stebo

Hi all,

I got my PR I and will be going to Oz in January . I'm hoping to travel round all the major cities first to see the country and decide where to live but then I guess I'll have to settle back into work.

I was hoping someone else on BE had migrated to Oz and got work as a Contract/Perm IT Project Manager and if so how easy they found it, what qualifications they had (prince2, PMP, etc) and where in the country they got their job?

Any other advice on being a PM in Oz would be great.

Thanks all......

datamile

Sydney is the place for IT work... depends if you want the sydney life

tonik25

Hi I am an IT Project Manager (Prince 2 practitioner). I am flying out on 12th November - doing the same as you - travelling for a few months and then looking for jobs so I'll let you know how I get on. From the job searches I've done it looks like you need to be near a big city for IT work.

Intially considered Sydney because of the job opportunities and have family there but house prices are so high so we are looking more at Queensland - possbibly work in Brisbane but live further out. However, I like the idea of getting out of the rat race and doing something less stressful so may even consider a career change! Anyway keep in touch and I'll update you in a few months time ;o)

stebo

Thanks for replying, nice to know I'm not alone... I know what you mean about doing something else. I'm going to continue with Project Management until I can sort out (read: think of) something else too. It'd be great to hear how you get on - best of luck!

Whitby Wanderers

I came out here (Brisbane) in June after 15yrs plus UK experience as an IT PM in both the perm and contract world.....My experience of the market so far is that it's not really that different to the UK....just smaller, with a cliquey feel to it....who you know is distinctly advantageous! Finding the right role takes just as long and just as much effort and frustration as the UK.

Most of the work is in the capital cities with a massive emphasis on Sydney and Melbourne, followed by Brisbane, Perth and Canberra ( although Canberra seems to be mostly Federal Government oriented roles). Work worth having outside the major centres is rare and usually poorly paid.

Prince 2 goes down very well, however a formal qulification in any recognised methodology seems acceptable. A very big plus is ITIL, particularly the Managers certification which is in big demand, and any exposure to Sarbanes Oxley is well worth highlighting on the CV.

Unfortunately you still have to deal with recruitment agents through whom many roles are advertised.....and many of them behave in the same unpleasant way as agents in the UK....applications are ignored, phone calls not returned, wanting to put you forward for roles you are not qualified for..etc...etc....you need to be persistient if you want to be submitted for an advertised role....get your face in front of them if you can. Having said that there are some good agents around who will work hard on your behalf.

Thers is also a tendency here for large companies to sub-contract PM work out to "specialist preferred supplier" companies ( e.g. there is a very large insurance company in Brisbane that has a relationship with a data network supplier and all PM's for their contracts are sourced by the supplier....and they source also PM's for non data related roles via the same company, effectively using them as an agency! )....so a good trick is to find those companies that specialise in doing whatever you are experienced in and canvass them direct.

As for earnings, don't expect to translate what you were on in the UK, especially contract wise! In Brisbane an experienced PM in a decent contract can look at $75+ per hour. Perm roles...anything from $80k to $130k+ per annum.

Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions..

Simon

datamile

The sydney life is not for us, so we are hopeing that Brisbane will have a large enough IT market to get some work.

Any more info on IT in Brisbane ? I've been an oracle database developer / designer, working as a contractor for the last 12 years for large investment banks. Big stable databases are my thing. Hopefully moving to Brisbane spring next year.

TeresaG

I am an IT Project manager too and we are looking at moving to the Gold Coast or maybe Brisbane. I'm hoping there will be these kinds of jobs around but I'm thinking of maybe doing something else any way.

Deadmeat

As far as I can tell (been here a year and a half) the IT market is pretty good at the moment (went from contract to permanent recently).

I've been doing DB stuff for about 15 years and if you're willing to do some networking rather than rely on the (useless) agencies I reckon you'll be OK. There's a lot of drinking involved in networking ... I like networking ...

Matt

RayZor

Hi,
I have literally just landed in Brisbane...there are a handful of agents and prospects look promising, so far so good. I will let you know how I go...

Rates are no where near as good in proportion but that's not why you come here...

Liking Brisbane so far...

Ray

Swing-Your-Pants

"There's a lot of drinking involved in networking ... I like networking ..."

I'm looking forward to this Networking lark :-) I'm an IT Project Manager with the Prince2 badge etc moving to Perth at the end of November. Thus far the agencies haven't been much help and the contacts I have, have expressed an interest but only want to really talk when I hit the ground.

One thing I'm just getting my head around is you won't get rich in this role in Oz. Expect to take up to a 50% drop in wages compared to the UK. This isn't ideal but money is not a major factor in making our decision to move.

Deadmeat

At the risk of sounding smug, I managed to match my UK salary here ... that could of course mean I was vastly underpaid before ...

wongstonn

Hi

I am a Prince 2 qualified I.T project manager who came to Melbourne about 15 months ago, and have been working for a major bank for 13 months.

The market for IT proejct managers is okay at the moment. Having professional qualifications is a definate boon to your chances. PMI is more common, but Prince2 is perfectly adequate and well known by agents. Government institutions ask for Prince2 just as in the UK.

The market is probably better for those wanting to move to consultancy firms at the moment. This does not always mean travel within the 'region' (for which read Tokyo, Chennia and Singapore - rather you than me), and can mean travel mostly within the metro area of your city - if your city is Sydney or Melbourne.

In terms of getting the jobs, well, I applied for about 20. I learned that I normally had to do a chase call to the agency and be ready with my 'sales pitch' well the inevitable happened - they hadn't read the CV. Be ready for potentially very long lead times before securing interviews and offers. Yes, some people are inundated with offers as soon as they get start job hunting, but many do not.

Neil

tonik25

We wanted to live in Queensland so looks like Brisbane is my best bet for an IT PM job - OH is also looking for IT job, he is a network engineer (mainly cisco). We don't want to live in a city though, we love the idea of the Sunshine Coast, somewhere like Buderim. Do you know if it would be feasible to commute to Brisbane CBD from the sunshine coast or is it just too far out?

JackTheLad

Way too far out to commute to Brisbane CBD everyday. A guy I worked with on a project stayed in the city during the week and went home only on the weekend, or occasionally mid-week if he could work from home for a day or two.

Mrs JTL

Whitby Wanderers

There are plenty of previous threads on this subject and the majority come to the conclusion that it is too much of a pain. Having seen the streams of slow moving traffic heading north on the highway out of Brisbane from 15:30 onwards every week-day I would tend to agree with them. There are folks who do it though. Having spent 10 years struggling through the nightmare of the UK motorways I vowed not to do it here...one of the reasons that the Bayside is full of Brits, including me, I guess!
Simon