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[frenchgirl]

My partner is applying for an academic job in Australia and I'm wondering, if I went the non-academic route, what are the chances of getting into university administration down under? (Student services, research, advising, etc.) In Melbourne or Sydney or Adelaide, for example? Is it as difficult as the U.S./U.K. right now?
I have Australian relatives who keep telling me that the government wants to attract educated people to OZ, despite the water shortage, and that there are many (non-academic!) positions available for highly skilled people. Does anyone have any insight into the admin. hiring process? All of my friends and family down under are either in industry or academics and I don't know anyone in, say, university admin. or museums or government positions with a humanities PhD.
If that plan didn't work out, I could always network and apply for ARC funding down the line. You never know.

TIA!

[totoro]

I am currently in the middle of an academic job search here in Australia. My partner got a job with CSIRO here and I followed leaving an academic job in the US. I'd previously worked in Aus and am an Australian citizen. I had a one year research position here and now.

At least some and maybe all federal government positions require you to be a citizen. This includes some of the research agencies of the government like ABARE but not CSIRO. State governments and the universities do not have these requirements. It takes 4 years to become a citizen.

To try to get funding from ARC etc. there are various ways to go but you need a university partner either to be the host for a fellowship or to team up with a group who would write you in as a postdoc. Usually, it is probably going to be easier to get a teaching oriented job. Depends on your research level of course though.

Admin I don't know much about. At my university we certainly have a lot of admin people. I doubt though they'd take an application from overseas seriously for most of them. So you'd have to come here first. Some of these jobs may be advertised on Unijobs.com.au alongside the academic positions.

I certainly wouldn't rule out getting an academic job though. I think it is much easier than the US. I get interviews at the top ranked places in the country. Top ranked places in my discipline in the US would never look at me. I was in a top 50 doctoral university there but our department was ranked about 100 in our discipline.

[frenchgirl]

Thanks, this is quite helpful. My partner is Australian--but has never held an academic post there--and while I am not a citizen, we both have Aussie relatives (mine are distant relatives but better than nothing), so moving there wouldn't be such a big deal. But I do worry about the job market. Since 2008, my partner has applied for a handful of academic positions in Oz and thus far has had a pretty high success rate in terms of interviews but has yet to land a permanent position at one of the redbrick unis. (Hu was offered a job last year but it required lots of teaching and commuting between campuses and so our answer was, "no thanks.") We only want to make the move if the job in question is at one of the top 10 schools, like you mentioned, and in a good location where I can find academic or non-academic employment.
I really appreciate your advice that they won't consider me for admin. positions from abroad, because I was literally just in the process of completing a lengthy application for one online. Why bother if it won't do any good to apply unless I am already in the country? Disappointing news but not surprising at all. I was hoping that the visa process could be sped up if I was offered a job in advance, at the same time my partner applies, but obviously because I am not a medical doctor, they don't want me that bad down there . . . Boo. One of us will have to get an offer before the other can begin the process I suppose.

[totoro]

We only want to make the move if the job in question is at one of the top 10 schools, like you mentioned, and in a good location where I can find academic or non-academic employment.

The Go8 are the top schools but the immediate next tier (e.g. Griffith, Wollongong, Newcastle) isn't too bad. I have an interview at one of these on Tuesday. Griffith is in Brisbane.

I really appreciate your advice that they won't consider me for admin. positions from abroad, because I was literally just in the process of completing a lengthy application for one online. Why bother if it won't do any good to apply unless I am already in the country? Disappointing news but not surprising at all. I was hoping that the visa process could be sped up if I was offered a job in advance, at the same time my partner applies, but obviously because I am not a medical doctor, they don't want me that bad down there . . . Boo. One of us will have to get an offer before the other can begin the process I suppose.

I'm not saying don't apply. But for you on your own they'll need to get a skilled immigration visa and then they'd have to say that you will be using skills in the job in short supply in Australia, might be tough for them, though if your partner decided to just come here as well you could apply for a spouse visa. My wife came here on a 457 business/skills visa (we weren't married yet at the time - it's not essential to be married to get the spouse visa but it will expedite the process) then we applied for a spouse visa as soon as we got married. It took about 1 month for them to approve the temporary residence spouse visa. Now we are putting the papers in for permanent residence (2 years after temporary application).

I sometimes hear from people in Malaysia who say that they want to eventually get an academic job in Australia. I advise them to do a PhD in the US or in Australia. The chance that an Australian university will take them seriously for a position in our discipline (economics) is low if they are based in Europe or have a European PhD is low unless they are VERY strong by Australian standards - say an Oxford or LSE PhD. But this could be entirely different for other disciplines. Economics is very dominated by the American market and grad training.

Now if you have some specialist admin skill and you mention that your partner is Australian etc. maybe you have a chance, I really don't know. Get in touch with people who have the kind of jobs you are interested in and ask their opinion I guess is my advice. Of course senior people come here into academic leadership/admin positions all the time from the UK. But sounds like you don't yet have any experience on that track.

[frenchgirl]

Again, thanks so much for this very useful information. You're right, I don't have speciality admin skills. Not yet anyway. I am considering admin. as a plan B. But with the academic job market the way it is, I am increasingly becoming interested in pursuing non-academic work.

BTW: Although I currently live in Europe, both my BA and my humanities PhD are from good US unis (top 50). My partner, though Australian, also has a US PhD, hence the succcess with interviews thus far. My field, early modern literature, however, is not popular anywhere in the world right now, which is why I am seriously considering other options. My partner, on the other hand, is doing very "cutting edge" research so has a decent shot at a good R1 job.

[totoro]

University of Sydney have a couple of literature jobs at the moment. But trying English as a keyword in Unijobs didn't turn up any extra ones and trying French turned up nothing :(

[breskvar]

hi frenchgirl, I would say that if you were interested in going into any position outside academia, then Canberra is not a good choice.  That is because the federal government dominates the economy there, and your chances of employment are reduced as you are not an Australian citizen.  So the bigger cities are more likely to have something in industry that may want you.  I am not saying it is not possible: totaro's spouse was there on a 457 visa (as was mine a few years back), but less likely.

Just an aside to totaro, from your posts about Australia, it seems that Canberra (or ANU to be precise) is where you are based.  If you were there any time in the past five years, given your field, I may very well have heard of you before.  (No chance we may out each other just like that?!)

[totoro]

Given you seem to be in central banking related stuff and a new PhD and working at "NotSoGoodU" (which can't be ANU?) you probably haven't heard of me. Also I haven't been back here that long. Right now I am "associated" with ANU and looking for a job. I did officially work for them for a while.

[breskvar]

Given you seem to be in central banking related stuff and a new PhD and working at "NotSoGoodU" (which can't be ANU?) you probably haven't heard of me. Also I haven't been back here that long. Right now I am "associated" with ANU and looking for a job. I did officially work for them for a while.

NotSoGood U is not in Australia.  I left the country after being 'minted' in the ANU not long ago.  That why I thought I might have heard of you before.

Back to frenchgirl's topic.  If at all possible, when going to Australia, try not to stay there on a business visa (457), because then your stay in the country will be at the behest of the employers.  Since your partner is Australian, get in touch with the Department of Immigration as fast as possible and apply for a spouse visa, although you will have to ask whether it is better to apply from overseas or inside Australia (I don't know the latest rules, but you may have to stay outside if you applied from outside the country).  And apply even if you are not married, they do give visas to de facto spouses.     

[frenchgirl]

Canberra is not my top choice either re: both non-academic jobs and location, even though ANU is a great uni. We're more interested in relocating to Melbourne, Adelaide, or Sydney. Relatives live in Sydney, though, so might be nice to leave a bit further away from them so we don't have to attend extended family functions 24-7. They are a jovial, high expectations lot. Seeing them all a few times per year would be more than enough for me!!
I do realize that Australia is like anywhere else: you're lucky if you're offered a good job and even luckier if it is actually in a location you had in mind. But I'm sick of living in Europe for various reasons and would also really enjoy some sunshine for once. I'm thinking of that Joni Mitchell song, California, where she says "[Paris] is too old and cold and settled in its ways . . ." Right now I certainly agree. And I am also tired of living in a closet.

[totoro]

Canberra is not my top choice either re: both non-academic jobs and location, even though ANU is a great uni. We're more interested in relocating to Melbourne, Adelaide, or Sydney. Relatives live in Sydney, though, so might be nice to leave a bit further away from them so we don't have to attend extended family functions 24-7. They are a jovial, high expectations lot. Seeing them all a few times per year would be more than enough for me!!
I do realize that Australia is like anywhere else: you're lucky if you're offered a good job and even luckier if it is actually in a location you had in mind. But I'm sick of living in Europe for various reasons and would also really enjoy some sunshine for once. I'm thinking of that Joni Mitchell song, California, where she says "[Paris] is too old and cold and settled in its ways . . ." Right now I certainly agree. And I am also tired of living in a closet.

Australian houses are the biggest in the world. But very expensive. Per square metre though I guess they are a bargain by UK standards :) I'm British originally. US PhD. I think your best strategy is for your partner to get an academic position here in Aus and for you to come on a spouse visa. Then you can do apply to any jobs here (unless they are federal government). A career break on the basis of following your partner will be looked at favourably I think when applying for academic positions (it hasn't hurt me, I mention it to explain why I left my US job to come here). Or there may be an admin position at the university hu is going to. Unemployment is low here. Melbourne and Sydney are obviously the best bets for employment though the Queensland and Western Australian economies are stronger. So I wouldn't rule out Perth or Brisbane either.