Phillwilk

Hi everyone, I'm sorry if this has been asked before but I have searched the forum and cant seem to find the answer.

Firstly ill introduce myself my name is Phillip and me and the wife are currently contemplating a move to Australia for us and our three children 8,6,0 y/o. I am 33 and my wife is 31 and I have spent the last 7 years working as a EC&I Engineer in the UK nuclear industry specializing in remotely operated manipulators and robotics after working for 10 years as a Advanced Electrician. I hold a HND & HNC in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and NVQ level 3 in Electrical Installation and C&G 2391 inspection and testing. My wife works in elderly care and has a level 5 certificate in management(same level as HND)

Based on this I have a couple of questions and would appreciate any advice / opinions as we are trying to make a decision before throwing money at skills assessments etc.

* What are my chances of being recognized as an Electrical engineer in Australia by Engineers Australia without a degree but with 7 years experience i.e. CDR?
* What areas of the country have the highest demand for our skills? (We have a preference but want to keep it impartial)
* I have made the assumption that we will use myself as the main applicant as I will hopefully meet the Engineer requirements but if not I can apply as a Electrician, but if I apply as an Electrician does this mean I cant step up to Engineer if the opportunity arises?
* I can top up my qualifications to honors degree in 12 months but as I understand it this would mean I would have no relevant work experience as you must use experience gained after the qualification. Is this assumption correct?
* Would my wife's qualifications be recognized in Australia as her occupation doesn't appear to be on the SOL? and if it is who would assess it?
* Finally I would like to ask if anyone would mind sharing how much the whole visa application cost from start to finish, I could ring an agent but I really wouldn't know if they were taking advantage.

Sorry If that is a bit long winded Just really looking for as much information as possible to help us make a decision.

Thanks again for reading Phil

spuddyo

If you are a fully qualified electrician, you should apply for your visa based on that as it's more likely to be a positive outcome. Once you have that visa you can work in Australia as anything you like - you have your foot in the door. Once here you can sort out being a member of Engineers Australia if that's what you want to do, but first off get the visa.

Like you I was a Senior Electrical/Electronic Engineer in England with an HND, but used my trade qualifications to get a visa as an 'Electrical Fitter' which was the most certain route. I never looked back, have always found work in Engineering Management and will always be grateful for those apprentice indentures which turned out to be so valuable.

Good Luck with it. You just need to tick the right boxes, after that it will all fall into place.

old.sparkles

One other thought - some HND / HNC qualifications are recognised under the Dublin Accord I think. It may be work checking to see if yours is recognised, and maybe apply to EA as a technologist or similar. Double check your qualification and the EA website for more info.

Phillwilk

Cheers Spuddyo,

Can I ask do Australian employers readily recognize overseas experience? Just from checking the listings on seek it seems very similar to the oil and gas sector in the UK i.e. entry level job but you must have 20 years experience lol.

Yeah pleased I chose the apprenticeship route as once you have the qualification you can always fall back on it. I only went back to college as I was being turned down for jobs I knew I could do because I didn't meet the prerequisite qualifications. Seems the "or relevant experience" part of job listings is disappearing nowadays.

Phillwilk

Hi old.sparkles,

I have thought about that but I'm not sure what that would allow me to work as in Australia. Unfortunately my qualification is not on the accredited qualifications list on the IET website, I have however spoken to them in the past but due to the nature of my work I cannot supply much in the way of evidence to support my accreditation at CEng level but should be able to meet IENG (less evidence required). I'm assuming Technologist is a similar level to IENG?
Bit of a shame though because they published an article in the E&T magazine on my last project where I was Lead Engineer.

Do you have any experience with EA as I have read mixed reviews online?

old.sparkles

No real experience with EA, but did have a look as I could have possibly had my HNC recognised. What you need to do is find the easiest route for you because regardless of assessment, you can do whatever work you can get (subject to licensing). If you are going to need to be licensed for the work you do, then go the electricians route as this will give you a pathway to getting it.

If you want to go EA route, but don't have recognised qualification, then you can go the CDR route possibly (CDR = Competency Demonstration Report or similar)

spuddyo

I can only speak from my experience, all three employers I have had were very happy that I had brought my experience over from England. The first employer actually used it as a marketing tactic " our Engineering Manager is trained in England" - it worked because the business was selling high end UK audio products. My second employer was over the moon that I used to work at the BBC, he couldn't believe his luck. My current employer used to be part of the Daily Mail Group in England, so half the workforce were English when I first joined.

None of them has ever asked to see my qualifications, only requested proof of PR or Citizenship. None of them are aware that in the eyes of Immigration officials that I am an 'Electrical Fitter' on paper. Like everyone else I edit my CV/Resume to match the job and tick as many boxes as possible - that's how Australia seems to like it. Can you tick the box ? - yup, you'll be right mate. If you can't tick the box, no chance.

Skilled Visa is the way to go, dig out your apprenticeship papers, get some references, tick the boxes, get the visa and then worry about the rest.

Phillwilk

Thanks for the advice I think I need to do some research into the skills assessment and path to getting an A grade licence and the cost.

xizzles

Here's some real world advice: Once you get your 189 (a permanent visa), you are free to do whatever you wish - you could sell ice cream or be a juggler, and no one would care

Only trouble is, Australia apparently requires you to have a licence for the simplest things, so you might wanna check if what you wish to do would contravene union laws, trade laws and the law in general

Good luck!

Phillwilk

Thanks for the advice looks like I'm going to have a read up tonight.

spuddyo

If you are not intending to work as an Electrical Contractor, you wont need a trade license. The contractors license is only required after PR has been granted if you choose to go down that path. Use your trade as a path to PR and then when you get here look for work in your preferred profession.

old.sparkles

There is a difference between a contractors license and an electrical workers license. I am not a contractor, but I am an electrician so required to be licensed.