AndrewW

Hi PIO in the NT! My wife and I are moving to Darwin at the start of November and wanted to put a post up to see if anyone fancied meeting up. Being new in town we really are looking forward to making new friends! We arrived in Australia on PR visa's back in August and have mainly been in Brisbane. To cut a long story short, a great job came up and after visiting Darwin we decided to make the move. About us: I'm in my 30's, I regularly forget how old I actually am, and my better half is in her mid to late 20's and has no problem reminding me exactly how old I am. Although we are not the stay out to 3am party people anymore, we are really social and enjoy lots of things like going to the pub (we're Scottish!), just hanging out, dinner, BBQ's, coffee and basically are super laid back people. Let us know if you want to meet up! cheers!

Thanks Bungo and Very Stormy, In the whole ticket front, appreciate if the role is something like forklift driver, coxswain or carpenter tickets are required from day one. Sorry, I should have been more specific, as I would not be applying for roles as an "operator", they are more senior or strategic than that, so knowledge or pocessing experience which would allow straight forward acquisition of certs might be ok? As an example, a few certs (like RSA) I held an equivalent for in the UK, in fact it was probably worth more as I was a licensee which meant I had much more responsibility/liability. I'm not worried about my ability to get the certs from TAFE etc, simply there is no point doing them if I won't need them. Also each cert costs money, which Aussie institutions love taking for everything. In the UK I have been part of businesses which would appoint candidates who were clearly qualified in other countries and experience wise, on the condition that the appointee completes the required certification. Also a prerequisite of some certs is experience which you can't get if you aren't employed in that role, so it's a bit catch 22. thanks again, sticking in there and enjoying the sunshine! Looking forward to living a bit more when we start work!

Thanks Starlight, We probably would consider WA as well, but QLD is our first choice. It's the year round sunshine / weather. It might seem odd, but we are not really big city people (I accept that I'm being hypocritical as Brisy is a big city) but Sydney and Melbourne just seemed much too big for us. We enjoyed living outside our home city of Edinburgh in the UK, which sort of gives you an idea of what I mean by that. Our plan was to get setup in first 6 months, then move further out. I have had one interview so far and a couple of interviews with recruiters, so it's not like nothings happening. However another confirmed my application but couldn't even tell me if I had been shortlisted for another 2 weeks. Lots of others don't seem to respond, not sure if I'll never get a response or if they are just slow with that process. hanging in there though!

Hello PIO! So my wife and I have been in Brisbane for two weeks. We are on PR visa's and are here for the long haul. Firstly I know it's only been two weeks so don't get me wrong, we weren't expecting to find work this quickly. But it does feel a little like we are in suspended animation, conserving our funds as much as possible until we are working as we really have no idea how long it will take. Being a new city/state we really have no idea about: - how long does it take to find work typically - how long do companies take to respond to applications - what's the job market like at the moment - multiple and varied certificates required, do employers really care if you state you will will complete the certs if employed. I.e. Will they still consider you - where to look (have I covered all the bases with : seek, indeed, jora, adzuna, LinkedIn, jobsdb, careerone & career jet) - do direct speculative approaches to companies work - recruitment agencies - are they worth contacting my wife is a primary school teacher (Scottish) and has already waded into the minefield of paper worked needed to get registered in QLD. Fortunately she's picked up a number of days each week tutoring for one of the after school tutoring companies. I am more difficult to describe. I have done lots of things in my career, but mostly as a manager of some sort in hospitality, retail and F&B. I have most recently specialised in airports, being the equivalent of a regional concessionaire manager with some business development thrown in for good measure, although I have no issues with working "high street". I have been looking for multi site / area manager roles or area operations manager roles, mostly in Retail or Tourism but have stayed away from fashion (I'm not the most fashionable guy and have zero interest in clothes shopping). I would expect a reasonable salary so the search could take some time. Any hints, tips and recommendations would be great! cheers andrew

Frankly this result was inevitable regardless of the outcome of either referendum or who promised what. Scotland population is ageing, the public v private sector is heavily skewed towards public, making the state the single largest employer, and the country is dependent on too few amount of people who work in finance, whisky, tourism and oil for its tax revenues. Neither Westminster nor Scottish governments have done nearly enough to re balance this. Whats done is done. It's time to look forward and eek out the opportunity. Perhaps with EU exit Scotland can set its immigration needs and proactively recruit young working immigrants to work in Scotland within the UK, much like the states with Australia do. Perhaps the Scottish government can leverage the political difference in voters preferences to secure from Westminster better corporate tax and investment opportunities for companies to come into Scotland from around the world. Perhaps the tourism industry can grow more due to the visitors currencies going further in a weak pound. Diversity and self sufficiency should be the aim. As long as the Scottish government (of any political colour) employees most people in the country and adopts a negative destabilising attitude instead of a positive forward looking one, then the when the few who are relied apon to generate income for the state have a wobble the whole country will feel it. Surely the deficit number can't be a surprise to anyone

Our MARA agent was worth his fee twice over, especially as he was adamantly for appealing against our skills assessment rejection where we might have given up and he was correct. We appealed and were successful. Now in Australia on permanent resident visas. Considering the overall cost of moving, the stress and cost of our time we would have spent on it, paying someone really stacked up as an investment for us. Don't get me wrong, there are still lots of forms to fill in and they can't do it all for you. I got to think of it as our move being an oil tanker and our MARA agent being the ships pilot who brings it into port. We could have done it ourselves but it was miles easier with a reputable MARA agent to navigate you in. We are convinced it would have taken twice as long and cost us twice as much by filing the wrong things at the wrong time; it does seem like every bit of evidence, assessment and paperwork costs you more than just a nominal fee. Each to their own though, as I said we could have done it on our own but we are glad we didn't.

Thanks Johndoe and Keith & Linda, we will definitely check out those areas!

Hi PIO! So my wife and I are new arrivals in Brisbane on PR visas (arrived on the 19th). We are staying in an Airbnb place in Toowong (which is great) before moving into our friends place in Taringa to get our feet settled. We are planning on being there for a maximum of 6 months before getting our own place. We're currently on the job hunt, my wife's a primary school teacher and I'm an Area Manager for Hospitality or Retail companies, while sorting out all the other mundane stuff you go through setting up. We have a car, so instead of spending all day every day inside looking for jobs on the internet we have decided to spend our afternoons and some odd full days here and there getting out to see our new city and beyond. Thinking forward to the end of our 6 months when we will hopefully be working and looking for our own place, we have no real ideas about areas to live in. So we thought we could use some of our time and our car to have a look around the different suburbs etc to see if there is anything we like. That's where the challenge comes in, we're looking for suggestions. If I explain what kind of people we are that might help, right? We are a late 20's early 30's married couple from Scotland. We are from different parts of Scotland but both quiet country small town type of places. We lived in Edinburgh city centre for around 10yrs while at uni and in the early part of our careers. We decided we had enough of the big city when we moved in together so we moved to a lovely little cottage about 20mins from the outskirts of the city. We loved the peace and quiet but also the easy access to the city. The only thing we missed was a sense of community and for me, a local pub. We are just people who like a simple good life, with a good social life. We like the pub to catch up with friends & quizes but loud music kinda defeats us. We're more the BBQ/come round for dinner/see you at the beach/take a trip together types. We are definitely not the sort to go to a nightclub but neither are we teetotallers who have to been in bed by 9pm. Although we don't have children, it is something that factored in our decision to come to Australia as we wanted an outdoor lifestyle for them. That might be a few years off though! Thinking about Australia, we would like to achieve something similar. We are fully expecting a long line of visitors from the UK, so any place needs to be big enough to accomadate in-laws and parents without them feeling like they are imposing. Some outside space, like a deck or patio for a BBQ is also in my head. Just looking for for ideas where these types of places exist: - max 1hr commute from Brisbane CBD - local community we can become part of - nearby golf course - straight forward access to road network to get to coast (we like the beach and I like to Scuba) - rental up to $500pw - house rather than apartment - outside space for BBQ - outside space suitable for a dog - area which could be suitable for a young family in the future but still interesting engaging for a young married couple Really looking forward to hearing the suggestions! thanks Andrew p.s. Msg us if you want to hang out, always good to meet new people when you are new in town!

Thanks for the recommendation, I have found them on meet up's, just waiting on a response. Did you used to dive with them?

Hi! My wife and I are both new in town, based in Taringa, and whilst she doesn't Scuba I do Scuba. I am certified Open Water with PADI and if you include Discover Scuba dives I have probably completed over 10 dives. Looking to see if anyone can recommend a diving club or indeed is a member of one which has a good social scene. I would like to keep the Scuba going at the same time as meeting new people that potentially my wife and I can become friends with! cheers, andrew

Thanks for the replies, it was really helpful. In the end the "gap" isn't going to be as long as we first thought. We've decided to go air bnb as we haven't done that before and it might be an opportunity to meet people!

Hi all, my first post so hopefully it works! My wife and I are shortly to arrive in Brisbane on PR visa's. Determined to make a success of our new home we have arranged to live with some really good friends of ours who already live in Taringa, figuring this gives us the best shot at settling in initially. We are replacing their current flat mate who moves out towards the end of September. Unfortunately we arrive on the 19th of August, leaving a bit of gap. My post is really to ask, does anyone in Brisbane have any ideas on how we might do this? The idea of a holiday let seems to be a touch expensive. Perhaps some one has gone through this before or there might even be someone who is going back to the UK for the British Summer and needs someone to house sit? All suggestions welcome! cheers andy