KevR

Hi Jimmy, apologies for the delayed reply, I am not on the forum as much any more. Id say a good 80% of those roles were either in the CBD or within a kilometre or so from it. Lots were on St Kilda Road, which starts in the CBD but is full of office buildings for the next 5km. I am working in South Melbourne which is very central, but not officially CBD. There are other IT companies dotted around, I have found that a lot of the companies I deal with are outside the CBD, these are mainly IT consultancy companies. Kev

Josh, apologies for the delayed reply - drop me a PM, we can have a chat on gtalk or skype. Costs will depend really on what you are looking for, what area you want to live etc. Start to finish for me cost in the region of 30k - 35k EUR. Not including the dogs, but including bond on house, set up costs, shipping, time waiting to find work, furnish the house etc. I have not found the IT industry to be behind here, I think it is pretty much the same. Security is a huge field now, new legislation and the fact most companies have an online presence has forced people to consider their vulnerabilities and put measures in place to manage or remove these. There seems to be a lot of work in L2 / L3 support. Take it easy, Kev

Hi Paul, I had the same responses when looking for work from home, it seems to be a non runner until you are here. I had the odd response when I was a week or two away, but very little. As for IT, I work in infrastructure, server, networks, telephony etc. Pretty much all aspects required to run an enterprise IT department. I was the senior engineer in my last role in Ireland, and my current title here is IT Manager, but very hands on. I have 28 sites across AU & NZ and head office to look after. The way my career has worked out, I never moved from systems engineer into solution design and pre-sales etc, I have always been a part of small departments, I was never able to let go of the hands on stuff! With 15 years behind you, I don't think you will have too much of an issue finding work. What I found from speaking with recruitment guys / girls was that entry level IT was extremely competitive and specific high end roles are not too common. E.g. I wanted a team lead / manager role where I had responsibility for most IT operations. In the bigger firms, they are looking for a Windows engineer, or a VMWare specialist - While I can do both, there are people who specialise in those areas that would be better candidates than me. I had loads of places offering me L2 / L3 support work, there seems to be plenty of work there. That would have been a step back for me, but it was nice to know the option was there. I got lucky and found a job that was almost an exact match to my CV within 7 weeks. Patience is the key, and that is easy to say now, but much more difficult to manage in reality! Especially when you will be thinking of the well being of your family. As for tips and advice, I am sure I have a few! Feel free to drop me a PM with an Gmail address or a Skype address, we can have a chat on Gtalk / Skype. @ JMcW89, same goes. It has been a fantastic move for myself and the wife, we are much better off, enjoying life so much more. Weather plays a huge part in that! Take it easy, Kev

No problem guys, glad you enjoyed it. @AnnetteV - Best of luck Annette - We have not got a car, we just don't need one yet. The public transport is awesome in Melbourne, especially in most of the areas I mentioned above. @ JMcW89 - I will come back to you with some costs and comments on your post Josh, In a bit of a rush at the minute! @ The Pom Queen - Summer can't come quick enough - it is amazing how 19degrees was roasting in Ireland / UK and anything under 20 now is freezing!

Hi All. I am now ten months into emigration, and I am finally sitting down and composing a post, I found these very helpful in my own planning, as well as all the great folks on the forum who advised me along the way. Be warned though, this may be a long post! Feel free to ask questions on any aspects, I will be happy to reply. Myself and my now wife ‘A’ made the decision to move from Dublin in August 2011 after a particularly wet bank holiday weekend - the kicker here is that a heat wave was forecast during the week and after all the BBQ prep was done on Friday, the heat wave was cancelled! A had been struggling to find work over the past few years due to the public sector freeze, and after spending seven years in Uni and a BA, MA & MSc under her belt, it was very tough and frustrating for her. Going to Australia was something that we had discussed briefly before, but after recently buying a house, getting engaged and being the proud owners of two dogs, we brushed off the idea. Got on the phone to an agent to discuss my options the next day and I discovered I was eligible to apply for Skilled Migration. We went with OE Visas, and I can recommend them. To keep this short, applied for the skills assesment, got the IELTS, medicals etc. and we received out PR Visa’s in September 2012. If you’re interested, I work in IT. We rented the house in Dublin out at the beginning of January 2013, shipped our stuff (Airsea) and I flew out on my own a week later. A was following me at the beginning of March and the dogs were staying with my folks for a little while until we were settled enough to bring them over. I had about 6-7K euros total, the mission was to find work, get a place to stay and try get as set up as possible before A arrived. Luckily, I had a friend here in Melbourne where I could stay for a week or two which cut down on cost. Flew with Singapore Air, Dublin - Frankfurt - Singapore - Melbourne. I had a seven hour stopover in Singapore which was tough, but checked into an airport lounge there. It was less than 20EUR and included food, soft drinks, tea & coffee etc. and most importantly, hot showers. I highly recommend avoiding a seven hour stopover, but if you need to, this was a good option. Overall, I really underestimated how tough the flight and jet lag would be. My tip, lots of water and avoid alcohol! I unfortunately did the opposite! Jumped in a taxi, got to my friends place in Brunswick, happy days. Got all the normal stuff sorted, bank accounts, VicRoads, medicare etc. Pretty much got started on the job hunt straight away, but as I suspected, December / January is not a good time to be looking for work in Australia. I sent off loads of applications with very little response. Began house hunting almost immediately, however, I quickly learned that unless you have a job, you will find it very difficult. Only option to start with was a short term house / room share which I found without any great hassle, a empty room in a house share for three weeks. Moved into that place after a week or so on my friends couch and continued to look for a short term apartment. We needed a house with a garden for the dogs, but until I was more settled I decided that 3-6 months in a apartment would do. I found myself spending a lot of time walking around discovering the city, went to the zoo, QVM night markets, sports in fed square etc. Rented a car for a week, started exploring the city a little, checking out areas - We wanted to be somewhere fairly close, I looked at Elwood, St. Kilda, Brighton, Windsor, Brunswick, Parkville etc. On the car rental, they hand out parking and speeding tickets here for fun, it is insane - 66 in a (sneaky) 60 zone earned me a ticket, as did 8 mins over metered parking. Just a heads up! About 2-3 weeks in, I got a couple of interviews, first job was eventually pulled, second one was only three days a week, applied for that one by accident! Got a call regarding a great full time position, good money, permanent etc. in Melbourne CBD around the second week in February. Put my name forward for that, it was the first really suitable role in four or five weeks of looking that came up. About the same time I found a one bed apartment in St. Kilda, 6 month lease, $390 a week. Place was small and dingy, but practically on the beach and beside the tram so I took it. Gave it a good clean etc and it wasn’t too bad. Picked up a PS3 for pretty cheap (about the price of 1 or 2 nights out), there was a TV in the apartment, thats how I spent a lot of evenings - Can be tough to fill time when you are on your own, especially as you find yourself constantly worrying about money, work, accommodation. Also, you realise you have a container of stuff and a wife arriving, it really piles the pressure on. Week two in February, I got a call about that one opportunity that i was a good fit for. Had an interview and the next day got a phone call offering me a second interview. About 5 weeks into the job hunt at this stage, and not much more had come up at all, apart from the odd role that would have been right for me about four years previously. The following week I had the second interview and the week after on March 1st I was offered the role. A was arriving the following week, and my stuff soon after so not a minute too soon. The role wasn’t starting for another two weeks, but once I knew there was money coming in soon, a heap of the pressure faded away. Quick side note, I had applied for at least 50 - 60 roles, and after getting that job, only got a call for 2 or 3 after that. I have since learned that IT is getting more and more competitive here, especially in the entry level and high end roles - The guy I replaced is looking for work for over three months now, and he is highly skilled with over 20 years experience. I now realise how lucky I was. I was pretty broke at this stage, but the next week was spent chilling on the beach, walking around the city and doing stuff cheaply. Looking forward to A arriving, again completely underestimated how tough it is spending the best part of two months on your own trying to start a new life. A arrived, moved in and we had 5 days before I began work. She held here role in Dublin right up until she flew, so having that wage at home really helped with everything. We were still pretty broke, but luckily I got paid the day after I started which was fantastic. Had so much to get, but could treat ourselves to a nice BBQ and a few bottle of wine guilt free! A started job hunting straight away, but while there were a lot more jobs coming up than in Ireland, you are still only looking at 1 or 2 a week, with a good few applicants. I was settling into work well, a month or so went by (End of April) and all was fine except for the apartment. Heater broken, weather getting colder, stuff leaking, noisy etc. We put a few calls into the landlord, nothing done about it, another call went in and so on. We eventually placed a serious call saying we were moving as soon as we found something better, we couldn't last during the winter there. The landlord agreed to cut the lease short. At this stage, my shipment had arrived, but for $20 a week, the shipping guys would hang onto it at their warehouse. It wouldn’t have fit in the apartment! We started house hunting, I had a permanent job and two payslips at this stage, so we were feeling confident. We found a lovely 2 bed victorian house with a back garden for the dogs, we applied and we got it. In the St. Kilda / Prahan / Windsor area. $620 per week. We got our full bond back on the short term place, and moved into the new place two weeks later. We arranged for our shipment to be released, and a few days later it arrived. It was an amazing feeling to have our stuff back, in a clean nice house, a back garden etc. Now all we had to do was furnish it…. It was not all work and business at this stage, we went to a few good gigs, Springsteen, Young, Stone Roses, Manics. We went to three of the Lions games, including the third test in Sydney where we caught up with a lot of friends from back home. We were making friends, getting invited out to events and parties, everything was coming together on the social side. A month or so later, the end of July, A finally got a job - took her about four months in total. We were furnishing the house in small bits, got the fridge, bed couch etc. Once the second wage came in we didn’t know ourselves, we could actually begin to think about finishing the house and shipping the dogs. We had all the rabies work etc done for them in Ireland, so that was fine. The role was ten minutes from where I work on foot, and I didn’t mention that my commute home is only ten minutes on tram or fifteen on a push bike. That was pure luck. So now, we can catch up for lunch, then meet up after work and grab a drink or grab some bits for dinner etc and be home in 15 minutes. In September, we got the ball moving on our dogs. We used Kevin Kenna in Dublin, cheapest quote and quickest response by email. All vet visits were booked, flight sorted etc. Total cost of bringing both dogs was about 7500-8000EUR. Mid October now, the sun is out, staring at the lovely Melbourne skyline from my office. The house is fully furnished, the two dogs have just left Dubai and are landing within hours. The only decision I need to make today is beef or fish for dinner and whether to use the gas or charcoal BBQ. Maybe pick a wine to go with it. Emigrating is not an easy thing to do, it has been scary, stressful and it really pushes you to your limit. On the other hand, I don't think I have ever lived so much. Good or bad, chilled or stressed, crazy busy or completely bored. At the end of the day, so far, it is been fantastic and we have zero regrets. Kev

IGA in St.Kilda do British Gammon Steaks in case anyone is interested...

Hi Guys, quick one - does anybody know anything about Emigration Insurance? With standard insurance, you need to have an intended return date. Can anyone recommend some company to talk to? Edit : I must mention I am flying out of Dublin so Go Walkabout is not a runner. Also, as per subject, flying to Melbourne tomorrow, thanks to all who directly replied to any of my queries and anyone who contributes to this thread, the answers I have found lurking old posts have been priceless. Good luck to all waiting, Kev

Awesome, good luck and enjoy. Its the 16th of Jan for me, all very real now!

Well done ksss - Good luck kimsdu, I am packing at the moment, flying out mid Jan. Lots of work but very exciting - Good luck to all waiting

Haha, no wonder I have not been able to check my application for weeks! I had the wrong bloody link as well!

Hey Leslie, just out of interest I tried the same thing and got the same result you did. In my opinion, that means one of two things, 1. The system is fecked again as usual or 2. Maybe once your visa is granted you are not there anymore. If someone else on here tries and doesn't get that error it will either back up or rule out my #2 theory... You could check VEVO...?? Cheers, Kev

Thanks Jaso, Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre (ASPC) DIAC office in Adelaide, CO was LE

Should be any day for you as well looking at your timeline - here's hoping

Visa Granted this morning for myself & Anne, just an FYI for anyone looking at timelines, mine are in my signature. Thanks for everyone's help here, it has helped an awful lot. Good luck to all those still waiting, Cheers, Kev

I haven't been able to check my status for 3 weeks!