Blue Collar Skills - Skills In Demand (SID) Visa Recruitment

Finding good tradespeople isn’t getting any easier.

For many Australian employers, particularly those in regional areas and industries with ongoing skills shortages, advertising locally doesn’t always produce people with the right trade background or experience.

That’s where overseas recruitment can help.

Blue Collar Skills works with Australian employers to source experienced tradespeople locally and internationally. Where an overseas worker requires employer sponsorship, our recruitment team works alongside Konnecting’s registered migration professionals to manage the recruitment and visa process.

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Recruiting Skilled Tradespeople Through the SID Visa

The Skills in Demand (SID) visa (subclass 482) allows an approved Australian employer to sponsor an overseas worker for an eligible skilled position when they cannot find a suitably skilled Australian worker.

For employers, the important point is that sponsorship should be considered as part of the recruitment process – not after a candidate has already been selected.

Before starting an international search, we can look at the position, occupation, salary and likely visa pathway to determine whether sponsorship is a practical option.

For the Core Skills stream, the occupation must be on the current Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL). Other eligibility requirements also apply to the employer, position and candidate.

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Skilled Trades We Recruit

Blue Collar Skills recruits across a broad range of trade and technical occupations, including:

• Fitters and machinists

• Welders and metal fabricators

• Sheetmetal workers

• Electricians and electrical trades

• Carpenters and joiners

• Plumbers

• Painters

• Engineering trades

• Automotive trades

• Mechanical trades

• Maintenance technicians

• Field service technicians

• Other specialist trade and technical roles

Not every trade occupation is eligible for a SID visa. We assess the proposed occupation and circumstances before recommending an employer-sponsored pathway.

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One of the difficulties with international recruitment is that finding the right person is only part of the job.

The candidate also needs to be suitable for the proposed visa pathway.

We bring the two together.

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Our recruiters concentrate on whether the person can actually do the job – their trade background, qualifications, practical experience and employment history.

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Our migration team looks at the sponsorship side, including the nominated occupation, visa requirements, salary, skills assessment requirements and the employer’s eligibility to sponsor.

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This can save employers from spending weeks interviewing and progressing an overseas candidate only to discover later that there is a problem with the proposed visa pathway.

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How We Can Help

Depending on what your business needs, we can assist with:

• Local and international candidate searches

• Screening and shortlisting

• Reviewing trade qualifications and employment history

• Candidate interviews

• Reference checks

• International recruitment campaigns

• Standard Business Sponsorship

• SID subclass 482 nominations and visa applications

• Labour Market Testing guidance

• Occupation and salary assessments

• Skills assessment requirements

• Sponsorship compliance

• Advice on potential permanent visa pathways

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When Does Overseas Recruitment Make Sense?

International recruitment isn’t necessarily the first answer to every vacancy.

It tends to make the most sense when a business has a genuine, ongoing requirement for skilled workers and has struggled to find people with the right experience in Australia.

This is particularly relevant for employers operating in regional areas or industries where experienced tradespeople are difficult to attract and retain.

Rather than continually re-advertising the same vacancies, employers can look overseas for people who already have the trade skills and experience they need.

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Industries We Work With

We recruit skilled tradespeople for employers across industries such as:

• Engineering

• Manufacturing

• Mining and resources

• Construction

• Infrastructure

• Industrial maintenance

• Automotive

• Heavy equipment

• Transport

• Agriculture

• Regional businesses

• Specialist trade services

We can assist with a single difficult-to-fill vacancy or a larger international recruitment campaign where an employer needs several workers with similar skills.

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How the Process Works

1. Tell Us What You Need

We start with the position itself – what the person will actually be doing, the experience required, location, salary and why the role has been difficult to fill.

2. Check the Sponsorship Option

If overseas recruitment is being considered, we review the occupation and proposed position to see whether an employer-sponsored visa is a realistic option.

3. Find the Right People

We search for candidates with the trade background and practical experience required for the job. Depending on the role, this can include candidates already in Australia as well as suitably qualified tradespeople overseas.

4. Screen and Shortlist

Candidates are screened before being presented to you. We look at their qualifications, employment history, technical experience and general suitability for the position.

You decide who you want to interview and employ.

5. Manage the Visa Process

If your preferred candidate needs sponsorship, Konnecting’s migration team can manage the relevant sponsorship, nomination and visa applications.

6. Get Your New Employee Started

Once the necessary approvals are in place, we help coordinate the next steps so the candidate can commence employment with your business.

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Struggling to Find Skilled Tradespeople?

If you’ve been advertising for experienced tradespeople and aren’t finding the people you need, it may be worth looking beyond the local market.

Blue Collar Skills can help you find suitably experienced tradespeople in Australia and overseas, while Konnecting can handle the employer-sponsored migration process where required.

Speak with our team about the positions you’re trying to fill, and we’ll help you work out whether international recruitment and SID visa sponsorship are suitable for your business.

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Call 1300 131 131 to discuss your recruitment requirements.