Chipster

Hi All
This is my first posting on this site so I thought I would introduce myself.

I am considering migration to Australia with my wife and 2 young children of 2 years and 4 and a half years old.

I came to Australia in 1990 on a working holiday visa and fell in love with the country. I spent most of my time in Adelaide and Sydney with a short stays in Melbourne and Brisbane amongst others.

I have always been keen to migrate to Australia but my wife has always been quite reluctant.

Anyway to cut a long story short, my wife has recently agreed to consider whether a move to Australia could be the right move for us as a family.

We have no relatives in Australia. They are all in England.
That and whether we will have a better life are probably my wife's two major concerns.

We want to find out as much about the practical side of day to day living in Australia so that we can make a decision on whether we will apply.
I have spent the last 3 days searching through the postings on this board and in particular those relating to Melbourne and have found out quite a lot of info. about Australia (warts and all).

These message boards are excellent. I receive Australian News regularly and that always appears to only report the good side of Aussie life.

We are also hoping to attend the migration show in March this year at Sandown.

We have a pretty good lifestyle in the UK. I live close to where I work (I don't spend hours a day commuting).
I get good IT development tools training and have a good employer.
So a few years ago I would have jumped at the chance to emigrate to Australia but now I am more cautious as I could be giving up quite a lot.
We also have good state schools in the area were we live.

As I work in the IT industry, the word that seems to be coming out of Australia is that, as one person put it, at the moment the IT industry in Australia is a disaster.
I suppose this is because the market has been flooded and there are too few jobs with too many people chasing them.

The place we are initially trying to find out about is Melbourne, although this could change depending on what we find out about Australia.

The reasoning behind Melbourne is that it is not as expensive as Sydney (or so I'm led to believe) but it is still a big city and as I work in IT, that is where IT jobs normally are. I believe Melbourne has a large manufacturing industry.

I would be interested to hear from anyone with experience of the current state of the IT industry in Australia, and in particular Melbourne or even where the best place for IT work is in Australia in partucular Microsoft/SAP work.

Also where are the best areas to live in Melbourne, I have heard that the east side is the best side of Melbourne to live.

Many Thanks
Dave

mashiraz

Welcome Chipster, hope you get your answers. I presume you've done a check to see if they'll let you in?

Great to hear your considered views and hopes. We similarly don't have a 'bad' life here, but still think a move is right for us and our childrens future, we are given ourselves options. I certainly don't want to get old in UK.

Good luck, sorry I can't answer the specifics..
Mash..

Chipster

Hi Mashiraz
Thanks for the reply.
I haven't had an initial assessment from a migration agent.
I think I may be borderline as far as the points test goes for skilled independant.

I was really hoping to find out a bit more about Melbourne and Australia first.

I will hopefully get to talk to some at the Emigrate show in March.

Regards
Dave

mashiraz

Make sure you meet Alan Collett from Gomatilda (migration agents), he'll be the one with hoards of britishexpats users shaking his hand...
Mash...

pommiesheila

Hi Dave,

We too had a good life in the UK - good business, children in reasonable schools etc. etc. but decided we wanted to do something different!!! It's certainly that over here...

Can't comment on Melbourne, I'm afraid, but generally speaking, (we're in Brisbane Bayside) there are, of course, good and bad points to both scenarios. I think from your wife's point of view the family bit could be a problem - certainly I find that the biggest drawback to being so far away, and ALL the couples I've spoken to say the same - the wife misses friends/family, whereas hubbie doesn't.

Australia is behind the UK in terms of IT development, (and a lot of other areas too) but that may work in your favour if you can offer skills they are looking for.

Why not go for the Visa, then rent out in the UK for a year, rent out over here, treat it as a "working holiday" and see how you both feel after a year. That way, you haven't lost anything, but gained a very useful experience. You may love it - then stay. If you don't, you'll return a different person and won't have to spend the rest of your life saying "what if".

I don't love it over here, but am glad we have done it - even if at the end of the day we go back.

pread

Dave,

I feel I may be qualified to help you out here, as we have 2 kids of similar ages & live in the eastern suburbs, and I work in SAP in Melbourne.

Firstly, with your choice of location, we came to exactly the same conclusion. The vast majority of IT jobs are in Sydney & Melbourne - from memory, I recall a survey which stated that 50% of IT jobs were in Sydney, 25% in Melbourne, and the remaining 25% in other regions of Australia and NZ. From my experiences with the job agencies, SAP vacancies follow similar sort of trends. So for us, it had to be either of those areas. House prices, climate and having friends/distant family in Melbourne made up our minds. VIC's climate is much maligned, but neither myself or my wife found that an important factor.

As for the IT market, I don't think you can make a blanket statement that it is all a disaster, as some areas are better than others. SAP for example, bucks the trend a little, and seems to be a bit healthier. It still took me nearly 3 months to find a contract job in SAP, but I put this down mainly to the time of year - projects start running down from November, and don't really pick up again until late January at least. So timing is a big factor.

Also, I've heard that the market is very poor with IT people who have 'general' skills. Such as networking, or project managers. More specialization seems to be key here. Even within SAP, clients are looking for very specific experience. I'm not sure about Microsoft skills here though.

I saw a news report a month or so ago that stated that 80% of jobs were filled through word of mouth, and that only the remaining 20% made it to job agencies etc. Knowing people here in your industry is very important. I came out with no SAP contacts, I have made a couple now but it's hard work.

Do you have any chance at all of getting a transfer through your employer ? If you do, I would definitely suggest going that route. Failing that, I would suggest that you start checking the job ads around mid-late January, see what fits your resume. Bear in mind that sometimes roles are posted by more than one agency, so just because you see 10 job ads for you, that might not translate into 10 jobs. And some job ads are just bid exercises by the consultancies, which may never come to fruition.

With regards to the eastern suburbs, we live in SE Melbourne in a suburb called Glen Waverley. The train commute to the CBD is 35 minutes, and there are plenty of other suburbs around with similar commute times. In addition, there are a few larger companies running SAP in the East/SE suburbs, Glen Waverley, Scoresby, Moorabbin to name a few. So you might be able to find a job outside of the CBD. I don't know very much about the North and West of Melbourne, although people have told me that the West is more industrialized, with factories and generally less desirable landscape. I can't verify that, having never been there.

Anyway, feel free if you want to send me a PM, or email me through my profile, if you have any specific questions.

Cheers,
Paul.

col

Hi Chipster
IT point of view from WA.
Lots of Jobs advertisied across the board. Mostly Government but some private. Be prepared to 'Adjust your Job expectations' in east or west Oz, sometimes it's better just to get some local experience. Contract agencies can be very valuable (got both my jobs through an agent) and a pain as Paul says sometimes there just filling the register. All in all not to much different to the UK except they want a dissertation for a Resume and after the 10th it really does P&*& you Off!!!!!

As for WA, LOVELY

Chipster

Paul
Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed response.
Plus thanks to everyone else for their advice.
It is really appreciated.
This gives me a bit more optimism about the IT market in Melbourne. Particularly regading SAP work.
I'm not sure whether there is demand out there for developers with experience of interfacing Microsoft applications to SAP i.e. doing both sides of the development, but it could be something for me to focus on and try to exploit if I gain PR.

Many Thanks
Dave

percyp

Col,
How many pages are they really expecing for a CV/Resume, I'd heard it was more than the usual 2-3 for the UK.

Dave,
We are of to Melbourne on 2nd Feb, it's a good choice for the reasons you mention, but probably just as difficult getting a job as here in the UK. I'm in SAP too, but am moving with my company, partner still need to find a job though !

good luck
Jo

gle

>We are also hoping to attend the migration show in March this year at Sandown.

Can more information on this show be provided?

Who runs it - what are their motives?
Is there an entrance fee?
Are there other shows around in England?


Best of luck.

mashiraz

check out website and register for info:

http://www.outboundpublishing.com/cg...howitem=000001

Mash..

col

They need a detailed resume. Now depending on Qauls and experience this can be very big. They want to see photo copies of all your certificates etc. (Remember that swimming certificate in infants?) The main part is the 'Job description' This usually is about ten things that you must cover for the job criteria and each question must have a detailed response (They say about half to 1 page per question). I must admit I usually went for about 1/4 to 1/2.
And there you have it your own personal contribution to the depletion of a forest!

pread

Jo,

A lot of the agencies I spoke to when I first arrived were of the opinion that my 3 page CV (I call it concise) was a bit on the short side when it come to Australian employers. I padded it out somewhat, now running at about 6 pages. 50% more words, probably only 20% more information though, And I though employers got bored reading more than a few pages ! I can't say that I've ever been asked for any supporting documents though, but maybe that's because I don't have any industry qualifications.

Good luck for early Feb when you arrive.

Cheers,
Paul.

percyp

Cheers guys,
other half now trying to stretch out his CV.

waffle waffle waffle, play along with the game

32 days to go !!

Jo

mashiraz

I had a friendly agent check my CV and advise me if it was appropriate and they said it was fine. 3 pages including a summary sheet/profile etc at the front. Jargon was ok too. 'cept they call it a Resume......

Mash..