Advise for working in Austrialia

witzky

Hi,

Im an Arch Tech, I have one year experience and going to Brisbane in July this year. What I would like to know is if any of you are working over there and roughly how long would it take me to get a job. Would you recommend I apply for positions first, sent my C.V to different agencies or wait till I arrive.

Any and all advise would be welcome.

muffler

One of our mods, Mellor, is there and Im sure he will give an input when he sees this

Mellor

witzky wrote: »

Hi,

Im an Arch Tech, I have one year experience and going to Brisbane in July this year. What I would like to know is if any of you are working over there and roughly how long would it take me to get a job. Would you recommend I apply for positions first, sent my C.V to different agencies or wait till I arrive.

Any and all advise would be welcome.

I've been living and working in aus for a year now. I was looking for about a month before I found work, spend 8 months there when contract ran out (actually was only 6 week position, but they kept me on). I finished up on a friday, I had two job offers in less than a week, with another the following week. I didn't apply for these but was contacted by employers after previous boss recommended me.

As for when to apply, I'd wait until you arrive. As you ideally want to have an idea of where you are located, and were the job is located. Brisbane is a big city, a lot of jobs available will be too far to commute to. And, try to find your own job before you go to agencies. Being employed directly is better for you. www.seek.com.au is a good website to use for job hunting.

Also, Arch Tech positions aren't that widespread out here. So the role of an architect here contains many parts of the Arch tech role. So don't be afraid to apply for Architect positions, as entry level positions are Cad Monkey roles anyway

No6

Mellor wrote: »

Also, Arch Tech positions aren't that widespread out here. So the role of an architect here contains many parts of the Arch tech role. So don't be afraid to apply for Architect positions, as entry level positions are Cad Monkey roles anyway

You should never refer to yourself or any At's as CAD monkey's we are always have been and always will be much more than that, besides when some of us went to college they didn't do CAD!!!:D We used pencils and pens any of you young folk even know what they are!!!:D

muffler

What's CAD?

Mellor

No6 wrote: »

You should never refer to yourself or any At's as CAD monkey's we are always have been and always will be much more than that, besides when some of us went to college they didn't do CAD!!!:D We used pencils and pens any of you young folk even know what they are!!!:D

I wasn't referring to us, but rather some of the positions available. Where all that is available or expected is drafting.


As for CAD, I'm on of the few guys left that's currently using pen and paper to produce drawings

muffler

Mellor wrote: »

As for CAD, I'm on of the few guys left that's currently using pen and paper to produce drawings

You are not alone

Poor Uncle Tom

Hey hey we're the monkey's....:D

Yes, great pleasure to be had from pensil and paper and inking up, until changes need to be made....:mad:

No6

Mellor wrote: »

I wasn't referring to us, but rather some of the positions available. Where all that is available or expected is drafting.


As for CAD, I'm on of the few guys left that's currently using pen and paper to produce drawings

Sweet mother of ****** I dont even know where my pens are, My drawing board has been consigned to the garden shed years ago and probably has a few birds nests in it at this stage!!!:D
But seriously as we are straying drasticly off topic and I am not even a moderator!! what is the story with getting proper visa's for oz, I looked at it a few years ago and found nowhere for Architectural Technicians, there was architects or architects assistants but no technicians or technologists.

witzky

Cheers for the replies,

That has kind of set my mind at ease about finding work in Aus. As regards to visa application I just put down Architect as there was no title for me. Hope this wont cause any problems. Anyone know if it will??
:eek:

Mellor

No6 wrote: »

Sweet mother of ****** I dont even know where my pens are, My drawing board has been consigned to the garden shed years ago and probably has a few birds nests in it at this stage!!!:D
But seriously as we are straying drasticly off topic and I am not even a moderator!!

To be honest, this is my first time using pens. Apart from tech drawing in school, and first year in college, I've been always on CAD

what is the story with getting proper visa's for oz, I looked at it a few years ago and found nowhere for Architectural Technicians, there was architects or architects assistants but no technicians or technologists

Define proper.
I'm on the basic WHV. I was just awarded my second year (literally 2 hours ago). These are the most basic, and most common. Qualfication isn't relevant here.

Next is a 4 year employer sponsorship visa. Again, actual qualification isn't important as long is a employer will sponsor you. You need to pretty much always have a job.


Your qualification is only relevant for Skilled Migration or residency. These are permanent Visas. At the moment it is still only Architect or Architectural Assistant. I'm not sure if it would be possible to get a AT degree recognaise for Architect (it might happen if you have a job), but it defiantly suitable to apply as An Arch. Ass. (don't let the name put you off, its defined as architecturally associated professions.

witzky wrote: »

Cheers for the replies,

That has kind of set my mind at ease about finding work in Aus. As regards to visa application I just put down Architect as there was no title for me. Hope this wont cause any problems. Anyone know if it will??
:eek:

I imagine you are going for a WHV. What you put down isn't important. It's only for completeness of info.

witzky

Cheers Mellor, ye I have my whv. Quick question, to stay for another year it says there are certain jobs that you can do to assist you in staying. It says construction jobs. Would that include our job or what??, cause I know there are only certain construction jobs they'll except.
Sorry one more, would I need to bring copy of my degree or anything, or CV and references enough?
Cheers

Mellor

witzky wrote: »

Cheers Mellor, ye I have my whv. Quick question, to stay for another year it says there are certain jobs that you can do to assist you in staying. It says construction jobs. Would that include our job or what??, cause I know there are only certain construction jobs they'll except.
Sorry one more, would I need to bring copy of my degree or anything, or CV and references enough?
Cheers

To qualify for a 2nd year (2nd WHV) you need to have completed 88 days specified regional work.
Farm work is the most common, then construction, tis means actual labour on site. There is a full list available on the IMMI site. Architecture isn't accepted. But this isn't as issue, as the has to be regional which doesn't include any of the cities (except Adelaide) and most of the area surrounding. THere is little chance of finding an architectural role outside of the cities. The only way would be a site supervising role on a large rural job. Which somebody on a WHV wouldn't get. Architecture isn't included because of the situation where the company is based in a city, but might be carrying out work in a regional area, without physically being in the area everyday.
If you go this route, your likely only options are farming or site labour. I do know a few that have managed to bingo work in a hostel or shop etc and these worked. But that are rare.

Bring a copy of your degree on disk, PDF or similar. I didn't need it, but it can't do any harm.
Bring a CV on disk in word format, as you'll need to edit it with contact details and aussie phone number etc

jozi

Interesting! Good to see your still employed anyway.

I'll be finished college again in 2 months and not sure what to do. South America is an option towards the end of the year but that depends on money. If there's work in Oz then that might be tempting a well!

Alan1988

Hi Guys,

I'm going to Western Australia (probably Perth) on the WHV in a few months. How long has it taken others to get an Architectural job over there? I notice that 'Architectural Draftsman' is on the Skilled Occupation List for the State Sponsored Migrant Visa, so there must be a demand for our services?

Also I heard they use mainly Revit Architecture rather than CAD, is this true? (I have only done a basic course in Revit) An advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks

witzky

@Alan,

It took me about 4 weeks to find work. I lived up in Brisbane at the time. They sponsored me and now I am down in Adelaide 8 months. The fact that I was on a WHV at the time put most of the employers off. Just keep applying for all the jobs you see and make sure your CV looks pretty good!!!

Regards to REVIT, you're correct it is everywhere here now. The job I am on now is the New Adelaide Hopital and it's all in REVIT. I just got lucky that Im training on the job.

If you can use the program I would say that you used it in Ireland it might give you a better chance??

All the best...W

Alan1988

Thanks Witzky,

Congrats on getting sponsorship! Did you find work through a recruitment agency or directly from the employer? What are the best sites for finding Arch Tech work? I have less than a years experience so that obviously doesn't help me.

I studied AT in Waterford IT and the majority of our work was done through CAD, I think the new first yrs are learning through Revit now though (too late for me though ). However, I intend to do a Revit course and hopefully pass an exam for Autodesk Revit Professional Certification.

How is the jobs market in Brisbane and Adelaide? I'm thinking of setting up in Perth but haven't made any final decisions yet.

Mellor

Revit is more common, but its not totally everywhere. Many practises are still using conventional programs like AutoCAD and Microstation.

Arch.Draftsman on the statesponsored migration list means nothing to a person on a WHV really. Actual, it doesn't even mean anythign to somebody going for employer sponsorship or skilled mrigration.

castleside

Hi all, Im a draftsman with 4 years Irish drafting experience using autocad and revit .Mainly doing planning permissons. Ive got Australian residency and hoping to move there real soon .

Ive applied for a number of jobs of the main Aus recruitment websites with no luck . At this point Im pretty certain Im not going to get a job while still here so I want to be well prepared for when I get there . I just want a drafting start in aus ,entry level or whatever, salary not important .

Any tips / advice on finding wrk greatly appreciated

Mellor

Out of curiosity, how did you get residency? If you don't mind me asking.
Independant is hard via draftsman, so i'm guessing either de facto or relative sponsored.

As for jobs, try seek.com.au and try contact employers direct. I wouldn't bother with agencies if you aren't here yet

castleside

Ya Im relative sponsored , mellor .

Whats the biggest differences between drafting here and in OZ would you say ? what sort of stuff should I be looking up ?

Mellor

I'd say its pretty much the same. A couple of minor differenances, but stuff you'll just pick up.

Off the top of my head some of the things that stand out for me.
Not as much insulation in general.
My first top was a brick based sports hall for a building. Very sloping site, so I was working on the coursing above and below the poured slab. For some reason, everythign was off. I counted and recouned courses, but windows, subfloot vents were in the wrong palce. They had to be right as this was a DoE template.

It was wrecking my head for a while, until I asked an guy in the office, just to be sure. "How big is a brick"

Turns out australian bricks are slightly bigger. 76mm high not 65mm.

castleside

Minor details thats good , I cant wait to start there and get into it .

Would you know of any aussie websites where I can view plans ? similar to here where most local authorities have all planning permissions available to view online ??

Mellor

The council websites have a similar system.

There's a lot more councils over here. Sydney alone must have 10.

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/

That's Sydney city council.
Planning is refered to as Decelopment. Planning permission application is called a development application or a DA

castleside

Cheers for the link ,
Thats what Ive been looking for !