had plenty of time to work on it.

Company were never worried about what time you got there or left. As long as the work got done. Mostly software Engineers who like gaming when they weren't at work. Some used to roll in at 10 or even 11am. Stayed later I guess but no-one really checked.

We've been extremely lucky with covid, almost unaffected, as long as you didn't want to travel. We've had a 3 day lockdown last week as 1 case and a few transmissions, we're having to wear masks at the moment. Be back to normal soon though I reckon.

Went to the footy (West Coast Eagles) game with my son when almost the rest of the world was in the worst state. You wouldn't have known covid was around. Pub before was packed and went to the pub after the match. Even more packed, DJ, dance floor packed, no masks, really good night. 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Paul1Perth

[andrewfx]

Thanks all. Good to know Perth is dry heat - I think I was under the impression that it’s constant humidity and unbearable heat!!! I supposed it’s something you acclimatise to  

Does anyone have any insight into some good areas to live with young kids, not too far of a commute to the CBD (which I guess is where most IT jobs would be?). Or any good resources for sounding out good areas to live?

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, andrewfx said:

Thanks all. Good to know Perth is dry heat - I think I was under the impression that it’s constant humidity and unbearable heat!!! I supposed it’s something you acclimatise to  

Does anyone have any insight into some good areas to live with young kids, not too far of a commute to the CBD (which I guess is where most IT jobs would be?). Or any good resources for sounding out good areas to live?

Perth and Adelaide are both dry heat.