# Finding work with a provisional partner visa



## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

Hello everybody, 
I am currently waiting for my partner visa to be granted. We send the application from offshore, but of course we think a lot about our future in Australia. Now i am wondering if anybody has some experience about getting a job with a provisional partner visa? I read somewhere that it is quite hard to find a permanent position, if you don't have "needed or special" skills in the jobs you apply for. When i heard that I got a bit worried that I might have problems to find a permanent position. So does anyone have experience on this?


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

I am on the forum app so I can't see your flag - where are you from, what work do you have experience with?


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## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

Hi Nelly, 
I am from Germany and I studied international marketing. The thing that worries me is that I did not study at a usual University, it was a privat academy and i think the degree from the academy will not be recognized outside of Germany. Also I did never work directly in marketing ( except my internship which I did in Australia). For the last 3 - 4 years i worked as a coordinator / buyer for an internatinal operating company. I would like to apply for jobs in marketing, but with this backround I think i might have problems.


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

I found Australian employers care about two staples when considering hiring immigrants; local experience and duration/secureness of visa. So for many, breaking into the job market with a temporary visa is hard, though some are lucky.

I am a historian from a world top 50 uni and generally, nobody cares, although your major is far more practical than mine. 

I found a job after 7 months of searching - I work customer service at the Dutch department of an Australian company (they operate all over the world). It's night shift, it's not glamorous, it's casual fulltime but it's work. Surprisingly, it is very enjoyable and they were thrilled to hire a Dutchie with the plan to stay and are very promotion-happy. What I'm saying is... don't settle for door to door sales but don't be picky either and you might run into somewhere with future potential.

You might be luckier than me but if you want fair chances, getting good local experience is worth more than any degree initially, so start with an open mind to go up from wherever you start.


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## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

Thank you for your reply and sharing your thoughts and experience, Nelly! I really appreciate it. 

I think I will be very happy with a job, even if it is not so glamorous or super well paid. Maybe i can try for a position as a trainee to gain experience first. And who knows maybe i will find job which is something totally different And i would not expect, but i actually really enjoy. I think the key is an open mind, like you said.


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

Good luck on your search!! I hope you're very lucky and find work fast, if not, hang in there it does eventually happen!


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## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

Thank you, Nelly! Hopefully my visa will be granted soon! Also i wish you all the best in your job and if you ever decide to look for a new job i wish you good luck as well!


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## DylanW (Jan 26, 2011)

I have been on a provisional visa 820 for going on two years and I have only ever had an issue once with my visa. I got offered a job once and then they withdrew the offer because of my provisional status.. it was really stupid because the company was willing to sponsor.. made no sense.

Besides that the only thing I have noticed is most companies will rather give you a two year contract rather than full time employment while you are on a provisional visa. Once you PR is issued there are no further issues.


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## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

Thank you for sharing your experience, winikd! A two year contract for starters sounds fine to me. I think i will be happy with that, hopefully i am lucky and can get a good job.


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## nighstar (Apr 22, 2010)

i've gone from a Work & Holiday Visa (462) to a Bridging Visa with full work rights to a Temporary Partner Visa (820) which I've had for about 1.5 years now. i've had nothing but trouble finding a job the entire time. :/

i've been applying for casual, part-time and full-time work, both permanent and temporary and all were jobs for while i was either fully qualified or over qualified, without success.  the few interviews that i have gotten always went sour when it came to my visa status.... it's extremely frustrating.

about a year and a half ago i decided to start my own business and did contract work for people that i knew who owned local businesses, but now contract work has dried up and so i've been searching the job market again. sigh.

it seems to be very much the reality of the Aussie (or Brisbane?) job market, that unless you're a permanent resident or have skills which are in demand, you will have a hard time finding paid work, sadly.


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

I have almost always heard people say they struggle on a temporary visa - either in finding employment at all or finding meaningful employment.

All I can say is I found a suitable, fun job where I'm appreciated... even though it is more the jobs I had in college than what I studied for in college, I'm holding onto it for dear life.


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## Nai (Feb 23, 2011)

I went through the same when I was interviewing whilst on bridging A visa. When asked about my visa status, I said I had no work hours restrictions and had a provisional visa while my partner visa was processed. They seemed happy with the answer and were more interested in my experience and skills than anything. I also received a lot of honest feedback from some of those employers on why I didn't get certain jobs, and my visa status was never brought up. A month and a half later, I was blessed with the best entry level, career related job on a bridging visa! So yes, it is possible


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## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

nighstar said:


> i've gone from a Work & Holiday Visa (462) to a Bridging Visa with full work rights to a Temporary Partner Visa (820) which I've had for about 1.5 years now. i've had nothing but trouble finding a job the entire time. :/
> 
> i've been applying for casual, part-time and full-time work, both permanent and temporary and all were jobs for while i was either fully qualified or over qualified, without success.  the few interviews that i have gotten always went sour when it came to my visa status.... it's extremely frustrating.
> 
> ...


Hi Nighstar,

that doesn't sound good! I am sorry to hear that you have so much trouble to finding a job. May I ask what kind of qualifications you have? do you have a degree in a certain field? I hope you will find a job (that also makes you happy) very soon!! don't give up hope!


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## skipperydoo (Nov 11, 2011)

I must say what Nighstar just said was exactly what I am afraid of! But I still have hope to find a job, especially after Nelly's comments and also after reading Nai's comment above. It is so good to hear that there are success stories, so nobody should give up hope. 

We finally have the visa approved and now we start organizing things. In May we will fly to Australia and then the job hunt begins for me.


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## nighstar (Apr 22, 2010)

thanks Nelly87 and Nai for sharing your positive experiences.  i really hope that i have a positive experience to share before too long.....

@skipperydoo

congrats on the visa grant! and thanks for the encouraging works and good wishes. 

i have a B.A. in Applied Linguistics, 3 years experience teaching English in Japan and a moderately high level of fluency in Japanese. i've applied for all kinds of jobs, but most of them didn't relate directly to my degree or teaching because in order to teach in Australia i would have to go back to school to get certain qualifications, which i can't afford to do.  so mostly i've been applying for entry level positions... hopefully some luck will come my way and i'll land a decent job. :/ 

wishing you the best of luck with your move to Australia and with job hunting.  the only advice i have is to possibly try and get letters of recommendation from your current/recent employer(s) and official copies of university transcripts/your degree if you can before you leave.


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## Miss Swan (May 28, 2012)

I also had a hard time landing my first job, and I'm still on a BVA with work rights! None of the Aussie employers which I sent my applications out to called me up for an interview. All I got were tons of rejection emails. I did finally land a job, to a company who required the candidate who can speak a second language. 

My advise is, keep hopes up and don't stop applying. Feb-Apr are peak hiring periods so hang in there!


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## daphsta (Apr 10, 2012)

Hey all,

I'm on my prospective marriage visa and applying for provisional visa and I have managed to land a job though not related to my work experience or what I have studied. I suppose you will have to open your mind and not be too restricted to your related industry. In fact, I'm working in a state school under the education department which is totally unrelated to pre sales in IT. It fulfills the criteria of a job and pays during school holidays. Hope that I have given encouragement to all who are seeking jobs on provisional visa. Try looking out of your scope.


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