Jimbo and Monika

Council housed and violent - would that term exist if they didn't, you know, exist? No smoke without fire etc. And there was no need to make me out to be some white van man, I don't get my opinions from the Sun - there is an underclass, some through no fault of their own. But it is there, so forget the bleeding heart lefty sh*te, when your mate gets knifed at 5pm on the train home and your missus gets mugged at knifepoint at 7am at Lewisham station to some crack head, come back to me. Sorry for the rant folks, as you were.

Sorry flag, but I would avoid Croydon like the plague for a good few years yet! If safety is your main concern, I would get something in one of the better areas. Anything! Have a look at http://www.kfh.com as they are big in the area. I know you can get a spacious 2 or 3 bed flat for 250 - 280k in Beckenham. If you are on a budget you may want to reconsider whether you really need a house, imo. A Chav is basically a more feral, violent version of a bogan. They tend to hunt in packs with assorted weaponry and make most normal people housebound after dark. Sadly much of South London generally is awash with these degenerates, one of the main reasons we left 18 months ago. Not meaning to put you off of course as I do miss it! I don't know Downham, sorry. I appreciate it is difficult to research these areas from afar, but for such a huge decision, despite being on a budget, I would seriously consider getting over there for a week or two's holiday and see for yourself. Hire a car and drive through areas like Thornton Heath and Croydon - if you come out the other side with your hub caps and windows in tact, they could be just the areas for you! Seriously though, a few thousand bucks spent now could save you ten times that down the line should you make a bad call.

This is spot on. I'm in a similar boat to the OP's other half (I think) - who is HR Consultant for a financial services company. In order to get to such a position I'd imagine she's been working her way up in a Corporate setting for at least 15 years. She can't go for junior HR roles as employers will go for younger & cheaper, grads etc. Despite having a number of transferable skills in the corporate world, not only has she not done the job of ......... before, but she doesn't have the local experience or network. So thats a no go as well. Then she thinks - I know, I'll try and just get a casual job, admin, even work in a cafe / bar. No go there either, too experienced for admin, not done any bar work for 15 years since Uni (THIS IS ME!!!). I completely understand their frustrations - I don't know whether they have looked for lesser / more menial jobs etc, but I have - and short of getting a commission only sales job or door to door sales, there really isn't much around, trust me.

I'd avoid Thornton Heath, and Norwood for that matter - run down, generally quite poor and populated with undesirables. Have you considered Beckenham? It's lovely and not too pricey, borders the nicer parts of Bromley - Shortlands too is very nice. Otherwise I would concur with Simmo on the rest.

I wouldn't be worried mate, it should be much more relaxed than an actual interview with a company that you are looking to join. Hopefully pretty casual and a good chance to build rapport with the consultant - get on with him/her and you stand a good chance of them signing your praises / promoting your skills and personality to their clients. Make sure you get their agreement that they will run client names past you first before sending your cv anywhere, you don't want them punting it out to all and sundry - but the market is tight, so the likelihood is that should you get on well, they will start to talk to potential clients about you and your background without revealing your name to gauge interest etc. Re the call - keep it casual, don't come across as needy or desperate. They will probably ask you to talk through your background - remember to highlight achievements etc, anything that sets you apart from the competition. A big hurdle I am finding at the moment is 'lack of local experience' - I've heard it even in IT circles, ridiculous quite frankly but in the current climate people are ultra-cautious - so I would discuss this head on and explain why lack of a network in SA will not be a problem because...if you've worked abroad or away before, mention examples of how you overcame this. Essentially you want to give the recruiter the ammo so that they can use your examples when they are 'selling' you and what you can bring to the party to their contacts out there. To sum up - keep it casual, don't be nervous. Your objective is to build rapport and prove you are a better candidate than anyone else they may have on their books - and get them excited enough to pick the phone up to their contacts after they have spoken to you. Be clear about what you are looking for in terms role, size & culture of company etc. That'll be $50 please. Just kidding - best of British to you!!

This won't be much help either, but we left Perth in September after 18 months - my wife is sponsored 457, but I lost my job so we decided to move to Melbourne. Her employer agreed the transfer which was great, I couldn't find anything thanks to mining affecting pretty much all other industries there. I work in recruitment and found that even central Melbourne pretty much closed for Xmas in mid-september! Like Perth, it seems that you have to have a local network in order to find anything and I'm climbing the walls. It's incredibly hard to keep positive for me, so god only knows what its like for the two of you, but I have to agree with others - you have to stick together and enjoy the time you do have together. Luckily there is a bit more to do in Oz thats free vs the UK, and summer is here. Wish you both all the best!

I feel your pain. Moved to Melbourne in September as Perth was on its knees, I thought Vic would have more going on. Turns out it closed for Xmas in September! I work in recruitment (11 years exp), and with no internal roles going, I reluctantly decided agency would have to do to get in. No local network has discounted over 50 % of the agencies even meeting me, whilst the others that were happy to see me for sometimes two or more interviews then decided this was also an issue for them. Arggh! Luckily my wife Monika is working on a 457 and there is little chance of her getting made redundant, but I'm at loss what to do if things don't pick up sharpish in the new year. Any savings are dwindling fast, and as mentioned elsewhere, there's seems little point going for lesser / casual jobs as i'm over qualified. I just hope there is someone half decent out there that might take a punt - I'm shocked just how conservative and risk averse people are here. Thankfully we're going back home for Xmas to recharge the batteries. I can't wait!

Hi! My 457 came through in 6 days! Not bragging as I too am lucky to do a job where sponsorship is reasonably common, but I found the companies I spoke to out in Oz so much more open minded than UK firms in the current climate - and they came to decisions (ie whether to hire / offer) a lot quicker too. We fly out to Perth on 26th April so are probably a little ahead of you in the panic stakes, but if you chip away and get a few bits done each day the enormity of moving to the other side of the world soon feels a bit more manageable. Best of luck with everything.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. Getting excited now. It does seem a very friendly forum Love Shoes, I might spice it up a bit over the next few months ;-)

Thanks Munchkin, I doubt we'll enjoy the move / flight etc but hoping to find somewhere to rent soon after landing (the one last remaining bit of stress!) - then we can enjoy it!

Yeah, funnily enough I'd considered shipping our stuff to Greece after we booked our flights to Perth. Thanks for your contribution

Thanks Dee! It turns out we're coming over early - Immigration chap said up to 6 weeks, but visa was approved after 6 days! Flights booked and nearly done informing everyone, sorting out admin etc. Perth seems to be expensive as well, but I've got a decent payrise out of it all so I'm hoping to be feel a little better off too once I start earning dollars. Fingers crossed!

Hi all, Only our second post, so be gentle :-) We're renting our London flat out and have decided to leave it furnished (ie we will leave the bed, white goods, sofas etc), so we really won't have enough stuff for a 20 ft container, and I'm loathe to spend c£3,000 and wait 3 months for just our clothes, TV, PC and bits and bobs. Has anyone just gone with Tea chests or smaller container packages that were better value for money? I've seen Seven Seas do a 'MoveCube' that looks ideal, any feedback on this/them from anyone please? Thanks in advance Jimbo & Monika

Hello all, We are new to the forum, having spent quite some time reading the various posts and general chit chat, thought it was about time we signed up! Our 457 visa application process is underway and whilst we can't be sure of our ETA in Perth, I'm guessing it will be early May. I'm sure lots of you have been through what we are experiencing at the moment, the enormity of relocation, planning how to leave everything in the UK in order, trying to research where to live, bricking it after reading about the cost of living etc, it's all rather scary, but in terms of getting organised as long as you aim to chip away and get things done in bite size chunks it soon feels more manageable. Looking forward to getting out there now, not sure of the point of this thread but it was cathartic in a way - I hope I didn't bore you all too much! Hope to chat to some of you soon. If anyone has any thoughts, advice or personal experiences on moving to Perth / relocation in general that they would like to share, we are all ears. Thanks in advance! Jimbo & Monika