10 weeks in Sydney
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: Rozelle, Sydney
Posts: 92
10 weeks in Sydney
Unfortunately I didn’t discover this website until after we arrived in Australia. But after reading so many of the posts on here (and discovering so much information that was useful in our first few weeks) I thought I’d share our experience in case it’s helpful to others out there.
Background
Firstly, just to explain a bit about our situation… We are out here on the sponsored 457 visa. My other half is an Accountant who set up his job through a phone interview from the UK. Any other Accountants out there who are interested in getting sponsored should know that (whilst giving credit to my OH’s interview talent) it was very easy for him to get the job. In fact, he was offered two jobs and was able to choose between them – the need for Accountants over here is pretty desperate, although you are likely to have to take a pay cut. I am included on the visa as a de facto. Neither of us had been to Australia before now, but we wanted to live and work abroad somewhere for a couple of years and from what we’d heard and read about Oz, we thought it would fit the bill.
Sponsorship
A lot of recruitment consultants told us that once a job had been offered, companies generally expect you to start work in 8 weeks – a pretty scary turnaround. However, it didn’t turn out to be this fast, mainly because the company sponsoring us took their time. This was quite frustrating at times, especially when we had handed our notices in at work, but still didn’t have our visas or flights! But on the whole, the process was smooth. In terms of the package (this was all reimbursed once in Oz), we both got our flights paid for, our visas were paid for, we got 2 weeks accommodation when we arrived, health insurance and we got a shipping allowance. One thing I would say though is that we did have to pay quite a significant amount more on the shipping, even though we shipped relatively little, as we’re not sure whether we will stay beyond the 2-year contract. Having said that, the sponsorship package was generous, so we really can’t complain. The shipping was done by Anglo Pacific and OSS Worldwide at this end; all our stuff arrived intact and within 10 weeks. Other useful stuff would be that for the de facto, we just had to produce a joint bank statement and a tenancy agreement – nothing more.
Renting in Sydney
This was our biggest headache as we had just 2 weeks to find somewhere and had little idea about where we wanted to live. Trawling around the various suburbs to find one we liked was tiring, but easy compared to the next step. Having moved here from London where estate agents trip over themselves to help you, it was a bit of a shock. Viewing places is fairly impossible if they are tenanted, as the tenants require 2 days notice. If it’s already empty, you start wondering what’s wrong with it. Some agents only show stuff at open viewings at the weekend (trotting round flats with 8 other couples is just bizarre). You would think it would be easy to see a place when the flat is empty and you’re standing in the estate agent’s office, but no! Oh, and don’t bother with furnished flats – they’re massively over-priced and the furniture can be off really poor quality (why the landlords don’t just go to Ikea is beyond me). My best advice would be to find a nice estate agent who is flexible about showing you places. We finally settled in Rozelle, it’s nice and central and really suits two late 20-somethings such as ourselves. For furniture, hire a Ute and go to Ikea. For electricals, most of ours came from Bing Lee with a discount for cash. If you buy a 5A efficient washing machine, you’ll get $150 cash back as part of a NSW incentive.
Banks, Medicare, tax file etc.
All this stuff is really easy and can be sorted in a day. Set up a bank account within the first 6 weeks of arriving and all you need is a passport. Apply for a reciprocal Medicare card by going to a local office and apply for your tax file number online.
Work
Find work for me has been fairly tricky so far. I’ve got 5.5 years experience in publishing/marketing including new media. However, finding an employer that is willing to look beyond the 2-year visa, doesn’t mind that all my experience is overseas and who is willing to pay me enough to live on is a tough call. Recruitment agents have been useful, but the hardest thing is the slow pace that recruitment decisions get made. Bring your patience!
Other things
Some other random things you might need to know…broadband here is pretty slow (I started off with a so-called broadband connection that was the same speed as the dial-up that I’d left behind). Not everything is cheap – bread is really expensive and so are vegetables. If you’ve got spare space in your shipping for clothes and shoes etc. bring them – they seem to be quite expensive over here. Things that are cheaper than London are… travel and renting. Oh, and second hand cars are really expensive too! Aside from that, the sky always seem to be incredibly blue, Sydney is a fantastically good-looking city and moving here was a really good idea! I don’t know if we’ll stay beyond our 2 years, but I know we’re going to have an amazing time whilst we’re here.
Background
Firstly, just to explain a bit about our situation… We are out here on the sponsored 457 visa. My other half is an Accountant who set up his job through a phone interview from the UK. Any other Accountants out there who are interested in getting sponsored should know that (whilst giving credit to my OH’s interview talent) it was very easy for him to get the job. In fact, he was offered two jobs and was able to choose between them – the need for Accountants over here is pretty desperate, although you are likely to have to take a pay cut. I am included on the visa as a de facto. Neither of us had been to Australia before now, but we wanted to live and work abroad somewhere for a couple of years and from what we’d heard and read about Oz, we thought it would fit the bill.
Sponsorship
A lot of recruitment consultants told us that once a job had been offered, companies generally expect you to start work in 8 weeks – a pretty scary turnaround. However, it didn’t turn out to be this fast, mainly because the company sponsoring us took their time. This was quite frustrating at times, especially when we had handed our notices in at work, but still didn’t have our visas or flights! But on the whole, the process was smooth. In terms of the package (this was all reimbursed once in Oz), we both got our flights paid for, our visas were paid for, we got 2 weeks accommodation when we arrived, health insurance and we got a shipping allowance. One thing I would say though is that we did have to pay quite a significant amount more on the shipping, even though we shipped relatively little, as we’re not sure whether we will stay beyond the 2-year contract. Having said that, the sponsorship package was generous, so we really can’t complain. The shipping was done by Anglo Pacific and OSS Worldwide at this end; all our stuff arrived intact and within 10 weeks. Other useful stuff would be that for the de facto, we just had to produce a joint bank statement and a tenancy agreement – nothing more.
Renting in Sydney
This was our biggest headache as we had just 2 weeks to find somewhere and had little idea about where we wanted to live. Trawling around the various suburbs to find one we liked was tiring, but easy compared to the next step. Having moved here from London where estate agents trip over themselves to help you, it was a bit of a shock. Viewing places is fairly impossible if they are tenanted, as the tenants require 2 days notice. If it’s already empty, you start wondering what’s wrong with it. Some agents only show stuff at open viewings at the weekend (trotting round flats with 8 other couples is just bizarre). You would think it would be easy to see a place when the flat is empty and you’re standing in the estate agent’s office, but no! Oh, and don’t bother with furnished flats – they’re massively over-priced and the furniture can be off really poor quality (why the landlords don’t just go to Ikea is beyond me). My best advice would be to find a nice estate agent who is flexible about showing you places. We finally settled in Rozelle, it’s nice and central and really suits two late 20-somethings such as ourselves. For furniture, hire a Ute and go to Ikea. For electricals, most of ours came from Bing Lee with a discount for cash. If you buy a 5A efficient washing machine, you’ll get $150 cash back as part of a NSW incentive.
Banks, Medicare, tax file etc.
All this stuff is really easy and can be sorted in a day. Set up a bank account within the first 6 weeks of arriving and all you need is a passport. Apply for a reciprocal Medicare card by going to a local office and apply for your tax file number online.
Work
Find work for me has been fairly tricky so far. I’ve got 5.5 years experience in publishing/marketing including new media. However, finding an employer that is willing to look beyond the 2-year visa, doesn’t mind that all my experience is overseas and who is willing to pay me enough to live on is a tough call. Recruitment agents have been useful, but the hardest thing is the slow pace that recruitment decisions get made. Bring your patience!
Other things
Some other random things you might need to know…broadband here is pretty slow (I started off with a so-called broadband connection that was the same speed as the dial-up that I’d left behind). Not everything is cheap – bread is really expensive and so are vegetables. If you’ve got spare space in your shipping for clothes and shoes etc. bring them – they seem to be quite expensive over here. Things that are cheaper than London are… travel and renting. Oh, and second hand cars are really expensive too! Aside from that, the sky always seem to be incredibly blue, Sydney is a fantastically good-looking city and moving here was a really good idea! I don’t know if we’ll stay beyond our 2 years, but I know we’re going to have an amazing time whilst we’re here.
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 109
Re: 10 weeks in Sydney
Originally Posted by katherinious
Unfortunately I didn’t discover this website until after we arrived in Australia. But after reading so many of the posts on here (and discovering so much information that was useful in our first few weeks) I thought I’d share our experience in case it’s helpful to others out there.
Background
Firstly, just to explain a bit about our situation… We are out here on the sponsored 457 visa. My other half is an Accountant who set up his job through a phone interview from the UK. Any other Accountants out there who are interested in getting sponsored should know that (whilst giving credit to my OH’s interview talent) it was very easy for him to get the job. In fact, he was offered two jobs and was able to choose between them – the need for Accountants over here is pretty desperate, although you are likely to have to take a pay cut. I am included on the visa as a de facto. Neither of us had been to Australia before now, but we wanted to live and work abroad somewhere for a couple of years and from what we’d heard and read about Oz, we thought it would fit the bill.
Sponsorship
A lot of recruitment consultants told us that once a job had been offered, companies generally expect you to start work in 8 weeks – a pretty scary turnaround. However, it didn’t turn out to be this fast, mainly because the company sponsoring us took their time. This was quite frustrating at times, especially when we had handed our notices in at work, but still didn’t have our visas or flights! But on the whole, the process was smooth. In terms of the package (this was all reimbursed once in Oz), we both got our flights paid for, our visas were paid for, we got 2 weeks accommodation when we arrived, health insurance and we got a shipping allowance. One thing I would say though is that we did have to pay quite a significant amount more on the shipping, even though we shipped relatively little, as we’re not sure whether we will stay beyond the 2-year contract. Having said that, the sponsorship package was generous, so we really can’t complain. The shipping was done by Anglo Pacific and OSS Worldwide at this end; all our stuff arrived intact and within 10 weeks. Other useful stuff would be that for the de facto, we just had to produce a joint bank statement and a tenancy agreement – nothing more.
Renting in Sydney
This was our biggest headache as we had just 2 weeks to find somewhere and had little idea about where we wanted to live. Trawling around the various suburbs to find one we liked was tiring, but easy compared to the next step. Having moved here from London where estate agents trip over themselves to help you, it was a bit of a shock. Viewing places is fairly impossible if they are tenanted, as the tenants require 2 days notice. If it’s already empty, you start wondering what’s wrong with it. Some agents only show stuff at open viewings at the weekend (trotting round flats with 8 other couples is just bizarre). You would think it would be easy to see a place when the flat is empty and you’re standing in the estate agent’s office, but no! Oh, and don’t bother with furnished flats – they’re massively over-priced and the furniture can be off really poor quality (why the landlords don’t just go to Ikea is beyond me). My best advice would be to find a nice estate agent who is flexible about showing you places. We finally settled in Rozelle, it’s nice and central and really suits two late 20-somethings such as ourselves. For furniture, hire a Ute and go to Ikea. For electricals, most of ours came from Bing Lee with a discount for cash. If you buy a 5A efficient washing machine, you’ll get $150 cash back as part of a NSW incentive.
Banks, Medicare, tax file etc.
All this stuff is really easy and can be sorted in a day. Set up a bank account within the first 6 weeks of arriving and all you need is a passport. Apply for a reciprocal Medicare card by going to a local office and apply for your tax file number online.
Work
Find work for me has been fairly tricky so far. I’ve got 5.5 years experience in publishing/marketing including new media. However, finding an employer that is willing to look beyond the 2-year visa, doesn’t mind that all my experience is overseas and who is willing to pay me enough to live on is a tough call. Recruitment agents have been useful, but the hardest thing is the slow pace that recruitment decisions get made. Bring your patience!
Other things
Some other random things you might need to know…broadband here is pretty slow (I started off with a so-called broadband connection that was the same speed as the dial-up that I’d left behind). Not everything is cheap – bread is really expensive and so are vegetables. If you’ve got spare space in your shipping for clothes and shoes etc. bring them – they seem to be quite expensive over here. Things that are cheaper than London are… travel and renting. Oh, and second hand cars are really expensive too! Aside from that, the sky always seem to be incredibly blue, Sydney is a fantastically good-looking city and moving here was a really good idea! I don’t know if we’ll stay beyond our 2 years, but I know we’re going to have an amazing time whilst we’re here.
Background
Firstly, just to explain a bit about our situation… We are out here on the sponsored 457 visa. My other half is an Accountant who set up his job through a phone interview from the UK. Any other Accountants out there who are interested in getting sponsored should know that (whilst giving credit to my OH’s interview talent) it was very easy for him to get the job. In fact, he was offered two jobs and was able to choose between them – the need for Accountants over here is pretty desperate, although you are likely to have to take a pay cut. I am included on the visa as a de facto. Neither of us had been to Australia before now, but we wanted to live and work abroad somewhere for a couple of years and from what we’d heard and read about Oz, we thought it would fit the bill.
Sponsorship
A lot of recruitment consultants told us that once a job had been offered, companies generally expect you to start work in 8 weeks – a pretty scary turnaround. However, it didn’t turn out to be this fast, mainly because the company sponsoring us took their time. This was quite frustrating at times, especially when we had handed our notices in at work, but still didn’t have our visas or flights! But on the whole, the process was smooth. In terms of the package (this was all reimbursed once in Oz), we both got our flights paid for, our visas were paid for, we got 2 weeks accommodation when we arrived, health insurance and we got a shipping allowance. One thing I would say though is that we did have to pay quite a significant amount more on the shipping, even though we shipped relatively little, as we’re not sure whether we will stay beyond the 2-year contract. Having said that, the sponsorship package was generous, so we really can’t complain. The shipping was done by Anglo Pacific and OSS Worldwide at this end; all our stuff arrived intact and within 10 weeks. Other useful stuff would be that for the de facto, we just had to produce a joint bank statement and a tenancy agreement – nothing more.
Renting in Sydney
This was our biggest headache as we had just 2 weeks to find somewhere and had little idea about where we wanted to live. Trawling around the various suburbs to find one we liked was tiring, but easy compared to the next step. Having moved here from London where estate agents trip over themselves to help you, it was a bit of a shock. Viewing places is fairly impossible if they are tenanted, as the tenants require 2 days notice. If it’s already empty, you start wondering what’s wrong with it. Some agents only show stuff at open viewings at the weekend (trotting round flats with 8 other couples is just bizarre). You would think it would be easy to see a place when the flat is empty and you’re standing in the estate agent’s office, but no! Oh, and don’t bother with furnished flats – they’re massively over-priced and the furniture can be off really poor quality (why the landlords don’t just go to Ikea is beyond me). My best advice would be to find a nice estate agent who is flexible about showing you places. We finally settled in Rozelle, it’s nice and central and really suits two late 20-somethings such as ourselves. For furniture, hire a Ute and go to Ikea. For electricals, most of ours came from Bing Lee with a discount for cash. If you buy a 5A efficient washing machine, you’ll get $150 cash back as part of a NSW incentive.
Banks, Medicare, tax file etc.
All this stuff is really easy and can be sorted in a day. Set up a bank account within the first 6 weeks of arriving and all you need is a passport. Apply for a reciprocal Medicare card by going to a local office and apply for your tax file number online.
Work
Find work for me has been fairly tricky so far. I’ve got 5.5 years experience in publishing/marketing including new media. However, finding an employer that is willing to look beyond the 2-year visa, doesn’t mind that all my experience is overseas and who is willing to pay me enough to live on is a tough call. Recruitment agents have been useful, but the hardest thing is the slow pace that recruitment decisions get made. Bring your patience!
Other things
Some other random things you might need to know…broadband here is pretty slow (I started off with a so-called broadband connection that was the same speed as the dial-up that I’d left behind). Not everything is cheap – bread is really expensive and so are vegetables. If you’ve got spare space in your shipping for clothes and shoes etc. bring them – they seem to be quite expensive over here. Things that are cheaper than London are… travel and renting. Oh, and second hand cars are really expensive too! Aside from that, the sky always seem to be incredibly blue, Sydney is a fantastically good-looking city and moving here was a really good idea! I don’t know if we’ll stay beyond our 2 years, but I know we’re going to have an amazing time whilst we’re here.
Good luck with settling in and I hope you manage to find a job soon.
#3
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: Rozelle, Sydney
Posts: 92
Re: 10 weeks in Sydney
Originally Posted by tonik25
Me and OH will be heading over to Sydney in November so many thanks for all your hints and tips. I have heard all sorts of horror stories about people trying to get rentals so we will go prepared for this!
Good luck with settling in and I hope you manage to find a job soon.
Good luck with settling in and I hope you manage to find a job soon.
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#4
Re: 10 weeks in Sydney
Thanks for writing this, K - helps to manage our expectations in terms of the rental market. We arrive at the beginning of December and although we're lucky enough to have family to stay with, finding a rental asap is going to be our priority. Looks like we're in for a fun time.......not!
Nicky
Nicky
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: UK 2 Singapore 2 Sydney 2 Brisbane.....here to stay!
Posts: 1,307
Re: 10 weeks in Sydney
Hi
Looks like some great info for new people.
Just thought I'd let you know about the Sydney meet that is planned for the 10th September. Everyone is welcome to come along - there will be a mix of families, singles, couples, old, young etc!!! Here is the thread about it.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=1#post3832803
Hope to meet you then
Rudi
Looks like some great info for new people.
Just thought I'd let you know about the Sydney meet that is planned for the 10th September. Everyone is welcome to come along - there will be a mix of families, singles, couples, old, young etc!!! Here is the thread about it.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=1#post3832803
Hope to meet you then
Rudi
#6
Re: 10 weeks in Sydney
It was quite strange reading your post - it sounded so much like our situation!
We came over on a 457 visa - my partner is a recruitment manager specialising in accountants, they're desperate for recruitment consultants here as well as accountants; I'm in marketing (and found it very hard to get a job at first too); and we live in Rozelle (yes, it is an ideal place for young couples).
Spooky
Glad you're having a good time!
We came over on a 457 visa - my partner is a recruitment manager specialising in accountants, they're desperate for recruitment consultants here as well as accountants; I'm in marketing (and found it very hard to get a job at first too); and we live in Rozelle (yes, it is an ideal place for young couples).
Spooky
Glad you're having a good time!