My OH is applying for a skilled visa. He works in IT in system admin, it manage tech support . can anyone tell what are the opportunities like in OZ. Which is the best state to work in. What kind of salary is he looking at and also would you advise waiting till we have the visa and are out there before trying to line something up before we get there. It just seems that no agencies reply.

Thanks

Few words about agencies. With respect to both sides, agents would only be interested in those who they can place with minimum amount of effort in order to get their commission in quick. Of course they would file your CV and get back to you if you make top of the list if anything ever comes up. Or not - no employers are hunting down visa-less migrants, unless that is a unique skillset in a real shortage, I would not expect a frenzy of calls from them.

Rant over. To help you understand what your OH worth would be, check out the Seek jobsearch web site. Apart from current offers they have salary stats by job by state/major metropolitan area - this way you can understand earnings ballpark and plan from there. My feeling though is that the salaries in these stats are as advertised, which may skip on nego and be off by certain percentage. Remember, statistically there are two Popes in Vatican per square mile?

Other thought - after ACS assessment your OH could join ACS as a member and get access to their member-only advert resource.

Found this on another thread.

http://www.hays.com.au/salary/pdfs07...Technology.pdf

From experience and in no way reflecting the industry or all employers:

In my day job we were looking to hire an IT guy for entry-level work. We had a great migrant worker apply who wanted us to sponsor his 457.

Problem there is sponsors have to (theoretically at least) pay a minimum (was $55k last time I checked) for people to do any IT or IT-related work. So management went with the less skilled candidate we could train up in house and pay quite a bit less in salary for.

May not happen with all employers but if it's cheaper to employ a local with the same skillset then they likely will.

There's a campaign to have Perth classed as a rural area, in which case 457 minimum salary requirements decrease significantly. Which stands those looking for sponsorship in better chance of employment over the locals, ironic as it may seem.

Really depends on your skills set and experience. I would say this is the best time for IT guys in Australian / NZ market right now.

Have u tried seek web site ?

Interesting to read the Hays report on salaries - can anyone please advise on IT/Management Consulting as a career in Oz (WA in particular would be even better!)

Most jobs & salary info I have seen on various sites is for traditional Corporate IT jobs like Development/programming, Sys/Infrastructure Admin, Security, Programme/Project Mgt, etc - what about Consulting jobs that advise to management in these positions? Can anyone provide salary input/hazard guesses on this?

I have a varied +10yr background in IT (mainly software house/vendor as opposed to Corporate IT) - from programming to testing, Business & IT Service Management to Sales & consulting, Portfolio & Project Management to ERP/procurement technologies. My concerns are (seeking more info on)
1) are such consulting skills in demand, and if so what aspects of IT eg ITIL, ERP, RFID etc ie what areas/subject matters in IT Consulting are in demand?
2) what is the realistic salary range

I appreciate Perth/WA may be limited in opportunities and may demand flexibility on my part to move into Corporate IT if need be - hence need some advice from anyone out there on this....

Thanks in advance

This thread is heading to an interesting side now.

First of all, let me tell you that WA doesnt have a bigger IT Market as Sydney or Melbourne has (in recent months, years Queensland has also picked up) and also the salaries are generally lower in WA. People relate it to the fact that the cost of living is also lower in WA.

However, WA has a relatively larger number of ERP Implementations than compared to the other states and that I guess is the result of Mining Boom in that part of country. Oracle11i has been quite popular there.

In terms of salaries for Consultants, its actually bit different here in this part of the world. Normally, you wouldnt find too many jobs / openings for Consultants as most of the times they are either IT Project Managers or very senior Developers / Sowftware Engineers or DBAs who are seen as potential consultants here. I would say that these sort of roles are generally earning 50% more than the Technical guys (Developers / DBAs).

The skills you mentioned are surely in demand but I feel that the Australian IT Market isnt matured enough to understand the real values of all these consultancy services (ITIL / RFID) and the project owners normally push for quick developments and / or implementations here which eventually results in poor design. This requires further re-development(s) in the next few years and that is how this cycle just goes on ...

Where are you coming from by the way ?

Ghanghro

Interesting - I thought IT generally was maturing as a discipline globally due to demands of Business-IT alignment, costs etc!

I am based in/coming from Southeast region in UK (London and surrounding areas) and did expect IT to be less mature in Oz to an extent - but at same time am concerned if my experience will be in demand or am I "over-experienced" and/or do I have to pigeon-hole myself into one of the titles mentioned above to get a job. Additionally from an employers perspective, would they perceive my varied background as an advantage or disadvantage ie say if I applied for a Development or Project Manager role?

Having visited Oz before, we have knowingly decided to move to WA for the lifestyle, opportunities for kids etc - with this in mind, and knowledge of WA IT being a small market, I am not clear however on what all the options are going forward wrt to finding a suitable job eg take lower scale job & try and move up over the coming years, contracting for x months to get a better feel for the market & make contacts, etc.

Why does everyone think that the Perth IT market is small? Or that the wages will be much lower? My husband has been heading up a recruitment drive for his firm for months and they just cannot get all the skilled people they need. He is earning more (as a Project Manager) than we ever dreamt of before we moved out here, and reckons his wages are comparable with other cities. He is registered with Seek, just to keep an eye on the jobs market, and his inbox is swamped with new jobs coming in everyday. He is in regular contact with colleagues from a previous job he held in Perth, and they too complain that they can't get people with the right skills, also he is told the same thing by an IT recruitment specialist who he keeps in touch with on a social basis.

I've posted this before on other threads, but I'll do the same here - any of you due to land in Perth soon, or already here, with a visa, and looking for work in software development roles and the like (especially C++, C#), send me a PM with your current resume and I'll forward it to hubby. If it looks interesting enough he will certainly be in touch for an interview, over the phone to the UK if necessary. If you haven't got the skills he's looking for but he still thinks it's worth following up, he will pass the details onto his contacts. Either way, we'll contact you and let you know what's going on. There are currently two members of BE working in his firm who got in touch with us last year.

The hardest part about finding work is your lack of contacts and lack of Australian referees. You just need to get that first step on the ladder, even if it means starting near the bottom again. Hubby knows how difficult it was for him five years ago when we emigrated, so is more than happy to help any fellow Poms get a head start (and no, there isn't any commission involved here, we're just glad to help out). My husband really has landed a good role at the moment - he's in charge of the software team for a British contract that his company secured, and he's currently in London on a business trip, enabling him to visit all our friends and relatives at no cost!

Hi again,

With your skills set, you should be fine. Its just that I wanted to explain you the kind of difference (IT Trends) you would notice once reached here. Also, you might have to start with a bit more hands-on role and than gradually enter into the Consulting Market as soon as your contact database gorws

I'm almost in a smilar category as you (in terms of experience) but I've a kind of different line, more into Database Admin / Solution Arch roles.

PM me, would love to stay in touch ...

Ghanghro

Jacqui - thanks for the update and offer - will definitely take you up on this in the near future (busy sorting out other emigration tasks - CV is on the list but a bit lower down the to-do list for now! We hope to be there some time around July-Sept, visas are cleared but we need to re-do for inclusion of my daughter who wasn't there when we originally applied)

Just this morning I was wondering (as we were watching the Wanted Down Under show on telly), is there a directory of POMs who are willing to be part of a "POM-database of professionals" so that the likes of me/others can call upon these folk for guidance. I see many folk asking questions about plumbers, electricians, nurses, bricklayers, IT etc etc repeatedly - so why not form a panel of working professionals per city - they could at minimum effort offer an overview of work, working conditions, rates, etc either through BE and/or otherwise - Does one exist like this in Perth? I'd be happy to input as and when I get there if there is interest from others there already....Quite a bizarre stroke of luck to then come here and read your reply!

Ghanghro - will do. Btw are you based in Perth or NZ as per your profile? I understand the need to perhaps go down the "hands-on" line - just not sure which skillset/learnings to dust off and start focusing on now (in addition to workload from the day job!!). And in any case, the thought of going down that road feels like you are stepping backwards not forward - I am sure I will get over it!

This is really interesting. I will be looking for IT work once we arrive. We are applying for a skilled visa under my husband though as his job is on the MODL list.

Hi inOz2008... the POMS database sounds an excellent idea!
I too will be looking at an IT based role when we finally get our 136 Visa through. From other threads I have read on BE, one aspect to getting a job is gaining contacts (apart from having the required skills inthe first place )
So any additional help would be most welcome

Hi dandn

I am not there yet but am hoping some of the local folks inputting to BE forums (and on IT in particular) volunteer their opinions. When I get there I would be happy to provide any reasonable support I can - we hope to be there later this summer if all things go to plan (paperwork/visa all sorted)

When do you get out there once your visas come through?

Jacqui, I'm applying under 175 MODL (C# dev) and looking to land in Perth this summer...Would love to meet up if you don't mind...

the POMS database definately sounds like a good idea, maybe we can organise an event where people can mingle and get advice from others who've been there, done that...

Cheers.