Hi All,

I'm new to the site, so please go easy on me

My wife and I (still feels strange saying wife, and its been over a year) are looking into moving to Australia.

I'm a Building services engineer and qualified to HNC level with 6 years experience.

we don't really have any idea where to start,

is the first thing to look for a job? or to start the visa application?

we have tickets booked to an Expo in manchester in october and also one in Birmingham in September.

I've looked on the internet for approx the last month for jobs, however all the ones i express interest in are for Australian residents only.

Are there any particular sites for British citizens looking for jobs over there?

any help would be much appreciated

many thanks!!!:

There is another site you can also use called pominoz---many people are members of both.Hope this is helpful---the more research you do the easier it is;but read both the good and bad and think carefully.Good luck

thanks

Why recommend he uses another forum? Thats not a very good welcome is it!!!

Welcome to BE Jonathan! The best place to start is with www.immi.gov.au as far as visas are concerned, that'll help you work out if you qualify for one. Unless you can get sponsorship you will need a visa first, thats why most of the jobs are for Aussie residents - you need a visa of some kind to live in Aus. Once you have that visa then you can apply for the jobs prior to moving though
Also have a read of some of the threads on here, that'll give you an idea what its like living in Australia and what the job situation is like

HAHA,

I think this one is better anyway, much easier to Navigate,

hopefully can find out all the information i need.

The main job site is www.seek.com.au - there may be others better for your field but I'll leave them for someone else more familiar with the area! Even if you can't apply for jobs yet they will give you an idea what's around. You might also need to do some re-licensing once you get here, but the best thing to do is look at whether you can actually get a visa first - have a look at the visa wizard on the Immi site and see what you come up with

sorry, whats the Immi site? I've looked into the point before, and think i can get approx 120 points. without sitting the additional tests. i get the most for my age, as i'm only 24.

Hi Jonathon,

Yes - look into getting a visa first because if you can't get that then it all becomes a bit of a moot point.

Polly is right that "seek" is the main jobs website and you can check out www.mycareer.com.au as well.

If you want to look over housing/property take a look at www.domain.com.au

Good luck with your plans!

Gareth

Thanks Gareth, i'm sure the Visa won't be a problem, were both young. i'm qualified to HNC standard, my wife has an AAT (associate accounting technician) think thats what it stands for. she is also doing her Cipfa training, chartered institute of public finance accountants.
when i looked into the visa quickly, we scored about 120 points.
I'm not sure if we save up the money and make the move, i should wait until i arrive to get a job, or try and get one before i go. only problem is, i've sent a CV to approx 20-30 employers, and they all say i need to be an Austrlian resident.
i'm hoping, someone thats looking for a building services engineer maybe reading this?

Sounds promising for you. Certainly a couple of years ago in WA when the boom was in full swing professions like yours were very much in demand - to a crazy level! I'm sure you wouldn't struggle to find work and its much easier to get a job when you have the visa and are already resident. Employers are sometimes reticent to "take a chance" but if the demand for your skills is high enough, they will.

So - the advice from this bloke on the internet who doesn't know you and will probably never meet you is - you look well placed - might be worth giving it a go.

some categories need X amount of years post qualification in order to get max points, I know I had to wait a couple of years before I came because of that.

Teh flintstones on here are young, around 24 too, they are the youngest I know that have migrated under their own steam. They could also give you some info I am sure

I think Polly will be meaning http://www.immi.gov.au/

Jonathan, have you actually checked that your occupation is on one of the schedules of the skilled occupation list and if so which one, 3 or 4? If it is on one of these schedules have you looked into what is involved for skills assessment of your occupation?

If you do meet this criteria then the first step is probably skills assessment, not looking for jobs. Looking for jobs from the UK is like looking for a needle in a haystack and probably won't achieve much more than demoralise you. Despite what the people marketing expos will say, Australian employers are not crying out to sponsor overseas applicants, on the whole they prefer the local ones.

Hi Jonathan.

Regarding your points, are you presuming you'll get 60 points for your occupation? As I also have a HNC (in Building Construction), and I was advised by VETASSESS that a HNC is equivalent to an AQF Diploma, and therefore would not qualify for a 60 point occupation, you can only claim for a 40 point occupation.

So it would be worth checking with VETASSES (or equivalent for your job) or get in touch with an agent.