Xgeminix

Would anybody have an idea were the largest amounts of Eng workshops are situated in Perth and is there any more welders heading there.

Thanks
Andy

Simone

Haven't got a clue.... but biggest industrial area's are (I think):
Welshpool etc
Osborne Park
Malaga etc
Midland/South Guildford

And probably heaps more..... ohh, never mind!


Bump!

denhim

hi andy

im a welder and ive been here a year now. kwinana is where most of the work is but they are places north of the river. im working in bassendean at the mo, but welshpool, maddington, malaga do have workshops but not that good a companies.
you will find that not many places take you on full time and would prefer it if you went through a labour hire firm.
i work through a labour hire company, the plus sides are that you get paid more by the hour. downside is you dont get paid holidays or extra for over time.
depending on what kind of welding you do is what you will get paid.
t.i.g welders can comand any where between $35 to $45 an hour. you will find that companies here use flux core which i think is banned in the uk. its easy once you get the hang of it.
im on $32 an hour flat rate but i work nights, the permanent guys where i work get about $23 an hour, but some places are now paying $26 on wages.
im thinking of going to work up north on the mine sites as thats where you can earn big bucks. guys working up there are earning $100,000+ a year

if you need any more help or advise feel free to pm me.

steve

Xgeminix

steve would it be possible to send me any email adresses of any labour hire firms.
When they talk about shortage of welders in oz,does that mean what it says it means,sometimes u here all this talk and when u get there,theres not a welding job in site.

denhim

hi andy

skilled engineering.... http://www.skilled.com.au/ paying better than before


integrated....http://www.intgroup.com.au/ pay crap wages


darrel herbert is a guy who has started up his own company. is email address is [email protected]

sam na at ksn engineering, [email protected] never worked for him but heard he is good.

stay away from genesis, they are unprofessional and dont pay well either.


what sort of welding do you do? and where abouts in perth will you move to?

steve

Xgeminix

Thanks for the info Steve.
I've been welding for the last 16 years and hve been with the same company for the last 9 years. Most of the work we do is for the nucleur industry,so the processes we most use are tig and stick.
I currently have about thirty something codings from tig pipe and plate butts and same for the stick carbon and stainless, also a few in aluminium.
I used to have some bare wire mig codings,plate butt and fillets, but they have now run out.The nucleur industry prefers us to not use that process.
I have used flux core before but that was a few years ago when i went on hire to a firm for 3 weeks,didnt mind it,it all brings the day in.
Steve, would bringing my test certs with me out there be recognised or not ,the test body was Zurich.
Me and the wife arent quite sure which area to go to yet,but a friend of a friend says near Rockingham,i think thats what they call it.
We are actually coming over june5 to hopefully suss this out and are stopping at a hotel in jundeloop.Not sure if thats how u spell it.
Have you got family steve,and were did you emmigrate from.Are u enjoying it ,Any regretts.

Hope to hear from u soon
Take care
andy

denhim

hi andy,

bring as much information as you can. if you can tig weld then your laughing. sounds like your a 1st class, grade A superstar welder with all of them codes. well if you move to rockingham then your right next door to kwinana, where all the work is like i mentioned. i have never done tig but i will learn it at college (tafe they call it here) when i get the time.
they are litterally crying out for welders here. the company i work at build iron ore rail wagons out of stainless and you should see some of the crap that gets laid down. any other time these guys would be out of the door, but they need the guys so the worst of the worst are given a chance.

what suprised me was the amount of asians that work in this industry. mainly koreans and vietnamese, they are very hard workers and they stick together like glue. not many of them speak good english and they are rather very good welders or very shit.

as for me i came here on my own last march. i was in a dead end job in darlington paying peanuts and there wasnt much work around so decided to come to perth and make a go of it. i wouldnt say i was the greatest welder as the company i was working for in the uk was mainly repair work, so it didnt really matter what the welds look liked. so working for some of the companies i have here sure ment i had to get good fast and try and remember what my welding instructor taught me all them years back.
it felt like learning my trade again, especialy welding with flux core as i had never used it before in the uk, all i had welded with was stick and 0.8 wire mig.

as for any regrets.....i dont regret moving away from the uk, just moving to perth. i hate it here, its so depressingly boring. take the sun and the beach away and its a very dull, lackluster place miles from anywhere.
sure people on here rave on about it being clean and cheap houses(not that cheap anymore!!) and stuff, but it has many many faults.
i could name my personal top 10 but id get shot down in flames if anyone else was to read this thread.
i found talking to real expats away from this forum share the same views i have, so the small percentage of people on here raving how good perth isnt a real inidication.
but hey you might come here and love it and i hope you do, i know a "few" that do. if it wasnt for the work and the money i was on i would of moved back to the uk or tried somewhere else 6 months ago. but there is bugger all back in the uk and the easten states are expensive and pay less.
so im going to wait another 10 months, cliam citizenship then try and figger out what i want to do.
1 option im thinking about if i get a 4 on 1 off mine job, is to fly to different cities on my weeks off. at least then im getting out of perth.

well hope that helps you, hope is hasnt cast any doubt in your mind. joondalup is only a few minutes up the road from where i live. when you get here if you have time we should meet up in the "old baily" pub, i will be able to give you more info there if you want.

catch ya

steve

Xgeminix

Hey keep your chin up mate, you could always be back here were the sun hardly ever shines and when it does theres a nice cold breeze with it.
You mentioned your top ten hates about Perth ,id like to hear them,never mind if you rub a few people up the wrong way,thats what this forum is all about i.e. what you think.
About meeting up for a drink in june,ones no good we'll have to have a few.
You mentioned about this mine work,ive heard about the good money you can make working for these companies ,are they harder to get a start for,not bothered about taking a test but whats the chances of getting one.
What hors do you work steve and do they expect alot of overtime,also do you no the average price of three/four bed houses

denhim

mine sites are easy to get into, but the companies you work for can differ and some are harder to get into than others, and some pay better than others. you can even get 2 to 4 week shutdowns, but the work is pretty crap but cruisy so im told.
average working week here is 50 hours. well thats what i do anyway and the companies expect you to work all the hours given but some of the older guys who dont need the money try and do the minimum. but if you are in full time employment you do get your overtime rates after 40 hours. but like i said before as i am a contractor i just get paid a flat rate alltho its $10 an hour more than the perm guys.

as for house prices, it all depends on location and how new it is. they can start as low as $200,000 up to $450,000+.

im buying a 2 bedroom apartment in the city. (another reason why im still here in perth) its costing me $290,000 but i have bought it off the plan and it will be ready by june next year. it comes with pool and gym and secure parking. ideal for me and my lifestyle. but for that sort of money i could of built my own 3 bedroom house near the beach. so its really down to what you want and where you want to live.

have you been here before?? becuase if you havent then dont rush into buying a house or land untill you are sure this is what you really want. apart from the work here i feel the purchase of my apartment is also keeping in perth and i feel its a bit of a burden on my shoulders.
if i could go back 12 months i would of perhaps rented a fully furnished house, instead of renting an unfurnished house and buying loads of new stuff, at least then i could of just moved on and not have to worry about all of my gear....did i mention that not only did i come here on my own, i came with just 1 suitecase full of clothes.

my top hates of perth are very petty and you`ll think im crazy but its the little petty things that keep rubbing and rubbing up your back to you just get sick as...

1. the night life is horrific
2. suburbia
3. the music scene here...r&b and rock...urghhhh and the radio stations here are all the same and play the same crap music over and over...arghhhhh
4. the road systems here...they love traffic lights and crossroads and the speed limits here are slower. 60mph on a freeway come on!!!!
5. speed cameras, hidden away money making machines
6. obnoxious skinheaded goaty wearing ozzies that drive utes
7. shops dont open late or on sundays....WA only
8. no daylight saving in the summer...i miss my light summer nights
9. the isolation. believe me there is nothing to do in mandurah or down margret river unless you like sight seeing...whoopee do!
10. no local pubs that are warm and welcoming, the sort you can take your girlfriend to and have a nice quiet drink.
11. ozzie rules football.
12. right hand lane hoggers, so you have to undertake...you`ll see
13. ozzies when they great you..."hi how ya going?" for ***** sake will they great me some other way!!!!
14. supermarket conveyer belts 2 foot long and they put 2 items in 1 plastic bag.

you`ll prob think that they arnt that bad and you can live with them, but these are just some of the things that really annoy me. i should learn to live with it i keep telling myself, but im finding it hard to adjust and become backward. perhaps having a lobotomy may help.

no doubt i have opened a can of worms so i`ll put on my bulletproof vest and wait for the calvary haha.

Xgeminix

Nice to hear your dislikes Steve.....do you have any positives?
We are going to rent when we eventually get there, hopefully only for the first 3 to 6 months untill we get sorted and know for sure which area we want to be in.
You'll have to give me your mobile number so I can contact you when we come for our visit in June.
I also do mobile discos..........might even do that overthere for a bit of pocket money, depends on the weather and if I can be bothered especially if the welding wants a minimum of 50 hours out of you. Don't mind working the hours specially if the wage is ok.

Speak to you soon

Andy