codywhipp1

Anyone relocate to Perth with Rio Tinto?

codywhipp1

I wanted to talk with someone who has experience with relocation with Rio Tinto and could talk with me about the benefits (expat and otherwise) and not give me the whole Human Resource spin. I may be relocating from the US to Perth.

codywhipp1

I wouldn't be doing the Fly-In, Fly-out thing, but would likely be based in Perth and working out of Rio Tinto's offices in CBD.

codywhipp1

Would like to talk about specifics including the following:

Relocation assistance
1) Will they pay for temporary housing until we find a place, and how long will they pay for it?

2) Selling our vehicles before we move or transporting them over...what is the policy on that?

3) Covering closing costs on the home purchase or would we be on our own?

4) Limitations on what and how much you can ship?

ExPat benefits
1) Paid trips home for me and dependents...do they do that? How often?

2) Tax equalization and how does that work?

3) Childs education...do they pay for schooling or partially subsidize it?

Bermudashorts

Hi and welcome

I am inclined to say you are better off asking Rio Tinto these things, even if someone else did relocate it doesn't mean that they will get the samne deal as you. I imagine that the more senior you are the more assistance you will get.

Good luck with your decisions.

codywhipp1

Most definately. Obviously, I will talk with Rio Tinto about it, but I was just wondering if anyone has gone through this experience and would be willing to share some of the things they were caught off guard by or what met or didn't meet their expectations. If anyone is uncomfortable talking about it in an open forum like this, please click on my username at the top left of this box and send me a private message. I would love to chat about it.

JAJ

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Corpor...tion-Australia should give you some generic pointers.

You are relocating from the US ... are you a US citizen, green card holder or on a temporary visa? In particular, if you're a green card holder, are you ok with the idea of losing/abandoning it and ultimately having to go back to your country of citizenship?

codywhipp1

US citizen...lived in Bogota Colombia for 2 years about 12 years ago and came back. May be in Perth for 3 years or possibly longer depending on how it goes.

Amazulu

I work for Rio in Perth CBD and FIFO rarely. I'm a local though so have not relocated. Do you know what office that you will be based in? There are quite a few. Rio are ramping up big time for upcoming expansion, which is why you are coming over I guess. Rio are okay, although I don't have much time for their HR department - they are full of shit. There are a lot of Americans in Perth now, and more are coming all the time, mainly for Gorgon LNG, Chevron etc, lots of Texans!

Good luck

codywhipp1

JAJ-

That is a great link...thanks for providing it...I just need to find one that applies to the US rather than the UK, but a lot of the points are applicable to both.

killerhales

As already posted, a lot of this depends on your seniority. But what I would be asking for and expecting would be:

Serviced apartment for at least one month, (sell your cars), there should be some help with purchasing a home, shipping: no company will write a blank cheque but my own company just applies a strict policy on that, education: won't pay unless you are very senior, you should ask for a trip home once per year for the first couple of years. There should also be just an ex gratia payment: "disturbance allowance" which you can use however you see fit.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

Pollyana

Might be worth looking for an American Expats forum? There must be one, as we don't have a huge number of Americans moving to Aus and using this one - they must all be out there somewhere else!

HelenTD

Here's a couple of sites (not that we want you to go elsewhere):
http://www.expat-blog.com/en/nationa...stralia/perth/
http://www.internations.org/perth-expats/americans
http://american.meetup.com/cities/au...ts&radius=25.0

There are thousands of expats working in the resources sector in Perth, though probably more Americans in oil & gas than mining.

There's even a US Consul here http://perth.usconsulate.gov/.

codywhipp1

Thanks everybody...this is very helpful. Still looking for one who has gone through the process whether from UK or US. It would be a fairly senior position (General Manager level). Been looking for a US Expat forum, but haven't found one with as much activity as this one...this is a gem of a site. I'll check out some of those links. Thanks much for the advice and keep it coming. I hope it all works out and we are excited to join you all over there in OZ.

HelenTD

As others have said, Rio Tinto would give you access to more specific information. Do you feel that you can ask HR to talk to someone else at your sort of level about how the move went for them? You can always say you want some more specific info about family life, schooling, network building for wife and children. Do you have any contacts in O&G or perhaps contact the US Consul and ask them for contacts?