bogdan84

If you had the option of moving to Oz in November would you take the risk? As far as I understand it, if I don't find a job until early December I'd need to wait until late February until people come back from summer holidays. Is that entirely true? In London it took me 2 weeks to find a job during the summer as there were plenty of jobs on the market. I was interviewed for my current job mid-August and I also had other interviews at that time. I would imagine offices in Oz are not shut for 2 months and people still turn up to work. What do you reckon?

Wendy

It's not impossible to find work, and some do still advertise. But there are a lot that don't bother looking for staff until the new year. By the time they have come back to work after Xmas, got organised with the ads and interviews etc it's February!

Alfresco

Not really a good time to job hunt here, from my experience. Things slow down a lot over the end of year and well into the new year.

If I were to do it again, I would move in January and start looking from February.

Having said that, my wife started work in November after we moved in September.

It all depends on what you do and what demand there is for your skills.

shussel

I think any time you move you should expect a worse case scenario of about 4 months to find work (possibly more). We arrived in January and my husband was looking for work immediately, he works in IT. He found the job market slow and the interview processes he started were equally slow. He had telephone interviews, and several face to face interviews before getting an offer and the delay between each step was long. In the end he only started work in April.

We found January to be a dead month. Children are on holiday until end Jan and you have the Australia Day public holiday at the end of Jan - even if people go back to work after the New Year, they're off again!

I think Feb would be a better time, unless you have plenty of back up funds :-)

Alfresco

Yes, I agree with that.

Wendy

Yep, me too

cresta57

We arrived in November, from a climate point of view it was warming nicely in Qld so easier to acclimatise. From a job point of view I didn't bother looking until the end of February as we has decided to take a few months off Kids break up just before Christmas, go back end of January, so childminding may be a factor as well.
You should allow a couple of months at least to find work, possibly up to 6 in the current job market

Still Game

You need to think about it financially. Can you afford to not be working til the new year if you manage to secure a job early in the new year? If so, then why not go for it, enjoy really settlign in and exploring a bit. Have a hot Christmas and like the above said, acclimatise a bit. It's all about your finances really. Oz offices are not shut for 2 months, there's just not a lot happening over Dec and Jan in the way of recruitment- in my experience that is.

Is your visa in place? If I was you, I would start to send off my cv (confirming your visa status) now to agencies/prospective copmanies in the next month, to advise you're looking to move out later this year/earlier next year and see what happens. very possibly nothing, but nothing ventured...

odyssey

If you NEED the job, I wouldnt move in November

We moved in October, arrived November. I think you may find work but it is also very likely that you will see March, down, dispirited, thinking all Australians hate you and never call you back.

We see Jan - March as our time to kick back and relax. We have our own business and now do have work on in that time as we have been here for years but dont bank on it or encourage anyone to book.

I always contracted in IT and made sure I had a contract secured by end of October that lasted until at least March

Bix

I've been looking for a job for ages now and can confirm the job market does go into hibernation that time of year. Where I am (FNQ) I reckon the advertised jobs dropped by 75%.

bogdan84

Thanks for the replies! To give more details about me:

I don't have the visa, but DIAC sent me an e-mail in which they say I should have CO by the end of September. Hence I started wondering if it would be a good idea to move to Oz in November should they give me the grant by October.

Regarding finances, let's say I could afford 6 months of unemployment, but can't afford travelling around while the market is slow. Job security and the feeling of being useful to society are also very important to me thus being unemployed for such a long time would be quite despressing.

My skill is very sought after as I soon as I apply for a job I'm almost certain that I will get a phone call from the agent or company. At least so it is in London. I also applied for 2 jobs in Oz and they were both interested in interviewing me....well until I told them that I don't know the exact date of when the visa will be granted.

The rush to move to Oz is mostly because I'm reluctant to spend another winter here in the UK. It already feels like winter and it's still...summer

Bix

I guess it depends on what the job is and where it is located.

We have seen numerous "highly sought after" skilled people fail to find work when it comes to the crunch though. Mainly IT professionals and tradesmen.

Sherlock Holmes

Quite a lot of immigrants have a bit of trouble settling and making social contacts. Much of life in Australia revolves around volunteers. If you want to be useful and meet people while you have lots of spare time, there are lots of things to volunteer for. Just a thought.

As to getting a job, let's just say that you might find the Australian approach to life and business a little slow, especially during the hols. Once you're employed you might enjoy the relaxed attitiude but while you are looking for work you may find it very frustrating.

bumble69

Whilst I generally agree it's not brilliant at that time of year, we were trying to find good quality candidates over the Dec\Jan\Feb period and really found it a struggle - it appeared from my limited experience that people almost gave up as the perception is that there are no jobs going.

If you really believe your skills are in demand, wait until your visa is granted and then make some phonecalls. You can get recruited from overseas - I am one of the few fortunate ones in IT that was recruited from England having just been granted a 176 (the advert for the job was placed in early January). It's not massively common, but it does happen.

Just the other side of the story, like.

DeadVim

At the risk of agreeing with everyone else, I also agree.

I arrived at the beginning of January 2005 and it took me 4 months to find an IT job (a 3 month contract that got extended until I was eventually made permanent).

And I am bloody brilliant.