Programming jobs in Australia
 

Hi,

I'm a Java programmer with 5 years experience - two and a half of those in banking (where I'm currently working) and looking to emmigrate to Aus.

How is the market for Java programmers - where are the majority of the jobs (both non banking and banking). Are there jobs available in all the big cities - Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane etc?

And what sort of salary can I hope to get for a good programmer both inside and outside of banking, does it differ much by city (I'm earning 50,000 pounds now basic salary)

Obviously I realise now is a bad time but before the recession would I have to get work in Syndey or are the other major cities okay?


Ideally I'd like to work in a city but maybe not Syndey - want somewhere a little cheaper and a little cooler - I understand Melborune fits the bill and is a very nice place - any comments on that or other cities??

And could I realistically apply for a job now from England on the internet (without any visa etc) and get accepted and sponsored for a visa without having lived in Australia first, or will I have to go through the whole immigration process first, then go to Australia and find work locally ?

Thanks for the help

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

Can't comment on the demand for Java programmers, different area of IT than mine, but what I will say is that your chances of getting a job while still in England, particularly in the current jobs market is effectively nil. You might be able to get somebody to sponsor a 457 visa, but I doubt it.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

Ask here! -
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=78

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

The majority of Java programming jobs will be in India. Banks I have worked at in Sydney offshored most development projects long time ago.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

I think the idea of a long term career in IT these days is laughable. So much has gone, and continues to go, to the likes of India, that you would have more chance as a Zeppelin repair man or gas lamp fitter.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

I wouldn't be so negative. I also work with Java/J2EE and have similar years of experience. When I came here last year in April, I found the job market to be pretty good. There were loads of Java jobs available. Obviously things have changed now but that's mostly due to the recession. Though not as much but there are still regular java job openings in seek. Please have a look at seek.com.au, you'll have a good idea about the market and offered salary.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

If you are under 31 then i'd suggest going out on a working holiday visa. You can work for the same employer for 6 months but that rule isnt strictly adhered to and being on a WHV isnt going to put off agents. Just get a tax number and thats all you need. Finding work wont be easy though but no harder than it would be in the UK. if you are earning £50k basic as a java programmer you wont get that in Sydney dunno many places you'd get that in the UK with only 5 years exp. Can i have your job when you're gone!

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

A rather cynical view perhaps.

Certainly over the last few years much IT work has been outsourced to
developing countries like India, but to be fair, ends up being brought back
in house for (amongst other things) quality reasons.

People begin to realise that you get what you pay for.

Australia has not been hit by the global downturn as badly as
Britain, things are tight for sure (a key driver in outsourcing) but there are plenty of jobs floating about still. I actually rate my prospects here in Sydney
better than I would London at this moment.

To the OP I would not worry too much, just have a good look on seek or mycareer etc to judge for yourself what is available in your desired area.

Of course, only you can decide what is most important to you (money?, location?) expect some level of compromise in some areas and there are plenty of opportunities to be found.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

Sorry mate but the idea that the work comes back again is just a myth. Once the jobs have gone they never come back.
I work for a global outsourcer. A decade ago employee numbers in India were probably less than a hundred. They are now the second largest part of company the workforce, after the US.... and this is in a company with over 85,000 people. I can speak from personal experience of projects in the UK where we had to bring people in from India because there were no people left within the European workforce who had the required skills... they had all been made redundant and their jobs shipped offshore.

You may well get what you pay for... but the bottom line counts for more than quality.. sad but that's just how it is.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

I disagree, the numbers of employees in the world-wide IT workforce has grown exponentially - more than enough to account for growth in off-shored jobs in places like India AND jobs in the Western world.

Sure, grunt low-level programming jobs MAY be off-shored, but again only for very large projects where management overhead costs can be mitigated. A lot of IT jobs depend on close contact with the business guys, and these jobs are very unlikely to be off-shored any time soon otherwise those guys wouldn't have any jobs themselves!

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

The idea that its only "grunt low-level programming jobs" being sent offshore is years out of date. IT jobs at all levels are being shipped to low cost centers and the management overhead costs are easily solved when the managers are offshore as well. Its more and more common for a project to be fronted by a client facing service delivery manager and the entire IT support team to be in India.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

If you are good enough, you will get work.

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

50,000 Pounds with just 5 years of experience is a very good salary. Why do you want to move. :confused:

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

Yes, the OP is on a good wicket, but that is petty standard in the Investment Banking world. A move to Oz will lower his material standard of living dramatically, as long as they are aware of this then good luck to them!

Re: Programming jobs in Australia
 

I disagree from my experience in the software dev world of over 15 years. Very few of my clients would trust an off-shore manager, in fact a lot of them don't even want the work of-shored any more.