IT in Oz
 

Can anyone advise of how the IT job market is looking in Oz at present. I was told previously that although the Australian Government were encouraging IT professionals to migrate to Oz in reality the job market was very slow, especially for new migrants.

Many thanks in advance

Big Ears.

Re: IT in Oz
 

hey my exp. is mix of good and bad. BTW what fields you are looking at. You should prepare yourself from 1 month to couple of months to get job that can make you happy provided you are looking in domains that are specialized. What is your quest and field. Can you give us the specifics on your background. Are you ok with anytype of role or you are keen to get into more specific field.. All the job outcome will be based on your expectations. The outcome can be fast yeilding or furstating sometimes.
Good Lucky hey.

Re: IT in Oz
 

Which part of Australia are you heading for?

Re: IT in Oz
 

We got to Perth in mid June. Im a mid to senior level VB and SQL server developer and I got 3 job offers in the range of $63,000 - $65,000 within 2 weeks of looking. On the other hand, my hubbie is a junior to mid level Windows NT Helpdesk/support/admin person and he has only had 2 interviews in 6 weeks of looking, both turned him down.

So I guess maybe it depends on where you go, what you do, and how 'senior' you are. And apparently, so I've been told by many agencies, the best time to be looking is July to Sept (start of financial year) and Jan to Feb (rush after Xmas).

Hope it goes well for you,
D

Re: IT in Oz
 

Ooh They are paying that much for a VB & SQL programmer :eek:
I am a specialzed person on Storage, Networking(on good no. of protocols) and Embedded. Core Software Developer on C and C++ worked different Unix flavours and Windows (VC++). But in Melbourne I think they dont need specialzed person. :(
Everyone seems pushing me to System Engineer role insted of Software. And you will be afraid to hear that one of the consulting agency called me up to tell me not to apply through their web-site anymore since they have my resume in database. I nice way to telling me dont bug us plz. I was shocked by this since it was they who first told me to go look on website and apply if any open positions are there. WTF.. :eek:
Still Struggling for openings... its seems waiste of efforts and time... :mad:
Well It makes me feel good when someone said(I think it was Carl- Fireeater), I was never so broke that I can leave the city... :)

Re: IT in Oz
 

I am a Network Support Analyst specialising in largely Microsoft products such as Windows 2003, 2000, XP, SMS etc, etc. I used to be a developer but that was a few years ago and I think the languages I specialised in are well out of date now. To be honest I would be quite happy to take a desktop support role and see how things go.

We were originally thinking of heading to Melbourne but I think now we are more likely to head to Sydney, mainly because we know more people in Sydney than anywhere else (both Australian & British).

Big Ears.

Re: IT in Oz
 

You will fare well if you are open to look for more challeges... And I see your type of role are best suited to both sydney and Melb both. So Chhers.
So no worries... :)
Good Luck.

Re: IT in Oz
 

I cant speak about the rest of the country, but in Perth its pretty bouyant at the moment. I work in IT recruitment and we're flat out at the moment.
We're more focused on the Contract side but I know Perm's are also doing well.
If you have all the desirable attributes you would have no problem getting a contract support role in Perth.
Much better lifestyle than Sydney ;)

Re: IT in Oz
 

Could you let us know what skills are most in demand?

I am planning to head out to Melbourne and would be interested in how much work there is for team leading and technical director type roles or senior development in C++/UNIX/C# & C++ .NET/Oracle/mySql etc.

cheers

Re: IT in Oz
 

I'd also be interested in knowing what type of salary a C# developer (2 1/2 years) would expect in Perth. Does anyone know?

Re: IT in Oz
 

:eek:
No comments... :scared:

Re: IT in Oz
 

Take a look at this

http://www.hays-hps.co.nz/salary/pdf...Technology.pdf

Re: IT in Oz
 

Thanks for the info. Perth does look very nice but I think our friends in Sydney would never forgive us if we moved to Oz and didn't go there.

In your experience do Australians companies insist on Microsoft accreditation. Although I have not currently taken any exams, I'm sure I could knock up a few during the long visa application process. Also I was told by a friend who works in IT in Brisbane that a lot of companies do not consider work experience from the UK as relevant and are unwilling to offer positions based on IT experience gained outside of Australia. Is this something you have found ?

Big Ears.

Re: IT in Oz
 

There was an article in one of the Aussie newspapers on line today saying that Aussie IT graduates are struggling to find work as there are so many IT specialists emigrating. I will let you know where if I find it again.

Re: IT in Oz
 

Here you go:

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...55E662,00.html

Re: IT in Oz
 

Hmmm not great reading!

Thanks for digging the article out Worzel.

Re: IT in Oz
 

Hey Good Blog.. Worzel.. :)

Re: IT in Oz
 

Many thanks Worzel. This is along the lines of what I heard a couple of years ago when I first started looking to migrate, which sort of put me off a bit.

Trouble is I was 40 last week and If I don't move soon it will be too late.

Big Ears

Re: IT in Oz
 

You think you have problems....<lol>

I am an AS400 RPG Analyst Programmer (aged 42)!

Steve

Re: IT in Oz
 

ooh then I think I am just a kid among you with 29 ... ;) :p

Re: IT in Oz
 

According to the Australian Government jobs website - the prospects for most IT occupations are good or very good. There are officially no skills shortages in any IT role EXCEPT for some net specialisations - meaning that it isn't possible to get state sponsorship etc. I also believe that the ACS will be changing their guidelines again, tightening up the assessments they carry out :eek:

Re: IT in Oz
 

From what I read this morning from TheAge IT is clawing its way out of the dumps but still relatively high unemployment for some areas of IT (particularly programming where it states 20 odd percent!), apparently the security profession is in demand. Full article follows...

http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/0...538895374.html

Re: IT in Oz
 

My experience when looking for an IT job in Melbourne (project manager) is like that of a Java programmer friend of mine in Sydney:

The job ads indicate, say, about 5-10 key skills that the successful applicant needs to have. Unlike in the UK, where many employers would be happy if an applicant had most of those skills and would consider interviewing on that basis, here you must fit all criteria. To make matters worse, the agency is probably holding a more detailed job spec that may have additional criteria that you have little idea about. So although the online ad may have made you think 'this is me', and you have tailored your submitted CV, you may get filtered out due to criteria you've never even seen!

It is no surprise that using this methodology that many posts cannot be filled, since applicants are not usually psychic. Hence the claims of skills shortage.

While I no problem getting a PM job, my Java programmer friend, after being here for 18 months, has had constant difficulty. It is difficult to know whether this is something to do with him, or the market. Notwithstanding that, he is contracting with a one week termination clause on the employer side, and a not-very-good rate.

Neil

Re: IT in Oz
 

Thanks for the sharing the facts.
but your friend facts is not a good news.. :(
Wish he gets a pefect break to :)

Re: IT in Oz
 

I'm a fairly typical MCSE with a large scale AD experience etc. I found Perth difficult 2-3 years ago so moved to Sydney and got a job fairly quickly with a Blue Chip company - earn circa $85k plus super. I believe the market has picked up in the past two years. I found Citrix very popular over here, maybe due to companies having remote sites in Australia and Asia.

Re: IT in Oz
 

As I said I cant speak for the other states, but In Perth there's not one specific thing that we're after its just generally busy, we seem to be struggling to get decent SAP people at the moment (Tech writers, Portal, BW consultant etc)
It does seem to be at the senior end of the market that there's less decent options, anything low level or more junior we get probably 15-20 resumes in (lots of graduates here from local University's)
Cisco technicians always seem to be in demand.

C# and .net seem quite popular at the moment, someone asked about C# roles, my colleague currently has 2 perm roles, one junior one senior (make your own mind up on the difference there!) junior is paying around $50K +super, senior around $75K +super.

Regarding microsoft accrediatation, It really depends on what level of role your looking at, some of the bigger corporates will definitely want it, but at the end of the day if you dont have it and your up against someone who has, your probably already in second place...

Work experience gained outside Australia isnt an issue in Perth (IMO) in the offices ive worked in a true Aussie is in the minority, english, south african, new zealand, various asian nationaliltys are mainly who we see (the later especially at graduate level).
Providing we can do reference checks against your UK experience, there's usually no issue, just dont expect to walk straight into your first role on the same rates doing exactly what you want.

Contracting is bigger in Perth than I thought when I first came over, this would be a good bet for first time roles in OZ as it more of a skill matching role than all the personal side of things that comes in with a Perm role, it gives you a quicker route to getting some experience in OZ under your belt and on the CV. Plus rates are slightly better compared to those in Perm.

Stephen Jones, where are you heading in OZ?
I worked in various Tech support roles related to AS400's (iSeries :rolleyes: ) for about 12 years, my last role in Perth was selling them :eek: so if your heading to Perth I know most of the AS400 sites (there are around 30-40) but there aint a lot of RPG work around, slightly better in Sydney/Melbourne.

If anyone who's close to coming over to Perth(next couple of months) wants to send me there CV to get on our database then send me a PM, with a brief overview of what your doing/after etc and i'll send you my work contact details.

Hope this has helped
Steve :)
Now even further behind with his work... :D

Re: IT in Oz
 

I have never found any problems getting work here in Melbourne. I have worked for several high profile organisations and am currently managing the Citrix solution for one of the world’s largest banks.

I find that AUS has a rather unhealthy obsession with recruitment agencies. Most recruitment agents tend to know next to nothing, talk out of their behinds and will string you along. My advice is not just not fall for the spin, and always hold out for +super on all offers.

There are also a lot of positions with integrators, but most seem to be small players and obviously don't pay that well.

Some employers so to be fussy about having a degree , even if totally irrelevant to your roll. I personally do not have a degree and have not found any issues with this.

Re: IT in Oz
 

There is work out there, it is a bit of a mixed bag.

I think experience counts for developlers= middle level bods will do OK, there are loads of juniors coming through.

It's also a bit of luck - once you've got the first job all of a sudden, people know who you are. Everyone I know in the industry all know each other and got jobs on the back of who they knew from their last job.

badge

Re: IT in Oz
 

When we came over to Brisbane in 2003 IT work was in really short supply - probably due to the fast tracking of IT migrants at the time.
My husband is a systems analyst, MCSE accredited and with more than 10 years experience in the UK. He found that most jobs required a degree in IT (which he hasn't got) and required the very latest skills (XP at the time was not implemented where he had worked in the UK). He found a 3 month contract after 2 months of looking, after that finished the job market got worse and I ended up back in work full time while he looked after our son.
Things do seem to have picked up again recently and he has had a contract for the last 4 months. The weekly job page in the Courier Mail has even stretched to a full page of IT jobs some weeks!!!!
Certainly pay has increased again - at one point desk top support people were getting around $30k in the city (this is lower than a lot of office staff in the suburbs).
Like most have said really depends on skills, however from our experience Oz is very focused on qualifications much more than experience.
Annie

Re: IT in Oz
 

As a non-techie in Perth it took me ten weeks.
Most of this time was wasted redefining myself and my cv at the whim of myriads of recruitment agents, who only deal with jobs in resources, local gov't or the utilities, and advised me to head east
Once I ignored them and had faith in my UK experience I was OK.

Re: IT in Oz
 

Hope I don't jinx myself now, but I'm a C# developer and I'm heading to Perth in September. I applied for a job a few weeks ago and had a phone interview the week after and then was offered the position the next day.

The interview was fine and not as bad as I thought, just general questions about work I had done and experience etc.

So, if you are looking now then there is hope.

Re: IT in Oz
 

Sorry steve99, I wasn't having a dig at you with my comment on agents .... just the rest of them, who lined up one proper interview in ten weeks between the lot of them.

Re: IT in Oz
 

I must admit that I seem to be having a lot of trouble getting a "proper" job in IT Management / Project Management / Support etc I am going to tweek my resume again this weekend but I have little time for agents and have am really just going direct. I’ve been told by agents that they “Don’t deal with people on work visas� (I am a permanent resident). Didn’t make much difference. I’ve been asked “Have you worked with Australians before� I’ve been rejected due to lack of local knowledge and the best one was a company thought I was too “Entrepreneurial�

I am not going to criticise all agencies but the majority of ones I have dealt with have left me few nice thoughts towards them. That’s as pleasant as I can be.

Last week I did a test one day. I applied for 15 jobs on the web. I was qualified to do everyone. I chased up everyone with a phone call, spoke to one agent, rest was all voice mails or can I take a message. I also sent emails in as well to confirm.

I got one reply and that was “The job’s been taken off the market�

Thankfully I am still doing some freelance work so I've got some money coming in.