working in austria

You forgot to tell if you are an EU citizen?
If not the very first thing to consider is how to obtain a work and residence permit!
Check out the official sites from Austria - start finding links from the homepage of the Austrian embassy in your country.

To "work (and live)" in a country and only speaking a foreign language is a problem (especially for the "work" part) everywhere! - also in whatever country YOU live, I guess.

In Europe - only speaking a single language and obtaining a qualified, professional job is a problem.

The first problem is needing a work permit, if you are from New Zealand. I don't know if Austria issues something like ancestor visa, you'll have to ask at an Austrian consulate.
The next problem will be the language, with only English it will be hard to find a job.
Why don't you use the time you need for sorting out the visa issues for learning some German? It will improve your chances a lot.
Good luck.

According to OP's profile he's from New Zealand. So OP, you need a special permit to work in Austria. Check with the nearest Austrian consulate if there are any options to get such permit.

And start learning German today. Speaking the local language definitely makes life easier anywhere in the world.

yeah thats definatly sound advice, i think german lessons are in order. i knew my chances of a proffessional job were slim. id be interested in any kind of work but i take it english is not very widely spoken in austria?

Hi,
first to know is, Austria is part of the Schengen agreement. That means in your case you can ask for a visa, and if you got it will be given only for three month. No way to stay legal longer - exept you will be sik. Think about that nobody is waiting for you, nobody need you, nobody knows about you. To work with a visa it would be better to find a firm or company who will be able to employ you and with a contract you can have a longer visa. The same you obtain if you will be a student at the university in Vienna for example and the Uni confirm your stay. For example to learn german!! Only speaking english is not a very good base for you as mentionned in the upper answers. Maybe you can have some more information about at www.bmeia.gv.at
rgds

"i take it english is not very widely spoken in austria? " - that's NOT the problem.
But no one wants to have to speak a foreign language wehn shopping, expalining procedures to the new employee, the new guy sitting next to them, EVEN if they know the new guys laguage well.
Since youy do not know a single foreign language, you hardly cannot imagine how tiering and irritating it is too have to speak a foreign language in you own country to ppl. that arn'r tourist or other short term visitors.
YOU are the one going to Austria - YOU are the one that have to adapt! EXACTLY as when ppl immigrate to NZ.

the only language i speak is english
Your boss calls a team meeting. You're the only non-German speaker there. Your boss speaks no English. What do you think is going to happen? I'll tell you in advance because this is completely hypothetical. You wouldn't even get the job because of the scenario I've just described.

I learnt there's an increasing business growing kiwi's in Italy, maybe you can use your engineering skills there. And learning Italian - from the English - seems easier to me than German. (New Zealand is even importing its national identity from the Appenine peninsular...)

Contact an import firm for addresses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit

(and yes, Austria is not Italy, a bit Christchurch - Wellington barrier/distance)

If your grandfathers are austrian, most likely you can get the austrian citizenship. Many people in Austria speak english. Lots of tourists from everywhere and many people work in the tourism buisness but to work in a lot of places you will need some good german. A friend of mine works for several years in Austria as a snowboard instructor and in the parks of the resorts. At the beginning he didn´t speak a word of german and had no working permit either and managed it pretty well.