Deancm_MKII

I wasn't talking about actors.

moneypenny20

Many people have come to Australia and have advanced their careers further than they would have in the UK.

Deancm_MKII

In Australia, because of the small population and isolation, a person will always be limited in what they can achieve and if they want to achieve more then they need to find bigger markets to play with.

Amazulu

People, if they can, will always gravitate towards the place where they feel the opportunities/lifestyle are best for them - which I think applies to most of the people on here who have moved to Australia.

Deancm_MKII

In situations like that it is usually a case of:

In UK/USA: small fish - big pond

In Australia: big fish - small pond

Amazulu

Sure, but the rest of my reply was not about actors. I've done better out here than I did on the UK, so have others, others have not.

People have moved to the UK and done better, others have not.

It's all part of the big melting pot of life.

Amazulu

Just be where you are happy (which can mean different things to different people) - all the rest is bollocks.

Deancm_MKII

Yes, it's entirely possible to do better over here than in the UK however careerwise, you will still be limited in how high you can go. A person that has reached a sticking point in their career in the UK can move to Australia and move up the ladder as their UK experience would still be much better than the experience locals can gain in Australia.

It doesn't surprise me that you have done better out here. You're a contractor with international experience (experience the locals don't have) and will be snapped up relatively quickly. However if you wanted to progress your career further than just being a contractor, such as growing your own consultancy business...

It all comes down to how ambitious a person is.

MartinLuther

Every time I buy The Age at the weekend I throw My Career in the bin. Drive usually goes in there as well

jimbo_d

Kind of but it's more supply and demand i'd say. In the UK you're more likely to go further with a career in finance, however in Australia you'd do much better if in engineering/mining. Same as any place really, depends what the cash cow of the area is to how much you'll earn

mohogony

Australia has the best performing economy in the western world and the only western country to advoid a recession so people don't leave OZ becasue the country is poor or theres high unemployment they leave because OZ has a small popultion so theres some careers where you can only reach the top or get highly paid by moving overseas.

JackTheLad

Well isn't that exactly the point? I worked for huge organisations in the US and Germany and UK and the chances of getting anywhere in their corporate structure were about zero. There were always 20 overqualified people vying for the next promotion up.

In Australia, getting promotion, or a better paid job is easier, as all the talented people have pissed off overseas to see their dreams shattered when they come up against much more experienced and educated people.

Meanwhile I can just carry on in my own career in Oz without some whizz kid trying to nick my job.

JTL

Deancm_MKII

Would you rather have a mediocre position in the premier league or a good position in the 4th division?

JackTheLad

Well, first off, I think comparing UK as Premier League to Australia as 4th division is wayyy too extreme. But anyway,

I'd rather have a good position in a 1st division team as opposed to being on the subs bench on a premier league team.

Or to continue the analogy, I'd rather be the top striker at Wigan than the 3rd choice goalkeeper at Man United who only gets to play in reserve matches.

JTL

fish.01

I can only talk for myself and my friends who left Australia to work in the UK, on the continent, in Japan etc. Almost all of them did it because of the tradition of travel that has built up over the decades in Australia rather than for their career. I know some people do it for their career, as you asked, but I don't know anyone who stated they did it to advance in their profession out of the dozens of people I know who worked overseas. A lot choose London as it is a great city and a good English speaking base where many have relatives.

In our teens we start to hear about older siblings/friends travelling...when we hit our twenties everyone starts planning a long stint overseas somewhere. People start to leave in dribs and drabs until your own turn comes. Some of us were impressed by the overseas companies we worked for, some were disappointed, some earned great money and some didn't. Almost all returned thankful for the experience of seeing the world and living amongst others. Some of my friends are still travelling for 6 months to a year, even with children. They have the bug.