Anastacia

Thanks everyone for all your help and encouragement and all the links

Anastacia

Amazulu

Every industry in WA has a shortage of workers - some more than others. You would have no problem finding a job in Perth.

Pomster

we came over on a sponsored visa so I had a job to come to.

H was a reinsurance broker in City of London before we left. He registered with some agencies to do general insurance admin work (way beneath his skill level). He took a 2 week holiday relief job and stayed 18 months. This probably took a month to get.

After that he was in work more or less constantly with short term contracts (his choice) for 3 years til he changed career big time to become a plumber.

Sometimes ANY aussie work experience is good on a CV- relevant or not!

jwood

Hi, we've been here since Nov 07 and activly looking for work since Jan 08. I have had a few interviews but no luck yet. Found out today that i didn't get to the 3rd stage of the process for Bunnings.
I have changed my cv 3 times now, the last time my neighbour who works for centre link helped me. i love being here and would not dream of returning to the UK but if hubby and i don't find work soon we may not have a choice.
I used to work as an IT tutor, teaching computer courses and literacy and numeracy and my quals count for nothing here. I have looked into doing a training and assessors course here but can't realy justify the $1000 it will cost. I was hoping to get a job and pay for it that way rather than using our savings.
My neighbour suggested that i do a youth community service course as i like working with young adults but again that's going to cost.
I am feeling realy down at the moment and don't know what to do for the best. If we return to the uk we will be worse of as we'd be homeless and jobless.Oh well i'm sure something will turn up. If i tell myself that often enough i may even believe it.

bluekipper

Sounds good

Found Adelaide very much about who you know,not what you know!

bluekipper

seang

Hi Pomster,
Do you mind me asking at what age did MrPomster change career and how long it took to do the plumbing?

bobbyfaescotland

Yes, I did a 12 hour shift each day and was paid $24 for the first 7 hours, then time and a half for the next 2 hours and finally double time for the last 3 hours, I also worked every second weekend at time and a half on a Saturday and double time on a Sunday. Over a month it worked out at around an average $35 per every hour worked.

I worked it out at almost $80,000 per year if I had stayed there.

It is a sad state of things that someone doing the demanding job you have is paid less that me, who has no qualifications whatsoever.

Bobby

bobbyfaescotland

Like I said on my earlier post, register at every recruitment agency in the phone book, and take anything that they offer you, thats if you think you are able to do it. That will get you meeting people and company's, then if you show you are a hard worker a door will open for you. In most cases it is not what you know but who you know.

Good luck

Bobby

Amazulu

I have never been to Adelaide so cannot judge it. All I know is that it struggles to retain the people living there - hence all the special immigration programs they have. Whereas all the other major cities are expected to grow significantly in the near future, Adelaide is expected to only grow very slightly. Maybe your experiences are one of the reasons why. I also think Adelaide has an image problem with the rest of the country - you meet very few Aussies who have anything good to say about the place.

bluekipper

Oh its a lovely place, very country feel to it, not a lot happening, so great if you love all that!

was`nt my cup of tea unfortunately, looking for more job prospects, not nice after yrs of working to have been unemployed for mths when arriving, especially when you can turn your hand to different types of jobs, met so many ppl who say one thing but mean another! I have a handful of fond memories of Adelaide tho, so not a complete loss, just want more, not a lot to ask is it, And when I say more ,Im not talking money,Im not materialistic at all, I mean more oportunities to get jobs.

bluekipper

Mr Grumpy

Also look for employers who are directly advertising as recruitment agents will only give you one shot to land a decent job. If they cant sell you the first time you get put on the backburner!

I highly advise looking at Universities, they hire many foreigners as they actually value international experience. im not talking about teaching, apply for general/support staff roles. The easiest to get are customer service. the pay is alright and has excellent super.

Its also a good stepping stone into a Govt job once your citizenship comes through. A lot of Uni employees move on to DFAT, Dept of Education and local councils.

Sleeping Beauty

hi, all i can say is keep going, you have to. it took me 8 months to find a job. i applied for anything and everything, supermarkets, funeral directors, admin admin and yet more admin. i have (had?) decent qualifications from the UK, and loads of experience. i had a good job in the UK. but, like you, i couldnt get an interview for love nor money. i too got very down and upset about it (depressed actually). eventually something came along which lasted for 3 months, that didnt work out, i got another job the day after. i stayed there for 6 months, and during that time got offered quitea few other jobs. however they werent really what i wanted, so i waited until something came along which i preferred. it still isnt ideal (not enough hours), but i am working on it. i am back in the field that i love. it took me 18 months to get back into this field.

hang on in there. BE and its posters were very helpful to me to offload, use it and us. sometimes it is easier to offload to cyber strangers rather than the OH

fingers crossed, just keep knocking on enough doors and EVENTUALLY one will open. it might not be ideal, but it pays the bills.

ps. i also think it is where you live. we live semi rural NSW, and i think that has been half the problem.

sammyg

We've been here just over 2 months. I've been working for the last 2 and a bit weeks and other half has landed himself a good job this week. However, we've only started looking for work over the last 4 weeks, so if we'd have pulled our finger out (so to speak) we'd have had work a few weeks in!!

That's in the Gold Coast too, where work is more scarce than Brisbane.

northernbird

I got offered a job on Monday without even going for an interview!

cazzamia

I think the OP is looking for concrete advice, not someone to come along and rub their noses in it!