I can tell you from first hand experience that the IT sector is saturated in Australia right now, and you’ll have a much easier time if you have a “sponsor”….rather than waiting for your visa to clear….for IT don’t even bother if you don’t have a lot of reference-able experience and a Degree in Computer Science.

Many American companies have experience with Australian business VISA sponsorship… including Microsoft, Google, and Cisco…who all have a large presence in Australia. So in essence, find a job at at big multi-national company, and you can get trained then transfer. That’s what I did.

There are also “go between” companies that will sponsor you in exchange for processing your paychecks (which they skim a piece off of your taxes…transparent to you). So if you can get someone to hire you in Australia, they pay the sponsoring company, and the sponsoring company pays you…. And you lose nothing, but gain the ability to stay in Australia indefinitely. I’ve know a few people who have done this without issue. I used to have the names of a few of these companies…The company that hires you has to be a “stable” business that can afford to pay you regularly.

Like the States, the jobs that have very little difficulty getting VISAs are nurses/care-givers, skilled labor (I’ve heard of certified folk-lift truck drivers getting Australia VISAs quickly), and teachers.