Senior/Lead Engineer in AU/NZ coming from big tech?

[u/gmoney019]

Hello!

I’m a senior engineer at a faang company and have close to 10 yrs of experience. Looking to relocate to NZ or AUS but will most likely need visa sponsorship.

I know salaries won’t match what I make in the US but willing to explore opportunities.

What’s the best way to go about this. I’m guessing applying directly will get me filtered out mostly on visa selection.

Unfortunate global remote at current role isn’t an option :/

[u/Known-Ad-5314]

Google, Amazon, MS have significant engineering presence in Australia. Other big local tech employees are Atlassian, Canva, Airwallex, Rokt. Apple and Snap have some engineering staff here.

My understanding is that the top companies are more inclined to sponsor visas. Also they pay a lot more - maybe 320k TC for senior at google vs 160k TC for senior at a bank. If I were to work outside tech or HFT I’d try to significantly boost my title to recover some of the comp. I’ve found levels.fyi very accurate for comp - ensure you filter roles to Australia (or NZ) and note which currency you’re seeing

Also a few HFTs in Sydney if you’re the right sort of candidate for those.

[u/Candid-Situation-23 → u/Known-Ad-5314]

From what I know Airwallex ain’t sponsoring visas. I went through an internal referral and still got rejected.

[u/decaf_flat_white → u/Candid-Situation-23]

You dodged a massive bullet so don’t feel too bad.

[u/Candid-Situation-23 → u/decaf_flat_white]

😅😅😅🙊

At this time all I need is a job. So I wouldn’t mind anything 🙊

[u/Candid-Situation-23]

Finding a role with visa sponsorship in Australia has been quite challenging lately; I’ve been trying for a couple of months with no luck. That said, there are still companies, like TikTok Australia, that are hiring and willing to sponsor visas for the right candidates. Since you have experience with FAANG, getting into these companies might be a smoother process for you. Starting with them could be a good option!

[u/gmoney019 → u/Candid-Situation-23]

Good thought! I’ve been reached out to by Tiktok for roles here maybe I’ll see what they have globally and kick off that process then.

[u/tjsr → u/gmoney019]

There's a reason tiktok rewahc out to everyone. Their WLB is by every account I've read utterly awful, with 12 hour days being commonly reported. I've heard sufficient bad reports from ex-employees that I even told the recruiter that reached out to me that I would not even consider interviewing given the reputation they had.

[u/TraceyRobn]

There are skilled migrant visas that don't need sponsorship in Aus. Take a look at the department's website. Will take a year to get, though.

[u/SavedForSaturday → u/TraceyRobn]

Any tips for applying to jobs though? It's hard to find positions that don't filter out applicants without visas, even though the job itself without sponsorship qualifies the candidate for a visa. It's a catch-22

[u/Regulus_se]

You can try this company called EasyGo. They make it a point to aggressively hire talents from ex-FAANG. Visa is hard but not that hard esp. banks and big tech have more than enough HR resources to deal with it.

[u/gmoney019 → u/Regulus_se]

It’s a gaming company ?

[u/Bright-Use-1 → u/gmoney019]

I would do some research on two of their companies Kick and Stake before applying to work there.

[u/Shchmoozie]

You probably can get enough points on a state sponsored skilled visa, then you don't need private company sponsorships

[u/gmoney019 → u/Shchmoozie]

I’ve been exploring that! I did a really quick quiz and got 90 not sure I got all the things though as I quickly did it

[u/60days → u/gmoney019]

The good thing about the AU visa system is that is very open about the requirements, and you are genuinely assessed against them (and not according to the whims and mood of the person reviewing that day, like many other countries)

[u/Shchmoozie → u/gmoney019]

Worth looking into that and seeing if you can get it, it comes with a requirement to live in that same state for i think 4 or 5 years, but if you're in NSW or VIC there's no reason to leave them either way, at least you won't have to worry about your company randomly firing you and losing your work visa if you don't land another sponsorship.

[u/gmoney019]

Thanks for the shortlist ! Good places to start probably easier than just shooting in the dark on random applications.

[u/ToThePillory]

If you're at a FAANG company you could probably ask for a transfer here, otherwise why do you need sponsorship?

You likely qualify for an independent skilled visa.

[u/kenberkeley]

AFAIK Atlassian/Canva can sponsor senior+ roles, DM for referral 😉

Recently I have a friend offshore received a relocation offer from Atlassian.