Hello guys , I just stumbled upon this thread and decided to give a little insight into the working / living environment in Aussie as a Malaysian graduate and what you could do that would better your chances of wanting to migrate over as well as to get a job as well as a dispel a few myths surrounding living in the region.

Before we start off ,I have been an Australian student for about 3 and a half years completing a commerce degree majoring in marketing , I just got back a few months prior to this pursuing a career back here in our lovely country, So if any of you peeps have any questions that you think would need answering , fire away and I would try my very best to get back to you.

So first thing's first (For Students who are thinking of pursuing a degree in Australia and eventually employment)[U]

-There is definitely a trend that has caught on like wildfire for students to pursue their education in the land down under , and if you're considering if you should get on that hype, To that I would say, Do it! Aussie education has been revered as one of the top education providers and being there myself as I compare it to my previous education(high school and college) it is definitely a change and a mind expanding experience , the syllabus are flexible ranging from artistic subjects to research subjects that would be very entertaining and would not be as much of a bore to undertake. (I took French in my 3rd semester as well as a subject called 'drugs across cultures *yes it does refer to what you have at the back of your mind atm * ) and I have to say the way these courses are carried out is a breath of fresh air as compared to the long drawn out fixed syllabus which we may have in our local universities ( I may not have been to a lot of Malaysian universities so this is just my personal opinion). With that being said , it does come down to the degree you are undertaking as more specialised degrees *engineering etc* requires more fixed subjects included in the syllabus which may deter you from deviating from the main subjects, That means you can LESS fun subjects as I would like to put it.

-Employment , before we get into why our kin loves undertaking an Australian degree, general employment I would say is rather attainable if you factor in the high unemployment rate at the moment , general employment in this sense refers to casual employment *working in a café , bookstore or retail casually* , a casual employment helps making Australia a lot more survivable as the country is renowned for its high living costs, I personally worked 4 different casual jobs from our very favourite MacDonald's to a Chef De Partie as a casual during the time of my studies , So if you are an upcoming student and you would like to minimize the costs for yourself or your family I highly suggest picking up a casual job after a few months getting accustomed to the country , plus they pay u a net rate of $15 dollar minimum per hour(as per Australian labour law) for your troubles.

-Academic employments - I could not think of a better subtitle , but this refers to employment in regards to your unit of study , so in my case It would be employment in the sector of marketing , As of November 2011 , the government has instilled newer visa regulations that has allowed any graduating students from an Australian higher education institute to stay for 2 years in search of employment after graduation , this is a new visa implementation that has taken effect for students applying for they're first student visa after November 2011 , any students or returning students that have applied for their visa before November 2011 (people like me) sadly would not be eligible for this sub form of the visa, If you are wondering what visa it is to get more information , search up Post Graduate Work Stream visa. My personal reasons for leaving were confined to my personal wants as well as my visa being not eligible for the post graduate work stream which led me to eventually pursue a career back home.

-What happens after the 2 years?
Well after the 2 years, when your visa ends at the end of the postgraduate work stream , there is no leeway or excuse for you to stay in the country , So my advice to all the young upcoming graduates would be to undertake an internship or a work placement in the final year of your studies , Why? This better your chances for your prospective employer to consider sponsoring you to continue to work in Australia , and with the additional 2 years there would have plenty of time to decide if you are worth their time , and decide to sponsor you accordingly, When an employer sponsors you, you are bound to the company for up to 2 years (depending on the company) after which you are eligible to apply for a Permanent Resident Visa , In my year of studies we did not have the post-graduate work stream which led to an influx of students picking up skilled courses such as accounting , actuarial studies as these courses are in the skilled visa application group which allows for temporary stay after graduation , lucky current students now do not have to conform themselves to courses that are *safe* and guarantees employment unless you are genuinely interested in accounting , then go for it as I mentioned before, POST GRADUATE WORK STREAM.

-General living conditions in the country,

In my city of Sydney , everything is highly priced and probably still is , a standard meal in malls or cafes would cost you around 9-12$ , slightly less if you could find yourself a china-town in your area, My advice is if you struggle with finances would be to cook at home as cooking is definitely cheaper amounting to (4-6$) a meal , and plus Australia's fresh food market provides high quality produce to your liking , 3$ pack of shitake ftw!. People are generally more laidback and due to the minimum wage of 15$, even employment as a waiter is do-able long term, as you will be able to rent a house comfortably as well as go on holidays from time to time, which is the general aim of the ang-mohs I have met, What this means is , that the general population have different goals that may differ from our general populace who emphasize on things such as (financial stability / freedom) myself included. So visiting the country is definitely an eye-opener and I would definitely recommend it if you are able to fund yourselves for the first few months before you get into that casual job and trust me if you are a Malaysia and you are not willing to spend , you will definitely get a casual job ,

Cheers guys and if you have any other questions don't hesitate posting and I will try my best to get back to your enquiry!

This post has been edited by bluetomato: Jul 6 2015, 09:50 AM

Hi there , while I do agree that there is a demand for more specialised fields (software engineering), Before you start booking your ticket , you have to understand that there are only a few ways a graduate from a local university is able to set foot there. You could probably start looking out for jobs that offer sponsorships , which means you are bound to the company for 2 years as a staff and after that time period you are eligible to apply for a temporary residence. However with fresh grad jobs , I would say the chances are definitely slim to none, you could also apply for a working holiday visa , correct me if I am wrong but apparently it is really hard to be awarded one of those. My advice to you would be to work in the field for some years maybe 1 or 2 years before applying. Cause if you think about it , it's much more logical for them to hire and consider sponsoring you if you have some experience under your belt. If there are other ways which I have forgot to mention do point them out. Good luck with your job hunt!