bogdan

Ironman, was that a phone interview or a face to face interview?

@MrsPOB Thanks for sharing your experience. May I ask how you managed to find those companies? Was it just Google search or did you use certain websites? And how did you figure what roles they had available? A lot of companies use recruitment agencies and don't even post their openings on their own websites. I have PR but wouldn't move without a job offer as I'm doing quite well here in London and I can still wait for the right opportunity. Seek has been of no help so far so I'd like to try something similar to what you did. I'm a .Net contractor by the way.

I might also get a ticket if they have any IT jobs. So how about 16th Feb then in the afternoon?

Anyone up for London or nearby in February?

Anyone wants to meet up in February ? As a warmup for the one in the summer?

I'm in London...been actually thinking for some time to start a meetup group for migrants to Oz but never got around to do it. I'm keen to participate but why wait till summer?

I'm a contractor in London, developing under C#/WPF/SQL and using Agile/Scrum and TDD. I've never had problems finding jobs here, I get calls and emails from recruiters a few times per week, which keep adding to the general idea that the market's doing well over here. I'm thinking of moving in Oct/Nov to Sydney or Melbourne, mainly for a new experience and not to regret later in life I haven't given it a go. Having said that, my concerns about the job market over there are holding me up from making any commitments towards moving, such as leaving my job and house here and booking the flight. I have always regarded the job markets in Sydney and Melbourne smaller than London's but at the same I've always had the confidence that, despite that, I will still find jobs. This proved to be true as following a Skype interview I had last week I've already got an offer in my inbox. Unexpectedly easy but I won't accept it as their environment is surely not for me. The problem I have is that after this interview and also after skimming through the current jobs on seek I started wondering if high standards of work (software craftsmanship), Agile methodologies and a general focus on quality are not regarded as very important in Australia? I'm very picky when it comes to jobs and I'd rather go for a lower paid job where I can work with people that have high standards of professionalism over a high paid job where mediocrity and low quality are the norm. What are your thoughts on this? What do you feel is the general outlook of software craftsmanship and Agile in Australia?

Thanks Skani. That is what I was hoping to hear. The only remark someone made related to my nationality when I was in Adelaide, after telling her that I had studied computer engineering in Romania, was that she didn't know that such courses existed in my country. But these types of remarks don't bother me as they are the result of not knowing much about Europe. However, the same person had completely different views towards black people. She said that "we welcome migrants from all around the world, it's just the blacks that we don't want here" which adds to the reputation of Adelaide of being a racist city. Couple of years before that, in Port Augusta, I asked someone a question about Aboriginals. But instead he told me: "We don't call them Aboriginals here, we call them c**ns."

I was having a drink with one of my mates at a pub in Central London and an English lady in her 50s who was having a drink on her own and was a bit tipsy came to us and asked me a few times to "f*** off back home" and at the same time apologising to my friend (who is English) that she had to be rude in front of him, because we, Eastern Europeans don't get it if asked nicely. I would imagine though there should be less racism against Eastern Europeans in countries such as Oz/Us as they are not part of Europe?

What percentage of your earnings is your takehome, if you don't mind me asking? I'm also an IT contractor in London and I only pay about 20-25% tax. Just wondering how my income will be affected when I move to Sydney.

I watched Sinister last week. Was very nice, creepy atmosphere from beginning to the end, good acting, excellent music. Highly recommended.

To summarise what the others will tell you, you should do it because you've got nothing to lose and you might regret later if you missed the chance.

They say the onus is on the applicant to prove that special circumstances exist. Before going down the parent visa path which is very expensive, would it be possible to build a better case, including statements from the hospital management stating why her skills are so important, and lodge a new aplication? I understand that in the original application there was no evidence that the nurse had any special skills.

Sorry I misread your words. I didn't know that someone else on this planet could have done something similar.

I felt it was the wrong thing to do even before moving to Aus. The reason was merely a last minute realisation that I shouldn't make the move so early but in a few years time while visa still allows it. So it's not that I made up my mind in a few days. I had actually been to Aus before that and seen most of the major cities. I moved back so quickly simply because staying longer implied renting a house, buying furniture, all that kind of stuff. Was just bad planning really. Will move to Aus sometime in the next few years when it's going to be the right time for me. Now I don't see what point you are trying to make by saying that I'm often quoted, which, by the way, isn't even true.