Hi, i am a 21 year old recently qualified Electrician here in the UK and have been granted my WH visa. I am looking to get into the mining industry and wondering if it is possible to gain sponsorship with them without re-qualifying as a spark over there. And the best place to head to to secure work/gain licences etc required to work.

Thanks, sam.

Why mining?

Have a look through the electricians forum. Should be loads of info re qualifications x. http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=97

Basically i heard it's good money if you're willing to slog in the hours and work away from home. And that's kinda what i what i want to do. Earn money aha.

I'm looking through everything and the process of becoming qualified to practice over there is confusing me. Is there a page explaining it all? or could someone sum up what i need to do to be ready to go?

oh and cheers jilliebee

Hi Balders.

To apply for a skilled visa, you would need to have your skills assessed. You need 2 years post qualification, or 7 years experience if you have no formal qualification. Once you have the two years (making sure to get detailed references, keep payslips, job offers, etc), you can apply for skills assessment through Vetassess. This will give you an OTSR which will enable you to apply for a provisional license in your chosen state (each state does it's own licensing). Once you have a provisional / restricted license you need to find work as a trade assistant / apprentice and keep a log book of all your work. You also need to do some studying - wiring regs and others. Then after maybe 12 months, you can re-test for a full unresticted A grade license which will enable you to work unsupervised.

This assumes that the rules do not change.

Good luck

on a WHV you can apply to ARTC, get assessed by them and if successful you can apply to peer in adelaide to do a course which entitles you to apply for a SA licence. Once you have that you can try and get a licence in another state but it is meant to be quite difficult.

or apply to ARTC and if successful apply to a Tafe/college to complete a logbook which takes at least 12months.

So with the WHV limiting me to only 4 months of study is it kinda impossible to become fully qualified on it?
And is it unheard of for an australian firm to sponsor somone who isn't fully qualified and put them through there apprenticeship?

you can get your licence with the 2 week peer course in adelaide.