UKGrad

Hi all,

First time posting so bear with me!

I am in my final year of study at a top UK university and will graduate this June with an economics degree. I spent the penultimate year of my degree at Monash University on an exchange programme. I did this on a Student Non-Award Sector (subclass 575) visa. I fell in love with the place; I have lots of friends there, watched & played lots of footy and also have an uncle living in Melbourne who is a Permanent Resident.

As I am approaching the end of my degree, I am exploring the best way to move to Australia permanently. As I have yet to finish my degree I have no full time post-university work experience, and I get the impression that my economics degree does not place me as well as say an engineering or medicine degree.

What would be the best thing for me to do moving forward? I could get a WHV but I don't see that leading to anything long term. I am flexible with regards to my career at this early stage of my life and have considered accountancy as it is on the SOL, but taking 3 years in the UK to become qualified in the UK and then move to Australia is not ideal. I am perfectly happy considering non-office jobs as well if it means I can train quicker and then move to Australia quicker. Or are there any other routes I could take? Ultimately I just want to finish my degree and move over!

Thanks a lot

Bermudashorts

You will not be able to move over on a permanent visa after you graduate, you might as well put that right out of your mind. There are only a couple of occupations where a degree is sometimes enough to get a positive skills assessment which would enable a permanent visa and those are accountancy and engineering.

Put your plan on a back burner, Australia is not going anywhere. Choose a career you want to do and then come back to this when you are established and have some work experience under your belt. I would not follow a career just for a visa as rules and lists can and do change. So do something you think you will enjoy.

You are absolutely right that a WHV as a new graduate will not help you in your mission to move to Australia - not unless you meet a nice Aussie guy or gal anyway. A WHV for a 28 year old who has already started a career can sometimes lead to them getting sponsored and staying on and eventually citizneshio even. But if I had a pound for every new graduate that went over on a WHV and then came in here desperate to find a way of staying on, well let's just say I would be a very rich woman.

What you could do though, is the first year WHV, do regional work for three months and secure a second WHV to be used later on, after you have started hur career maybe.

verystormy

Totally agree with the above.

It is the most important thing that you go into a career that you enjoy - your going to be doing it for a LONG time. If it results in a move to oz down the track, so be it. But there is little point in trying to go into something just for the purpose of oz as by the time you are qualified, it may no longer be eligible. For example, accounting is an occupation that doesn't require post qualifacation experience to pass the skills assessment. However, it is also an occupation flagged for potential removal from the SOL list in July - the lists are updated regularly with occupations added and removed.

UKGrad

Thank you both for your informative responses. Regarding careers, I would not necessarily pick a career just because it would be easier to get into Australia; rather, I was asking if there were specific careers that would stand me in good stead for a move to Australia, which I could then explore further :-)

I stumbled across the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), and although I get the impression that its first priority is not to attract graduates like myself, I can see myself fitting the bill, so to speak. What are you thoughts on this?

Thanks again

goldchoccycoin

You could in theory get a 186 ENS visa - however it would beg the question as to why the employer would pay out thousands in visa costs for an unskilled/inexperienced graduate from overseas when they can likely find 100's if not thousands of graduates onshore - even if we ignore the fact that they would probably prefer someone with experience.

There is a lot of competition for almost all jobs/careers in Australia at the present time - lots of skilled people onshore already and an economic downturn in some sectors has made competition fairly tight. I can't really think of a career that is 'in demand' regardless of what the SOL or CSOL might imply. Most doctors seem to find work without a problem - it used to be that way for nurses but not at present, much tougher to find a position. Best to find a job you enjoy, get some experience and then consider your pathway to Australia.

Best of luck.

Bermudashorts

What do you mean you see yourself fitting the bill for a 186 visa? Do you mean in the future? It seems one of the most unlikely visas to me. There are not that many qualified and experienced people that could persuade an employer to sponsor for a permanent visa like this from overseas. Most people would have a lot of trouble securing a temporary employer sponsored visa from overseas, never mind a permanent one.

More importantly though, this visa requires a positive skills assessment in an occupation on the skills list and three years work experience. So this would rule you out at the moment even if the willing employer could be found.

To the first part, I could only reiterate, follow a career you would enjoy as there is no way of knowing what will be on the lists in the future,

verystormy

A 186 would still require an occupation on one of the skills lists and an employer would have to prove they are hiring you because they couldn't find a local.

It is very hard to say what would be a good occupation in several years time as things can change fast. Three years ago, my occupation was probably the most in demand occupation in Australia. Today it has massive unemployment and impossible to get a visa for.