CITEC I'd imagine..?? I'd look at the motorcycle license option.

We moved to the Sunshine Coast early this year and are finding things generally much more of a struggle than back in Berkshire.
In the UK I worked for 6 years in web design and content management, gaining a lot of experience in ecommerce. In Australia I wanted to set up my own business selling online, but have found a lot of resistence to online shopping.
My wife and I want to trade places: she will stay at home with the kids and I'll go out to find full-time work.

So, I've been looking around for work primarily as an ecommerce business analyst. It's not looking good. I've spoken to friends in big blue-chip companies and they're all saying the same thing: a lot of IT jobs are going overseas. Those which are here are in the big cities.
Commuting from the Suncoast to Brisbane isn't a feasable option. Public transport isn't well integrated and driving is the only cost effective option. Driving is awful: people tailgate, speed limits are low (and often made lower by constant roadworks), roads are too often closed by accidents and the death rate [on Queensland roads] is about 50% higher than in Britain (2005: 330 deaths for 4M QLD residents vs. 3000 deaths for 60M UK residents).

If you're coming to Australia in search of It work, then you must be prepared to live in the city. Consequently you will probably be able to afford the same small, expensive unit that you'd get in any British city.
If you're lured by stories of people selling their tiny terrace house and buying a half acre property (like we did) then you have to consider a lengthy commute or a change of career.

I'm also finding that Australian businesses generally don't return phone calls or respond to emails.
I've had employment agencies promise to call me back, and then fail to do so. I've almost given up on email as a contact medium because very few companies actually reply. Many companies operate their phone lines strictly during business hours. That's 9-5 Monday to Friday excluding all public holidays. I spend hours each day chasing up overdue, promised replies.

Home working is hobbled by patchy broadband availability. Telephone companies won't tell you if the house you're considering buying can get broadband until you've connected the phone. I've spoken with other Suncoast IT workers who work remotely. Some have as a many as three internet accounts (DSL, wireless, 3G and dialup and the most common) because they can't rely on just one. If your job is likely to require remote working, do your homework.

If I were single and renting again, it would probably be a different story. But I'm not and I've chosen the wrong place to continue an IT career. If you want to work in IT, don't come to the Sunshine Coast unless you've already got a job lined up.

Most people that will tell you that IT here is great came with a job or got one and kept it shortly after arriving. As I put it it is not nearly as "textured" as in the UK.

when coming to australia you need to get the facts straight and understand what the place ACTUALLY has to offer.
I for instance live in a rabbit hole in a densely populated area (coogee)
However.....all the windows look out to greenery-its really green and I never see anyone in the street, the building and you could hear a pin drop in this place-I only see friends I want to see-and go down to the cafes...its really peaceful-rarely see any crowds.
I wont be going back toLondon any time soon-but hey that would change in minutes if some-one handed me five million quid.

Oz's major flaw.... beautiful empty country, but most of the work is in the cities.

I think that a lot of the issues with getting work would be the same in the UK to some extent. For example if you opted to locate yourself in Cornwall, Snowdonia, the Scottish Highlands or the Lake District then you would probably have trouble getting work in IT.

Do think its alot more extreme.

Same as the UK really, most of the IT work is in the big cities.

Yeah I suppose the distances can be a lot greater than in the UK and commuting long distance isn't as easy due to lower speed limits, lack of fast long distance train services etc. Saying that I would think that the first thing to do before moving into an area should be identifying if there is likely to be any work for you?

Fair point, but it seems for IT work in QLD it's Brisbane or nothing. In S.E. England, I was able to work in London, Reading, Bracknell, Brighton, Basingstoke, Oxford and more. I live near Maroochydore which is a decent sized town about 2 hours north of Brisbane, and a major commercial centre for the area.

Definitely. In my defence, we moved to S.E. QLD to be close to my in-laws so didn't have much choice in the matter.
None of us appreciated the extent to which IT [in QLD] work is concentrated in the one city.

some interesting information so far, us IT guys need to stick together!

Im pleased to hear that work isnt too bad to find, but agree with others, i will be applying for jobs only just before i know my flight date so i can give them something concrete to go on, otherwise i will just be seen as a dreamer wasting their time i think.

I would be over the moon if i was able to sort out an interview or two before i fly over, would put my mind to rest about going out with nothing and not finding anything.

[QUOTE=adriang;4755416]We struggle to find decent candidates in Brisbane for development (AJAX or 4GL), testers are like gold dust. and we're just 'trying again' for an internal systems/MIS person.

Hi Adrian

I am moving over to Brisbane from the UK at the beginning of June. I am a Business Tester for a large financial institution and have been for 4 years.

As I said I am a Business Tester not a System Tester so I don't have the technical experience like C++ and Java etc. I am more experienced in User Acceptance Testing, Regression & Unit Testing.

Above you mentioned Testers are like gold dust, would that be for System Testers or Business Testers or both?

I would appreciate any information you can provide as after reading a few posts on BE it looks like it maybe a lot more difficult in getting employed as I was hoping for.

Cheers
Dave

[QUOTE=Crops;4764743] Dave, pity you were not coming earlier, sounds like we should have had a chat!

We just hired somebody who started last week, and we'd previously hired somebody about 3 months ago who was more into UAT. The guy who started last week is an architect type, and we had 2 candidates who were worth interviewing and the recruitment agent we use is pretty good. The UAT chap was laid off from Optus or somebody like that, apparently there was a bunch of them, but when he tried to get in touch for the second (architect) position they had all found work (either permy or contract), so there must be some about.

My previous employer before I came here has a suite of testing tools, and I'm still in contact with some of the guys from the A/P region. Business for the testing tools guys is pretty good at the moment.

I totally agree with the comments about IT work being regional. It is the same as the UK used to be in the 90's before the spead up the M4 corridor and the centralization of some of the banks, building societies and Gov Agencies out of the stockbroker belt. Because of the size of Australia it is just on a bigger scale. So consideration needs to me made for the location and the commute.

Somebody advised me once that it is very glamorous to have a house by the beach, but if you travel (drive) to work and back 5 times a week, but visit the beach once or twice a week, where does it make sense to live. I'm living in the city and loving it (suits my personal lifestyle). Last year I was seeing a girlie who lived up at Scarborough. Nice place (a bit dead), views to die for, but that hour in the car each way was a killer.

In a nutshell, sydney rocks. PMP certifed, landed tuesday, 2 interviews thursday, 3rd on monday, 3 job offers by the following wednesday. all global companies

There's a good premium for UK & US experience. That said the market tends to be very homogeneous, as with ITIL, one big site takes it soon all sites take it. Rates as good if not better than Ireland.

Congrats on the job offers, I only hope Melbourne rocks too!