daniel0331

Hi there,

Can I ask if there is any engineer who has moved from UK to Australia?

I've been so fed up with the UK weather/life and I've decided to move away to either Middle East or Australia.

I'm a structural engineer with 5 years experience in UK.

1) What's the working life in Australia?

2) What sort of salary shall I be expecting?

3) Is Aus better than UK lifestyle wise?

Appreciate for any reply. Thank you.

Paul & June

Definitely OZ and look on Seek.com.au for your pay, loads of work on there for you mate. Good luck

lazerzxr

Im a civil engineer and moved a month ago. Its winter and im in SA so its a bit cold at the moment but they are a friendly bunch and i think i'll be fine here. Forget what I or anyone else tells you about life here, come and see for yourself, you're obviously thinking about it. Just do it I did and forget the scare stories too. I got here and its no different from england really except the silly pedestrian crossings!

If nothing else it will be an experience. Food is expensive, everything else cost the same. I earn significantly more than i did in the UK because over there i was considered a graduate worthless no nothing - here am considered to have 4 years experience and some knowledge even if im not chartered. My manager is nice here too, not the pompous self important waste of space that used to run the office in england. People here are more human.

On the downside thay dont know how to insulate buildings so its cold at home in the winter and you will be a VERY long way from friends - but skype is a wonderful thing!

bjddavies

It's worth a try coming over here.

The mining boom has increased wages by quite a lot.

daniel0331

That's amazing! I'm a structural engineer with 5 years experience in the UK. Past 2 years were concentrating on high rise design projects, but I have wide range of experience ranging from stadium to industrial to residential. Part time, I'm also doing design for private builders for timber and masonry design. If I want to work on high-rise buildings, how is the market condition there? Issit booming or slowing down?

I'm hoping to work in Melbourne. Any idea which website I could obtain more information on the rental for 1 bedroom in city centre or cost of living there? I want to know if I can sustain myself there.

P/s: I like the phrase "people here are more human" LOL

lazerzxr

Well Im in Adelaide which I understand is much cheeper than Melbourne so I cant help with living cost. I cant help with market either because like i say I havent been here long and again im in Adelaide so dont know about Melbourne.

All I can say is that I was living a boring life in England, comfortable but boring and all my friends were a couple of hours drive away anyway so i didnt see them that much. I took the chance to go and have some fun. It was that simple. I came on here and saw messages about people fining it sooo difficult being soo far away and people at their wits end not knowing what to do with themselves and decided they must have been expecting too much or leaving behind a life that they didnt realise how good it was! For me ive come here, ive had problems and every day brings a new challenge but who cares, if i was at home id be bored anyway. Not once have i regretted it, i havent missed home Ive already fed a kangaroo and im every bit as happy as i was at home. The only difference is I earn more and have a new place to explore.

If you are bored then it will shake up the next few years for you if nothing else. It will look good on your CV too.

All I will say is that for me its an adventure. Australia is not some utopia where everything is wonderful and it wont be hot all year round either - at least not in Melbourne. The cheepest place is Adelaide and its a great place to live too. I walk to work, have relatively cheep living, and it just suits my style. Ignore what people say about places though you have to go where YOU want to go. I told a friend I was coming here before i left and he reacted like it was an absolute waste coming all this way just to live in some shanty town!! But the reality is he had never been here and didnt know what he was talking about, I love it here!!! He would have chosen Brisbane which is not for me....

A word of warning....My experience is there are a lot of people on here that just want to talk to people to thinking of doing it so they can look big (ignore them they exaggerate). There are the people who are struggling to adjust to the new environment and need emotional support (ignore them they will scare you). They typical internet warrior who only comes on when something has gone wrong and they want to tell the hole world to make them feel better (ignore them they are only there to complain) And then there are the people with a specific problem or question (they wont help you because they are looking for answers) And then people like me who have done it and just wanted to have a last look on the forum before deciding they dont need it anymore. Ignore me I cant help you with your specific question im just rambling.

But whatever you do, make your own mind up and remember, what you find when you get here will be a product of your frame of mind and expectations when you left. Life still goes on here, people get annoyed, it rains, there was a frost this morning. But at least my manager smiles and says hello and asks how I am with a tone that sounds like he is genuine in the morning and tells me where the best pubs are on a friday night......

All the best, hope you make the right choice for you....

daniel0331

Thanks v much for your reply lazerzxr. Appreciate your detailed explanation.

I guess I'm living the same boring fed up life as you last time. I'm not a person who stays at the same position. I like challenging stuff and travel to diferent country. I guess now OZ is definitely the choice. I've got interviews lining up v soon too. Really hope it goes well.

I understood a complete change in life might take some effort but I will take that as an expedition and adventure. At the mo, I'm only gathering as much information as possible so I will know what to expect and wouldn't be experiencing a culture shock.

I was told oil and gas is very hot in OZ. Is that the case?

northerner

I'm a structural engineer working in Sydney. No worries about getting work in most major cities in Oz, everywhere seems desparate to take people on.

Cheers,

Graham

daniel0331

Hi Graham,

Good to know there are structural engineer around. Is high-rise design a big thing there or perhaps O&G is more primary? Any idea?

northerner

Yes fair bit of high rise around, our office has a few on. I'm more into hospitals etc. Currently doing $400m Casino extension also - lots of interesting stuff.

I think for O&G you need to look more at western oz (?) not sure on that one to be honest.

Lots of mining etc. around but again more wastern/northern than Melbourne/Sydney.

Cheers,

Graham

spartacus

Speaking of Brisbane / SE QLD, works still flying. The major consulting engineering firms that I know are always looking for staff; junior through to senior positions. There's a lot of flux in the market here so staff, at the moment, are sought after.

I've pm'd you.

Deutschmaster

What I've found is that some people have a 'grass is greener over there' attitude. They come to Aus with an expectation that everything will be magically better compared to the UK, and then get disappointed when it isn't exactly how they thought it would be.

From what I've seen there are more possibilities for engineers here than in the UK because this country is still developing. UK engineering by comparison has always seemed conservative and resistant to change and innovation.

Oh, if you want to rent a flat in Melbourne you will be looking at least $200 a week for 1 bedroom.Have a look at www.realestate.com.au

Cornelius Wankstaffe

Well done lazerxr for one of the best non-bias posts I have saw on this site

O&G is hot everywhere at the moment, I'm a chartered engineer with many years of O&G experience and the opportunities for me at present are excellent. One annoyance I have with this industry is they don't like taking on people who don't have experience of O&G, you could find yourself having to take a step back into a more junior role until your "training" is complete.
Another piece of advice is to get chartered now, if you keep putting it off you'll never do it and this meaningless bit of paper/extra letters after your name can make a difference to the salary you command!
There's not much oil in Western Aus, it's mainly gas, one of the largest engineering companies in WA (Perth) is Worley Parsons, check their website for openings.
If you need any further advice on O&G engineering worlwide, feel free to PM me.

[QUOTE=Deutschmaster;6608523]
From what I've seen there are more possibilities for engineers here than in the UK because this country is still developing. UK engineering by comparison has always seemed conservative and resistant to change and innovation.
[QUOTE]

This also annoys me but it's all tried & tested methods though, the old "if it 'aint broke...." mentality.
But, if you were spending millions of your own money on a project would you want a garaunteed solution or an unproved innovative one?

daniel0331

This is great! Seriously I respect all these sincere answers!

I guess O&G is not the golden ticket for me, yet. Perhaps i should stick to high-rise and some normal projects first. If I wanna move, I will move later in future.

And yes, UK is conservative, which means less challenging and less space for improvements. I prefer more challenging projects.

How about the design standards? Obviously we are using BS here, is aus standard very different?

Do engineers work overtime madly there?

How about IstructE exam there? Do they have it in BS or AS??

northerner

Hi Daniel,

Standards are Australian Standards (AS) and are slightly different to BS. No major dramas changing over though, different factors of safety and slightly different way of working in limit state design. At the end of the day though the AS are based on the BS so you may find yourself refering to these for reference/clarity.

I've worked a bit of overtime (paid - for a change!) but only when really necessary. The mentality (in my company at least) is that there is (a little bit) more to life than work. We have a roof top pool (I'm serious) and regular roof top BBQ's/drinks after work etc. Obviously we work hard when busy but overall it's fine.

Regarding getting chartered over here - there is no exam. You have an 'interview' and provide sufficient experience reports etc and you get chartered. This is NOT transferable to IStructE, but if you do the exam in the UK it IS transferable to Oz - ie you don't have to do the interview.

Cheers,

Graham