biggy

Hiya
When u say multi skilled maintenance engineer............what types of industry have u worked in? do u have any mining expereince?

NEILL & SHARON MILLS

Hi Biggy,
Sorry no minning experience, full apprenticeship as a tool maker, then went into maintenance engineering in food and pet food production currently working for a long period with Nestle as a multi skilled maintenance engineer(approx 12 years).

wombat42

Its good to see people posting about the real issues of immigrating to OZ such as the ability to find employment in a new country instead of the usual posts such as " how bad are the spiders down there" , " will my DVD player work down there" " will my cat mind the hot weather".

NEILL & SHARON MILLS

Hi Wombat,
Well you know us whinging poms like to get our priorities right, who gives a s..t if my DVD player works, but got to admit I do give a s..t about the spiders. :scared:

ABCDiamond

BridieJ
That's an interesting comment, as my wife was talking about that only a couple of days ago.
She had just come back from where we used to live in Sydney, and was saying that everyone there is trying to keep up with each other, and that it is very different to the more relaxed style where we are now.

Obviously some areas can be very different to each other. I'm glad to be out of the Sydney area though

ABCDiamond

Not having a mortgage can make a great difference. Since reaching that position ourselves we have been able to drop down to one income. I let my wife do the 9-5 job now, well, she did say she liked working
Mind you, I am sure glad when the school holidays are over !!! (looking forward to April 12 when school starts again)

Un-Co

I have to agree some parts of Sydney are very showy. I use to live in Paddington and would crawl out of the house to grab some milk looking like a deranged scarecrow and be confronted with an army of imacculately groomed people head to toe in labels and who had obviously spent several hours in front of a mirror (and that was just the blokes...) Much more relaxed in the Inner West where we are now though.

renth

Don't know about that, the Aussies are more money obsessed than the Brits.

jensteve

I am in Perth, yep wages may not be as good as you would think but the lifestyle is why most people want a change.
I still have a small mortgage, not part of the plan but fine, but could I have what I have here in the UK, and the answer would be hell no.
Coming over here you have to be open minded and understand that it is going to be very different, but at least you will leave the UK debt free, I was made up to get rid of my large mortgage, storecards and credit cards, and the whole circle of credit I had spiralled into.
I don't think anyone over here would class Australia as the land of milk and honey, but if you want out of the English rat race then I can't think of a better place to give it a go.
Plus I am very happy over here as is my entire family and we most certainly don't want to go back, home is here not back in the UK.

Jenny

ABCDiamond

Not all of them Some are, some aren't, and I haven't got a clue about the percentages Just my experience in living in different areas during my 14 years here.

HUP

A slightly different angle on the same theme is that all to often you can find Aussies living in huge houses, mortgaged to the hilt and barely able to keep there heads above water. To a lot of people size matters .

Flying Banana

Hiya Neill and Sharon

First off in answer to your question above you would have no trouble finding work in that sort of field in Melbourne (can't comment on other cities). Especially with a worldwide company like Nestle on your resume. If you have a look at www.mycareer.com.au (run by the people who print Melbourne's main newspaper fro jobs 'The Age') , the other main website is www.seek.com.au it appears that nearly every day there are jobs coming up which would fit the bill.

Regarding wages/standard of living I'm in a similar trade as you, say for a technician job in the UK you are earning £25k ish you would probably be looking at A$35-45k over here for a similar position. Be prepared to have a few months looking for work though and perhaps taking some casual work to get by initially, it's not as simple as walking into the first job you apply for.

I personally find it easier to fund a decent standard of living out here especially being single with only one income to live off. As a rough guide I spend slightly less in dollars on shopping than I would in pounds in the UK and eat a lot better for that. Some things are more expensive (not by much) some things are cheaper. If you have equity from your house sale in the UK you are in a good position straight away.

Regarding property here in Melbourne something like a nice 3 bed detatched house in a nice area in the SE suburbs (bout 20km, 20-30 mins from the city) would be about $450k starting price. Go another 15-20km out the city to the Berwick area and you would find something similar for $300-350k. Have a look at www.realestate.com.au for house price ideas. To help locate places when looking online I'd advise getting a 'Hema' map which covers all the suburbs. There is a website in the UK which sells them £5.99 +pnp I think I posted in the 'Victoria or South Australia' Thread regarding these, if not do a search for Hema on the forum and you should find the details.

Now please don't take this the wrong way I'm not having a go at all, you really need to visit if you haven't been before, especially before shelling out the amount of cash the visa application will cost. Aus is very, very different to the Uk. Mainly in small ways but when you are 12500 miles from friends and family these small things can often be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

If you do make a trip avoid doing all the usual touristy things, get somewhere self catering and do the stuff you would in normal day to day life, go shopping in the supermarkets and cook your own meals, hire a car and drive round the suburbs, visit estate agents, use public transport, go shopping, watch Aussie TV in short get a feel if day to day life downunder suits you.

I know that I'd always be happy to spend some time showing people around if they are over on a reccie, and feel free to send me a PM if you want any info.

It's not a decision to be made lightly and it's not for everyone. From a personal point of view my life here is better than it ever was in the UK and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend life in Aus to anyone but it's not the land of milk and honey and for some would probably be hell on earth. Not trying to put you off but trying to give you a realistic view.

As I said feel free to PM me if you want any info, will be glad to help in any way.

NEILL & SHARON MILLS

Thankyou flying banana for the great information, too late for the money for visa's though, already gone. It has been very interesting to read the threads, as like anyone we were very blinkered into thinking Australia is going to be the answer to all our dreams, and reading the threads has brought us down to reality, so I would like to thank everyone for the information as it has given us more to think about. Our only concern is that the wages is half to that of what I recieve in the UK, dont get me wrong I am not one for keeping up with Jones's, and will work as much as it takes, my only concern is that if the prices of things are the same as in the UK, would we be able to afford the luxuries like going out for meals, saving a little bit for a rainy day and all that? The reason for us moving obviously is to get out of the rat race, live a more outdoor life and possibly having more time with my family this is so important to me as I am sure it is to most. Anyway enough about us whinging poms, flying banana do you know much about Adelaide and the surrounding area? When we visit we may hold you to that help you offered it would be great. Also there doesnt seem too many people who have organised employment before they leave the UK, I would be a little concerned if I didnt have a job to go to straight away. At the minute looking into the Nestle factories in Aus and there destination making a few contacts hopefully within the company. I wouldnt want to do shift work for rest of working day, but again willing to do what ever it takes to make things work best for us. Again flying banana and everyone out there thanks again from us concerned and blind brits for your information everything is helpful and keeps our thoughts ticking.

kevinbloomfield

Flying Banana

What a lovely person you are, pity everyone on here didn't share your optimism
Well done
Sent you Karma

hevs

I havn't commented on this thread but have just read it through and i agree with all of the advice, see there are some nice people on here
Only you can answer that yourselves. It depends on you standard of living and what you expect to have to feel comfortable.
Correct!! But by more outdoors lifestyle please don't mistake that with being happy to be outside doing stuff all the time because it gets dark earlier and the mozzies are a bitch if you react to them like me. Once a routine sets in you will do pretty much the same stuff here as you do there on a work day at least

Also something i have metioned a couple of times, the move takes a while to get over financially and for us in our situation, took about 12 months to bounce back. Its just something to be aware of and to maybe prepare people for so they don't feel like giving up in the first month