Best place in OZ for engineers

whosyour_daddy

Hello there,

Where are the best spots in Australia for graduate Mechanical Engineers? I'm thinking Perth, but not sure. It would be great to hear from other engineers out there.
Graduated in August 2011, have 8 months experience from my Co-op and good computer skills, particularly in CAD.

Many thanks.

someday2010

Best place without a doubt is the Pilbara. This is where engineers earn the megabucks on Fly In Fly Out work, the money being earned by engineers up there at the moment is unbelievable. For mechanical engineers both SMP (structural mechanical plant) associated with Iron Ore Mining and the LNG (liquified natural gas) plants at the Gorgon on Barrow
Island ($40 billion construction project) and Wheatstone ($25billion construction project) will sustain this for a longtime to come.

whosyour_daddy

someday2010 wrote: »

Best place without a doubt is the Pilbara. This is where engineers earn the megabucks on Fly In Fly Out work, the money being earned by engineers up there at the moment is unbelievable. For mechanical engineers both SMP (structural mechanical plant) associated with Iron Ore Mining and the LNG (liquified natural gas) plants at the Gorgon on Barrow
Island ($40 billion construction project) and Wheatstone ($25billion construction project) will sustain this for a longtime to come.

Thanks a lot for the reply.
Christ, I never even heard about that area but I am now very interested. So how would one go about getting work in the Pilbara, seeing that it is so remote? Just basically google engineering jobs in the Pilbara or should I look for engineering companies in Perth that operate in the Pilbara region?
Thanks again.

whosyour_daddy

I should rephrase my question, if I was to go looking for these kind of jobs would it be best to do it while living in Perth or should I find some town in the Pilbara region?
Thanks

mandrake04

whosyour_daddy wrote: »

I should rephrase my question, if I was to go looking for these kind of jobs would it be best to do it while living in Perth or should I find some town in the Pilbara region?
Thanks

Depends on what kind of visa you have.

whosyour_daddy

mandrake04 wrote: »

Depends on what kind of visa you have.

No Visa yet. This is all pre-planning. Why would it matter?

mandrake04

whosyour_daddy wrote: »

No Visa yet. This is all pre-planning. Why would it matter?

It could determine whether an employer would bother giving you a job or not, most common type of visa is a working holiday visa but you can only work for one employer for a max of 6 months. Hence the name working holiday visa, does tend to put some employers off.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056418037

Since you have only graduated you are hardly going to wow an employer with you mass of experience, so sponsorship is more unlikely than likely but not entirely impossible.

whosyour_daddy

mandrake04 wrote: »

It could determine whether an employer would bother giving you a job or not, most common type of visa is a working holiday visa but you can only work for one employer for a max of 6 months. Hence the name working holiday visa, does tend to put some employers off.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056418037

Since you have only graduated you are hardly going to wow an employer with you mass of experience, so sponsorship is more unlikely than likely but not entirely impossible.

Thanks for the reply.
****, doesn't sound good. It's the same story in Canada I presume?
From the looks of that thread you have posted, it seems it's impossible to get a job in the field of study you want.
I would be hoping to land some god awful engineering job in the outback with horrible hours (i.e a position that employers are finding impossible to fill) and then get sponsorship for my dedication:D.
So... can't get a job here in Ireland, Oz & Canada seem very risky. What is one to do? Any advice?
I think I'm just going to go dealing drugs at this stage!

mandrake04

whosyour_daddy wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.
****, doesn't sound good. It's the same story in Canada I presume?
From the looks of that thread you have posted, it seems it's impossible to get a job in the field of study you want.
I would be hoping to land some god awful engineering job in the outback with horrible hours (i.e a position that employers are finding impossible to fill) and then get sponsorship for my dedication:D.
So... can't get a job here in Ireland, Oz & Canada seem very risky. What is one to do? Any advice?
I think I'm just going to go dealing drugs at this stage!

I never said it's impossible but rather that it's not as simple as landing out and applying for jobs.

A WHV is just a holiday visa, most people think is migration which it's not. If you have an unrestricted visa that would be an advantage but you still lack experience.

In fairness there was some other poster was in a similar postion as yourself and claims he had a win with regard a Mech Eng Graduate managed to get a job. Can't remember his name through.

whosyour_daddy

I understand that it will be very difficult to get work due to my limited experience but I feel I would be better off than in Ireland. Are graduates with little experience getting jobs out there in Oz, from what you hear? Because in Ireland it's always the same response "not enough experience".
Thanks again

whosyour_daddy

oops didn't read your post fully, you answered my question. Ok I wiil try and find that poster.

hussey

Try reading this
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=59155331

mandrake04

whosyour_daddy wrote: »

I understand that it will be very difficult to get work due to my limited experience but I feel I would be better off than in Ireland. Are graduates with little experience getting jobs out there in Oz, from what you hear? Because in Ireland it's always the same response "not enough experience".
Thanks again

Maybe or maybe not, luck always plays a hand.

Poker Engineer

Hi OP

I came out here as a fresh mechanical engineering grad in Feb and I have found my way into Engineering work which at the moment looks like it might turn into sponsorship, I'm over here with 5 members of my course as well and 3 of them are also in engineering work which is going well. None of us had any significant engineering experience before we got here so it is definitely doable its just gonna take a lot of effort to break down that first door.
If you have any questions just ask.

mandrake04

^^Think it was him.

whosyour_daddy

hussey wrote: »

Try reading this
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=59155331

Thanks for the link. Seems to be some good info in there.
I'll go through it all in detail tonight.

whosyour_daddy

Poker Engineer wrote: »

Hi OP

I came out here as a fresh mechanical engineering grad in Feb and I have found my way into Engineering work which at the moment looks like it might turn into sponsorship, I'm over here with 5 members of my course as well and 3 of them are also in engineering work which is going well. None of us had any significant engineering experience before we got here so it is definitely doable its just gonna take a lot of effort to break down that first door.
If you have any questions just ask.

Thats great to hear! Thanks for the reply.
Couple of questions:

What area of Oz did you go to and what exactly did you do to get the work? Recruitment agencies, contacts, applied directly?

What visa did you go on?

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of work are you doing? Are you in the mines or a city etc?

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.

Poker Engineer

Hey whosyour_daddy

I'm working in Melbourne as a design engineer in a metal pipe and fittings company. Thought about going to western australia and applying for the mining jobs but they are very difficult to get without experience and in general they are looking for engineers who have studied mining engineering which isn't in any university back home.
As far as what i did to get the job it was a bit of everything really i got in touch with the recruitment agencies i followed up on ads on jobs websites, seek.com.au is the best one i found. It was basically a numbers game applying to any and every engineering job that was advertised.
Oh and I came over on a working holiday visa which is what i imagine you will be coming on.

whosyour_daddy

Thanks Poker engineer. Well it's refreshing to hear that you got a good job while on a working holiday visa. I was getting the impression that a WHV is a death sentence!

whosyour_daddy

Poker Engineer wrote: »

Hey whosyour_daddy

I'm working in Melbourne as a design engineer in a metal pipe and fittings company. Thought about going to western australia and applying for the mining jobs but they are very difficult to get without experience and in general they are looking for engineers who have studied mining engineering which isn't in any university back home.
As far as what i did to get the job it was a bit of everything really i got in touch with the recruitment agencies i followed up on ads on jobs websites, seek.com.au is the best one i found. It was basically a numbers game applying to any and every engineering job that was advertised.
Oh and I came over on a working holiday visa which is what i imagine you will be coming on.

Hello again.
How did you get around working for a maximum of 6 months for one employer?
For example, if I get a job as a Mechanical Engineer while on a work holiday visa, will I have to leave the job after 6 months? Or is this ignored when you get sponsored?
Thanks

hussey

When you get sponsored you get a different visa, the 6 month rule only applies on a WHV

someday2010

When you switch to a 457 from a WHV do you then lose that WHV forever on does it remain active in the background. For example lets say the WHV was valid until Feb 2012 and you switched to a 457 in September but left the employer could you then revert back to your WHV until Feb 2012.

mandrake04

someday2010 wrote: »

When you switch to a 457 from a WHV do you then lose that WHV forever on does it remain active in the background. For example lets say the WHV was valid until Feb 2012 and you switched to a 457 in September but left the employer could you then revert back to your WHV until Feb 2012.

Once a 457 (or any visa) is granted onshore the previous visa is gone. There no such thing as reverting back in the visa world.