Australia -Aussies I need advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pickupthismess]

Hi. Last night watching "relocation, relocation" I decided I have infact had it with this weather and we ought to move to Australia asap to give our two boys a better way of life. Incredibly DH after a v stressful few months is in entire agreement.

I lived in Perth as a teenager and I have to admit I found it soulless and deeply boring but..................I bet I will have changed my tune now.

So my questions are:
1)is Perth still deadly
2)what are Melbourne or Brisbaine like?
3) Where is the work (DH is a senior professional) I know Sydney would be great but I don't really want a big city.

I just don't know where to begin.

4) And finally, please be honest what is WRONG with Australia. I really need to know I am about to make the right decision.

[sunnydelight]

Ah, but if I had really turned native Savoy I'd have spoken about having a massive yard

Spaceforthree - if you're looking for that kind of money you need to be looking at the big global companies as I'm sure you realise. Don't know about Melbourne but we have found Sydney to be a very odd job market, people get nervous about offering big money unless they can track your career in Oz for the past ten years. Contacts are everything and things can take a long time to come to fruition. Get your DH to milk any possible connections he has in the UK who have contacts here for a foot in the door, or a personal "I've worked with this guy, he's good" reference. Hope it works out.

[spaceforthree]

Thanks. Savoy that'd be really brill (and very kind of your DH). Do you want to get in touch via my email [email protected]?

We just don't know where to start. DH gets about AUS$280k p.a. at the mo plus benefits and that isn't in London. I think he understands this is probably not possible in Melbourne but would be interested to see what is out there in the $200+ and where to even begin in the search.

I think we were naive and thought it was much cheaper is Australia but as sunny says those days seem to be gone . So we now have to be realistic about him getting a good job (as I have two young kids and can't go back to FT work at the mo, in fact I don't even work at all at the mo).

[savoycabbage]

Good point. I totally forgot about London.

at 'no worries'

[sunnydelight]

We have found salaries here (senior IT) approximately 25% lower than in London city. Salaries in general are lower at senior levels, on a par mid range and may be higher at lower levels. Cost of living in Sydney is high.

Don't get me wrong, Australia is an amazing place to live and I am one of those strange expats who has absolutely no regrets, but you do need to be aware that the "Australian dream" of living in the sunshine with a fab, huge house with a pool and a massive garden for a lot cheaper than the UK is no longer a reality. You can still have all those things, but they come at a price. If you have two professional salaries no worries; we have one salary with a good house in a great area and three kids in private schools and it is just about doable.

[savoycabbage]

No, not at all. Wages are higher here IMO but the cost of living is higher too.

It's really hard isn't it! We looked at Melbourne on google maps and we didn't know where to start. It's massive and you can't tell where you want to be.

If you would like, your dh can give mine a ring and they could have a chat about things. I got lots of help like that from MN when we were coming over. It made such a big difference to us. We didn't know anyone in Melbourne at all.

[spaceforthree]

Thanks. Have had a look. Pay seems to be lower in Australia - does your Dh think that is true?

[savoycabbage]

He says try www.ambition.com.au/ambition who have offices in the UK as well as here.

[spaceforthree]

Thanks savoy that'd be very helpful.

I guess he needs to find suitable agents, job adverts for senior execs and all he has spoken to so far is a guy from Michael Page International (based in Melbourne). He's not sure which (if any papers) to subscribe to etc.

[savoycabbage]

Hi, my dh is in finance too. He works for GE Money which is massive. I can ask him some specifics for you if you want.

He reads the Financial Review.

He got his job with video conferencing but it is not unusual to come over for an interview. he did read up on Australian and American accounting standards and whatnot before we came.

[spaceforthree]

poppy would you be able to recommend some agencies/headhunters that deal with senior execs that he should contact. Or newspapers (like the FT) that he should check for jobs?

Hopefully we will have our residency visa fairly shorty and he can start searching.

[PoppyAmex]

SpaceFT - Finance in a Commerce environment will be even easier, as there are more employers.

Just don't be tempted to do a straight salary currency conversion between UK£ and AUD$ as it won't quite work like that.

Job market is really like a pyramid, so the more senior the role, the less opportunities you get, but here in Aus they do value UK experience a lot, so it will just be a matter of time.

I would def. advise your DH to start the job hunt before moving, as we recruit loads of senior people straight from the UK before they even arrive in Australia (interviews via video conference). Also opens possibility to secure a 457 Visa (employer sponsored), if you're struggling with that, although it's always easier if you already have a valid working visa.

UK Trained CAs never struggle for long here -
check seek.com.au (both normal and exec pages) and efinancialcareers.com.au

[spaceforthree]

Thanks poppy. Dh isn't in banking (trained as Chartered Accountant) and now a finance director for division of big UK company. Are there many ops do you know?

[PoppyAmex]

SpaceFT my Melbourne colleagues always say it's a lot better in terms of work/life balance.

Two of the Big Four domestic Banks are headquartered down there, so there are a fair number of interesting roles in Finance and it's just a different vibe altogether.

I can't imagine why people would be negative about it. Unlike Sydney (which is quite American, urban brash) I think Melbourne has a lot of character and a bit of European flavour.

Not to mention, you'll have wonderful vineyards around, the Melbourne Cup is great fun and the shopping is a million times better down there. Sydney is just DIRE in terms of clothes/shoes shopping!

Best of luck with you visa and don't let off the cuff comments depress you.

[spaceforthree]

Really glad this thread has been resurrected.

DH and I are just doing our medicals this week and then hopefully will get Visa for Victoria. DH is very well paid here in the world of finance but sick of the stress so really interested in your comments poppy about working. Do you think Melbourne is any better than Sydney?

Also echt good to hear some positives about Melbourne as increasingly I have only heard negatives and felt a bit depressed about our plans.

[PoppyAmex]

We have lived in Sydney for 6 years and I agree with most posters - the cost of living is extortionate. The lack of market competition really inflates the utility and grocery prices and it obviously also means a lot less choice for the consumer.

I'm a headhunter in Banking & Finance and in my experience the work hours for Finance professionals in Banking are generally the same (if not worse) as in London.

The salaries and bonuses in Finance are also slightly lower than in Europe, but at least the Australasian market was economically more resilient throughout the GFC, so most banks are now back hiring.

Sorry, just realised I made it sound a bit gloomy, but I speak to senior finance candidates everyday and got used to managing expectations before dragging them over to Australia for interviews!

Best of luck

[echt]

Pickupthis mess.

We've lived in Melbourne for over 4 years and really like it.
Having said that we live next to the sea, a reasonable distance from the CBD.

We chose the area because of access to sea and good state schools. Houses more spacious than in UK. Buying a house is a bugger unless we go where we don't want to live.

Hard to compare food prices as we've not been back for a while, but clothes are pricier than hey ought to be when you consider how close we are to China. Do a lot of online shopping for nicer clothes. fresh food is good here; we shop at a wholesalers and get v.good bargains.

Weather is beautiful in spring and autumn. Some v.hot days in summer, but not for too long. Winter has been cold this year, though oldies tell us that Melbourne winters were always like this back in the day. Heating in house is often entirely inadequate, particularly in rentals, though we have been fortunate in this respect.

Making friends not easy as DD was old enough to get herself to school from day one. I'm also significantly older than the other mums and work full-time. Second the remark made earlier about making ex-pat friends.

DH is in a senior position in his work, and is a real "doer" in a world of policy wonks, so very much valued.
My job as a teacher is less well-paid than in the UK, but the students are doddle.

Culturally there's enough going on to keep you entertained, and a tendency to do more galleries, etc, because you know the next European exhibition won't be for quite a while.

Hope this is useful.

[offtoOz]

Really enjoyed reading this thread. We are off to Sydney in January.

Would like to know more about Manly pros and cons. Seems very popular. Coming from London, I fear sprawling suburbs and prefer areas with more character and older buildings. Balmain sounds great, but a little too metro and not enough family for us perhaps? I think it will be a place to visit but we probably couldn't afford to live and my DH wants to be near beach. What do people think of Manly - what would be the comparator in London. We lived in Muswell Hill.

Does anyone know anything about kindergartens in that area? Manly Village Public School looks good. My LOs are going to be nearly 5 and just 3.

The 3 year old won't be able to start kindergarten until January 2013 - which means two years of childcare if I go back to work full-time. In NZ you get 20 hours childcare paid by the government once children turn 3 regardless of your income. Anything like that in NSW?

Thanks for any advice/help.

[backtolingle]

thanks ozzieinlondon

[pickupthismess]

Melbourne bump

Saw Phil last night, this time in Belgrave. Looked great but is this too far to be commutable. Soooooo cheap, was really tempted.

[OzzieinLondon]

I think you'll find a site called ozstayz which might help with locating accommodation for the month. Sorry can't remember exact name but it is something like this.
If you stay at Manly - north of the city you can access the northern beaches (great for kids) but also jump on the ferry into the city for all of it's attractions.

[backtolingle]

Sydney folk,

Well, it looks like we are off to Oz for a month!

Can you give me any tips on fun places to seek a short-term rental? Fun suburbs where we can walk/bike places?

I'm not sure if I'll drive there.

I'll have to work a little bit too so can anyone recommend any kids clubs etc in Sydney for children aged 7 and 4? The 4 year old isn't really up for sports clubs and would like to be with his brother.

Now just need to figure out how to rent out own house for month.......

[pickupthismess]

Thanks v much. Please do tell me about Melbourne as at the moment it is at the top of my list although never been to any of the east side of Oz.

[Ozziegirly]

I knew it!

I really like Balmain - some good friends of ours live there and if I moved back to Sydney it's probably where I would like to live too.

I used to live in Wimbledon in London and it has a similar feel to it (although miles more convenient for the city).

[bunnygirl80]

ozzie - good guess, I'm in Balmain! You can have a for your excellent sleuthing abilities!

[Ozziegirly]

bunnygirl, you're not in Balmain are you? Or maybe Paddington? I reckon those would fit with your description....