У меня то же ощущение, с той разницей, что я туда не приезжал. Оно, может, и к лучшему.
Hello All, I’m a skilled migrant recently landed in Australia, i was a professional engineer in my home country, and came here lured by the many opportunities that SEEMED available. Another reason was that my partner is Australian and wanted to come back to the country. I have a vast international background, i lived in many other countries (my father was an engineer too, and built Hydroelectric power plants all over the world), and worked with many other cultures (US, China, South America etc.) during my professional life.
So when i came here i thought this to be a country of migrants made for migrants, land of opportunity. It has anyhow turned out to be more a land of broken promises. In almost 6 months i gained no Aussie working experience, because i was never given a chance, so i actually know more of the US workplace than of this one. I followed obviously all the rules (CV Aussie style, cover letters that look like love letters and so on), sent hundreds of emails, knocked personally on many doors, considered changing my name into Simon Jones (yes i know that depending on the name my CV is read or trashed), but with no result. So here comes my question for you: Does Australia really need all these Skilled Migrants or is it just a big government run scam?
I kind of added up the numbers: DIAC estimates about 100000 migrants per year staying in the country for at least 12 months. If we average 3000$ each for the visa, another 1200$ per calendar month each of them for rent/food/survival , it adds up to a total revenue for this country of about 1.7 Billion AUS$ per year… People kill for a lot less. I have to be suspicious, because a lot of information that people receive out of the country, on the opportunities they would find here, are misleading (and yes i have verified that there is an internet filter on certain information).
Summed up, i’m leaving the country soon, going back to my humble house (that i’m lucky to own) where anyhow i can live with just 600$ a month, not before having taken from centrelink all the payback i can possibly get (do you condemn me for this? think again, i’ve spent almost 25k$ on this country). If you are a skilled professional, and you’re reading this while still in the starting phases of migration, consider deeply what you are doing. Don’t leave your home country before securing a job on this side, this is the best suggestion i can give you.