Are we wise?!?!

[JonnyNI]

Hey everybody,

I'm just going through on of these "are we doing the right thing" phases today. I have a civil engineering degree and I'm working as a site manager for a medium sized contractor on the civils side of things. I started working with the company I am with now after the GFC hit so my salary is far from competitive!!! My OH is an architect but has also had pay cuts since 2007 and our attitude is that we should be getting paid a lot more for the effort and time that we put in for our respective companies...

The only doubt I have is that we might find it hard to get work once we get out there. We have been granted our 176 (WA SS) and we are getting to the point we have to plan the big mover (we have to be there before the 3rd March 2013). We both have good experience throughout our careers but as I say just a bit nervous about getting jobs once out there. How has everyone else found it??

Looking forward to some reassuring posts...

Thanks in advance, Jonny

[John and Alexa]

I am an M&E co-ordinator/draughtsman and have been getting calls direct from Oz 3-4 times a week at the moment so there seems to be plenty of large building projects around.

[sh7t man no way]

its a wise after the event thing in life--you wont know unless you go--when you decide which part of Australia you chose,do some research on that part to answer your doubts--there's a jobs/careers section on pio which may be of some help--kind regards alan--i asume the visa you got was for WA

[JonnyNI]

Hey John & Alexa,

How are you going about the job hunt? Direct or through agents? I know that when I was applying for jobs when I still needed sponsorship it was tough enough but I did get a god bit of interest. If you could recommend any agents that would be great!!

Jonny

[John and Alexa]

Hi Jonny

After sacking our migration agent a few weeks ago Alexa was contacted directly from a company (via a Linkedin contact of mine) over in Sydney. She flys out this weekend to discuss face to face etc so fingers crossed that will all work out.

I just decided to start adding more Australian contacts to my network and seems to have been quite successful so far with both agencies and companies making direct contact.

I know Aecom are recruiting directly in at present but more than happy to send you details of the agents that have been in contact so far although mostly Sydney based if that helps.

[John and Alexa]

Just sent you a pm with some contacts - hope they might be of some help to you

John

[Claire101]

Hey everybody,

I'm just going through on of these "are we doing the right thing" phases today. I have a civil engineering degree and I'm working as a site manager for a medium sized contractor on the civils side of things. I started working with the company I am with now after the GFC hit so my salary is far from competitive!!! My OH is an architect but has also had pay cuts since 2007 and our attitude is that we should be getting paid a lot more for the effort and time that we put in for our respective companies...

The only doubt I have is that we might find it hard to get work once we get out there. We have been granted our 176 (WA SS) and we are getting to the point we have to plan the big mover (we have to be there before the 3rd March 2013). We both have good experience throughout our careers but as I say just a bit nervous about getting jobs once out there. How has everyone else found it??

Looking forward to some reassuring posts...

Thanks in advance, Jonny

Hi Jonny

We are in the same boat... about to get our visa (hopefully!) and wondering if it's worth the risk. OH is an electrical engineer (building services) and he's only just got back in to permanent employment after 18 months of contracting following redundancy in 2010. I'm a commercial accountant and in a reasonable position here in the UK. We both feel under-valued and under-paid but on the other hand at least we're both working, what if we spend all our money on moving to the other side of the world and we can't get jobs?!?

Aaaargghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Claire.

[Claire101]

I am an M&E co-ordinator/draughtsman and have been getting calls direct from Oz 3-4 times a week at the moment so there seems to be plenty of large building projects around.

Hi John

That's really good to know... I think we'd better sharpen up our Linkedin profiles!

Claire.

[JonnyNI]

Just sent you a pm with some contacts - hope they might be of some help to you

John

Good man - thanks a million!! I'm going to have to tidy up my profile before I contact any of them though!! I've only just joined this tonight, didn't really know exactly what it was before tbh.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks again, Jonny

[pintpot]

Hey everybody,

I'm just going through on of these "are we doing the right thing" phases today. I have a civil engineering degree and I'm working as a site manager for a medium sized contractor on the civils side of things. I started working with the company I am with now after the GFC hit so my salary is far from competitive!!! My OH is an architect but has also had pay cuts since 2007 and our attitude is that we should be getting paid a lot more for the effort and time that we put in for our respective companies...

The only doubt I have is that we might find it hard to get work once we get out there. We have been granted our 176 (WA SS) and we are getting to the point we have to plan the big mover (we have to be there before the 3rd March 2013). We both have good experience throughout our careers but as I say just a bit nervous about getting jobs once out there. How has everyone else found it??

Looking forward to some reassuring posts...

Thanks in advance, Jonny

Construction industry is pretty strong over here - much stronger than at home - but it varies from state to state and sector to sector, as of course you would expect

Commercial and resi building are the two weakest sectors in general but this varies a lot and from all the data I see both are strongest in WA, so that is good news for you (or more specifically your OH). Civils/infrastructure is more solid, especially in transport (esp rail) and resource related areas

I don't think you have much to worry about - at the risk of speaking for others you might try contacting bensdad and weegiedave, both of whom have gone to WA in the past 6-9 months and found construction work no bother

You don't say if you have any family, this obviously would mean you'd want to be a bit more careful and certain before you jumped. If you don't have kids I'd say don't hesitate, not a lot to hold you back and with fewer ties and dependencies you have a lot less to lose, not that I think you would lose