# Working Holiday Visa to try out Oz



## fenton84 (Feb 11, 2011)

Hi guys, i am currently looking into moving over to Australia and really want to get over as son as due to the grim state of Britain. i dont know if i would be able to settle there so would like to try it out before commiting to any expensive visas.

i am a experianced civil engineer and plan to go over to australia on a working holiday visa and seek out employment in civil engineering, which from job searching there are alot of jobs available. this will give me a chance to see if i would be able to settle in australia and if so plan to apply for a full visa whilst there.

Q1. does anyone know if employers in a construction/ buisness environment would be willing to take someone on who only has a working holiday visa?

Q2. if i decide that australia is the place for me, are you allowed to apply for a full skilled migration visa while in australia on a working holiday visa?

i have read simial threads but havent really got an anwer from them, any information or wisdom you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

Fenton84


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi Fenton84, 

Q1: Not sure since you are only allowed to work for one employer for 6 months max and I don't know that industry. 

Q2: Have a look at the DIAC visa wizard in the 'Thinking of emigrating' sticky post towards the top of the forum. That has the most common visas and tells you where you need to be. If you get a sponsor then you can get a visa fairly quickly but some of the other visas could take a long time to get and you may have to be out of the country to get them. 

Regards,
Karen


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## fenton84 (Feb 11, 2011)

Hi Karen

Thanks for the reply, I think I will know within 3 months if it's for me or not, so hopefully I could apply for the skilled visa and get it within the time of my holiday visa.

Will check out the thread,

Cheers

Paul


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

Hi paul,

I guess you could look for contract work, it's doubtful a company will hire you if they know you've got to leave after 6 months.

If you qualify, yes you could apply for a permanent visa. As Karen suggested, check out those stickies to work out if you do.

Any other questions just ask away.

Dolly


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

An Experienced Civil Engineer will find work with a WHV no problems and recieve sponsorship as long as your not a muppet. I've seen it happen many times.


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## fenton84 (Feb 11, 2011)

Thanks again guys for the info, I think I'm just going to go for it! 

Dolly- that's what I was thinking about doing with regards to the contracting sides of things so hopefully if I can't get a permanent start that would be an option!

Weebie - Sounds good!! Are You in the Construction game yourself? Hopefully that happens and it's happy days!


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## JimJams (Jan 11, 2010)

I went to the the Australia Needs Skills Expo a few months back, with the intention of finding out exactly what you are asking... I work in IT but want to go on a WHV, since I feel I need to figure out whether i like the place before commiting sums of money to PR and also it will be easier getting a job face to face. I spokr to a few of the employers, state sponsorship people there and visa migration people and the long and short of it you should have no problem and this is quite a common route a lot of people take.

It also works out for the employer, since if you are rubbish then they can turn around after 6 months and not go to expense to sponsor you.

I would go into interviews and tell the employer you would want sponsorship though, look specifically for those types of jobs...

The route i was told was WHV -> 457 Business Visa (up to 4 years) -> temp bridging visa if WHV runs out -> PR.

Hope that helps.


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## fenton84 (Feb 11, 2011)

Jimjams, I went to similar seminar down in manchester and had the same conversation with a few employers,my only concern was that was just 2 companies saying that,that's good news you heard the same response, think the flights are getting book!! Thanks again guys for the good responses, maybe see you out there,haha

Paul


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## JimJams (Jan 11, 2010)

It wasn't just the companies saying it either, it was also the state sponsors that were there. Some of the people I spoke to has friends that had come over on the exact same route. If I decide to get out there myself this is the same route I will be taking.

Good luck, I'm jealous already! But maybe see you there as well, haha


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## fenton84 (Feb 11, 2011)

Even better,cheers again


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## aozora (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks guys for making me feel better about my situation. I am currently have several years in IT support. I was wondering how it would work out for in Australia. I will see if some positions if they like me will hopefully change my Visa to the 457 Visa. It is good that there are guys (even from the UK) who are helpful in giving us Yanks some good advice on how we can somehow work on temporary work Visas and get sponsored work.


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## clickcat (Dec 4, 2010)

I'm in the same situation due to the state of Ireland (and Europe in general). Hope it works out!



fenton84 said:


> Hi guys, i am currently looking into moving over to Australia and really want to get over as son as due to the grim state of Britain. i dont know if i would be able to settle there so would like to try it out before commiting to any expensive visas.
> 
> i am a experianced civil engineer and plan to go over to australia on a working holiday visa and seek out employment in civil engineering, which from job searching there are alot of jobs available. this will give me a chance to see if i would be able to settle in australia and if so plan to apply for a full visa whilst there.
> 
> ...


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## mferguson11 (Jul 31, 2011)

fenton84, my situation is very similar to the one you posted earlier this year. 

Are you currently in Australia? 

How did you go about getting work under a Working Holiday Visa?


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## fenton84 (Feb 11, 2011)

Hi mferguson11, yeah I'm currently in Australia, I've been here for just over 1 month!
I started working last week!base in perth I'm doing work on a fly in fly out basis, which is 21 days on and 7 days off! The company gave me full sponsorship and the money is brilliant!

The honest truth is it harder than people say over here! Work wise if u don't want to work in the mines is pretty hard to come by! I was based in Melbourne for 3 weeks and spoke to A lot of agencies who basically told me there isn't anything about at the moment plus with the negative of needing sponsorship and also no local experience there's no chance!

The agencies said at the end of the year theres going to be alot of work coming up so depending on when ur thinking of coming out there might be work, also its very expensive when ur spending pounds, once ur earning it's fine but until then your money disappears very quickly!

Another thing is sites like SEEK.com.au have alot of fake job advertisements that are there just to get ur details! Look for the adds that are direct to companies instead of agencies! The salaries are also un realistic so don't be fooled! For a project engineer (which I am) working in one of the cities you more likely to get 70-85,000 a year depending on experience!

I dot know if this message sounds negative or not but it's not meant to be, I was pretty Clueless coming over and though I'd walk into work but it's tuff! Now I'm earning I'm getting more relaxed and enjoying it! The weathers great, considering its winter, life style is good and work is good! If your interested in doing fly in fly out a good guy is Chris Norris at zenith (google him) there's going to be alot of work coming up in the next few months flying in and out, u might even be able to get them to pay for u coming over to oz, although u need to pay them back if u don't like it!

All the best in whatever u do,


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## mferguson11 (Jul 31, 2011)

fenton84 

Firstly, congratulations. A few weeks to secure a perm job is good going surly?

Thank you for responding, its always good to hear of someone else experience, especially a fellow jock! 

Are you now working within the Mining and Metals industry? What sector of engineering were you involved with in the UK and how many years experience do you have? 

I am currently involved with Highway infrastructure and drainage design and have been for the last 2 years. Are you aware of the Road industry at the moment and the likelihood of temp/contract employment? 

I would like to work in Sydney or Brisbane, and perhaps move over to Western Australia once I have experienced the busy city life. This is a 18 month plan for me at the moment and Ill review things then, so id imagine short-term/ contract work will be what I should be applying for. 

What is your experience - what did you see and do you have any further advice? 

Many thanks


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