Just starting out.....
 

Hello all,

Thought we'd say hi and introduce ourselves. We are just starting out on our plan to move to Oz.

Looking at all the visa application posts on here, the waiting, the heartache, the stress, the disappointments, it looks a very daunting process.

However, we are determined and positive. I work in I.T., my wife and I have 2 kids, 4 and 2 y.o.

Where to start??? This is going to be a long process..........this looks like a cool place to hang out while we wait !! :)

Re: Just starting out.....
 

<")))><

"Give a man a fish, feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, feed him his entire life."?

Welcome,

Watch out for the wingers but don't dismiss all their posts. Don't worry you'll soon find out who they are. Just post something containing phrases like "large house", "near the beach" or the current No 1 "lifestyle" and I'm sure it'll tempt them out from under a rock.

Best of luck with your application, it does take a while and I reckon you've got to be pretty committed to make a go of it.

Cheers

Re: Just starting out.....
 

Your job is not in high demand in Oz and you may struggle to get any work in it, even part time or contract. Oz is not like the UK and America, and jobs are much fewer for white collar jobs, especially computing, and the locals are much preferred to immigrants, even Brits.

The first thing you should do is to accommodate yourself to the idea that you will probably have to work in something much lower skilled than you are currently doing (you may end up on a till in an electrical goods shop for example) and much lower paid. You will need enough money to be unemployed in Oz for at least 6 months (there are people on the forum who have been out of work for over 1 year without even more than one or two interviews) and you would do well to not think of it as a permanent emigration but a 1-2 year trial because many people return disillusioned within 2 years and the long term stayer rate is about 50% - that is, about half the poms who emigrate here go back home in the end.

Once you are earning Oz wages, you will ind that Oz housing and living is not cheap at all, so beware those who say the cost of living is very low - they are commonly those with lots of savings from the UK.

Your chances of being a victim of crime in Oz are about the same as they are in the UK, sometimes worse, sometimes better, depending on the crime.

You can get the up side from lots of people on the site, so I am giving you a few downsides before you start, so that you know what you are taking on.

If anyone gives you advice, try to find out if they actually live in Oz because there are many (the majority) on the site who do not and never have (a lot have not even been here on a holiday) and they tend to idealise the place a lot, so it is easy to get caught up in all the excitement without knowing some hard realities.

Good luck and proceed with caution. Oz is a very ordinary place and not the land of dreams (and definitelt not the land of opportunities) that the Brits are brought up to believe.

This bloke is a perfect example. He lives in Hampton Court which is in SW Greater London, not Oz. Quite how he knows about living in Oz I do not know.

Let him tell us what are his qualifications for talking about living in Oz? Well, Nibbs, how long have you lived in Oz? Have you ever been here for a holiday and, if so, how long?

Re: Just starting out.....
 

Wilf makes some very valid points.

On the other hand, I spent a year there myself and found that there was nothing but opportunity for myself in IT - and in helping to run, and working with, small businesses. And if you are the sort of person that gets on well with people and can turn you hand to many things then you may do OK. I loved it and would live no where else. It helps of course that half my family live there and I am rugby mad etc..etc..but there you go.

Good luck.

badgers

Hang on a sec Wilfo. Hold your horses mate.
I also live CURRENTLY nr Hampton Court - in fact I probably am the closest person to him from this board - anyway! - and what is to say that old Nibsy has not visited, nor has spent some time there. Come on. A bit harsh methinks.

badgers

Re: Just starting out.....
 

Thanks for not doing the usual "Wilf is negative" stuff. I am trying, believe it or not, to make this bloke think hard about what he is doing because we all know just how idealised Oz and NZ are back in the UK.

I would say that it is important that this new bloke hears my less than perfect account and your more encouraging account and the future for him may be somewhere in between.

You are not a family man yet Badger and so are maybe more free to move around to catch the jobs as they arise? You will also admit that you are, as you say, prepared to have a go at anything, and that is really all I was saying to him - that he may have to stand at a till in an electrical shop rather than program computers, and we do not know how important his career is to him when it comes to the way he feels about his life, his self, and his place in the world. To some people, it is very important to have a fulfilling career that is interesting and makes them feel like a success, whilst other people do not care whether what they do even if it is poorly paid and boring as hell. You have been able to find exciting things to do in the past when travelling round, but something made you return did it not? Also, would you want to do any of the things you used to do for the rest of your life?

You are not the sort of person I am talking about Badger. You HAVE lived here and so I would consider your opinions worth much to this new bloke and to all others here. I am talking about people who have NEVER lived here or even been on holiday - and you know that there are many many people who have not even set foot on this dusty land but nevertheless talk about how great it is to live here all the time.

Not you, mate. You are the forum's resident outback adventurer and I am not trying to knock your crown old son.


Also, Badger, note that Nibbs has not replied and told us how long he has lived in Oz in the past and whether he has holidayed here, even. That is all I was asking. If he says "I lived in Oz from 1995-1996, I will say he may be out of date but fine."

Re: Just starting out.....
 

Point taken. I am lucky in that I have a range of contacts, and some of the bizarre jobs I found myself doing last year - were fact-finding, qualification gaining jobs eg. I now have a HR truck license which took 5 hrs and cost me 180 quid!!! I could find work in most of my trades within commuting distance of my home.

It looks like I will be a "family man" soon! and this improves my situaton as my fiancee to be does something that is in demand in Aussie. That's me sorted, eh?!!

I returned to the UK to await the return of my PR as my first visa had expired. To sell flat etc. Spent my first 4 months homesick and still shake my head every day as to how I can live in the UK.

cheers

Badgers

Re: Just starting out.....
 

{re-reading posts dum de dum. funny how people reply to you as you are replying to them....}

now pepes hows that for fair discussion without whinging or name calling!!! i kind of like Wilfy these days: FAIR.

right im off to bed as I am cream crackered. still in office writing code!!

badgers

dear Fish, you might notice that the biggest whinger on the forum is still living on the east coast of Oz, after many a year, that should give you a clue.

Re: Just starting out.....
 

Dear Symbol bloke (Are you really Prince?)

Hello and welcome on board, fasten your seatbelts for the rollercoaster ride ahead.

You will read lots of good and bad things about Oz. Everyone on here is different, different backgrounds/expectation etc so you can only absorb the info and do what you think is right for you!

We are a family of 4 who have crossed to the other side without too many scratches, here to assist if you need any info on bottle shops and current offers in the supermarkets:beer: :beer:

Good luck and enjoy the ride
Diane & Gang:rolleyes:

Good on yer for wanting something better and going for it. Your determination and positivity will get you there I bet. Its a huge undertaking for you Brits to move so far away from home.

One man sees a glass half full of water and says "stuff it this glass is half empty". Another says " great this glass is half full" I think most people who post on this forum dont expect a full glass but some see the glass as half empty all the time.

I do wish you would stop making snide comments about me old son (and at least have the decency to admit it). All you know is what I write here but nothing about me in my real life. I have said you have a limited outlook before and I repeat it again. What I say here is not the sum total of my life, you know. I can believe that you are more than "hamiltonnz", can you not believe the same about others? I am not going to be told what to write and to be 1/2 pro, 1/2 anti just to please narrow minded people like yourself who only see what is put on the plate in front of you. A new prospective immigrant is not going to gain anything much from a post that says "Great stuff. Go ahead. Live the dream" is he? I would rather offer an early warning about something that is useful. You seem to me that you would resent a warning sign on the pavement that said "hole ahead" because you would see it as one-sided and negative. There are many things I like about Oz and most of them are covered by others. What this forum lacks most is people prepared to point out the negatives and that is why I do so. Please keep your snidy little comments to yourself and if you want to have a dig at least come straight up to me and give me a kick so that I have a fair chance to reply.