alrobson

Hi Bal56,

We made a decision to move to Perth after looking at other cities. We based this on a number of things, climate, housing costs, lifestyle etc. Obviously, one of the main factors was employment. I'm a .NET C# developer so I was sceptical about moving to Perth initially after hearing about job prospects for IT, but yes, there are more jobs in Sydney and Melbourne, but there are also many more people going for those positions, so does that make it easier to get a job just because there are more on offer. Not sure. I agree with your point, why should I move to a city that resembles too much of the reasons why I am leaving the UK, when my main motivation to move, is not to find a new job but to improve my lifestyle.

The way I look at it is, if I lost my job now and wasn't emigrating then how quickly would it take me to get a job. I figure I couldn't walk straight into one and will probably have to commute more than I do now, so I shouldn't expect to walk into a job when I get to Perth, but I sure will try hard to get one!

Now, I'm not sure if Perth is the right city for us and hopefully I'll find a job pretty quickly, but who knows! It's a tough one to call, and even to this day, I still think, is it better to go another city.

Not sure if that helps you with your decision though!

Adrian

youcanlaugh

Adrian,

Do you have any IT jobsites that you have found useful? We haven't moved yet, but it would be useful to start a list of sites if I can.

cheers

Neil

alrobson

Hi Neil,

I do have a list. If you PM me with your email address then I can send you a dump of my Favourites folder with them in it (there are too many to type) and you can pick them out from there. Hope that is OK.

Adrian

odaat

Bal56,
We were young, qualified and used our quals initially to see Europe + America.

We then travelled + worked across Arabia to raise lots of tax free cash.

Once we had a child, we migrated to Oz for the weather, schooling and lifestyle.

What we did not realise about Australia was the *people paradigm*, The average Oz in the street is obsessed with chronic self seeking and consumer buying. If you do not share the passion for sports and beer - be prepared for a life of isolation. There is real prejudice towards Brits who migrate and take jobs off Australian's, especially skilled and management jobs. You will probably have to start on a temp. contract of work - this will reduce your chances of cheap credit and getting a mortgage. Many Australians have no idea how much the world has changed and that Britain is no longer empire building and that non whites + women have rights !!

We are the lucky ones, we were able to leave with minimum loss on our investments i.e. investment property purchases made good money for us.

We left Oz and returned to UK for better paying jobs and a successful business opportunity, our children have settled into the english private prep schools and the wife has got her country house in the english countryside - many are not so lucky and return to renting and starting again.

Migrating to Oz with seven children, little cash and no job prospects is too high a risk factor IMO..... especially as the Australian bank interest rate is up to 7.5%, the property market is fast cooling, the economy is starting to shrink and job losses have been announced. On top of all that - you do not have access to social benefit for the next 24 months.

"cheap" housing areas including council estate housing in Oz do exist - they are just as crime ridden and dangerous as in UK. The use of hard and soft drug taking in Oz is epidemic in proportion to drug use in the UK .... perhaps you should check out the "moving back to UK" thread for more on why it is absolutely imperative to go see and scout before you commit the family to migrate.

As for giving 3 months work notice - I suggest you speak to the management and explain you need time out to investigate Australia and ensure you are moving for the right reason .... i.e. the good of the family and take a leave of absence - they will totally inderstand.

Australia is no longer the "it'l be right mate" social state it once was, it is more like a corporation with the a specific aim of making profit through taxing YOU and other australians.

ps - more skilled australian's *immigrate* than migrate per year - does that tell you something ?

odaat.

odaat

oop's that last line should start *emmigrate* ....

Mel Gibson

The main differences between the two cities is that Melbourne has 3 times the population and is a larger city in size, many people believe this makes it a more exciting place with more to do, but also more conjested and crowded.
Melbourne is more multicultural while most of the populaion of Perth is Anglo-irish in ethnic make up. There are probably more job opportunities in Melbourne. The climate in Melbourne is cooler then Perth, colder winters and milder summers, some people find Perth's summers too hot however the weather is nice the rest of the year. Perth has nice beaches nearby, while Melbournes beaches aren'nt as good, just outside Melbourne along the great Ocean road are some of the best beachs in OZ for swimming and surfing.
Although houses in Perth are cheaper, there are still nice areas in and just outside Melbourne wth affordable housing.

bal56

Odaat - only five kids - even we're not that energetic!
Thanks for all views so far. It's good to hear things from many perspectives.
Odaat - your views are interesting as you've obviously seen a few different countries and cultures - there's obviously thinking to be done!

melbournehelp

Moving to Perth should give you a great opportunity to practice your spelling .

Badge

In all honesty, Melbourne's weather is not as bad as peple make it out to be; the only downside is that it does get cold and grey in winter, but no more than the UK as it still stays green. And you may find it cold inside unless you have central heating.

The very hottest days here are warmer than Sydney's. For a day or two, Adelaide and Melbourne are often the hottest parts of Australia (while Brissy and the Top End are in a storm).

Don't read too much in to all this 4 seasons in one day rubbish - sure it's changeable, but more of a hot/cold start morphing in to a cold/hot finish....and sure it did hail stone for a while...

I personally believe beaches aren't the be all and end all....you just have to be more selective about where you go..

cheers
Badge

MarkMyWords

Ahem, actually it should be "emigrate".

MarkMyWords

I'm no defender of all things Australian, but I have to say that this is quite simply utter rubbish. Perhaps you had a bad experience here; after all, you went back. Fair enough; not everyone likes it here. But please don't try to put other people off with ludicrous and inaccurate generalisations.
More lies. Good grief, where's wombat42 when you want him?
Yes, it tells me that they want to see the world. They don't stay emigrated, they come back. Please don't quote statistics out of context just to back up your own feelings.

Oh, and we were discussing Melbourne versus Perth.

juzzer

I've lived in Melbourne now for two years an never experienced any anti-English rascism. Admittedly having even the slightist idea about sport puts you at an advantage, but Melbourne is a very friendly place to live. We are also very fed up with the four seasons in a day cliche. If it does rain here it tends to be a short burst rather than an all day affair, and everyday is warmer than the UK- without fail! I personally like to have some cooler days and as someone else said after a really hot couple of days you enjoy a cooler day or two.

Also nobody has mentioned that it is possible to go skiing in the mountains only an hour or two out of Melbourne- so if you like the outdoor lifestyle thats a bonus!

I think another advantage of Melbourne when considering bringing up children is the multiculturallism- I have not been to Perth but I imagine that there is not such a mix of cultures.

anya4oz

Ah, I see. When the *Aussies* do it, they are 'self seeking' & 'consumer buying' (isn't that tautology, anyway?)

But when *Odaat* does it (and he just HAS to tell us all about his well-paid job, successful business, his country house & kids' private schools) this is just a Good Brit Bloke keeping the missus & kids happy with a good standard of living.

Get real, laddy... & anyway, this thread is about Melb vs Perth, not UK vs Aus.

OP: best of luck whatever you decide & ignore the 'noise' level we seem to get invading some of these threads!

Anya.

FozzieBear

We're in the same boat re the original thread title and from our research it does seem that job opportunities are better in Sydney whereas the "lifestyle" seems better in Perth.

If you're having a sh*t day I expect both are just as bad as each other.

While / If you have time I would try and side as many clients you already have into using email as first line of contact etc etc this way as someone has already said you *may* be able to keep them (and keep them paying you) even though you are on the other side of the world. Even one or two clients would ease the pain of "Oh s**t I can't get a job" feelings.

I was Perth and now I'm Sydney...at the moment I'm feeling Perth!

My heart seems drawn to Perth in some strange way...perhaps we will try there for 3-6 months and see how it goes..

Fozzie

odaat

Yessss .... you have me bang to rights, I am a capitalist without the consumer addiction. I have no excuses for cross threading and venting my own experience stuff - best the bugger finds out for himself.
Ta for the wake up
odaat