SimoneAL

Being realistic and objective, this idea of mine to migrate to Oz is pure madness. Too many things can go wrong, too expensive, too late in life and wife does not really want to go. I still hope to find away within 12 months and it will take some time to get this dream out of my head....but...well....next life maybe....&@#%$@ :arghh: Thanks all for your sharing your experience as immigrants and your knowledge of Oz :wink:

Old parents left behind... How do you cope with this? Can you sleep at night? Any regrets? Any good solutions?

Hello folks! How is the job market in Perth nowaday? Any signs of recovery? How easy/hard is to find a job from your own experience? Not looking for official employment stats here:wink: I know where to find those. Cheers

7-8 grand... this is a lot of money just to get the flaming stamps on the passports.

A while ago I was advised to look at the latest edition of the book "What color is your Parachute?". I was looking for some ideas on career change or just finding a new job. This is no magic wand, just a book that helped many people approaching job seeking and career change with the right set of mind and confidence. Some people loved it and found it very useful, some hated it... I know how important is to maintain confidence and positiveness when looking for a decent job, hope it helps.

Cheers, could find the post :biggrin:

Guys, do you know of any statistics about unemployment among immigrants? Or how long as an average it takes to immigrants to find their first job?

Yeah, it is tricky to work out what that unemployment rate implies. I would say: - New hired paid slightly less, - Decent jobs harder to be found, - More short term and contractors, possibly more temping - More difficult for one-income families to pay all the bills - Some more job cuts here and there - Recruiters doing more and more checklist-ticking work when screening candidates. Some people will not even notice any differences, some others suddenly will have to compete with hundreds of other candidates and panic. Just think positive, act positive and look positive :cool: (at least try very hard to!)

PC means...? coast patrol? Pareto chart? :confused:

Well, thanks for the detailed explaination :wink: Perception and tollerance have changed enormously in the last decades, what would have been a silly comment 20 years ago now could tricker a disciplinary procedure. This is a positive change overall, a lot a work still to be done though....

I appreciate we are talking high level here, no detail should be given not to have the organization and the people indentified. Still from an abstract point of view, can anybody help me understand when a proposition becomes sexual harrassment? Mind, I am only trying to understand better from the unwanted ladys's point of you and HR/regulatory point of view as well (possibly). Some cases are black and white, though many seems to be very grey to me... PS Just in case my wife reads this: I DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG! :no:

6 months out of work is a long long time, not sure I could afford it anywhere at the moment without easing grass (or smoking?:cool:) and sleeping in a 5th hand caravan. I will need to do my math, possibly with a very very pessimistic scenario and a few plan B's.

The Netherlands is a logistics paradise for sure, but this is not reflected in the variety and average price of goods to consumers :nah:. It is a bit of a myth, it goes down to (lack of) competition and family budget. Of course, if you have a 6 digits salary (or very close to 6 digits) and live in a relatively large urban area (not many) you will have access to all sorts of shops, restaurants, clubs ect. If not, you might be struggling to maintain the same quality of life as a family as you had in UK. I know of many couples and families moving back to UK or away after few years, and the cost of living vs salary is one of the major reasons for it. UK is unique for shopping at present as far as I know, and has an incredibily good and large second hand market. I heard urban US and Canada are comparable but I really do not know from direct experience. What about going native rather than looking for the Oz equivalent to Asda, M&S or Argos? It would be good to know where and natives and long term immigrants go shopping to and how they manage, especially the ones on an average income or stingy :cool:

All my sympathy to your friend, it must be a very uncomfortable situation for her. As per some comments above, not sure there is enough to push forward a harrassment case. My only bit of advice would be to move on as quick as possible, logging all events, emails etc, that could be handy if things get seriously nasty. I say move on because from the little I know those situations could have a very negative impact on your friend private and professional life. People tend to blame the victim and if things get nasty, your friend should be ready for this. New job, new boss, keep the proud, keep the confidence. At the end of the day, this is a very personal decision and it is hard to comment without some experience in a similar case... Good luck

i have changed career a few times, my latest incarnation is Project/Portfolio Analyst. This an associate level position (elsewhere could be a lower level position) and at present I cannot see any way to progress in the short term where I work, which is very very annoying and disappointing. Wife has changed career too, and she is now getting into a teaching assistant type of job, possible moving into teaching some time in the future. Looking at seek website, unless I find a way to move horizonally or vertically to a better job it will be a struggle on one wage (here as anywhere else)...

A lot of good points, thanks folks :biggrin: At the end the day what really would make the difference is work and salary. Not that I want to get rich at all costs, but some sort of financial security is important with 2 young kids. I had a chat with wife and she is not convinced we would find a decent job there at all (or have a decent combined income). Actually she believes it has been deliberately made harder for non Australian to get good jobs, and it won't get any better. Not sure she is 100% right, but from far away I can see signs of a change of attititude in employers and recruiters, also as a reaction to the market fluctuations of course. I will have to research more and better labour market and employability... Cheers

Thanks for the comments and thoughts, yes there are flaws in my reasoning aroung Australia. They are the reasons why I asked for and welcome your opinions, hoping to eventually become more objective and realistic about the whole thing than I am now. Some answers to some of your questions: - I am 42 with 2 kids, 7 and 3 yrs old. - I would move with family or nothing, although I might decide to go first to set things up a few months before (if i ever get the visa and decide to go) - Depending on the occupation list, I could go to Canberra, maybe Perth or Adelaide. Wife's relatives in Perth, it would be a plus. - I am on a perm job but not at the level of seniority you would expect if you looked at my CV. I had to get a jobs significantly lower than my experience/skill set a few times, dreams and high expectations do not pay bills as far as I know. - living in UK and NL, I did not enjoy the sunlight very often for at least 5 years. Cloudy, rainy, long and dark winters, statistically more miserable than average. That really put me off. Need to see the sun and not to have a winter-looking spring and summer..... Kids are in bed at 7-8, I would not enjoy sunlight after 7 pm anyway :wink: About pension and savings, they are pain points. They are probably good reasons NOT to move again. Another point giving me the headache is that I would like to give some stability to kids, as well as a country and a citizenship Cheers

Hello folks:biggrin:. I need you Oz-enthusiasts and Gloomers to help me reconsidering the whole migration thing. There will probably be a window of opportunity soon 6-12 months to successfully apply for PR. Nothing too sure, but before investing time, energy and hopes in this I will need to be fairly sure I am not running 100 miles per hour into a wall. Here is my pros and cons: PROS - Not happy where we are, nor in UK. - We want to live in a English speaking country - We like easy access to nature and wide spaces - Fed up of long long winters and no sunlight (sunlight) - This is last chance, I simply will not have enough points in 3 years time - Not the first move around, we know how tough migration can be and how to handle it - Middle life crisis, I NEED CHANGE anyway CONS - In a perm role - Over 40 with a couple of forced career steps back - It will have to be a one way ticket, so to speak - No big pension and savings, enough for the move though - Even if I force myself to be realistic, I have the "live the dream" sindrome There is more, but no need for a 59 items list doh! Your thought? Write what you want, without abusive or overly negative remarks...

Hello, I was advised in UK and elsewhere to stick to a 2 pager CV (3 pages with projects, publications etc), unless otherwise requested by recruiter/employer. Typically the exception is an online form. Main reasons are: - easy and quick to scan through - when screening, recruiters will not spend more than 30 sec on it as an average - there other means to provide additional specific info, without a xl cv Would in be the same in OZ? Thanks

Does age count? When taking a few steps back in your career, you will have to compete with people 5-10 or even 15 years younger... :confused: Also, it is painful to take a job significanlty lower than the previous one. I would recommend to approach it as a career change decision, rather than "the only cr@p job was offer". There are several people out there who had to take the same decision to pay the bills, including myself at least twice. It won't kill you and it is better than sitting on the sofa watching your skills getting obsolete and your wallet emptier. Best of luck :biggrin:

Not in Oz and but experience in looking for a job not being a native speaker. From the feedback I have received over the years, I have realised the main reasons for not being successful with interviews had very little to do with my lamguage skills. Recruiters and employers like to choose positive, confident people. If you project an image of yourself as somenthing different that this, your chances to get the job immediately drop regardless your experience or how positive you really are outside the room. Could this be the case? Just a thought... Being out of work with little kids did affect my confidence and ability to look positive, still working on it after years... Best of luck.

2 years is a very long time :err:, not sure we could make 6 month on savings without some decent income. I can see risks for mental health and long term relationships, TBH I still have the scars of my last period of long unemployment and underemployment. Not that I went mad and divorced, but I do not wish anybody to be in the situation. Sorry to sound so negative guys :embarrassed:, I guess who went through a similar situation knows exactly what I am talking about...

Thanks :biggrin:

is there any kind of connection between these lists and the occupation lists?

Does PR give you access to some kind of unemployment benefits or jobseekers allowance in Australia? Thanks