Author Topic: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?  (Read 17935 times)

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Offline merlinbTopic starter

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Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« on: August 22, 2012, 03:42:09 pm »
Hi.
I am from England, but in a about a year I hope to be somewhere else- ideally down under!
So far the plan is to turn up on a temporary visa and then try and find work before my money runs out...
I'll be bringing with me a BEng in Electronic Engineering and an MSC in structural geology and geophysics, and a couple of years' experience as an electronics technician. I'd like to do electronic design work if possible, possibly in instrumentation. Analog is my specialty.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has emigrated to Aus, or any advice on the matter!

Where is the industry clustered? I like the look of WE more than NSW, but I'm guessing there's more work on the east side?
I have a first class electronics degree, but my experience is mild. Will employers entertain a young upstart like me, with no roots in the country?

Help me out!  8)
« Last Edit: August 22, 2012, 03:47:06 pm by merlinb »
 

Offline Sionyn

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2012, 05:18:17 pm »
the only stopping me moving to oz or nz is pledging elegance Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
 
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Offline merlinbTopic starter

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2012, 08:07:34 pm »
Try Norway instead..  ;)
Better salary, free healthcare, plenty of jobs, close to home, everybody speaks English..

Interesting...

Doesn't Australia have free healthcare? It damn well ought to! Part of the commonwealth old bean! ;)
 

Online tom66

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2012, 08:11:14 pm »
Most civilised countries have universal healthcare it - spot the major exception...
 

Offline gregariz

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2012, 08:54:08 pm »
Hi.
I am from England, but in a about a year I hope to be somewhere else- ideally down under!
So far the plan is to turn up on a temporary visa and then try and find work before my money runs out...
I'll be bringing with me a BEng in Electronic Engineering and an MSC in structural geology and geophysics, and a couple of years' experience as an electronics technician. I'd like to do electronic design work if possible, possibly in instrumentation. Analog is my specialty.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has emigrated to Aus, or any advice on the matter!

Where is the industry clustered? I like the look of WE more than NSW, but I'm guessing there's more work on the east side?
I have a first class electronics degree, but my experience is mild. Will employers entertain a young upstart like me, with no roots in the country?

Help me out!  8)

The geophysics qualification may be a real money-spinner if you don't mind working out in the desert in a mine. There is stuff happening in WA - alot of it related to mining. Depends what you want to do. Original design? Project work? Wiring diagrams? PCB's? As an Australian who moved out of the country for work my advice is that you make sure you keep enough money for a return ticket in case you end up installing tv antennas for a living. Australia traditionally has a high rate of small business employment where the Sydney area is also the largest employer but keep your eyes on Adelaide and Melbourne, esp for government jobs.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2012, 10:35:56 pm »
Doesn't Australia have free healthcare? It damn well ought to! Part of the commonwealth old bean! ;)

Universal healthcare, yes. Free, no!
No country has free healthcare, you pay it through your taxes.
In Oz you pay a "medicare levy" on your tax at the end of the year, usually like $1500 or something.
They also charge you an extra levy if you do not have private health care. So most people get "basic hospital cover" for like $30/month or something which works out much cheaper than paying the extra levy.
Our health systems is generally pretty good by world standards.

Dave.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2012, 10:42:56 pm »
The geophysics qualification may be a real money-spinner if you don't mind working out in the desert in a mine. There is stuff happening in WA - alot of it related to mining. Depends what you want to do. Original design? Project work? Wiring diagrams? PCB's? As an Australian who moved out of the country for work my advice is that you make sure you keep enough money for a return ticket in case you end up installing tv antennas for a living. Australia traditionally has a high rate of small business employment where the Sydney area is also the largest employer but keep your eyes on Adelaide and Melbourne, esp for government jobs.

Yes, that geophysics qual might make you highly sort after in the mining industry, the majority of which is based in WA. Perth isn't a bad place to live, but Geographically far from everywhere else.
If you don't mind mining type field work, there could be huge money in that. I'd at least give it a shot.

I do hope you are getting a proper work visa...
Many companies will even sponsor your VISA and fly you over here, start applying now!
I would actually suggest that be your plan. Leverage your geophysics paper to get someone in the mining industry to sponsor your flight and VISA out here, take any job you can get just to get a foothold here.

Quote
Where is the industry clustered? I like the look of WE more than NSW, but I'm guessing there's more work on the east side?
I have a first class electronics degree, but my experience is mild. Will employers entertain a young upstart like me, with no roots in the country?

Apart from mining, very few jobs in WA really. Sydney or Melbourne has the majority of the work. Some in QLD, and some defence stuff in Adelaide. Darwin would be a desert, not that you'd want to live in the heat anyway. And Tas would have nothing either, and too cold.

Yes, companies won't care were you come from, if you can do the job and they like you, the job is yours.

Dave.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2012, 10:47:05 pm by EEVblog »
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2012, 10:50:38 pm »
http://www.geotechnicaljobs.com.au/
Heaps in QLD by the looks of it.

Dave.
 

Offline RCMR

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2012, 12:33:20 am »
The concerns I'd have with a move to Oz is that it is rapidly becoming the 51st state of the USA.

They've had much of the USA's draconian copyright law foisted on them already, private ownership of firearms is a joke and then there are all the horrible venomous, dangerous, vicious creatures to contend with (at both a state and federal level -- yes, I'm talking about politicians -- the snakes and spiders are nothing compared to these beasts!  :o)
 

Offline IanB

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2012, 12:55:06 am »
Australia seems to have some of the worst government interference in private life of almost any Western country I have heard of. There are countless examples, but the prohibition on an individual touching mains wiring without a licence is just one instance often talked about here. You may think the UK nanny state mentality is bad, but OZ is worse.

Of course government and bureaucracy has its problems in every country and the best you can do is bend and adapt like a tree in the wind.

The question to ask yourself is why move from the UK to OZ? Most engineers move the other way from OZ to the UK, especially if looking for a better choice of jobs.
 

Offline EEMarc

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2012, 12:58:48 am »
Universal healthcare, yes. Free, no!

That is better than the USA. We pay tons of money for defense spending to protect us from people whom we spent money decades ago to piss off. I guess that could be considered some form of health care against acute lead poisoning. :-[
 

Offline asbokid

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #11 on: August 23, 2012, 02:00:18 am »
There is some dreadful TV programme that has been running for weeks now on UK satellite TV, about the bumptious and punctilious Immigration and Customs officials in Oz. We keep seeing footage of weeping visitors to the good country, facing huge fines for importing small seeds and berries, mostly in foodstuffs.

As for domestic electrical wiring, the same is true in the UK.  It's unlawful to perform anything beyond the most basic electrical work in your own home.  Aside changing a lightbulb, so far as I know, it is illegal to do any electrical work in the kitchen or bathroom now.   Yet perversely, anyone "competent" (qualifications not needed) can install and repair gas appliances, albeit not for profit. What logic to that?

It seems that most rules and regulations are not there for the good of the people, but to protect business and specific sectors of industry.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2012, 05:03:05 am by asbokid »
 

Offline David Aurora

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #12 on: August 23, 2012, 02:09:50 am »
Watch out for drop bears.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #13 on: August 23, 2012, 02:19:52 am »
There is some dreadful TV programme that has been running for weeks now on UK satellite TV, about the bumptious and punctilious Immigration and Customs officials in Oz. We keep seeing footage of weeping visitors to the good country, facing huge fines for importing small seeds and berries, mostly in foodstuffs.  Yet the logic to this apparent concern for the flora and fauna doesn't stand up to basic scientific scrutiny.

Don't screw with our customs people, you won't win. The only other country as strict on quarantine would be NZ.
That TV show is awful, but sometimes funny. I don't know how they can get away with filming people and making them all look like drug smugglers.

Little tip for arriving in Oz. It takes forever to get through customs, but if you tick the option to declare something (like a pack of sealed nuts), you'll go through the much shorter quarantine line much quicker.

Dave.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2012, 02:22:46 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline Portll

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #14 on: August 23, 2012, 02:46:50 am »
I emigrated 8 years ago now, I think. I love it out here, but I still feel 'english'. The things you miss aren't the things you expect to, sometimes - for me, it's been wood fires, apples with some kind of taste to them, kettle chips, the pub etc. It helps if you make friends easily and pursue a hobby and/or sport - I played soccer & squash, found a church (that might not be up most people's alley's, admittedly), went to audio meetups etc.

It's best to take a holiday for 3-4 weeks to where you're going, rent a house, plan on living there like you're not a tourist. Work out how waking up in a country with hot sun feels, how your evening routine changes etc.

A lot of 'fixing' (ie. general contractor) stuff pays well in small-medium business situations, but the work would obviously be a little less steady. I agree with using your PhD to leverage job offers, too. Being able to say "I have spent time in Australia and am prepared to move" is better than "I am prepared to move" imo. While the mining industry is obviously massive in WA, in NT & QLD there are other resources, Tasmania has a massive bent toward efficiency + process stuff (but it's colder) and NSW has the most 'business jobs', while SA has smaller businesses, it's more of a 'town' feel around Adelaide. Feel free to pick my brains on anything - and I agree with getting a sponsored visa, it's much cheaper that way. Also, if sending documentation for stuff, get proof of purchase and track everything!

Don't assume that the embassies + government offices are any better than the english/uk ones  ???
 

Offline htassell

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2012, 03:43:01 am »
I thought i might respond with regards to work in the geophysics industry in Australia. I'm the principal geophysicist at a large Australian owned international engineering firm who employ some 10,000 people. There is a major shortage of geophysicists in Australia with any sort of experience. Just in the last three months, we employed four graduate geophysicists from GB/Scotland to work in our Perth and Melbourne offices as there simply aren't enough people locally to fill the positions available.

With your combined skills in geophysics and electronic engineering, you should have absolutely no problem at all finding a company to sponsor you and assist you emigrating over here. As the others have mentioned, Western Australia and Queensland are the hotspots, but I think you would have a strong chance of getting a job in fairly much any state you choose.

If you want any more advice or some contacts in the industry to chase up with looking for work, send me a PM, I'm more than happy to assist.
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #16 on: August 23, 2012, 03:44:46 am »
There is some dreadful TV programme that has been running for weeks now on UK satellite TV, about the bumptious and punctilious Immigration and Customs officials in Oz. We keep seeing footage of weeping visitors to the good country, facing huge fines for importing small seeds and berries, mostly in foodstuffs.  Yet the logic to this apparent concern for the flora and fauna doesn't stand up to basic scientific scrutiny.

It isn't hard to do the most basic research on what you can bring into a country.
In fact,the cards you are given ask you specific questions about what you are carrying.
I've seen the same show many times,with people bringing suitcases full of unprocessed food,"that Mum packed for them"! ;D
About the worst "huge fine" they pay is around $224,which I think they deserve for trying to bring in prohibited products.

Many countries have plant pests which don't occur in Australia,so we have a right to protect our agricultural industries.
The record of uncontrolled plant & animal imports to this country in the past,rabbits,foxes,blackberries,stock poisons like Cape Tulip,etc makes us extremely aware of the possible effects.
I would rather take the word of Australian experts in this field than that of some random Electronics Engineer in the UK.


As for domestic electrical wiring, the same is true in the UK.  It's unlawful to perform anything beyond the most basic electrical work in your own home.  Aside changing a lightbulb, so far as I know, it is illegal to do any electrical work in the kitchen or bathroom now.   Yet perversely, anyone "competent" (qualifications not needed) can install and repair gas appliances, albeit not for profit. What logic to that?

It seems that most rules and regulations are not there for the good of the people, but to protect business and specific sectors of industry.

To the OP,I would say,do your "due diligence",research everything you can about Australia.
It isn't some fantasy realm where the sun shines all the time,it's a real country like any other,warts & all!
It rains sometimes,sometimes it's cold,or bloody hot other times!
Your chances of being injured or killed by any wild animal are about as remote as winning Lotto.
If you don't come here expecting to be given everything on a plate,you will do OK.

Warning! If you do come here "to look around" on a visitors visa ,do not try to work,as you will be sent home!
« Last Edit: August 23, 2012, 08:47:38 am by vk6zgo »
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #17 on: August 23, 2012, 03:49:28 am »
Australia seems to have some of the worst government interference in private life of almost any Western country I have heard of. There are countless examples,

List them please. Start with the worst ones.

Maybe true for some things (usually minor), rubbish in others.
What about the countless things the USA is interfering in your life with?
Heck, you can jump on domestic flights here without showing ID, or removing your shoes, or getting groped.
You guys are getting that crap after you get off trains and bus terminals in some states now, and even the roads now it seems:


We don't fingerprint or photograph you when you come here for starters, and the guys at the customs desk to greet you don't have guns.

Dave.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2012, 04:39:27 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #18 on: August 23, 2012, 03:51:14 am »
The question to ask yourself is why move from the UK to OZ? Most engineers move the other way from OZ to the UK, especially if looking for a better choice of jobs.

In terms of sheer number of jobs, yes, Oz isn't the best place to be.
I suspect the OP is doing it for lifestyle or other reasons.

Dave.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #19 on: August 23, 2012, 03:56:27 am »
Just in the last three months, we employed four graduate geophysicists from GB/Scotland to work in our Perth and Melbourne offices as there simply aren't enough people locally to fill the positions available.

With your combined skills in geophysics and electronic engineering, you should have absolutely no problem at all finding a company to sponsor you and assist you emigrating over here. As the others have mentioned, Western Australia and Queensland are the hotspots, but I think you would have a strong chance of getting a job in fairly much any state you choose.

If you want any more advice or some contacts in the industry to chase up with looking for work, send me a PM, I'm more than happy to assist.

Bam!
Don't think, take him up on the offer and do it now!

Dave.
 

Offline David Aurora

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #20 on: August 23, 2012, 04:10:25 am »
...
Heck, you can jump on domestic flights here without showing ID, or removing your shoes, or getting groped
....

Haha maybe YOU can, not me though! Australia really isn't the nicest place to look slightly ethnic in an airport. Because obviously, every remotely dark person with a beard is a terrorist...  ;D
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #21 on: August 23, 2012, 04:14:38 am »
Haha maybe YOU can, not me though! Australia really isn't the nicest place to look slightly ethnic in an airport. Because obviously, every remotely dark person with a beard is a terrorist...  ;D

Still infinitely better than the good'ol "land of the free" ;D

Dave.
 

Offline IanB

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #22 on: August 23, 2012, 04:44:50 am »
True in some thing, rubbish in others.
Want me to list the countless things the USA is interesting in your life with?
Heck, you can jump on domestic flights here without showing ID, or removing your shoes, or getting groped.
You guys are getting that crap after you get off trains and bus terminals in some states now, and even the roads now it seems:

Yup, certainly some culture shock moving from the UK to the US. The first time I tried to buy a train ticket and found I was required to show photo ID to the ticket clerk had me wondering what kind of country this is? Americans in general seem to be completely compliant and submissive to authority and have little notion of personal freedom. Petty officials will often order people around with no apparent sense of questioning or resistance from the public at large.

We have suffered somewhat from this in the UK too, but there is at least some sense of indignation when people have their personal rights and freedoms infringed, even if people are ultimately powerless to do much about it.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #23 on: August 23, 2012, 05:45:42 am »
Yup, certainly some culture shock moving from the UK to the US. The first time I tried to buy a train ticket and found I was required to show photo ID to the ticket clerk had me wondering what kind of country this is? Americans in general seem to be completely compliant and submissive to authority and have little notion of personal freedom. Petty officials will often order people around with no apparent sense of questioning or resistance from the public at large.

We have suffered somewhat from this in the UK too, but there is at least some sense of indignation when people have their personal rights and freedoms infringed, even if people are ultimately powerless to do much about it.

So would you like to rephrase your statement?  :P
Quote
Australia seems to have some of the worst government interference in private life of almost any Western country I have heard of.

About the only place I am ever asked for ID is the post office (or some other place) to pick up a parcel or collect an item.
Like I said, I don't even show ID boarding local flights.

Dave.
 

Offline RCMR

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Re: Emigrating to Australia. Advice?
« Reply #24 on: August 23, 2012, 08:47:17 am »
Actually, the entire Western world is turning into something that most of our grandparents fought a war to protect against.

During WW2, the "papers please" demand of the Nazis was symbolic of a police state -- something that the UK, USA, Australia and NZ all fought against.

Now it seems, the very freedoms our grandparents fought to protect have been whittled away by successive laws which promise to swap our privacy and rights for safety -- namely in this so-called "war against terror".

For example, the UK and Australian governments looking very closely at archiving all your online activities for years -- just in case you turn out to be a terrorist and the provisions of the Homeland Security Act are unbelievable -- totally usurping many of the constitutional rights that every US citizen ought to be protected by.

We also have the situation (at least here in  NZ) where police can (and do) stop you at random to check that you're carrying your paperwork -- even though you are simply going about your lawful business.

I really believe that if our grandparents (or great-grandparents in some cases) were alive to see this they'd be asking "what was that war all about then?".

I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said  "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" -- and here we are doing exactly that.
 


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