caau

Hi,

I am interested in any information about the current engineering job market in Australia. I am graduating next year with a Civil Engineering BSc - Internship Option with 12 months of internship experience and I qualify for the 189 Visa(EA Washington Accord Skills and 65 points).

Are there any engineers here who would be able to give an insight if it is worth it to come to Australia to begin my engineering career?

I have gained experience in design as well as field experience in a large civil project from my summer co-op work experiences. I would be interested in working anywhere in the country, whether it be in the city or rotational field work in the rural.

Looking online it seems to be VERY saturated with engineers trying to come to Australia from India and the like.

Any input appreciated here, thanks!

Beoz

Phoodilicious

I work for one of the world's largest engineering companies and while the infrastructure market here is booming in some parts there are engineers who come from the resources and industrial sector who have been out of jobs for a long time now (due to the mining crash) and who are also looking to move into infrastructure jobs so competition is fierce and there are a lot of very experienced engineers out there. Our recruiters are being inundated with applications for every job we post and people have been willing to take a huge pay drop from what they were used to just to have a job (this is more on the industrial/resources side as I said previously but a civil engineer doing non-process infrastructure on a mine site is still designing/building roads, rail, buildings etc).

This isn't to say you shouldn't pursue this thought - just telling you what we are seeing from the employer's point of view currently.

caau

Good input, thanks.

I will have to wait and see what the situation is like in 1.5-2 years time which is a reasonable time frame for me. I have had the thought in my head for over 10 years now to move to Australia after seeing photos from family who have made the move and absolutely love it there. I can always go there on a 476 Engineer Graduate visa and gain some Australian work experience before spending $$$ on the 189.

Phoodilicious

You might also want to consider joining one of the global engineering companies in the UK first and then using this platform to get intra-company transfers/sponsorship (at the company's cost) in due course.

You can even look at doing summer internships at such companies while you are completing your degree and then apply for their graduate program. When you join a large global company like that you get to see all the internal and external vacancies around the world and if successful get to move at the company's cost.

I moved within my company from UK to two locations in the US and then to Australia and ultimately will move on somewhere else with them too hopefully.

caau

I will have a look at the possibilities of inter-company transfers. Though I do think it would be difficult to go this route as a graduate.

Did some reading, who knows if it's true or not:

Nocookies | The Australian

joeyballantyne

This might help with looking at prospects...
http://joboutlook.gov.au/occupation....ter=&code=2332

comet555

Any word on prospects for mining engineers?

We are currently in Canada but possess Australian Citizenship and my husband worked in Queensland for 3 years before mining really died off. We have no immediate plans to move back however my husband is looking for a job here in Canada and hasn't had much luck yet. So I'm just curious to see what the prospects are like there.

Dorothy

There's no work here, but come to Perth!!

verystormy

Mining in Oz is still pretty bad for jobs.

One of the largest mines in the world is about to be built in the UK

Amazulu

Things are definitely picking up but it is still pretty quiet - it will take a while for much of the work to filter through to actual jobs. I was at uni last year with a few geologists - the guys who are at the forefront of new mining work and the first to get the chop - and they were all saying that activity is increasing. Some genuine mining projects starting up this year with some already being engineered. It also looks like one of the biggest mining projects ever - the Adani coal mine in Queensland - is close to FIA for a mid-year start. I never imagined that this project would ever get up but it looks like it is. Go coal!!!

The problem you face is that there are a lot of underemployed engineers here already and these guys will be first to take up the slack

Good luck

comet555

You come to Kingston! Lol.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I figured that might be the case. I've started to see more mention in news articles and mining sites about the upswing started again so it appears it just needs time to filter down to new jobs. That works well for us anyway as we've got another 8 years before the youngest finishes high school. I didn't particularly want to move back before then but have been thinking about it if my husband can't find a job in Canada.

The only plus for us this time as opposed to when we initially made the move is that we already have citizenship and my husband already has a few years work experience there along with references.

The Canada/Oz exchange rate sucks now anyway!

Dorothy

Would like to if there is work for the boyfriend. Lots of work for me there but he's the main bread winner so have to look at work for him

comet555

What does he do?

Dorothy

Heavy duty mechanic - mostly mining industry but working on trains currently