By Edwina Shanahan @ Visafirst.co.uk

Some really big changes are to be introduced to the Australian Skilled Migration Programme on 1 July 2012.

The Skilled Migrant Selection Register (SkillSelect) is a new Australian visa programme aimed to ensure that only the best and brightest skilled migrants are selected for visa processing. On 1 July, SkillSelect will replace the existing skilled migration programme, and will reform the way Australia selects skilled migrants for visa processing.

SkillSelect gives the Australian government more control over who they let into the country – but it will create significant uncertainty for wannabe skilled migrants.

It will particularly affect those interested in independent, family, state or territory sponsored and business skills migration.

 So how will it work?

SkillSelect is based on an electronic two-stage process whereby intending migrants:

• (Stage 1) submit an Expression of Interest (EOI)
• (Stage 2) are invited to apply for a skilled migration visa by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)

Despite lodging an EOI, there is no guarantee that applicants will move on to stage two (ie. be invited to apply for a skilled migration visa). They will remain on a database of interested applicants ranked by points, date of application and occupation for up to two years. After that time’s up, if they haven’t been invited to apply for the visa, the EOI is removed and it’s game over – that application has failed.

When lodging an EOI, applicants must meet the points criteria, have their skills assessed AND have had an English language test already carried out. So there will be a financial outlay without any guarantee of being invited to lodge a visa application.

It is also worth noting that quotas will be introduced to this new system to prevent the pool being dominated by a narrow range of occupations. Once the limit is reached each year, there will be no further opportunity for anyone in that occupation to apply.

Would-be migrants can submit another EOI once the two-year period has lapsed.  Again, they must meet the necessary visa requirement including the minimum pass mark and the relevant occupation quota must not be full.

After all this cost and work, there’s still no guarantee of an invitation letter to apply for a permanent visa.

So if you’re thinking of applying for permanent residency, there really is no time like the present. It’s going to get a whole lot harder this year.

You should get your application lodged as soon as possible to prevent your being affected by the July 2012 changes. Only five more months of the current system!

For more information visit VisaFirst.com. Would-be migrants can call VisaFirst.com for a free assessment to see if they are eligible

The clock is ticking... From 1 July 2012, skilled visa migration is gonna get even harder

Drastic changes to Australia’s immigration policy are due to come into effect from 1 July this year, which has prompted a sharp, panic-fuelled peak in applications from UK residents.

As it stands, applicants are scored on a points system, based on skills, experience, language, age and general suitability. Anyone with enough points can apply to migrate to Australia. But under the rules of the new Skilled Migrant Selection Register, this won’t be enough on its own – it will only get you through to a further selection pool called SkillSelect, from which the Department of Immigration can select the ‘best and brightest’ candidates and invite them to apply.

Under this new system, chances are that fewer people will be allowed in, because the system aims to match the number of applicants to the number of available places. There could also be longer waits, as it may take up to two years for candidates to be selected from the pool.

As these huge changes loom, leading migration agents VisaFirst.com have received triple the usual number of applications from Brits hoping to move Down Under – and that’s just this month. As long as your application is lodged before 1 July, you’ll be processed under the existing system – so as you can imagine there’s a bit of a surge on as people push their plans through while the going’s still comparatively good.

VisaFirst say that in 2011 almost 24,000 Britons scored permanent resident visas – the good news being that the Aussie employers do seem to favour Brits over most other nationalities. UK citizens are the second highest successful applicants for employer-sponsored visas. And with UK unemployment currently soaring to a 17-year high,  it’s not surprising they’re all keen to abandon ship.

The agency is strongly encouraging applicants to lodge their visa applications before 1 July. Director Edwina Shanahan says that “these much more stringent regulations could prove a real obstacle and we’d encourage anyone who has ever thought about moving to Australia to get their application in now whilst there is still time to process it.

“Once the visa is granted, applicants have a five-year window to relocate, so it’s worth submitting the application now, even if you’re not planning the move just yet.”

VisaFirst.com are using Australia Day (this Thursday, 26 January) to launch an awareness raising campaign to encourage prospective migrants to act now.

NB The changes will affect the following skilled migration visa subclasses: 119, 121, 132, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 175, 176, 457, 885, 886, 890, 891, 892, 893, 856, 857.

For more information visit the Department of Immigration’s SkillSelect site here

The Gillard Government has announced that it intends to propose at the Labor Party’s national conference this weekend an increase of almost 50% in Australia’s intake of refugees, from 13,750 to 20,000. Read the rest of this entry »

The Gillard Government announced today that it will shortly implement a new visa fee system to ensure taxpayers are no longer subsidising visa applications. Read the rest of this entry »

New family migration applications from most applicants located Afghanistan or Pakistan will soon be processed in Islamabad, Pakistan. Read the rest of this entry »

In Australia, there are two schools of thought about whether to include career objective statements in résumés. Read the rest of this entry »

The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has advised that it is “very close” to allocating some Priority Group 5 applications to case officers. Read the rest of this entry »

In the excitement of accepting a glossy new job, many people psychologically move on from their current employer before they start their new job. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking part in a face-to-face or telephone interview is an exciting, but daunting, thought for most job applicants.  Attending an interview for a job in Australia can be even more stressful for people who are newly arrived, or those for whom Australian English is not their mother tongue. 

Although Australia is famous for its relaxed culture, Australian employers and recruiters take interviews very seriously.  So in today’s Career Suite article, I’ve compiled a list of seven tried and tested tips to give you the best chance of impressing your interviewer or interview panel. 

 1.       Be prepared

• Arrive at least ten minutes early
• Check the location of the interview in advance – if you don’t know the area, make a trial run beforehand to ensure you arrive on time, especially if you need to use public transport to get there.

 2.       Research the organisation  

• As a well-briefed applicant, you will show the panel that you are taking the job seriously and are keen to be part of the organisation
• There’s no use researching unless the interviewer knows you’ve made the effort to do so, so introduce points from your research into your answers to the interview questions wherever possible. 

3.       Address the panel members by name

• Take a notepad and write down the name of each interviewer after the introductions.
• Refer to your notes and use their names throughout the interview.
• If an interviewer introduces themselves with their first and last name, for example “Hi, I’m John Smith”, it is courteous to call them “Mr Smith” during the interview.  If they would like you to call them “John”, they will invite you to do so.

 4.       Ensure you dress in a manner that reflects the occupation

• If you are not sure what to wear to your interview, it is best to dress too formally than too casually. 
• If you are being interviewed for a corporate professional role, or in a conservative business environment, it is best to wear a suit.
• For other roles, in Australia it is appropriate to wear smart casual business attire to interviews.   
• Make sure that your grooming is immaculate, even if you are applying for a role that doesn’t require customer or client contact. 
• If you are a smoker, do not smoke within half an hour before the interviewer.  If you walk into an interview with the smell of cigarettes on your breath and clinging to your clothing, it could leave a bad impression on a non-smoking interviewer. 
• Wear an outfit that you are comfortable in, so you are not distracted during the interview.

 5.       Answer questions comprehensively

• Take a moment to consider each question that is put to you.  Stay calm, organise your thoughts and give a focused answer.
• Wherever possible in your responses, relate your experience to the duties of the role you’re applying for.
• Answer questions comprehensively, but resist the impulse to keep talking after you have addressed each part of the question.

 6.       Watch your body language

• When you are introduced to the interviewer or panel, make sure your handshake is firm and confident.  A weak handshake is as bad as one that it so strong it crushes the recipient’s hand.  Neither will impress your interviewer.
• Make eye contact with the interviewer throughout the interview. 
• If you are participating in a panel interview, each interviewer will ask you one or more questions in turn.  Respond primarily to the interviewer who asked the question, but include the others in your response, by making eye contact with each of them as you respond.

 7.       Thank the interviewers

• At the conclusion of the interview, thank the interviewers and follow up by sending a brief thank you note within three working days of the interview.

Do you have a question about the Australian jobsearch process? Post it in the Embrace Australia forum, or visit Susan Wareham McGrath at Australian Career Suite for more information about applying for a job in Australia, working in Australia and changing careers in Australia.

Great news for specialist construction workers wanting to work in Australia

Unless you’ve been hiding under Ayers Rock, you’ll be aware that Australia is currently benefitting from a mining boom – that is, there is a huge demand for its raw mineral exports.

This is not just good news for those in the mining and raw materials industries, who can pick and choose from the hundreds of job vacancies. It’s also having a knock-on effect in the construction industry. Construction contracts with the mining industry have almost doubled in value since last year. The hottest demand is for construction workers with experience in oil and gas.

This news comes courtesy of the annual Housing Industry Association / Cordell Construction 100 report, which reveals that almost half of Australia’s non-resident worker contracts have come courtesy of the resources sector.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts that the 200,000 people currently employed in Australia’s mining industry is set to increase to 300,000 by 2015 – with 60,000 of these being construction jobs.

Western Australia and Queensland are the epicentres of the boom. In Queensland, there’s such a serious shortage of construction skills that the industry is struggling to keep pace. Queensland needs 38,000 jobs in the sector filled by 2014.

With Australia’s population growth driven largely by overseas immigration, this represents a great opportunity for skilled construction workers to migrate into the Lucky Country, either temporarily or permanently.