LIZ O'HAGAN, general manager of Australian Visa Specialists, describes her day
I SET UP Australian Visa Specialists in Australia in 1999 and moved overhere to run it in 2001, when I married my Irish husband.
I live in Naas, in Co Kildare, a 12-minute commute from my office, in Clane. I generally get into work between 7am and 8am, so I can call Oz, to cope with the eight- to 10-hour time difference.
I have 30 staff spread across Ireland, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. First up each morning is a conference call, to check on our clients’ progress or to discuss any legislative changes that might have come up.
We have a couple of hundred applicants being processed at any time looking to move to Australia permanently. That number has gone up by 60 per cent in the past year. We get everyone from landscape gardeners to doctors and all professions in between. Interest from construction workers is highest.
Unfortunately, very often these applicants don’t realise they need qualifications on paper. Very many went straight into construction here because of the boom and never got any.
The great appeal of Australia is that people there know about work-life balance. They work hard but know work isn’t everything. The most important thing to Aussies is family life.
During the morning I assess CVs. This morning I had a carpet fitter, a nurse and a management consultant.
I’ll also spend time on the phone, talking to new clients or helping existing clients with queries. I do around four face-to-face consultations in my office each day.
People’s mood is generally of nervousness. By the time they meet me they have decided they want to go but are afraid I’m the one who is going to tell them they can’t.
They either skip out of here over the moon or, if I tell them they don’t qualify, are gutted. They might not have the right profession; they might be too old. A lot of people haven’t worked in the last 12 months, and in that way the economy here goes against them.
Lunch is at the desk, and at some stage during the day I will also check with former clients to get feedback about a move they made earlier in the year.
I finish up any time between 6pm and 9pm. Most days I can divide the people I see into two camps: the ones who are forced to go because of the recession and those who see moving as a positive step which will give them a better quality of life.
The mood among the former is one of desperation, and that’s hard. They are the ones most likely to return most quickly if things pick up here.
** Liz O’Hagan is general manager of Australian Visa Specialists
** In conversation with Sandra O'Connell