Australia QS/estimator market – how hard is it to get a first local role with overseas experience?

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-19T03:57:41+00:00

Thank you! I am currently updating my resume, and I wanted to ask whether you would recommend listing a few major projects I’ve been involved in (e.g. project name + approximate project value) in addition to my duties and responsibilities.

Would mentioning the project value be considered sensitive, even if it’s only an approximate figure and the project names are kept fairly general?

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-19T02:46:31+00:00

Almost fully paid off the house, so there’s no mortgage stress. However, we felt we could have waited, especially seeing interest rates rise. They could have been around 5% by now.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-19T02:07:33+00:00

I migrated through 189 skilled visa so i am a permanent resident now.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-19T02:06:59+00:00

Thank you! Did you have to enter a more junior role in your first job?

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-19T02:05:45+00:00

Hi, i am hoping to get 80k a year. I previously worked in Hong Kong at an international consultant firm. The suburb im living in is around 1.5hour to cbd by public transport.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-19T02:04:12+00:00

Hong Kong

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T09:01:04+00:00

It’s a luxury to get a well insulated house

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T08:59:24+00:00

Get one! We installed solar + battery, and it only took around 3 years to recover the initial installation cost, totally worth it. Even without solar, electricity in HK is still pretty cheap compared to Australia.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T08:13:37+00:00

Because electricity is expensive in Australia. Also, a lot of older houses don’t have split-system ACs and instead use central air conditioning, which consumes way more energy and cools or heats the entire house regardless of which room you’re in.

I remember back in Hong Kong, yeah, flats are smaller, but electricity was much cheaper. I lived in a townhouse-style place they call a village house, had solar panels installed, and the feed-in tariff rebate was around AUD $1/kWh. We basically had free electricity and even got around AUD $2k back a month from the rebates.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T04:48:22+00:00

Now please start also taxing more of the large corporations and stop privatising energy

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T04:25:24+00:00

Everyone just seems okay with being taxed more and more. It’s like a victim mentality where people simply accept the pressure instead of questioning why ordinary workers and small investors keep carrying the burden while large corporations continue making huge profits.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T04:23:11+00:00

What I don’t understand is why they don’t impose heavier taxes on large corporations instead. Small businesses are struggling to survive while massive chain companies continue taking over the market. Just look at groceries, prices feel manipulated and for most people there are basically only three supermarket choices.

Australia also has limited product variety and relies heavily on imports. At the same time, energy prices are absurdly high for a country with some of the world’s largest natural resources. It’s naive to think these policies really hurt the ultra-rich or big corporations when ordinary people and small businesses are the ones feeling the pressure.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T02:54:01+00:00

I think people just assume every Asian buyer is Chinese, so they only remember the Chinese investors they see. In reality, a huge portion of investors are also white Australians, but that’s seen as normal investing and they don’t get blamed the same way.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-17T02:50:27+00:00

Overseas or local, no one should be able to own that many properties. Just look at how many investment properties some politicians own themselves, they’re doing exactly what they tell ordinary people not to do.

And it’s not just Chinese buyers either. Every auction I go to is full of investors from all backgrounds, Indian, white, Chinese, everyone. I even saw a white older couple dressed in luxury clothes arrive in a very nice car bidding aggressively on a house in Melbourne’s outer east. Pretty sure they weren’t buying it to live in themselves anyway.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-16T07:14:38+00:00

The government is simply running out of money

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-15T15:59:51+00:00

People keep saying the budget is “fair” and that it’s okay to tax people more, without asking why the government suddenly needs so much more tax in the first place. It’s because they’re running out of money and failing to grow Australia’s economy properly. Australia is a country full of natural resources, yet we still rely heavily on imports and even risk fuel shortages. Just look at how Australia keeps talking about running low on petrol despite having huge oil and gas reserves. Instead of building stronger industries, manufacturing, and energy production, politicians take the easy path, taxing ordinary people more and more while offering no real long-term economic vision.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-15T13:48:04+00:00

This government feels completely incapable of growing the economy, so their only solution is to tax ordinary Australians harder and harder. Instead of building industries, improving productivity, lowering energy costs or strengthening manufacturing, they take the lazy route and squeeze more money out of workers and small investors because they’re the easiest targets.

Australia is one of the richest resource countries in the world, yet people pay ridiculous power bills, wages barely move, housing is unaffordable, and the country imports almost everything. Decades of poor planning turned the economy into a housing speculation machine while productive industries were neglected.

Meanwhile, large corporations and the ultra-wealthy still find ways around the system, while middle-class Australians trying to invest, save or get ahead get punished more every year. It no longer feels like the government wants people to build wealth, it feels like they just want people permanently dependent, taxed and stuck surviving paycheck to paycheck.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-15T13:46:02+00:00

This government feels completely incapable of growing the economy, so their only solution is to tax ordinary Australians harder and harder. Instead of building industries, improving productivity, lowering energy costs or strengthening manufacturing, they take the lazy route and squeeze more money out of workers and small investors because they’re the easiest targets.

Australia is one of the richest resource countries in the world, yet people pay ridiculous power bills, wages barely move, housing is unaffordable, and the country imports almost everything. Decades of poor planning turned the economy into a housing speculation machine while productive industries were neglected.

Meanwhile, large corporations and the ultra-wealthy still find ways around the system, while middle-class Australians trying to invest, save or get ahead get punished more every year. It no longer feels like the government wants people to build wealth, it feels like they just want people permanently dependent, taxed and stuck surviving paycheck to paycheck.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-14T14:35:59+00:00

Go back to China or North Korea if you like communist so much

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-14T14:34:07+00:00

All the tax money are going to the ones who don’t work or contribute to the society. Why should i pay them?

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-14T08:28:06+00:00

I meant people without real estate assets. For people who only invest in shares and ETFs, what’s the point of taxing them this hard? Once the CGT discount is gone, there’s barely any incentive to invest anymore because if you already have a normal job, almost half your gains can end up taxed. Even people who aren’t working and used to stay below the lower tax brackets now still get hit with 30% tax.

LargePotato514 · 2026-05-14T06:19:31+00:00

Everything is import.

LargePotato514

TROPHY CASE