Bibbs

Quite, some will, but it's generally designed for where the majority of sales are. You'll probably find a lot of those Japanese cars in the UK were/are actually built in Eastern Europe or France (they tend to rattle more then the Japan built ones). Merc, BMW are generally left. Euro spec Holdens (Opel/Vauxhall) are often left, with the Commodore being right. All Japanese spec'ed Toyota/Honda/Nissan/Mazda I've driven have been right. But it's isn't an "Australia" thing. It'll be more likely a Japan/Thailand/Indonesia/Australia/New Zealand market car. And being on the 'door' side of the wheel is 'correct'.

Has nothing to do with Australia. Generally, cars made by companies based in RHD countries will have the indicator on the right. And cars made in LHD countries will be on the left. So Holden, Aussie Fords, Japanese cars etc will all be on the right side. Euro and Yank cars will be on the left. It's so you can change gear and indicate at the same time. But it's cheaper to move the whole unit from one side of the car to the other, instead of having to re-engineer it.

The Swan Pub in Pangbourne. Obviously not been in 5/6 years, but it used to be nice on a summers day to watch the world go by. Aberystwyth Harbour. Lovely place (outside of term time) to unwind. Great driving roads into the town.

"no Australia experience" = "we don't like you, but want to let you down easy". I was a developer with a Degree and 10 years experience (5 in UNIX, 5 in Microsoft). Took me 4 weeks to realise recruitment agents are rubbish, and then 2 weeks to DIY the hunt and get a few offers. Went for a .NET / SQL role having never used either too heavily. Been here 5 years now. Also consider contracting. Means the companies can get rid of you easier, which makes them happier to take a risk.

Generally means they don't like you as a candidate, and it's an easy get out for them. One of my clients has a full mix of Europeans, Asians, with a few other nationalities thrown in. But they are all a 'good fit' for their job.

I kinda agree. But I've found moving has given me a better 'work/life' balance. Good public transport links means I walk more (leaving the car at home and getting the Train/Bus), and I exercise in the spare 'life' part. More money means I can do outdoor activities that I couldn't before. Also combined with cheaper and better food, means I'm less likely to eat a KFC or a microwave meal.

It's not true. Test showed the same as a placebo. They think it's down to the wrong type of pollen. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/health/10really.html?_r=0 My health has improved. My BMI is still the same (~23) but my body fat has dropped. I now walk a lot more (as I've changed my commute and live next the beach), I gym several times a week and am more active on weekends. I've also changed my diet, and cut out a lot of bad eating habits. Also my hay fever is drastically reduced, which is great as the anti-histamines I took for 4 months gave me mood swings (always felt tired and groggy). Haven't had a day off sick in 5 years either (But that could be down to being a contractor. I also wasn't sick often before). Generally I feel a lot better, and am a lot happier.

As above, lie. Take your Perth addy off your CV. If you get an interview (not an agency one, but a proper one) get them on the phone, explain you are "just in Perth on a break" and you'll "head back for an interview". Then book flights/hotel and have the interview.

New rates are out in the Robert Walters Salary Checker app.

I found one this week. I'm up in the city area if it helps. I'll need to back though. PM me.

I've pretty much got an offer, for every job I've interviewed for. Except a graduate scheme for Compaq (which I didn't really like anyhow) when straight out of Uni. The main issue the industry has is the cheap resource of the Philippines on our doorstep. You need to be much more than a 'coder' now days.

In the UK I used to write VB6 and a bit Excel/Access and a small amount of SQL development. The job before was a propriety language on *NIX boxes. Got a job in Aus doing .NET and SQL DBA, even though I'd not done either and wasn't qualified. 3 years later and I'm still here.

If you are not easily understood on a face-to-face conversation, you'd have to be exceptional in skill set or they wont want you. Why would they, when someone who can do the job AND be understood is available at the same cost. My main client, out of a team of almost 2 dozen, about 25% white guys (English, Australian, South African). The rest are Chinese, Singaporean, Indian, Vietnamese .. all have very good English (a lot are Australian by birth).

Yeah, this. It's basically an excuse to a candidate to say 'we don't think you will fit'. I had 10+ years UK experience, and then had 3 companies wanting me (after I binned off the Agencies and DIYed the job hunting). On Seek it was hard to tell the real jobs from the fake, but basically I had a list of the top 4/5 recruitment agencies (as I'd already seen them), and I went through EVERY job on Seek I could do, and sent my CV to ALL of the ones that were not lodged by those agencies.

If you can get any MS qualifications they seem to be liked here. I had to get MS SQL ones to get my contract renewed (even though i was doing the job anyway).

Depends what you do and where you are. As I've said, plenty of work for me. But I'm not in management or over east. Just having an easy to pronounce first name (or nick name) is a start. Wouldn't need to be Western, as long as it's easy. In a team I work with we have :- Chinese, Singaporean, Canadian, Indian, European, Australian, South African, Thai, Vietnamese .. But they are all 'Western', and more Australian than me (even though I was born here) as I was in the UK for a long time.

Developer - Arrived in Perth, March 2011. Been in solid work as a contractor since May 2011. More work than I know what to do with. All my colleagues are busy, the business is employing more people in the run up to a big 18/24 month project. All my IT friends are busy, but a few looking to move.

Where is 'here'? Work for me is flat out, and we seem to be getting more contractors every month. I've found you need to be very 'western'. Even though my department is made up of a lot of ethnicities (about 9 or 10, out of 2 dozen people), they are all 'Australian'.

Ha ha. Well that's one thing I'd disagree with. "the north" *shudder* (all in jest)

I've no idea what that is, or if that's good or bad. The people I've seen struggle are the people with little business experience and little westernisation.

Melb has a bigger market, but also more people looking for those jobs. As long as you are good, you shouldn't struggle. It helps to be very western with good English skills. The Aussies I've dealt with in IT seem to struggle with accents. Indians don't tend to do so well, as they can't be put in front of a client and be well understood.

In Perth, had dealings with most, recommend none.

I use Desbrough, as do several of my contractor colleagues.

Took the Accountant a week to get me a company number (ABN / ACN) then another week to get all the paperwork signed off. http://www.ato.gov.au/General/Enquiry-hot-topics/In-detail/Businesses/ABN-registration/ I think you need a TFN (Tax File Number), so you'd probably need to be here. I am Australian. I've no details on the time taken for other visas or resident status. Pensions here are compulsory for the company to pay for employees. It was 9% last year, 9.25% this year and I think it goes up to 12% by 2020 or something (details on the ATO - Australian Tax Office). But if you are a director, you can get round this (dividends vs salary).

Which are the best job sites? seek.com.au - for jobs. RobertWalters "SalaryChecker" app - for rates. (They do a qtrly update on their website of how the industry is going) Is the contract market healthy in Perth? Seems to be, but a lot of coding work is heading to the Philippines due to costs. Contracting is common here for all sorts of jobs, not just IT. What is contacting in Australia like compared to the UK - from what I see it seems pretty similar? Never contracted in the UK. So couldn't tell you. Any tips on setting up in Australia. Costs. Time. Umbrella services / verse own company? I got an accountant to setup the company. budget 40 hours weeks, and 48 weeks a year. Unless you do something special, you have to budget for Super (pension) payments too. GST 10%, Super 9.25% (but super is sliding up to 12% over the next few years). Getting a loan will be harder. House loan they want 12 months of invoices and a tax return. Personal loans they wanted 2/3 months. Any recommendations for accountants / agencies? Agencies - None. At all. Most are worse than useless. Accountants - I use Desbrough, as they are a friend of a friend. Slower than the UK, but then so is everything else in Perth. Is it worth considering a perm job. Perks. Salary. Cover Relocation costs? It is. But it depends on what you want. Being permi doesn't offer you the security nowadays anyhow.