carlos05

Hi guys,

Me and my wife were planning to emigrate to Australia (hopefully).

I am waiting on my final ACCA exam result in February and then we wanted to put an application in.

Yesterday my wife was checking the SOL list for skilled visa and we panicked that Accountants have been removed from the list.

Can anyone confirm this? What does this mean for our dream of living in Australia? Is there other Visas that we can apply to?

Sorry about all the panic and questions and thank you for any replies.

Bermudashorts

I would suggest you look again....

carlos05

Sorry I should of been more specific, We want to move to Perth and I couldn't find Accountant on the SOL for Western Australia unless I am looking at wrong place?

Thanks

TheCreature

Just what the country needs. More bean counters.

Bermudashorts

Oh well that is completely different, you didn't mention Western Australia. If they are not on that list it means WA are not sponsoring. That doesn't mean it is not on the SOL though, which is a DIBP list and it is still on there ... you don't need WA sponsorship, can you not make the points without sponsorship?

Bermudashorts

As far as I can tell, the country is truly over flowing with bean counters.

carlos05

Bean counters? Wow you guys have respect for occupations ey?

What is it you lot do that is so high and mighty?

Bermudashorts

My word you are sensitive ... relax.

TheCreature knows very well *my* occupation ... Chief Beancounter.

I take it you are a new accountant as you are not fully versed in the proper lingo yet.

carlos05

Oh sorry I didn't realise I thought you guys were just belittling me.

Bermudashorts

No.

Any reason you are heading to Perth? Where have you trained and what kind of background to you have - multinational or SMEs?

carlos05

My wife's best friend moved out there 2 years ago and we went to visit them last February and loved it. We are also open to other areas too, where do you live if you don't mind me asking?

I have been working for my employer for the past 8 years, it's a small to medium accounting practice. To be honest though I haven't had the development promised to me, they are messing me about.

It's frustrating because my studies don't match my experience and this is one of my fears when it comes to finding employment in Australia.

Bermudashorts

I live in Sydney. I think there will be more accounting opportunities in Sydney or Melbourne for you. There is a lot of "finance transformation" going on in Australia at the moment amongst the big companies anyway and this invariably means a lot of entry level roles moving offshore.

Where are you in UK at the moment?

Often people are impatient to move for personal reasons, but based on pure career reasons, I would recommend getting some post qualification in the UK and preferably in London. It will stand you in good stead for when you get here. I was not joking when I said the place is overflowing with bean counters, the job market is very, very competitive.

carlos05

I work in North London, I know what you mean about competition, it's very competitive here as well.

It scares me a bit about my profession and that there are so many candidates in the field, I don't mind taking a step backwards if it's going to get me through the door.

My age is against me though, I am 34 at the moment, would you advise me to start applying for jobs?

Thank you by the way for your invaluable advice.

Bermudashorts

Did you change to accounting late or have you just taken time over exams but have a lot of experience? If the latter, then once you have passed your ACCA I would take the year of qualification off your CV and highlight your experience drawing particular attention to working in London. Therefore marketing yourself as an experienced accountant.

Your age is not against you in the least, as I mention the entry level roles are moving offshore and you should not be talking about taking a step back before you have even started.

This is a competitive market and you need to compete. Offering to take a step back to get a foot in the door is not competing, it is apologising. Hold your head up and sell yourself on your experience. I see a lot of that "taking a step down" tosh on here. I ignored that advice and marketed myself positively. I have been here 3.5 years now and I find colleagues will boast if they attract a candidate with UK experience (particularly London).

Having said that. No I definitely would not advise applying for jobs now. There is too much competition and you are unlikely to attract much interest as a part qualified accountant without a visa and currently living in the UK. You will only deflate and demotivate yourself when you receive no answers or negative answers.

I made some enquiries when I was at the early stages of the visa application process, I got some calls back from agents but that was all. It was not until I had the visa and firm plans to travel that I got any real interest.

carlos05

I have actually graduated from University with a Business Financial Economics degree, could not get into the field of Economics so after Uni started with Payroll. Then at my current work, I wanted to develop myself so started ACCA from the beginning at 29. That is one of the reasons why I started late.

I know what you mean about not being demoralised by searching now, I was thinking along the same lines, however I also feel like I should be doing something towards our visa.

The competition in London is very fierce too at the moment, Employer's are cherry picking best candidates, If you worked for the top 4 your laughing but if not, It is very hard these days.