Freelancing

[JonathanR]

Hi, I had an idea I thought might be brilliant. I thought that I would offer 1-2 hour consultation sessions to Australian companies and the only payment is a letter of reference. Does anyone know if this is allowed? I do not yet have a visa and cannot work in Australia, but I would be performing these services as a freelancer remotely from South Africa so in my mind should not need a work permit.

I was hoping that some of these short sessions might turn into longer paid sessions which would help me to pay for the visa application fees (I would likely have the money paid directly to a FNB gloabl account so I did not lose money by converting to Rands and then back to A$ to pay the visa fees. I know that I would be liable for SARS payments but not sure about ATO. I can also run this through a company I own if that makes it easier for Australian companies.

 

Any ideas whether this would be legal or not? I tried to find an email address for DIAC on their website but gave up looking.

[Mara]

If your South African company invoiced the Australian company, there would be no problem on the Australian side, that I am aware of. As long as the money is not paid into an Australian bank account for you, but leaves the country to South Africa, then all should be in order.

 

What happens on the South African side, is for you to sort out.

 

Whether the Australian companies would be interested, that is a whole new kettle of fish.... I have no idea!

[RYLC]

So if I understand correctly: You want to consult for free in exchange for letters of reference as a first step?  How does that help you? I'm not really following.

 

Providing consulting services for a price from any country to Australian businesses is allowed of course.  A few companies I work with do this.  Some are USA based, some in the UK.  They use a website to sell their services and use Paypal or other credit card processing platform (such as Stripe) to take payment into an account of their choice.  So all of that part is possible.

 

I just don't understand the working for free part.  It would be a hard sell to an Australian business as it shouts "scam" (sorry  ) because working for free is not part of the employment laws here. Free work trials are against the law and doing it from overseas would seem really strange.

 

 

[JonathanR]

Thanks Mara & RYLC this gives me food for thought. Although legal I will have to weight up whether it is even worth the time and even then I am likely not going to find any Australian companies interested.

[Riekie]

How far along are you with your Visa application - or are you looking for a sponsor?

[JonathanR]

@Riekie I have selected an agent so very eatly still. A sponsor would be welcome but I don't want to go for a 457 visa. I am planning a 190 visa for which I will seek sponsorship from the state of victoria.

[JonathanR]

OK, so I have adjusted my idea. I have started a question and answer site for SQL server but kind of pushing my CV as well as saying I am available to be contracted from Australia. What do you guys think (and I know my CV is probably  in the wrong format for Australia but that is later on the priority list to fix :-) )

https://sqlguy.online/

[RYLC]

You have an idea that with some work may give you what you want.  Now how to say this next bit without sounding rude or raining on your parade ?  Your site is unlikely to cut through or even be found as it is now. What your site is now is usually called a landing page and would be visually more appealing. All the stuff about being a citizen and having to invoice in rand just makes it odd. 

 

The best advice I can give you is to sign up for a wonderful online incubator program that is FREE. It's run by a very reputable and credible Aussie called Dan Norris. He is very generous with his time and feedback. The next live round starts on 12 July but you'll be able to join the Facebook group and ask questions in the mean time. There are a lot of very experienced people in there too. 

 

Visit http://7daystartup.com to sign up. 

 

I think that with the help of this incubator you may well be able to set up an online business for yourself which can be run from anywhere in the world, so that if you move to Oz you'll have a portable income source and finding a job here is not as urgent. 

Edited May 28, 2016 by RYLC

[ottg]

On 5/24/2016 at 7:51 AM, JonathanR said:

the only payment is a letter of reference

I'm not sure if I miss the intent what you try to achieve?

Do you want exposure to show your skills and experience (from who?)

Do you want to fund your immigration expenses?

On 5/24/2016 at 7:51 AM, JonathanR said:

some of these short sessions might turn into longer paid sessions which would help me to pay for the visa application fees

Perhaps both. The key is how will they know about you and your services. What will  be the quickest way for prospects to know about you?

 

So here is an alternative - consider to do freelancing from SA by advertising your own services through existing freelance websites. In the post below I mentioned a few (there are many others). Usually it will depend on your ratings and services already provided which is another loop to jump through. HOWEVER....it provides you an opportunity to put the word out where you can show what you have done already.

Once you start earning from freelancing then consider to get other freelancer to develop your own website professionally with SEO and adword click campaigns etc

Hope it helps!!

Edited May 28, 2016 by ottg

[JonathanR]

@RYLC , Thanks I will look at the wording of those things, I guess I was just stating what the law is this side but I should have realised that most businesses will likely assume this and if not I can always tell them at invoice time. I am not really looking to try and build a business, I have a small business already but don't earn enough through it to fund my move. I also have a full time job but even then, don't earn enough to have any savings for the move. Although I have subsequently worked out another way of funding the visa and agent costs so my main focus with this would be to try and build up a bit of savings to help once my family and I land. If it does not work out then my house sale should give us a few months for me to find a job in Australia, but I just thought if I had a couple of references from Australian companies, then it might smooth the way for me.

 

@ottg, Thanks for your comments, I wanted to take out the letter of reference stuff because comments helped me realise that I was sounding like a scammer. As I work through my ideas and finances stuff changes, and my needs change. A few days ago I had no idea how I was going to get past the initial agent fees, but then found a policy that I had forgotten about which will help tremendously to pay the expenses, now I am just trying to figure out a way to store those funds in a stable currency somewhere. The FNB Global account is one way but then it will be a mission to pay the visa costs from the Global Account since as far as I understand they only take credit card payments. 

Thanks for the freelancing links, I will try that as well. 

 

Anyway guys, thanks for the comments, every little bit helps with the process towards residence.

[monsta]

I am with @RYLC... delete that site off the internet, in case a future employer finds it!   I am sorry to be harsh, but that's an honest opinion. 

 

If you start a company, that screams, "I want to be my own boss and not work for someone".  Also, you are a SQL server expert. Don't show off web design skills unless you really have them. If you claim you can do web design, but its clearly not world class, then how would Aussie employers know you can run a world class SQL Server setup? They will be thinking "I hope his SQL isn't as bad as his web design".

 

You are South African. Aussie employers love South Africans... my boss came across to me the other day with the biggest smile on his face... the recruiter gave him a CV of a Zimbabwean. It was like CV porn. 

 

Remember, its all about covering your future boss's but. If you can't make enough money in South Africa to pay for your VISA, that's a big red flag to them. To an Aussie, a VISA is not super expensive. If South African companies do not want to hire you and pay you well, then why should Aussie companies?

 

 

 

 

[JonathanR]

Thanks @monsta

 

I kinda decided to turn the site into a simple blog this morning, your comments help me to expedite that process. For now I have turned maintenance mode on.

 

I guess I am just feeling a little uncertain with the whole process of moving to a country where you don't know anyone. I have always said that with my skills I would never be out of a job for longer than a month even with my BEE disability. But looking at the forum here I was getting a little uneasy.

 

I have paid the first payment to my agent now so at least he is starting to keep me busy with forms, so I guess now I won't have time to sit and think about jobs :-)