Katiem

Just seen this thread .. wow, there's loads of us around the same age in Sydney I reckon a big meetup is in order! I'm 27, moved out here in January by myself and loving it so far. I'm working in the CBD and living North Shore. Would love to meet some of you and quite open to suggestions and areas etc.

Hi Paul, I moved to Sydney by myself, knowing just a couple of people out here, but not people I particularly wanted to spend alot of time with. I was lucky in that I started work 3 days after landing (sorted a job before I moved) and found the routine helped me settle quickly. When you find work, it'll all start clicking into place for you!! In the meantime, I found the 'meetup' site really useful. I've been to quite a few things through the site and met some really nice people, some of whom I now consider friends. Have a little look, I'm sure you'll find some events that suit you! Hope this helps

CPA only reecognised experience from completing the strategic level exams for me so I didn't include that information in my visa application. DIAC recognised all of my working experience (I think - you don't get information from them to confirm.)

I am so suprised by this. I was granted my visa as a CIMA accountant and had all of my experience counted but had only been a CIMA member for around 4 months when I submitted my application. I think the key here is the Uni degree. I was deemed "skilled" from having completed my degree even though it was completely unrelated to accountancy. As you don't have a degree they must count the completion of CIMA as when you became skilled. I'm suprised they took member status rather than exam completion date for this though. Many people don't complete their extended profile but are still CIMA qualified. As others have said, maybe try IELTS again and/or apply for state sponsorship if this is an option? Good luck!

It is different for everyone as we all have different situations. I came over with alot less (about 5k GBP) but I started work 3 days after arriving and had no intention of buying a car etc. Also, as it's just me, I was happy to scrimp where necessary and made do with just buying a bed and a fridge for my rental to start wit,h as my money had to last until I got paid a month later. I did have fall back money in the UK (wanted to leave as much as possible in my offset mortgage account!) but luckily was able to live without it Have a real think about what you need to buy before you start getting money coming in and do some price research. If you budget properly and stay strict with yourselves, you could live on any budget that you need to. But I think you'll be fine with what you've got!!

I don't see why not?!? I guess you just need to know where to look for the type of role you're looking for and the type of visa you'd be on. Most companies have a marketing department so there will always be work out there. I'd suggest looking on seek.com.au and linkedin as a starter to see what's being advertised and if it suits?

I only moved to Sydney in January so I saw alot of changes in the UK but personally, I was unaffected. If I hadn't moved, the answer may have been different. I had a good full-time job in which I always received annual pay rises etc and though most of the high street shops closed, working full-time, I only did online shopping anyway. I have never received benefits from the Government and didn't personally require schools, hospitals or police so any cut backs there meant little to me. However, as an employee in finance, I worked on the next years budget/forecast for April onwards and it was very clear just how many cut-backs were going to be made and the number of planned redundancies was scarily high ... and I worked for a huge multi-national where I had always felt my job was fairly safe so I can see that the recession and its impacts are far from over.

Conservatives ... with Boris Johnson as PM. That way at least we'll all be entertained!

My shipping arrived in Melbourne 9th March so a few days before yours. I've not heard anything yet but I was also told 2 weeks so it sounds right to me. I'm hoping to receive my boxes before easter so I can have a few clear days off work to sort it all out!

27 ... living alone in Sydney and loving it!!

Hi everyone, I just saw this thread. Sounds like a great idea and I'd love to meet up with you all but I already have plans for this weekend. Hopefully by replying though I can get email updates to posts on the thread I'm 28, moved here alone in January and living in Cammeray (just over the bridge in North Sydney) but working in the CBD. Enjoy the meet up!!

It's amazing how differently different banks/mortgage companies react to this. I'm with the One Account and things couldn't have been simpler! I phoned up to tell them I wanted to rent out my house as I was moving abroad and they processed my "application" whilst I was on the phone and granted permission straight away. No change to my mortgage and they only charged 100GBP.

Yep .... me too!!! :wink:

Oh, I didn't notice we were putting football teams down too?!? Whoops. I'm a life-long Burnley fan :cute: (where I'm originally from though the accent is long lost!)

Cammeray postcode is 2062 :smile:

Totally agree with this, applying direct to companies is much better than using agencies/seek etc. I found LinkedIn had loads of job vacancy listings and used that as the basis of my search. Good luck.

I'm up in Cammeray and I love it! Buses to the city every 5 mins in the morning and I'm to my office in about 25 mins from door to door.

Hi, I can't comment on Perth specifically but I too am a CIMA qualified accountant and though I'm in Sydney, I found that employers here love UK accountants and I had no trouble securing a job! I did most of the work before I arrived (I did book a 3 week reccie though in which I had "final interviews" with a few companies) which helped alot but all the ground work and initial interviews were done by phone and skype. You'll find that most Australian accountants come up through chartered backgrounds so corporates def prefer accountants from abroad as experience counts for alot more here than in the UK. I reckon with your background, you'll be fine. Good Luck!

I guess it really depnds on the industry. As an accountant with all commercial experience, I was quite lucky as the employers I spoke to preferred my experience over the local candidates as it's valuable to get a mix of backgrounds. Also, most Australian accountants seem to come up through chartered companies and the experience is totally different and they often don't fit well into corporates. Good luck with the job hunt.

LAST DAY AT WORK!!!! So excited that I've finally got to this point. Leaving drinks tonight and then off I fly with my 1 way ticket to sunny Sydney on Monday

Hi, I totally understand your situation as I was there myself but as an accountant. I found seek wasn't great as the majority of adverts are recruitment agents trying to catch job seekers onto their books. Try LinkedIn and going directly to multinational companies. Each of them will have a careers section on their websites advertising vacancies. Then tailor your covering letter to each role ... time consuming but does make a difference. I use the same letter each time but have 3 sentences which I alter and always include the company name somewhere so it looks personalised. I find that going direct also shows the company that you have picked them out and that you want to work for them. I did a number of Skype and telephone interviews, so companies will do it. However, I did include in my resume/covering letter a note to say I would be in Sydney from January 2013 so it gave a timeframe to work to and assurance that I was moving and, I made a 3 week reccie trip in November. I secured a job whilst I was there with a company I had already done a phone and skype interview with. Hope some of this helps you?

Yay!! Hope it all moves quickly for you now! Good luck

I thought your skill had to be on their list for them to sponsor you but you've already been sponsored from what I can see on your signature so this shouldn't cause a hold up, but only DIAC know how they work

Yeah, I never provided information about CPA's opinion of my experience (because I disagreed with them and thought DIAC would too) and I was passed ok. I wonder why they're requesting it. I reckon you should give your CO a ring to see what she really wants, could just be something really simple.

She was KD. Is your wife the main applicant? It's odd that they want TRA's opinion, I thought they decided things like that for themselves?!