Leaving Australia

One of the reasons I left Melbourne is that a job offer with SGI fell through. I knew the company was in dire straights, but this story on slashdot confirms it.

They wanted me to work on the interface (a Web application) for their NFS NetAppliance products.

Another small issue with my employment is that I had to be sponsored again, which can be a lengthy and expensive process for me to switch companies. Previously I had a working holiday visa that allowed me to work anywhere basically for up to 3 months. An evil recruitment agency Greythorn offered to sponsor me early in my stay in Australia and I accepted, without realising I would be invalidating my Working Holiday visa. I think I would have chosen to switch to another IT contract, rather than be sponsored if I knew the consequences.

So switching companies (to SGI or whatever) had to begin with a tiresome (for me and my future employer) sponsorship process. Big evil Greythorn actually went through a 3rd party to do this. I can’t recall the name of the 3rd party company. I had to pay for a chest X-ray and get a certificate of private medical insurance. Even though I do have a reciprocal medicare card because I am a British citizen. Sigh.

Sponsorship with one of these specialised 3rd party companies who knows what they are doing takes about 2–3 weeks at a minimum. Though as mentioned you have to find time for the X-ray and filling in some forms.

I was sick of being tied to my first sponsorship for two years and as it was so difficult to switch companies, I thought “bugger it” and hence I left Australia and I am now in Korea.

I stayed in Australia for about 9 months and if I did stay an additional 15 months I would have been able to apply for residency in Australia and been able to pick and choose my job. Sponsorships are often abusive as my employer knew once they sponsored me that they had me by the balls. There is no incentive for them to give me a raise or improve conditions as they know I can’t switch jobs easily.