Hayley723

Thanku. Yes it just hasn't worked out 4 us in Australia but we are glad to have had the experience even of it has cost us a fortune!!

Thanks legoman I really appreciate u asking 4 me. Dean74 yes there is loads of jobs on seek but from our experience is that getting them is a different story! My hubby applied 4 around 6 jobs a day & only had a couple call him back the pay is around $23-$25 per hour which sounds a lot but in Perth this doesn't go very far 4 the main earner our rent is $400 per week & our grocery shop is $230-$250 per week for 4 of us & that's not eating extravagant at all!

Sorry I'm confused r u talking about oz or the uk?

Great news LinziM its nice to see that you have settled in so well, its so true that when we were in the uk we moaned but its not until you leave that you appreciate everything thats there. I cant wait to return & I hope & pray that our transition back is as smooth as yours seems to have been!

Hi Fiona I did think that too but I have qualified as a personal trainer over here & it is reconised in the uk but if you qualify in the uk then come here you have to do it all again so now im not so sure...

Hi Everyone, My hubby has gained his Fork Lift truck licence whilst being in Australia which is one of the many certificates he paid for where he was promised a job & it didnt materialise! Its the counterbalance fork lift which apparently in the UK is the most popular type. I was wondering whether anyone knows whether this would be valid in the UK? I have tried to find the answer on google but nothing seems to come up. In the UK before we left we noticed that there does seem to be work around for fork lift truck drivers & a few of my hubbys mates do earn a decent living doing it. As we have to rebuild our lives again anything like this would be great to get him back on the uk working ladder. Thanks:yes:

We are going to Rowley Regis, just by oldbury outside Birmingham, it is where my hubbys family live as we will be staying with them for a month or so (not any longer than that hopefully or ill be on the plane back to oz!!lol!) find jobs then get a rental until we can buy somewhere. It all sounds so easy but we know it will be far from easy & we are already having sleepless nights about what we have got ahead of us. We lived in Netherton, Dudley before we emigrated but my son has insisted that he doesnt want to return to the same school as he said it will be embarrassing!! I didnt think kids thought like that! We do feel awful about globe trotting with them as it must be so hard for them starting new schools & having to make new friends but we know its the right thing to do for us & in the long run they will appreciate being back around their nan & grandad. Plus they can always say they experienced living in Australia & the 'what if' will be gone from our minds!

I totally agree aswell I think if you have a job to go to that is half the battle as there is already guaranteed income. Although its prob harder a employer sponsorship visa is def the way forward.

Thanks everyone for your kind messages we will be glad when were all settled & dreading the fact that we have to look for a rental & jobs but we feel that its the best decision for all of us. Please dont let me put others off moving to Australia. This is our personal experience here which hasnt worked out but everyone is different, Australia is a beautiful place.

Yes Shirley we had a nightmare with the visa & we feel like it now is all for nothing but we would stay & fight if it was what we all really wanted as we all went through such heartache to get here. We will have to go back to live with the in laws aswell until we get jobs then try & get a rental its all a nightmare! I have pm u about work. R u planning on moving to oz soon?

Hi everyone well Im back on poms in oz after 1 year, my last post was an update about my move over here! We have decided to head back to the UK after arriving here on 29th June last year, our flights are booked for 19th July to Birmingham & believe me it cant come quick enough, we even have a calender crossing off the days!! This is not because we hate Australia as Perth really is a beautiful place its just not for us & we are so keen to just get on with everything & rectify our lives. We are gutted as Australia has been our dream for 3 years & the permanent residency visas took 18 months to go through, there was so much heartache & stress involved & now we just feel as though its all for nothing! We came over here as my husband is a plasterer & with the uk economy there was just no work around, we also thought it would be a better life for our 2 children ages 9 & 6. We did come on a reccie trip in Nov 2010 & we liked it but now I know we were just looking through rose tinted holiday glasses & that when you have to accually make a living in this very very expensive place its completely different! I gave up my good job within the UK government, we sold a very nice house, the children left a lovely school in the uk & we made the move, we all had a week to settle in then my husband started looking for work & to our massive disapointment we realised that this perception that we had of us coming here & all my husbands work troubles going away was not real, he applied for job after job & no one was interested. We came over with savings but they were massively disapearing but we kept our chins up & got the children into a nice school in the area that we wanted, Butler. The children loved their schools & settled in very quickly. Anyway to cut a long storey short my husband decided to go up the mines as one of the dads at my childrens school was a superintendant fire fighter & said to my hubby if he did various courses he would get him up there, in Perth it is very much a case of not what you know its who you know! My hubby spent $3,500 on the courses passed them in 6 weeks & went up the mines, 8 days on 6 off. The money was good but after 3 months I was starting to feel incredibly lonely, the kids just wanted their dad around & I felt myself thinking that we hadnt moved to Australia for this lonely life, we had moved for a 'better' life. I told my husband I would rather go back to the uk than live like this & that I would look for a part time job aswell whilst he tried to use some of his qualifications to get a job in perth. I have 12 years admin exp so I started applying for jobs, my husband started applying for jobs aswell, he got called in for a couple of interviews but never ever heard anything back from them. That seems to be the score over here that you put yourself out to travel miles to get to an interview then they dont even have the decency to let you know either way! People keep telling me thats WA for you! I just think its bloody rude! I have been applying for on average 4-6 jobs everyday, whilst my husband was up the mines I qualified as a personal trainer, another thing I was conned in! I was guaranteed an interview at the end of the course after I had paid $3,200 but this never materialised & when I qualified & asked them about it I was told the work had 'dried up'! I was applying for personal training jobs then eventually got a job in a local gym, I was only given 10 hours a week & my weekly wage is $200, our shopping bill is $250 per week so I dont even cover that. I was told they have no more hours for me. I carried on applying for admin jobs as I had given up on personal training & I had also given up on part time jobs as Im sure in Perth they just dont exist, they dont believe in job share to create more jobs for working moms & I do believe that the UK is much more child friendly when it comes to working moms. I carried on applying for full time jobs but to this day have never had an interview, I just keep getting rejection emails saying my resume looks good but I have been unsuccessfull! I thought I would do ok as I have worked for the uk government for years but obviously not & am thinking that the accent may go against me. My husband started working for a plastering company but the requirement is 80 square metres a day! This has damaged his shoulder & he is in constant pain. When we first moved here I said to someone 'god the wages are high arnt they!' & the reply was 'yeah but you have to work for them!' that comment couldnt have been more true! The children have settled in fine but we all miss family aswell, we thought we would find it easier but its so hard & I think the children need their grandparents & cousins around them. We are glad that we have had the chance to experience living in Australia but we now feel its time for us to leave. Some people say you should give it at least 2 years but if we stayed any longer we would have no savings left, this experience has cost us in the region of £20,000 so we want to go now so we have enough left for a deposit for a house in the uk. There is absolutely no argument that the climate is better here but I feel we would be much more satisfied now in the uk & we will appreciate it for what it is, dont get me wrong we are totally dreading going back to find jobs in this recession as we have to rebuild our lives again but I would rather have to do that than stay here. We havent experienced 'booming perth' & I think unless you work away or work 14 hour days plus saturdays like my hubby has to then lifes a struggle here cos of the cost of living. We are not prepared to live our lives like that, we came here for a better life not to be work horses, lifes too short! I feel as though my confidence has been dented in terms of jobs & I feel since moving here that I have turned into a different person & just want my old self back. We have met people here but they arnt like real friends who you have loads in common with in a way you are just thrown together & we just feel so isolated here. Anyway enough of my waffle!! Were busy having removal quotes at the minute what a nightmare that is the cheapest so far is $4990, it only cost us £800 to bring over & its more or less the same stuff as we sold most of our furniture! Just the car to sell, a Mitsubishi Pajero for $16,000 so if anyone knows of anyone who wants one let me know! Bring on the 19th July!!!!:no: