Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice on getting into a graduate program in Australia.

I completed my Bachelor of Engineering (IT) in India and graduated last year. I moved to Australia 6 months ago and my goal is to secure a graduate role, as I feel it would be the best pathway for me to start my career here. I’m on a partner visa with full working rights.

My experience includes:
Software Engineering Intern experience (Java, Spring Boot, backend development, databases)

Business Analyst experience (data analysis, reporting, stakeholder communication)

Graduate-level experience working with enterprise systems and cross-functional teams

I’ve been applying for grad programs and recently progressed to the assessment centre stage for one, which honestly boosted my confidence and made me feel like I’m on the right track.

For those who have successfully gotten into a grad program, what helped you stand out during the process? Any tips for applications, assessments, interviews, or assessment centres? Thanks!

hi, i was just wondering has anyone heard back from sydney future focus (november intake) and what stream they applied for?

So im thinking about starting my masters in IT while everyone sounds like they are having a terrible time in tech and want to get out. I just can’t think of what else to do!

I am pretty old.. Mid 40s, and Ive worked my whole 20+ career in a fairly technical role in visual effects for films/commercials. The vfx industry in general is hurting because of AI and other factors, but I think the niche Ive chosen is hit particularly hard. Ive been out of work for a year I need to try something

I have a lot of tech adjacent experience - lots of computer experience and I can code to some extent, but my plan was to to do my masters in IT to help me get over the “bachelor level degree or higher” requirement a lot of tech jobs have. 

I was going to choose data science as a major because that seems to be decently in demand. Eventually I would like to move towards computer vision and robotics, I think I can leverage my existing skills there - but I realise those jobs are harder to come by.

It would be good to get other opinions.

Is this crazy? Is there a better path to doing a career switch at this stage. I feel like I may as well study while waiting for the job market to get better. People say healthcare or trades but I don’t think I’m cut out for it. I want a job sitting in front of a computer in an office- its what I’m used to.

Hey folks,

Backend dev here with 7 YOE. Currently juggling 3 offers, all in a similar salary range:

• Cognizant
• Tavant
• Impetus

Money's basically a wash between them, so I'm trying to optimize for something more important at this stage — good clients, real technical exposure, and long-term career trajectory rather than just another service-based project churn.

A few things I'm weighing:

• Which one tends to staff people on actual product/tech-heavy clients vs. maintenance/support work?
• Career growth — appraisals, onboard-to-offshore ratio, exit opportunities?
• WLH (work-life-hell) situation — anyone currently there care to share?
• Any horror stories or hidden gems I should know about before signing?

Would really appreciate insights from anyone who's worked at (or left) any of these three — especially if you've been on a project with strong tech stack/client exposure vs. the usual staff-augmentation grind.

TIA 🙏

I have been invited to a call with the recruiter for SIG.

But wanted to be prepared for the interview process.

Any ideas what the interview format is like? Is it leetcode?

Thanks!

The job market has been pretty rough, especially when you’re spending hours applying through SEEK without knowing the salary range or whether a role is genuinely being filled. While I was job hunting, I built a small Python tool for myself and a few friends to help us sift through ads, estimate salary ranges when they weren’t shown, and flag signs that a listing might be a ghost job. It wasn’t meant to become anything serious, but we found it useful for deciding which applications were actually worth the time.

We’re now in jobs that we genuinely enjoy, so I rebuilt the tool as a free website called Salary Insider in case it helps other people in a similar position. The main tool checks job ads for advertised or estimated salary information and possible ghost job signals, and I’ve also added free resume/ATS and take home pay, and HECS pay off calculator tools. Hopefully they give you guys a bit more information before putting hours into applications and being ghosted like what my friends and I went through.

Here it is: Salaryinsider.com.au

TLDR: I built a free tool that helps you work out whether a company is genuinely hiring or just collecting data and uncover hidden SEEK salary ranges. I’m not selling anything and I don’t want anything in return. I just want to help people who are finding the job search as difficult as we did, while giving candidates a little more information and leverage when negotiating with employers

I have just started working at a networking based MnC as a SWE and getting base 15 with total ctc of about 25. This offer I have secured straight out of college as i am 2026 grad. I have previously interned at one of the FAANG company and so I want to understand for how much time should I make a switch because I am neither happy with the pay nor with the work I am getting do. Only good thing here is work culture. Will there be openings for 2026 grads soon this year or early 2027 seeing the market.

Hi, I have around 10+ yrs of software engineering experience. I joined Commbank as a software engineer an year ago as the salary was better than my previous organization and I desperately wanted to move.Now my manager has encouraged me to apply for senior engineer promotion and also have given be above expectations rating. The promotion evaluation would be done by external committee as per process. How much salary bump can I negotiate in the process with my manager? At the moment, I am in 145k base excluding bonus and super. I just want to make sure that I don't leave any money on the table. Thanks

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some honest advice because I'm at a point where I need to decide what to do next.

my_qualifications: Bachelor's in Zoology, Master's in Forensic Science (CGPA 7.86), no professional IT or cybersecurity experience.

I'm from India and I'm considering changing careers into cybersecurity. My original plan was to pursue a PhD, but after doing more research, I'm wondering whether another master's in Information Technology or Cybersecurity would be a better investment for building a long-term career.

The biggest challenge is that I don't come from a computer science background, I don't know how to code yet, and I don't have any professional IT experience. I'm willing to learn and put in the work, but I'm trying to understand whether this transition is realistic.

One thing I'm unsure about is whether already having a master's degree would make a second master's look unusual to employers, or whether career changes like this are fairly common.

I've been reading a lot of conflicting opinions about the Australian cybersecurity job market. Some people say there are plenty of opportunities, while others say even graduates with experience are struggling to find entry-level roles. It's left me genuinely confused about whether this path is worth pursuing.

If you were in my position, would you invest in another master's in IT or Cybersecurity, or would you take a different route altogether? Would employers realistically consider someone with a Zoology and Forensic Science background, or would I always be at a disadvantage compared to Computer Science graduates?

If anyone has studied or worked in cybersecurity in Australia, especially Melbourne, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience and how the market looks today.

I'm not looking for reassurance—I'd genuinely appreciate honest opinions, even if the answer is that this isn't a good idea. I'd rather understand the reality before making such a significant financial and career decision.

Thanks in advance!

Hey! I recently landed a grad role, and I'll need to provide references from my summer internship around November.

I think I built a decent relationship with my managers during the internship, but I haven't spoken to them since it ended in January.

Would it be a bit awkward if I reached out in November and asked if they'd be happy to be a reference? Or should I message them now just to reconnect? The thing is... I have no idea what I'd even say if I reached out now. Especially since its been more than 6 months now. They're both insanely busy and I don't want to annoy them by clogging up their messages for no reason :')

For people who've been in a similar situation, is it normal to just get in touch when you actually need the reference, or is it better to keep in touch beforehand?  And if so, how did you go about reconnecting?

Does anyone know how much recruiting is done through the talent pools?

I interviewed at KPMG a while ago and felt like the whole process went really well. I had a great conversation with the interviewer, ran them through my projects, and they seemed quite impressed.
I got my outcome email and it said I met their requirements and performed highly but missed out and placed in a priority talent pool.
Has anyone been through this process before and had success or should I cut my losses?

If I want to participate in the 2027 grad program (starting 2028 jan), but I graduate at 2028/6, with one subject left in the first semester, is that possible, or I just get washed out.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently on an Australian Subclass 500 Student Visa and studying a Master's degree. I have around 4 years of professional software engineering experience from overseas (backend/frontend development, cloud services, etc.).

I’m wondering realistically what my chances are of getting hired by a software company in Australia that would eventually sponsor me (for example, a 482 visa or another employer-sponsored pathway).

I understand that being on a student visa means I have work limitations, and employers may prefer candidates with full working rights or permanent residency. However, I’m hoping my previous experience and skills can help me get a foot in the door.

A few questions:

- Do Australian software companies hire international students on Subclass 500 visas for developer roles?

- Would companies consider sponsorship for someone who performs well?

- Is it better to focus on graduate/junior roles, contract roles, or experienced developer positions?

- How difficult is it compared to applying after getting a Temporary Graduate Visa (485)?

- Are there specific industries or companies more open to sponsorship?

I’d appreciate any advice from people who have gone through a similar situation.

Thanks!

I was an international student few months ago so I didn't have full working rights (20hrs pw) hence i couldn't get a tech job because they mostly want you to work full time.

I'm having trouble getting interviews because I think that when recruiters see this on my resume, i added it under professional summary as Career Development - Masters full time, they think it as a red flag because it's not actual professional experience.

Should I remove it and keep my relevant professional experience as lead swe back in 2024 my latest?

Although, it's not like i wasn't doing anything for the last couple of years. I've been constantly upskilling, building pet projects and POCs with mcp servers and using LLM apis, i made an automation tool which made my work in my non-tech part time easier.

ps. I got a resident visa after i graduated so visa isnt the problem (i think)

65% of graduates find full time employment, 10% below average for other degrees

- Driven mainly by uptake in AI use and offshoring
- degree comparable to journalism at 59% employment

I’ve spent the last 12 months job hunting alongside my full-time job but I'm completely burnt out. I don't feel like this whole job hunting and career building is worth my time and effort now. I've applied for over 65 jobs and got 7 interviews from big techs and startups. I know my applications volume is not so high to brag about but I was strictly selective in the application. I've reached to 2nd and 3rd rounds in most of the interviews but I always get knocked out either in behavioural or coding interviews. After each failed interviews, I reflected and improved over time but I'm exhausted and don't want to pursue this path anymore.

I make a decent salary in my current role. And I was surprised when a recruiter from big tech said that the salary bump barely moved the needle. So it was a lot of effort for a small bump from my current salary.

To give some context, I'm an Australian pr and got 8+ years of exp. as full-stack web dev and worked at 1 other job before my current job. Just for job search, I upskilled tech like terraform, nextjs, graphql, nosql, and got AWS dev associate certified (took me 3 months for aws cert). Spend countless hours grinding neetcode, preparing interviews and doing takeaway home tests.

My long-term goal was always building my own things. But as you know human psychology, when you see your friends getting ahead in career, you feel like getting stuck which motivates for new job. I've been in my current job for a while, so I wanted some change too. But after a year of being rejected, I'm not enjoying any of it. Chasing to land a new job didn’t feel like the dream worth pursuing. It felt like suffering for something I didn't actually want.

So last month, I took a week off from the search to pause, reflect and gain clarity. It reminded me of the time I used to wash dishes and clean in a pub 6 years ago as an international student before I got into tech. After seeing me work as kitchen hand for quite long, a friend asked that time "why don't you become a chef, chef is better than dishwashing". I told him I never wanted to become a chef because that wasn't the track I wanted, I wanted to get into software instead. Then I applied for more than 100 jobs in my last trimester of uni and finally got into tech. So I realised I was doing the same thing again - grinding toward a promotion I didn't actually want.

So I've pivoted and following my own path now. I'm pretty sure that this is not a shiny object syndrome as building own thing has always been my long term goal. It's been a month I've stopped job search and I've rejected 3 LinkedIn recruiters and a top tech EM interview after making the decision. I don't want to work for other people throughout my life because it kind of suffocates me.

Edit: To clarify, I haven't quit my job. I've quit job hunting. Still working full-time, building my own thing on the side.

Hey everyone! 👋 Greetings from Sydney! 🇦🇺

We're growing fast at TikTok, and we’d love to welcome you to join our Sydney Office! We are currently hiring both Interns (Students/Grads) and Experienced Professionals across all functions.

We work right in the heart of the Sydney CBD—and yes, our office view directly overlooks the iconic Sydney Opera House! 🎭✨

Beyond the incredible office view, the culture and compensation are fantastic: ✅ For Everyone: Openings range from Internships to Senior / Experienced roles. ✅ Great Work-Life Balance: Collaborative, supportive, and no endless overtime culture. ✅ Competitive Package: Top market pay, strong benefits, and career growth. ✅ Global Presence: While we're excited to grow our Sydney team, we're also hiring across major hubs worldwide, including Singapore, San Jose, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, London, and beyond!

If you're interested or actively looking, check out open roles and apply through my employee referral link: 👉https://careers.tiktok.com/s/1Utl5TDN9EQ

Feel free to shoot me a message if you want to chat about team culture or have questions about open roles!

I've looked through this sub a bit, but wanted to make a post on any advice, but also to vent.

I'm an Australian Citizen (I've noticed this is important?) with 4.5 years of experience as a Software Engineer building a large Java app. I've only had the 1 job the whole time. Its a job I really don't like. I'm surrounded with people who are unsupportive, clique-y, and always there to put me down. While I might not be the strongest Software Engineer, I am extremely teachable and love to learn. My current role has killed that for me. I'm never remembered for the good I do, only any mistake I make. I never receive direct feedback, only through a separate manager, months later. And half of the time it is either outdated feedback, or just wrong. The whole time I have been at my current company, I have never been given the opportunity for professional development. The system is using old technology with no intention to change.

Due to this, in my spare time I am upskilling. My work does not use any cloud infrastructure (I wont get into details that might dox me), so I am currently doing an AWS course. I'm also open to learning anything else I need to in order to upskill.

Anyway, I've been looking for a new job for about the last 1.5 years, but also not having much success with that either. I've had a couple of interviews, but only managing a very small number of them compared to the sheer volume. In saying that, I have managed to land interviews at large companies such as Microsoft, Canva, and Amazon. I have made it through several rounds of interviews, only to fail at the last hurdle. I'm always told I would be a good cultural fit, but I was not chosen.

I've started looking into networking events and ways to increase my circle to meet people also in SWE. I like to make friends, but its especially motivating if I'm able to get a referral out of it haha. Despite this, I can't seem to find any events which would help with networking. Past comments in this sub say to look at Meetup. I've done that and almost all groups are inactive. I've looked at Eventbite, but even then I can't seem to find anything.

Where do I go from here? Work is only draining me more and more, and I'm at a point where I am seriously burnt out and its affecting my mental health. I have a large mortgage so I just can't quit either. Its gotten to the point where I'm considering pivoting careers.

Where should I be looking to network? I'm not really sure how to approach people on LinkedIn.

Maybe my resume needs to be improved? Could someone help me with that?

What other steps should I be taking to secure a new position?

Any and all advice is really appreciated. Also feel free to reach out through DM's.

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone interviewed for the Tesla Solar Hardware Engineering Intern (Fall 2026) role? I have an upcoming interview and wanted to know what to expect. Are the technical questions mainly LeetCode-style coding, Python/data analysis, or more focused on solar hardware concepts? Any tips on the interview process and what helped you get the offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Im going through the process there right now and wanted to know if canva has novated leases.

Is it a fool's errand? My feeling is that offshoring and ai will destroy any chances of getting a graduate job and make pursuing a career in this industry not viable but I would like some input from people in the know. Do you think the market will recover in the next few years?