surhythms

It wont allow me to add pictures can I put on the link for realestate?

Hi Folks We are breaking our lease in our rental as we have bought our own home. Please see attached ad and if your interested pls PM me. Cheers Suzanne

ay Yeah hopefully he does get something soon. Looking forward to the new job but sure if it doesnt work out there is plenty of work I can do. The first month was actually fine, we found a house the first day we got here and we are all settled. Mind you we only moved interstate. It was alot more hectic when we originally came from Ireland. We have really enjoyed in and we LOVE Perth. I wouldnt live anywhere else in Australia

Hi Charjam If you can get a transfer I would go for that initially. My OH works in IT but his background is systems, infrastructure and data centres and he is not having an easy time getting something although he did get 2 interviews for next week (we have been here a month) but the pay is really bad and he is overskilled for them. I think it is about who you know not what you know over here for some industries. I worked in an IT recruitment company before and they referred me to the place that I am now going to be working. I still have to suss out the IT market here so as soon as I do I can let you know but as far as Im aware its more about building up contacts and Ive found linkedin to be a good way to do that.

The Perth IT Market is a bit of a funny one to say the least. There are lots of IT jobs in Perth but you will find mining companies primarily want people with local experience. I think 20k is enough to set yourselves up just make sure that you bring everything with you as Perth is one of THE most expensive places to live in Australia. Start contacting recruitment agencies now and talk to them about possible openings in PM and as a BA. I am soon to go into this market aswell so if I get more details I can let you know. 100k will be enough for you to live in for sure. If you are both working 200k I think you will be very very comfortable in Perth. Give yourselves at least 3 months to find work in Perth. It can take a little while and Ive heard (don’t quote me) that some companies are reluctant to take on newbies as they may leave. FIFO probably wouldn’t be an option for you with your skillset but check out the likes of BHP, Chevron etc as they are always recruiting. Get yourself on LINKEDIN and join all the recruitment and IT groups in WA. Sometimes it can be more about who you know!!! If it was me I would bite the bullet and move and get your children settled when they are young.

Hi guys The property we are in at the moment is available for rent mid April if anyone is interested although you will have to go through the agency that is letting it out but I can certainly show you the house if you like. Here is the ad - pictures of the inside are due to follow this week: http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/rent-residential/8-rodda-place-calwell-canberra/1316813372911 Cheers

Hi Paul I would imagine it is closed because they have reached their limit for the year but when my OH met them they told him that really IT should be taken off the list. There are lots of jobs for software development in Canberra but you need citizenship or security clearance for most of these. Having personal experience of recruitment in Canberra most jobs do require security clearance as even through private companies you are probably going to be doing work with government. We know a good few people in IT here and they have all secured jobs. I would check out seek to see how many software dev jobs are currently in the ACT and how many require citizenship. I know sometimes companies can giveyou a waiver but I really dont know how this works so I cant really comment. When you do your SS you have to prove you have funds to support yourself for 6 months should you not get a job. Most people I have spoken to secure something in 6 to 8 weeks. I dont know of people moving to a different state and things could be very different for each person... maybe they couldnt find a job... you just dont know. Suzanne

Hi Paul - Im not sure of your circumstances and if you have SS for the ACT but as far as Im aware IT jobs have been closed for Canberra on the SS list. No he cannot get a decent job and has tried to on numerous occassion. Most jobs require citizenship at a minimum and or security clearance which you can not obtain if you are not a citizen. We went to the Canberra team about this and they told us to give it 6 months and if we didnt get a job to come back to them. As far as I am aware your obligation to stay in the ACT is a moral obligation however if your circumstances change or you cant get a job there is nothing to stop you from moving. I guess it depends on what area of IT you work in aswell. SOme areas are easier to find positions. If you do end up moving interstate its basically like moving country again with all of the costs. Suzanne

Hi Roo101 You splitting up with your partner does not mean that you have to return to the UK. I would firstly check out the state sponsorship list for WA and see if your skills are on their wanted list before you decide to return home (that is if you want to stay) I would definitely check it out with a migration agent to see what your options are. Suzanne

Hi Quoll !! Hope you are doing well. I think for me it is more to do with Canberra like the weather and being landlocked and of course the bad public transport where we are living. Hopefully we do find somewhere - we arent going to give up just yet thats for sure!! Hope you are enjoying the UK and things are good for you!! Suzanne

Thanks Vivien I will take a look! You never know!

Hi Sinead I thought that I would give you my experience as we have been in Australia 8 months. We are living in Canberra and a bit like you my distaste for the place is growing by the minute. Like you guys we sold up our whole lives - left jobs, sold our house and spent a fortune to get here to what we thought would be a better life. We both have jobs here - OH hates his job and finds it sooo boring (he cant get a decent IT job in Canberra because all of them require citizenship which is a LONG story)and mine is an admin role which is OK but its not what im qualified to do but Im ok with that. We have a nearly 14 year old and that hasnt been easy either. It has been really difficult for us even though we have made an effort to make friends here in Canberra but the place is so transient and with both of us working full time it can be a bit hectic at weekends just trying to do all the things I would usually have done during the week at home. Canberra weather is not to my liking either but the thoughts of going back to Ireland just arent on our agenda for more reasons that just the recession. So we decided that we would travel around Australia and see what would suit us better. To put it this way - we arent giving up on Australia yet - we just have to find the city that suits us best. So we have travelled to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane already in the hope of finding somewhere that would suit us better than Canberra. The OH is travelling to Perth in a couple of weeks to check it out (too expensive for all of us to go but he has the camcorder!!) We have decided that we want the coastal lifestyle and arent bothered with Perth being so isolated. Im really struggling living inland and I dont fancy living in a big city either. Before you head back to Ireland I would say to check other states out before you leave. From my own experience each state is completely different and has a different feel to it so you might find what you are looking without having to return back to Ireland. My OH is a ping-ponger and he lived here a few years ago - he never went back to Ireland for a visit - he just left Sydney after 3 years , went back to Ireland and regretted it. He always says that if he got that feeling again he would go back for a holiday before shipping lock stock and barrell. Anyway good luck on making your decision I know it cant be easy and it hasnt been for us. I am counting the hours, days and minutes to get out of here. I would say that I have experienced Australia very different to what I thought it would be and it certainly has been character building thats for sure. Suzanne

Grand just drop us a PM when you fancy it

Hi Stephen and Laura - welcome to PiO - where in Ireland are you from ? We are from Dublin and have been living in Canberra nearly 8 months. Let us know if you want to meet up over the next few days - we are heading back to Canberra first thing in the morning after spending a few days in Brissie cheers Suzanne

Hi Cherry12 I thought that it was 45 kids aswell. We are Irish aswell - we moved to Canberra 5 months ago from Dublin and we will be travelling to Brissie in late January for a week. We are looking at Brisbane longer term as we dont want to stay in Canberra long term. Its just not for us and the weather is pretty poor here! I would be interested to see what other people have to say about Brisbane. How are your plans going with the move? Suzanne

Thats the first time Ive read an Irish Newspaper since Ive been here (5 months!) Makes me realise how far away I am from the "doom and gloom" of Ireland !! Suzanne

Wow thats brilliant! I guess it all depends on your income but no harm in looking into it. We had no idea of this. Cheers Jurls Suzanne

hi Jurls Are you eligible for Family Assistance Payments on a 176? I thought that you could not get these for the first two years? Suzanne

Hi Kate I dont work in Canberra hospital and I dont have any experience of it or childcare cost (we have a 13 yr old) Check out www.allhomes.com.au - that will give you an indication of what the rental market is like at the moment and how much you will be spending on rent. There are a good few posts as regards cost of living in Canberra that you could do a search on in the ACT section. Suzanne

Completely agree with everything Jurls has said although as regards the wages being higher Im not too sure about this. I think Canberra wages are advertised as being because of all the governement work available in Canberra and the government do pay higher wages - however alot of the jobs in the government do require citizenship etc. This I know because myself and my OH had been applying for jobs and even for non IT jobs citizenship or a security clearance is required. However there are lots of jobs in Canberra if you are not too fussy about where you work. If you have a job offer well thats fantastic!! The cost of living is high here but with three small ones and depending if you are going to work or not I would guess that you would need to be earning at least 100k between the two of you otherwise you might find it a bit of a struggle. Rents are high but if you have a budget of about $500 - 600 per week to spend on your rent you should be ok. we have a 13 year old and she struggles with finding things to do but thats because she is a teenager!! nothing to do with Canberra. Ive heard lots of people say that it is great for younger kids. If I had younger ones I would definitely say it is a nice place for them to be. Canberra is very relaxed and it is a very very easy place to live. We have been to Melbourne and Sydney aswell just on holidays and I find Canberra alot less hassle overall. Suzanne

COngratulations on your visa!! and the offer on your house We all came over together (only have one child aged 13 so she is pretty easy to handle) Ive known people to come over before the OH to arrange all the bits and pieces and then others who have arrived a week later. For us I wanted us all to come together so we could all look at the houses , areas etc but I guess it depends on how many children you have, ages etc. A friend of mine has just arrived with 3 small children (all under 7) and she finds that it takes her a while to get things done because she has her kiddies to think of - i think its all personal choice really . Good luck with whatever you decide Suzanne

When we arrived we stopped off in Sydney for a few days to help us get over the jetlag. We then drove down from Sydney. We ended up hiring a Holden Cruz (it was suppose to be a Toyota) but the boot was the same size. I find the drive from Sydney from Canberra very boring and we had loads of bags and there is only 3 of us. Friends of ours have 3 small ones and they hired a big jeep and it cost them a packet to rent and to fill the tank. If I was doing it again I probably would fly but then the curiosity of the drive would have got the better of me and I would have changed my mind and used the car Ive also taken the bus from Sydney to Canberra - it was on Friday at rush hour. It took me 5 hours to get back to Canberra

we used carhire3000.com - it was the cheapest of all car hires. Renting a car is expensive

Congratulations Angela. Hope all goes well with your plans to move.... see you all when you get here at a PiO meetup. Suzanne

Cal - a bit off topic but I LOVE hearing people CAN survive with one car in Canberra. It makes me smile even though we have two cars