zRichi

Hi!

I originally wanted to go canada but as bunac have no visas left I'm looking at different options. Australia being one!

I work in IT as an Infrastructure Analyst/Engineer and just wondering what the IT sector will be like for me. Is it reasonable to assume I can make £25k down under on a working holiday Visa? Any other info would be grand!

Anyway my plans are to go Oz in august, apply for a canadian visa in dec and go toronto next August - but you never know I may love Oz!

Any help would be appreciated.

Kind regards
Richi

renth

Unlikely. The WHV only allows you to work a max of 3 months for any employer, most IT employers wouldn't look at WHV holders.

coolshadows

Aren't you restricted to 20 hours a week? I think it would be extremely hard to find a part time IT job (though maybe not impossible! ).

On 20 hours you'd be hard pushed to earn the equivalent of £25,000, but again if you are a leader in your field then why not.

I have to add that I work 40 hours a week as a senior .Net Analyst Programmer / Developer (with 10 years experience working in some blue chip companies) and I earn around $60,000 (about the equivalent of £25,000 ).

Syedney

$60,000 (about the equivalent of £25,000)

Not according to current rates. According to xe.com, the exchange ($60k AU) equates to around £35k..

In relation to IT jobs here, I found that most companies here are asking for highly qualified ppl to fill in jobs that are low skilled, i.e. asking for senior developers to fill in the jobs that are really graduate or junior positions!

Probably why they pay so low...You need to be a highly specialised .net developer, maybe even an MVP or with many accreditations, before they give jobs that are challenging!

Very annoying and this fact should be highlighted so that we can stop this kind of exploitations

Bermudashorts

It makes no sense to apply the current, historically low FX rates to get an idea of what a salary might be equivalent to because cost of living hasn't fallen in line with exchange rates. It makes more sense to apply the more "normal" 2.2 or therabouts.

Couple of points on the above comments, the OP won't be restricted to 20 hous a week on a WHV, full time work is allowed. They also can spend up to 6 months in any one place, it was increased from 3 months. I expect it would still be quite difficult to get a professional job though, many employers would look elsewhere first me thinks.

coolshadows

You're absolutely right - I said equivalent, not what the exchange rate was.

Not being limited to 20 hours is great, though I agree that even 3 month contracts might be out as a lot of firms actually look at extending them repeatedly (which wouldn't be possible beyond 6 months by the sounds of it)

Syedney: My job is a senior role, I'm mentoring other developers, and doing a lot of the system design work. I earned a lot more than £25k in the UK! The average full time male salary in SA is around $62,000 (thankfully I'm due a pay review ). My company recently took on 2 more experienced developers on similar salaries (there were many, many applications that they received, but let an agency thin them out - who they use all the time). Both guys are migrants and have been here for over 10 years.
With the vast number of applicants, it would seem that either people are unhappy in their work, or there is a lack of IT jobs about (though SA doesn't have a large IT base anyhow).

DownUnderPaddy

It makes no sense to be even bringing exchange rates into it. You will be paid in AUS$ for work you do here, so that's the only figure that makes sense really.

What it 'converts' to ,whether it is at todays rate, last years rate, or next years rate is a bit of a red herring really.

Rather than stressing about how much you may earn while here on a WHV, I would suggest to put your energies into making sure you can get some job.

DownUnderPaddy

yeech ! I would have thought senior analyst programmer (.Net) roles would be in the 70k-100k range ??? Had no idea the salaries were so low in SA.

coolshadows

Yeah, me too. From the posts on BE prior to coming I was under the impression I'd be looking at >$100k. Though, if it was just about money I'd have headed to Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane before thinking of SA.

It's only being here, and speaking to the people that work here that you quickly realise high paid IT jobs are few and far between in SA. When I first arrived I took a job at $50k. I found a lot of advertised jobs simply didn't exist and it was agencies just collecting CVs.

I'd say that the higher paid jobs are in the construction industry, but I'm not sure about that either. I know a plasterer who earns about $40k, he said the 'better' paid contracts involved him having to pay 'fees' () which made it pointless.

zRichi

Nightmare

So not only the pay is not great but work is hard to find? Is that the case even in Sydney or Perth?

coolshadows

Certainly the likes of Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney are better than Adelaide with regards to the IT jobs market. In any case, it's best to be prepared for some serious job hunting (with the possibility of the odd setback along the way ).

Also note that reputation often beats actual experience here. It's 'who you know' more than 'what you know'.

fish.01

My company in Brisbane (large .NET projects - hundreds of developers/technical staff) pay the more junior guys 60K. Senior A/P would be in the 90-110k range.

Free breakfast, espresso machines, newspapers, candy, fruit loaf, condiments etc, certifications paid for, days off to study, Friday drinks, pool/fusball tables, Nintendo Wii, casual dress, dual monitors, regular PC replacement, latest technologies (eg team leader immediately bought an iPad and told us all to take it home), annual pay reviews, free bike centre with showers, repairs and towel service, and plenty of jobs available.

You need to move

Syedney

Just to qualify that: very very low!



I think starting salary for a .net developer should be around $60k, me thinks...More senior, more in the range mentioned here.

$25k? This must be reflected on pricing of things (living costs)?

Dorothy

Not on a WHV. You can work full time, but only for maximum 6 months for any one employer. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/49whm.htm

dave99

there are plenty of contract positions you can get for 3-4 months in IT so work wont be much of a problem while your deciding on australia. I came over on a whv and eventually got a permanent visa then citizenship so it can be done. Dont listen to the other posts saying you carnt, I did it.