NKSK version 2

Reading the number of posts where work is an issue made me think that a poll like this might prove informative for would-be migrants. At least it might prepare them.

Happiness is however you define it - salary, conditions, location, type - or a combination of all.

soonbethere

Because i still haven't got a Blinking job, good or bad, nearly 8 months in... i cant even put a tick in ANY of your boxes.... hence my thread!!

soonbethere

sorry meant to say, great thread idea though!

wmoore

I didn't start looking until I'd been here about 5 weeks but once I applied for a few, I was offered 3 jobs from 5 interviews I took the one that felt right and it turned out to be so. Job was reasonably interesting, pretty much stress-free and paid me about the same as I had in the UK.

NKSK version 2

Tick more than 1 year then.

Sleeping Beauty

still havent found one after 7 months
so i ticked the more than 1 year box.

Wendy

Job that your happy with?

Mmm, is there such a thing?

It took my hubby 4 months, but that was because of licencing and the fact that he kept putting off doing the wiring rules course. If he'd done it straight away then he'd have been working after about 2 months. He got the first job he applied for.

I'm not working yet, but then I haven't applied for any jobs. We don't really need me to be working just yet so I'm taking a year out.

paulhill

Why are you finding so hard to find work? What line of work are you looking for? I read it all the time that people cant find work, is it because they are in Specialist Fields?

soonbethere

Hi paulhill
here is my thread, it seems i am not alone......
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...77#post4554277

CasG

I originally came out on a 457 - and was put on the crappest ward imaginable

Then I got PR ...136 SI, and am now working for an specialist Agency - and loving it

Dorothy

I arrived on a Sunday, received a phone call on Tuesday to come to an interview on Thursday at a recruiter, as I walked out to my car my mobile rang and it was the agency offering me a job at the agency. Started work on the Monday and am very happy. They give me flex hours so I can still work part time at the local children's hospital and take care of my family and now my husband is moving to Perth they are letting me work school hours at the office and then 2 hours from home 3 days a week. Best employers I've ever worked for anywhere.

Pollyana

I think part of the time it depends how desperate and how flexible you are in what you are prepared to take on. When I arrived I knew I HAD to work fast, we had no money, I HAD to get some. So from the day I arrived it was a full-time job, looking for work. I took the first thing offered, and although it took me over a year to find a position where I could use the word "happy", I was working three weeks after I landed, and have stayed employed ever since. If you are desperate enough and seriously need the cash then it is possible to throw principles out of the window, and settle for anything, as a short-term measure.

chels

Well, I moved here and the first week or so I didn't worry about getting a job. Then my usual anxiety re finding work (I've been made redundant twice, and graduate from university during a recession, so finding and holding on to work has never been that easy) began and I applied for everything and anything. Being a partner on a 457 visa didn't help, as most recruitment consultants automatically thought I was on a working holiday visa...

After looking for about 2 months, I accepted a year's contract on a salary that was about GBP15k (equivalent) of what I was on in England. But any foot in the door I thought, to get that magical Australian work experience. After one week I left (it was really awful!) and got another one year contract with the State Government. Again, the job was junior to what I was doing, and I was paid a lowly hourly rate and was not entitled to any holiday etc. What really riled me was that I was paid the same as permanent staff members who also got all the holidays and sick pay etc, there was no compensatory higher salary to cover those things.

Anyhow, I liked the job - my boss was (is) lovely and my colleagues were great fun. However, from day 1 the senior director had taken a strange dislike to me (she was a strange women...) and my contract was terminated after 4 months for 'operational reasons'.

I spent 3 weeks on the beach recovering, then the inlaws arrived for a holiday so I quickly found another job, a one month contract with another government department. I ended up staying for nearly a year, being bought out of my contract and put on the payroll (at a much better salary!). Unfortunately, they decided to make the job a permanent position - and as a 457 visa holder I couldn't be employed on a permanent basis. So off I went again.

(This is turning into a bit of a saga!)

I took a job with another government department - having had 2 government contracts by then, I was beginning to be pigeonholed by recruiters and only offered public sector jobs. I also had built up quite a bit of holiday time which I wanted to use towards a trip back to England. After the initial year, I was offered a 6 month extension but the job is always going to be temporary (despite my now permanent residency status). I don't enjoy working for the government, it is full of bureaucracy and petty jobsworths or long term civil servants who are waiting to collect their huge pension and long service leave. My job is also quite boring But if it was more exciting, I wouldn't be on BE so much

So, nearly 3 years later - I'm still looking for a permanent job, and I'm still looking for a job that interests, challenges and develops me. But I managed to sort the salary side of things out, so I still have hope for the other goals.

Part of the reason for considering a move to QLD is that it will probably be easier for me to find work than it is here (I do social marketing, and there's a lot more infrastructure building happening in QLD than Sydney). And we might be able to afford a house too!

That's my rambling over with. Either it's cheered you up or depressed you - whatever, I hope you find a job soon that makes you happy

I just wanted to add: I have never tried so hard to find a job! Even in the midst of a recession when I was trying to find an entry position into the workforce, it wasn't this hard. I apply for jobs that I wouldn't have looked at back in England, but I don't even get interviews - and when I do get interviews, it turns out they're paying a pittance for a more senior job than what I currently do.

The Bloke

[QUOTE=chels;4554613]After looking for about 2 months, I accepted a year's contract on a salary that was about GBP15k (equivalent) of what I was on in England. But any foot in the door I thought, to get that magical Australian work experience. After one week I left (it was really awful!) and got another one year contract with the State Government. Again, the job was junior to what I was doing, and I was paid a lowly hourly rate and was not entitled to any holiday etc. What really riled me was that I was paid the same as permanent staff members who also got all the holidays and sick pay etc, there was no compensatory higher salary to cover those things.[QUOTE]

If you were working through an agency as a temp, that is the problem. You are no more than a casual = no holidays etc, if you were permanent you would get the benefits. Agency hires you for X amount - agency gets paid Y amount, difference is their profit. A job no matter how trivial is a job. Find something else in the meantime but it is still money coming in.

[QUOTE]COLOR="Purple"]Anyhow, I liked the job - my boss was (is) lovely and my colleagues were great fun. However, from day 1 the senior director had taken a strange dislike to me (she was a strange women...) and my contract was terminated after 4 months for 'operational reasons'.COLOR][QUOTE]

Again, temping work carried out by these agencies is casual and your contract can be terminated without notice for any operational or cost reasons by the Director or if a suitable person is found within the organisation. This applies to both public and private sectors organisations/businesses.



[QUOTE]I took a job with another government department - having had 2 government contracts by then, I was beginning to be pigeonholed by recruiters and only offered public sector jobs.[QUOTE]


Give recruiting agencies the flick. Apply on your own intiatative - it can work.


[QUOTE]So, nearly 3 years later - I'm still looking for a permanent job, and I'm still looking for a job that interests, challenges and develops me. But I managed to sort the salary side of things out, so I still have hope for the other goals.[QUOTE]

What if you never find the ultimate job that satisfies all your goals?



[QUOTE]Part of the reason for considering a move to QLD is that it will probably be easier for me to find work than it is here (I do social marketing, and there's a lot more infrastructure building happening in QLD than Sydney). And we might be able to afford a house too![QUOTE]

And what is to say that it will be any easier in Qld, as it is still very competitive in the job market? Social marketers are not plentiful on the vacancy boards.

Pollyana

Then she'll just stay like me, you make the best of what you've got, while hoping that the "perfect" - and permanent - job will turn up one day. Similarities are quite spooky!