Student Jobs and Finances

Q:
How much is the basic pay of a student who is doing a part time job?

Ahmad: The FairPay Commission has set $12.5 per hour as the minimum wage.

Rajan added:

We also know that a lot small business owners take advantage of overseas students and lure them into cash in hand jobs where they pay them about $8 per hour or so. It is better to look for a job which sticks to the Government Regulations.

Michelle:
You can't do much about it if your cash in hand employer decides not to pay you at all.

Q:
How much time it would take to find a job after reaching Australia(by student visa)?

Ahmad: Depends on how hard you look...

Q: Is there any placement agencies who assist to find part time jobs?

Ahmad: Yes. The majority of job-searches are done online though.


Q: Is it possible to earn some money during the course by doing part time jobs? Is it possible to save at least 300AUD per month?

Ahmad: Yes. 20 hours of work a week is allowed during semesters...How much you can actually work depends on your timetable.


Q:Is it possible to save at least 300 AUD per month?

Ahmad: If you are looking at paying your fee, living expenses and still having $200 left, I would say probably not.

You should be able to break even and perhaps save some money provided you live in relatively cheap accommodation, work a substantial portion of the 20 hours allowed, and don't spend extravagantly.

Michelle: Earning money to pay full fees and living costs by working 20 hours per week during semester is very unusual & probably not feasible.


Ahmad & Rajan have been posting answers to questions in the Melbourne Community on orkut. Reproduced with permission.

How to find a house to rent for six people

I received the following email yesterday:

Hi, my name is S. B. I saw the blog and understand that you have some knowledge about renting houses just walking distance from the Caulfield campus? I am going over at the end of June 2008 and I am in need of a big house. There are at least 6 of us. Is it possible if you could kindly provide any information to us regarding any house with 5 or more rooms available? We prefer taking the whole house. Your help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

From Michelle:
Its good to hear you're getting organised early, by getting together a group who will live together. Its more difficult to actually rent a house before you get here, and you should be careful to thoroughly inspect any house before renting it. Beware that some of the rental accommodation in Melbourne is not very well maintained.

If you are sure that you want to live within walking distance of Caulfield campus, you will have only a limited number of houses available to rent. You will have many more accommodation options if you are prepared to take a train or tram, or cycle to the University. I have to admit the transport would be expensive, at $28 for a week if you confine yourself to "Zone 1", but rents can be cheaper a little further from the city centre. Rents for a 4 bedroom house within walking distance of the campus in Caulfield and Malvern are advertised as high as $1000 per month, but search more widely down the train line in Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Hughesdale or Oakleigh and you could find a house like this one for only $450 per week.

One thing many students do to reduce costs is share a room, and there are a few houses and flats set up for high density student living (for example, see this ad on domain.com.au). Looking through the rental advertisements on domain.com.au and realestate.com.au I can see that there are very few houses for rent with more than 4 bedrooms. To fit 5 people, you may have to rent a 3 or 4 bedroom house, and convert a living room or garage to living space, or share bedrooms. Many 3 or 4 bedroom houses will have a large living room (with chairs, TV etc) which some people convert to 2 bedrooms.

While you can contact advertisers on websites like domain.com.au and realestate.com.au before you arrive, I don't think you will get very far. My suggestion is that one or two of you arrive a couple of weeks early to find a house for the rest of you to live.

I hope this advice proves useful.

Desalination Would Cost Too Much

Melbourne has been under permanent water restrictions for nearly two years. With a rising population, the restrictions are unlikely to lift. Currently, water can be used freely for drinking, washing, cooking and other inside-the-house uses, but watering of gardens is severely restricted. The Victorian state government is now planning to introduce more water pipelines and a desalination plant to guarantee the future water supply.

The government's current plans are just a knee-jerk reaction. We may be low on water, but that's no reason to introduce a costly and inefficient desalination plant. Surely it would be more efficient to pipe recycled water for large industrial users such as our La Trobe Valley power plants.

Recycled water is used for drinking in other parts of the world, in fact I've drunk it myself while living in London. On the world's driest continent I think we can learn to drink recycled water, just as we have learned to sweep our driveways rather than hosing them down.

Comment posted by Michelle at the age blog PotteringBy

Student Visa or Work permit?

An anonymous correspondent asked...
Hi guyzz..
I'm planning to migrate to Australia..currently I'm working in Dubai. Can you please advise me whether I should come on a student visa or a work permit?

Rajan replied:
If you are planning to migrate then why would you consider student visa? If you have option to come on work visa or on permanent basis please use that.

reproduced from the Orkut Melbourne Community with permission from Rajan.

Does teaching english as a foreign language get me points for Skilled Migration?

Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. In demand or not?

The Department of Immigration website has current lists of occupations which are on the MODL (Migration Occupations in Demand), the SOL (Skilled Occupation List) or the Employer Nomination Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL). These lists change regularly, so don't take my word for it, check the DIC website yourself.

Teaching of English as a Foreign language is currently in the ENSOL list, so you can't use it to get points as an independent Skilled Migrant.

20 hour work allowance

Anonymous writes

Is there a new rule coming up , that the new students will not be allowed the 20 hour work permit anymore ?
Please confirm...its crucial for me.


Rajan Replied
All the changes which gets made to the legislation are here
http://www.immi.gov.au/legislation/amendments/index.htm

Ahmad Added

I haven't heard anything on the maximum of 20 hours work condition being withdrawn..and it doesn't make sense as well...because students in many degrees (esp engineering) need vacation work for 12 weeks before they can graduate...

There is legislation coming up which ill make it a criminal offence for employers to employ anyone knowing that they will breach visa conditions...

Reproduced from the Orkut Melbourne Community with permission from Ahmad and Rajan

Biotechnology Opportunities

Keerthi wrote Hi all!! i got a gr8 deal of info from tis thread! thanks a ton to all u guys!

Now about myself.. I have finished my bachelor's this yr and am gonna do my masters in biotechnology at RMIT. Planning to land at melb in feb 2008.

Could someone tell me about the job opportunities out there and how good is the Uni for this course?
And is extending visa to continue studies at the same Uni a problem?

Rajan Replied

There are many few uni's here who offer BioTech education, To my understanding Monash Uni, Melbourne Uni (& Swinbourne uni shares resources), University of Queensland and Adelaide Uni holds good reputation. I haven't came across RMIT much but you might hear from someone in RMIT soon who can tell you more about it.

I have also heard that most of the uni's in Queensland has BioTech courses.

I am unsure that in which field are you looking for a job. I guess if you will come here only then you will be able to decide that well.

Reproduced from the Melbourne Community on Orkut with permission from Rajan

2-year study rule. Orkut Worries about Melbourne

Potential overseas students thinking about coming to Melbourne have a new online community addressing their worries, and giving up to date votes on relevant issues like how much does it cost to live here, and how much money should I bring? Ahmad has written the following opinion in the Melbourne Worries Community ....


DIAC has not changed the two-year study rule as such...you can still use more than one qualification to make 2 yrs.

HOWEVER, the department of education, science and training (DEST) which works with DIAC to issue eCOEs for visas and extensions, has now changed the rules that govern universities. It is now expected that each student will finish his course within the time given on the eCOE ... so you cannot under-enrol in a 1.5 yr subject to make it 2 yrs. If you don't finish your course within the stipulated time, you wont get a new eCOE and hence wont get a visa extension, except if you can prove the delay in completion was due to a genuine medical cause...the university will have to intercede on your behalf. Failing a unit would allow you to take an extra semester and extension of visa, provided the university and/or faculty intercedes on your behalf.

In short:

Under-enrol a shorter course to extend it: NO
Extend course for genuine medical reasons: YES, subject to DEST and DIAC approval
use more than one qualifications: OK
Failing a unit and taking an extra semester and extension of visa: MAYBE, provided the university and/or faculty intercedes on your behalf.

Please note: This is from a discussion group only, and not intended as advice on how to apply to immigrate to Australia.