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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Good point. I totally forgot about London.

at 'no worries'

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).

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.