[clug] Another pom incoming.

[Neil Pickford]

Sorry to put another downer on your Canberra prospects Dave, but over 
the next year or 2 things are going to be a fair bit bleaker on the 
project contracting side of Federal government work.

The Federal government has reduced ALL project capital funding by 20% 
for the next year in order to achieve - on paper - a federal budget 
surplus after the Global Financial Crisis stimulus.  Finance are also 
not letting unspent capital funding roll over to the next Financial year.

This will mean contracting for government IT project related work is 
going to get significantly harder in the short term.

All Government departments have also been slugged with an additional 
2.5% efficiency dividend (extra reduction in operating costs) which 
means most areas are trimming more staff from their operational areas 
and not employing new people, even though they are desperately needed.

In my area of government we look like having at least 2 Financial years 
of low capital funding with a possible pick-up in 2014/15 but that will 
be after an election and if we get a change in government - all bets on 
a restoration of funding are off.

Neil

On 15/04/2012 2:32 PM, Steve Barnes wrote:
> Hi Dave
>
> Canberra-based IT pom here (and soon-to-be citizen in the coming months).
>
> Speaking from experience finding "good" work in IT (ie, something that
> would challenge the skills you've outlined below), in Canberra, as a
> non-citizen can be a frustrating experience. That's not to say it's
> impossible (I have similar skills to you and been fortunate enough to
> secure 3 full-time IT jobs over the last 4 years). Rather, you'll have
> to get used to "Must be Australian Citizen" appearing on the vast
> majority of job ads.
>
> Canberra being the national capital and relatively small (as compared to
> Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne), means 80-90% of IT jobs are either in
> the public service or in some way linked to the public service (ie,
> working for <insert large global vendor> who holds support contracts for
> .gov.au departments XYZ). This means most (but not all) will require a
> security clearance. There are a handful of departments that will accept
> Permanent Residents for IT work (for examples, see [1]).
>
> As a non-citizen, getting a security clearance is possible but, as
> already mentioned, you would need to posses some exotic,
> hard-to-find-locally skill set - zero-g certified COBOL programmer or
> some such.
>
> It took me 5 months of semi-serious hunting before I finally landed a
> job at a local University (applied for via their website). Recruitment
> agencies were, for the most part, apathetic. Once they find out you're
> not a citizen their interest in you tends to wane, at which point they
> invariably ask if you've considered looking for work in <insert other
> Australian capital city>...YMMV.
>
> My advice would be to keep checking the on-line job sites, this mailing
> list and perhaps consider applying to some of the local Universities -
> suitable jobs do surface on a semi-frequent basis. If you're so
> inclined, now might also be a good time to line up some of those IT
> certifications you've been thinking about doing - something to keep you
> occupied, motivated and that bit more employable when the interviews do
> start coming in.
>
> Sorry if this all sounds doom-and-gloom, that's not my intention. I'm
> trying to strike a balance between constructive, realistic and at the
> same time, giving you some idea of what to expect. I for one would have
> appreciated having this information before I arrived.
>
> In summary, there ARE jobs here that are a perfect match for your skills
> and don't require you to be a citizen, they just require an
> above-average amount of digging to find.
>
> Good luck, stay positive and let us know when you get that first job.
>
> Steve
>
> [1] http://www.apsjobs.gov.au/
>
> On 04/13/2012 10:53 PM, Dave Sharpe wrote:
>> Dear CLUG!
>>
>> I am an active member of the Scottish linux users group and was
> pleased to
>> see that Canberra has an active LUG for me to
>> take interest in.
>>
>> My family and I are moving to Canberra in September. I am struggling to
>> find many jobs advertised online in my area (Linux SA, with CCNA/RHCSA)
>> that don't ask for security clearances of some kind which I A) Dont
> have
>> and B) Probably won't get due to my residual pom status.
>>
>> Do you think I am going to struggle to secure good work in Canberra?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice and will come pester you all soon,
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> --
>
>