Occupational Therapists

[Guest sarahot16]

I'm about to apply for either the BSc or the MSc in Occupational Therapy and after I've gained some work experience in the UK, I would love to move to Australia. Are there currently any OTs in the middle of the process or who have actually completed the process? How doable is it? Are OTs still in demand and likely to be in a few years?

Thanks!

[wrussell]

Quote

Are OTs still in demand and likely to be in a few years?

OTs are in demand now. I will comment on future prospects when I find my crystal ball.

[Guest sarahot16]

Oh that would be great, let me know when you find it. 

[VERYSTORMY]

It is impossible to say on the time scale you are considering. The entire visa system has been changing massively and a lot more changes are expected. 

[Guest sarahot16]

I suppose I was just wondering whether OT is a profession that is popular in Australia and whether it is sought after as nursing for example. 

[PsychNurse]

As others have stated, it is so hard to predict. From a nursing perspective, even UK/foreign nurses are now struggling to secure permanent jobs in Australia. We are competing with plenty of Australian graduates.

When I started my course back in 2013, nurses were very much in demand. Things like skilled occupation lists, points required to receive an invitation for a visa, etc. change so quickly.

There are some Registered Migration Agents and OT’s in the forum who may be better placed to advise you. But I highly recommend you do a course you’ll enjoy that leads to a career you actually want to pursue. 

[SWMOY04]

a slightly different perspective from me...Psychiatric Nurse with varied experience on inpatient, community and agency roles.

Melbourne mental health Services seem to be using OTs in a similar way to how mental health services use them in the UK. 

I had some chats with a few teams when I was job hunting and some brilliant and informative conversations were had. it sounded to me that whilst the UK may have more demand for OTs, Aus isn't that far behind. so fo example the role in the UK known as Care coordinator can be filled by an RMN, an OT, or a Social Worker with experience from the old CMHT models if the manager is brave enough to hire and support them....that said, AMHPs are usually snapped up pretty fast these days and the course is now being offered to RMNs in some areas....but I digress

I ended up getting a fast track managerial post offer on an inpatient unit from just chatting to different teams/service leads... didn't apply at all, was just offered a Skype interview off the back of informal chit-chat and someone deciding to look at my LinkedIn profile to verify my experience after something I mentioned piqued their interest.

have a look at LinkedIn. search for people who do the job you want to do, and add in all the local universities to yours, then limit the location of the search to a city of your choice eg...Sydney... and network from there.

or

go on seek.com.au, look at jobs similar to what you would want and find the contact person and give them a call or email.

All the best in your studies (personally I'd suggest MSc, only because where I'm going to work offers a bonus of about 5% on top of annual salary for MSc and I think 7% for PhD if the study is specific to the skill and role...)