Many migrant engineers who arrive in Australia don’t know where to begin when it comes to finding work in their field. Here are seven tips.
For many overseas-qualified engineers granted visas to Australia, navigating the job market can be confusing.
This is partly due to a lack of information, according to Shellie McDonald, Senior Manager of Engineering Talent at Engineers Australia.
“If they know they’re migrating to Australia as an engineer or they’re already here, there’s no centralised hub for trustworthy and credible information, and migrant engineers often struggle to find the resources they need,” she explained. “We need to do much more to show them how to navigate the market and utilise their skills.”
Accessing the right information could help overseas-qualified engineers find work more quickly in their field, she said. Currently, only about 40 per cent of skilled migrant engineers in Australia are employed in engineering roles, while 47 per cent of those actively seeking an engineering job are unemployed.
Given our engineering skills shortage, this is a pressing issue.
“Migrants play a vital role in the engineering workforce,” McDonald said. “We have low numbers of domestic students graduating plus an ageing workforce, which means we’re losing a lot of knowledge and skills as those people retire.
“With the rapid advancement in technologies and infrastructure, the skills, the knowledge and experience of migrant engineers are crucial to filling gaps. The next 10 years will be critical.”
Engineers Australia’s Barriers to employment for migrant engineers report emphasises that “providing credible, trusted information on employment pathways” is key to helping overseas-qualified engineers find skilled roles. Other strategies include:
- Showcasing the value of migrant engineers
- Developing networking and sponsorship initiatives
- Creating programs to build local experience
- Making it easier for employers to access this talent pool
Engineers Australia has been focused on improving the resources available to migrant engineers. Here are McDonald’s top tips to get started in Australia.
1. Check out Engineers Australia’s Career Support program
The Career Support Program is Engineers Australia’s suite of downloadable resources and templates for resumes, cover letters and selection criteria. Created by professional career service provider and recruitment company Careers Success Australia in consultation with Engineers Australia’s migrant engineer reference group, the program provides guidance tailored to overseas-qualified individuals.
“This program will soon be available online. We’re also building a self-paced training program with modules that people can work through in their own time,” McDonald said.
Engineers Australia will launch the OQE [Overseas Qualified Engineer] Career Support Hub in November. The hub will house a suite of career resources to assist overseas qualified engineers navigate the job market, and will include resources such as downloadable documents, worksheets, training videos, and interviews with career coaches, recruiters, industry professionals and successful overseas-qualified engineers.
2. Find out if you’re eligible for Engineers Australia’s Global Engineering Talent GET Program
This 18-week program includes comprehensive training on work and safety and how an engineering project progresses in Australia, followed by a paid work placement to help engineers adapt their skills for the local workforce.
To be eligible, engineers must have a relevant degree and three years of overseas experience in the field, with Engineers Australia matching their skills to employers.
Though there’s no guarantee of employment with the host employer at the end of the placement, 90 per cent of participants from the first pilot of the GET Program were offered further opportunities.
3. Connect with professional organisations
Engage with Engineers Australia or other relevant bodies specific to your engineering discipline, McDonald suggested.
“Industry organisations understand the recognition process for overseas qualifications and what the industry needs. They can also provide training and networking opportunities.”
4. Get networking
Engineers Australia’s events and training calendar is planned almost 12 months ahead and other bodies will likely have a similar schedule of networking opportunities.
“You can attend general meet-and-greet events with other migrant engineers, topic-based events, industry conferences and education events, which are all ways for you to connect with your profession and industry,” McDonald said.
5. Research the market
Do some simple desktop research and subscribe to industry publications to stay informed about what’s happening in your engineering discipline sector and who the main players are.
6. Seek expert career advice
Knowing how to present your overseas qualifications and tailor your experience to the local market is crucial.
“Engineers Australia’s Career Support program can help you with this or you can engage with a personal career advisor,” McDonald suggested.
“The Career Development Association of Australia website allows you to search for career advisors in your local area, and some of them will work with you while you’re still offshore, which means you can get a head start before you even arrive in Australia,” she added.
7. Get professional recognition for your qualifications
Having your qualifications and experience recognised by an industry body allows you to present yourself as a professional in your field, McDonald said. Engineers Australia can assess your education and skills to national and international standards.
“It’s critical to have an assessment because that’s what industry always asks for.”
I graduated from the University of Alabama with a mechanical engineering degree. Trained in Japan on Quality Assurance, worked for Texas Instruments in Singapore, joined oil and gas industry in Singapore and worked for National Oilwell Varco (NOV Inc.) and FMC Energy before migrating to Australia under skilled migration scheme. I reviewed 300 resumes and did not receive a single interview. One of the famous head-hunting companies (office in Sydney North Shore) suggested to change my name to an Anglo name to increase the likelihood of getting a job as an engineer. I began my MBA with UTS out of my frustration. In the middle of my MBA for the last time I applied for a job with Australiana Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network (formerly known as Transport Canberra – TC) as a Projects Engineer.
It matched my educational background, expertise, and working experience, and technical expertise. It went well but at the end of the interview question was raised on my Australian Experience. I was ready for this. I had my answers ready because I had enough of getting rejected for an interview because of so called “Australian Experience” and at that I was prepared to leave Australia for Canada.
My reply was, “Yes, I do not have the any Australian Experience if you Newton’s Law runs upside down, if the AutoCAD system runs upside down and even if the buses run upside down then you have a wrong person for the position.” (those experience were the prerequisites for the position).
This is what Australia (in some sense Canada is worse) is all about and I would say EA is the biggest hurdle. They should be assisting incoming experienced engineers entering this country when you have a shortage of engineers instead of putting obstacles on the path of those engineers.
I would like to end this by comparing with the USA, that nation is a great place for engineers because they give a damn about any US experience, as long as you can prove that you are an engineer during your interview, they will hire you and you will survive only if you are one. I would say that USA is great because they do not care about who you are, but what you are and for that precise reason they dominate engineering feats in this world.
By the way I got the job with ACTION because of Ailen Egan, the lady I replaced, and she told the interview board, “put yourself in his shoes”.
Think big by not shirking your vision but broadening it.
I am interested for GET program and I am in process to get migrant skill assessment outcome. So can I still apply and take a chance to get selected for GET program? This is only criteria which is not comply with requirements. Please provide appropriate suggestions for it.
Those tips are all good advice. I read the comment by Azizur Bhuiya and must admit I am quite puzzled how difficult it was for him to obtain a job in his chosen field. Perhaps there had been other considerations, such as cultural fit, how he came across with his personality?
In my last job before I retired, at a large water authority in Queensland, we had a virtual United Nations. Most engineers I worked with were from southern hemisphere countries: Iran, Afghanistan, India, for example. We had Muslims and Hindus. There was no discrimination whatever, for example, there were many women in leading roles.
However in previous roles when I was on selection committees and also just as a colleague, the only real barrier was the engineer’s English communication skill. For one phone interview, none of us could understand what the candidate was saying. At another job, I worked with an engineer who no one could really understand. The only way I could communicate with him was by e-mail. I don’t understand how he ever got the job.
But as an engineer, you really do need to be good at both verbal and written communication in English. One senior engineer who I was effectively mentoring had a mediocre grasp of written English and I had to help him to ensure that he said what he meant.
The bottom line is, migrant engineers for whom English is not their first language should do some formal study to improve their English communication skill.
I agree Frank
In my field (traffic and transport engineering) much of what we do has to be documented in a report with carefully constructed arguments and analyses. Being able to do the engineering work is one thing, being able to communicate it clearly is another (this applies to engineers with english as a first language as well – I have done a lot of work on my written skills over my career). I have worked overseas and with engineers from many countries (and recruited many engineers).
Over my career, english has been the universal language, even when working on projects overseas. Universities could help by better screening and assisting students more in developing written and spoken english, communication and report writing skills (applies to both international and local engineers), particularly if they are genuine in increasing the placement success of international (and local) graduates into the local market (and overseas markets). I have interviewed many potential graduates who cannot comprehend quite simple instructions or write clear and concise sentences explaining the inputs, assumptions and tasks underpinning quite simple analyses. How universities pass some graduates is beyond me.
Local knowledge and experience and exposure to the local processes can also be really important, especially for non-graduate roles. Many experienced overseas engineers have an expectation that the degree and years of experience alone should entitle them to a job. However that has always only been the beginning – unfortunately the degree itself is no guarantee of good performance, and standards seem to be slipping. Employers invest a lot in onboarding and developing new staff – around three times the salary they are paying. Attitude and flexibility and a willingness to genuinely pay back this risky investment are key attributes we look for, not expectation and entitlement and moving on without repaying the investment plus some.
I would expect if I was to seek a job in say France, where my high school french would not be sufficient that at best I would have to start again as a graduate, and probably after doing an intensive french language course (and continue to work on this for many years).
Usually the employer has to invest quite a bit in new engineers to integrate them into the local market. And in our area of specialism we have to pour a lot of on-the-job training into graduates (around 1.5 – 2.5 years to develop a basic set of skills), as the university course work relevant to what we do is very limited. All this costs us time, $ and deflects other staff from chargeable work. If english comprehension and/or communication is poor and the candidate has no local experience this investment can take much longer (3-4 years if the new hire works hard) and cost much more.
We have taken on graduate engineers from overseas, and unfortunately after 12-18 months they have elected to return home or depart to take a non-engineering job (thus we get no return on our investment – just costs). In one case it was announced that the graduate engineer needed to go and work for 2 years in a regional location in NSW to retain his Visa (not revealed anytime prior to us – full work rights was asserted, incl by the recruiter). He assumed we would just write a letter saying he was essential to our work (a grad with 10 months is rarely essential).
These false starts makes me and my team more reluctant to try again, unless greater loyalty and effort can be assured somehow. Migrant Engineers, I suggest you encourage your peers to not take advantage of employers giving you a go – be sure to respect the opportunity and repay the faith in spades (as I did when starting out during the recession we had to have).
I hope this provides some insights to Migrant engineers looking for a start. It is particularly tough for you, but there are some things you can do to assist your future employer and by extension yourself. Work on your written and spoken english skills; we willing to take a step back to get a start, repay the faith of the firm that gives you that start by working hard, learning on the job and in your own time, valuing the time others invest in you and the salary you are being paid (and all the other costs) whilst you are learning and establishing yourself in the local market, and once you are paying your way, be sure to reward the employer who gave you that start a good return on that investment.
I am a dedicated and experienced Civil Engineer with over 7 years of working experience in various sectors including: – mining, construction, general maintenance and manufacturing. Again, I have just completed my Master of Engineering Management degree from the Queensland University of Technology.
Additional skill and attributes I have gained just to get work in Australia include (but are not limited to): –
– Master of Engineering Management
– Bachelor Degree – Civil Engineering
– Engineers Australia – Technologist Member
– Standard 11 Induction with Metalliferous Core Components
– RIIWHS204E Work Safely at Heights
– RIIWHS202E Confined Spaces
– RIIHAN301E EWPA Yellow Card (Vertical lift, Scissor lift and Boom lifts under 11 metres)
– Diploma – Quantity Surveying
– AutoCAD 2D and 3D
– Diploma – Computer Software Programme: Information Technology – MS Office
– Project Management / site supervision
– Logistics / cost estimations
– Technical support
– Experience in private / public infrastructure projects
– Ability to create and read schematic plans / drawings
– Excellent communication skills / conflict resolution skills
My prior experience encompassed work in the Middle East and Africa, including military bases for the US in Kuwait which has given me a broad skill scope.