# Opportunities for a 10yr experianced Software Architect



## ckanth (Sep 1, 2009)

Hi,
I must say this is the best forum I have come across which has wealth of immigration related info. 
I have more than 10 yrs of experiance designing and developing software for various line of business. I was thinking about moving to Australia for a better quality of life. I have gone through the job sites mentioned in the forum and there seems to be good opportunity available. What I would love to know is 
Range of salery that I can expect.. for e.g in seek it looks like the sal is more than 80K. 
How much does it cost me to initially settle in. We are a family of 3 including my daughter who is 4 yrs 
Is my experiance considered in par with local aussies
what is the initial salery I can expect.. a range would be great..
Any info on these will be really helpful for me to decide

Thanks
Chandra


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Chandra and look, it would really be remiss of anybody to guestimate what kind of salary you may have potential for.

It is obviously going to be dependant on a whole host of factors, global economics, Australian economy, IT business going offshore and how your own personal qualifications and abilities are going to match what positions are in the market.

And then you are going to be competing with plenty of like qualified/experienced people.

As to initial fund for immigrating, that's a bit like how far can you stretch an elastic band, especially with a family involved.
Your immigration and travel costs alone could ammount to $10,000 as a ball park figure, perhaps more.

Accommodation, food, transport, schooling, health and you need to be looking at somewhere near a minimum $1000/w, say another $10,000 for furnishings and then if a car is required, another $10,000 for a not too old secondhand reliable one.

I had in my mind something of about $50,000 off the top of my head to cover six months before I even made a rough breakdown and so that's not probably too far off the mark.

It can be a big risk and perhaps there are some steps you could look at to minimise risk, develop a plan and assess potential for employment, eg.

After of course having qualifications assessed by Australian organisation, ACS perhaps in your case - details on Department of Immigration & Citizenship , and check all requirements so you know you will be eligible for immigration.

*1.* Book yourself a short holiday to assess the potential [having of course a return ticket and proof of family and employment in home country would be a good idea].

I say assess potential and you do need to be careful in having a clear intent of not actually looking for work - immigration will be more than suspicious if you're asked about reason for coming to Australia and you say " just looking for work " .

I would not volunteer information unless asked.
But you can be precise in saying:
. you want to consider the potential to emigrate but because of the huge cost/risks associated with bringing a family, you have first decided to come on a short holiday and visit different areas.
. it would be good to have a travel plan on paper.
[ and again if asked anything about employment, be very clear]
. and you could indicate that as well as seeing what the different cities are like you may contact some companies to see how your work at home would match with employee requirements.

Hopefully they would not refuse you entry but you are better to be honest from the start if asked rather than tell lies or at least take another tack of only saying so much, ie.
. you want to see what Australia is like.
. you have come on a short holiday [ and you have your travel plan ]
Next question could be " why Australia? "
[and being careful]
. I and my family do have thoughts that Australia may be a good place to live so it is cheaper for one [yourself] to come and have a look about.
Next question if one comes could be something like " What kind of work do you do? "
And you say I am a SW Architect and work with "name of company".

And you do not need to be alarmed if questioned in this way, 
it is the role of immigration officers, and even myself on my first trip overseas, I was aked on returning " Why did you go to........?", and then
" Why did you pick to go there? " etc.

If you get a question about working in Australia, you can answer with
" I am aware that I do not have a right to work on my tourist visa "
And you could follow up with " Is it OK that I do try and find out what employment opportunities and conditions would be like? "

The answer you get could likely vary dependent on the immigration officer, but at least you have asked the question.

I would not bring employment/qualifications documents with you though as that can raise suspicions and it'd be better if you have that type of information emailed to yourself so you can print it off here in Australia.

*2.* Put in the immigration application, including the family as secondary applicants.
But come alone first on approval so you will have far less costs in the first instance and to get stable work and get to know where to live and what is involved re housing, transport, schooling etc. for the family .

*3.* Then the family can come, OK a little pain with the separation but we have a saying in english "No pain, no gain".


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## ckanth (Sep 1, 2009)

Thanks Wandrer. I was hoping you will respond.. Valuable points..
I too had it in mind that I will travel alone and perhaps get a job perhaps and then get my family there. I totally agree with the point that the salery is directly propotional to ones capability and experiance...however there should be a general range for a skill set and experiance. 
I got my profile evaluated by a consultant and got around 125 points. Am I processing the visa ? Dont know


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## dipssree (Nov 29, 2010)

Hi Ckanth,
Do you find any luck finding a job in your field?


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## attonyzhou (Apr 25, 2010)

Hi Chandra,

I have almost same situation as yours. I got my PR visa in 2nd half of 2009. I have a family of 3. I had spend 3 weeks last year tried to find a job. Not get an offer yet but had several valuable interviews(maybe one of them give me a offer soon). My plan is, I will move alone after i get job offer and then family comes. Australia is good for life but not very good for it/software engineer, industry is not so big there. Good luck.


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## Dexter (May 5, 2010)

3 weeks is not much  There are people who look for work in their profession for months. Try Sydney or Melbourne - you have most chance of finding work in one of those cities.


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