Post study work-rights are an important attraction in Australia’s international student sell – problem is the sort of work some people get

Some 74 per cent of international students with a 485 visa, that allows them to stay on after graduation to start their careers, are employed. But 17 per cent of them are working in positions that don’t use their qualifications. “Temporary graduates have higher level qualifications than skilled stream migrants, but are comparatively more likely to be working in low-skilled occupations,” Jonathan Chew reports in a new analysis of Commonwealth visa and census data for the International Education Association of Australia.

This is not great for the international education industry. “The rationale for PSWR was explicitly to make Australia a more attractive and globally competitive study destination by supplementing the student experience with relevant work experience upon graduation.  The fact that temporary graduate visa holders are more likely to be employed in lower skilled occupations in the retail and hospitality sectors should be cause for concern,” Mr Chew warns.

But as with all graduates, time extends opportunities, “data would suggest that employment outcomes improve for those who have accumulated more professional and life experience,” Mr Chew argues.

As Ly Thi Tran (Deakin U) and colleagues found in a survey of 485 visa holders with two-year work rights, (PhD grads can have four years), the shorter period is not enough to win employer confidence, acquire work experience, join professional bodies and/or get jobs, (CMM, July 3 2019).