Trade opportunities

Iam a 35 year old carpenter/joiner looking to move to Australia from the uk with my young family, my wife works in HR. Just looking to get the experiences of others who made the move - good and bad. Looking for experiences of others in finding work, accommodation and general Aussie life. Early stages for us but hoping to start the process to move soon.

It depends where you are thinking of. Australia is a vast place and it is a bit like asking what would it be like if I moved to Europe.

Australia is a first world country the same as the UK and most of Europe. It has pretty much the same pluses and the same negatives. You will go to work, do the shopping, clean the toilet and everything else that you do now.

There are of course differences and you will find a million threads on here arguing which aspect is better in which country. For example, the weather is different, but you will find people that think it is better and those that think it is worse (Some find the heat oppressive).

Employment will vary according to where you go. Though the days of the big opportunity when Brits could move to Australia and have the dream are long gone. It is, in most parts, a fairly expensive place to live, housing can be VERY expensive and wages not necessarily any better - I was significantly worse off in salary.

I should have stated in the post that Melbourne is where we are thinking.

Thanks for the honest response, I have spoken to quite a few people who have already made the move and on the whole their opinions have been in favour of Australia, but its good to hear other honest opinions also. I had been advised joiner jobs are a plenty and fairly well paid in Victoria, but perhaps this is not the case. As I said above it is the early stages for us and I am keen to do as much research and gather as much info as possible before actually progressing. Thanks again.

I would say joinery will be as in demand as any major city. However, unless you are moving from London, then you may find housing a shock.

Pay is relative. It depends on cost of living. For example, I now earn a fraction of what I did in Australia, but am significantly more comfortable financially.

Though that as well depends on the individual.

The benefits and negatives will depend a lot on why you are making the move and how realistic they are.

Hi the Potters,

We are in Melbourne Suburbs, having moved from the Central Coast as my husband got a permanent positon here. The wages here for a skilled labourer are high, and we are comfortably living on one wage at the moment as we have a baby that I am staying at home to look after. My husband works in pre cast concrete but he has carpenters working with him as labourers and they are earning really good money, with hours Mon to Fri. We were really worried about finding work when we moved out here in jan but we have been lucky and never been short.. he joined agencies initially and then got offered this permanent contract. We have had such a rollercoaster since deciding to emigrate over three years ago, but we have been here ten months now and overall we love it for so many reasons. Being away from family i would say is the hardest thing and no one can prepare you for the reality of that.. it is tough. Everyones experiences are different and i am happy to answer any specific questions you have. The weather very similar to English summer here so far although we have only been in melbourne a month, very different climate to other parts of Oz. You will find lots of positives and negatives on here, opinions and realities. I have always found this site so helpful though, sometimes you have to sift through the two.. but everyone will help you as we have all been through it!

Iam a 35 year old carpenter/joiner looking to move to Australia from the uk with my young family, my wife works in HR. Just looking to get the experiences of others who made the move - good and bad. Looking for experiences of others in finding work, accommodation and general Aussie life. Early stages for us but hoping to start the process to move soon.

We have a carpenter staying in our short term accommodation at the moment - he and his partner arrived 2 weeks ago and he has already secured a permanent position. So there is work available clearly.

Hi Southchick,

thanks for for your reply - its helpful and interesting to hear your experience. We lived in NZ for a while a few years ago so aware of the reality of missing family & friends. It is tough. It's good to know there are employment opportunities in Melbourne and it's fairly well paid too - makes the thought of moving easier so thanks very much. Have you found it to be a friendly place? Is it easy to fit in/make friends?

Good to know buzzy-bee. Good to know there is short term accommodation available also.

Can only comment about Sydney and Newcastle areas , I have my own small business and it's flat out

was offered $70 per hr for a job in sydney from a agency but declined as its a 2hr trip down for me now Newcastle is

booming as well big shortage of good reliable skilled guys.

Hi Southchick,

 

thanks for for your reply - its helpful and interesting to hear your experience. We lived in NZ for a while a few years ago so aware of the reality of missing family & friends. It is tough. It's good to know there are employment opportunities in Melbourne and it's fairly well paid too - makes the thought of moving easier so thanks very much. Have you found it to be a friendly place? Is it easy to fit in/make friends?

You're welcome. Cant really comment on it too much down here yet as weve only been here a month today, but the majority of people seem friendly and helpful.. which is great as on the coast i loved how friendly everyone was to us. Its certainly not an unfriendly place, people do seem to keep to themselves a bit more but as i say that may be a completely wrong judgement after such a short time. I havent made any friends yet but ive just joined the gym and health club so hopefully soon! Only down side for me so far has been the amount of rain! We are here for a year atleast and if we like it we will stay longer... so far my favourite spot has been Newcastle @Rallyman, and who knows the next job may take us there.. its good to hear there is work for skilled people as the debbie downers had told us work was really scarce. We literally flew down for a weekend aand found a rental too, and we have a fab house for the rent we pay. I think if you have time to find a great suburb Melbourne sounds like it has loads to offer. We are really far.out in the suburbs which it taking getting used to as we have always lived near the ocean, but its another experience and a great opportunity to save some money and do different things in the countryside which is very pretty.