stevegallagher

Things I have missed since being back: 1) Upbeat attitude 2) Lifestyle esp. social aspect of work and being outside more 3) Space and less crowding Things I didn't: 1) Distance and timezone difference with the UK 2) Hot Christmas 3) In your face shouted advertising

A very expensive year!! Hope all goes well with the move when you get round to it and please let me know how you find the market when you get there.

When I was in Australia on a WHV (2011-2012) I lived and worked for about 4 months in Adelaide and 6 months in Melbourne and found differences between both cities. I have to say the impression lot's of people have is that Adelaide is more like a "town" but it's certainly not in the same sort of scale as a UK town and felt like a big city to me. I really liked Adelaide because I had a few friends from my hometown who are living there, found work easily enough and found that work to be enjoyable and in general really liked the laid back feel to the place. I felt at home almost straight away and could happily have stayed. We moved on to Melbourne because my partner found work there. Initially I was not as keen on Melbourne, maybe because I liked Adelaide so much but after getting over that initial bias I found in to be a great place to live, bigger, slightly more cosmopolitan and with lot's of things to do. Personally I think the people who live in both cities are lucky and I could easily live in either place again. Also I think either city would certainly offer you what you are looking for in terms of outdoor activities and sports so my advice would be to go to the city where you might have a better chance of finding the right work for you because let's face it we spend so much time at work it's certainly a big factor. For us we hope to return to Australia and this will swing the decision on where to be but of course everybody is different! Hope it all goes well!

Hi Alan, I can't comment on Perth or the permanent job market but I spent a year in Australia on a WHV last year and managed to secure contracts for two energy companies whilst there. I am also a CIMA qualified accountant and my experience was that CIMA is a well respected qualification and once you have energy sector experience you are definitely in with a strong shout - I didn't have prior energy sector experience for the first contract but having it for the second contract really helped me secure the role. I have read on here that it's rare to secure anything from outside the country so I wouldn't be disheartened if you don't manage to secure anything before getting there. Best of luck, Steve

Thanks for the website I'll check that out and I've just checked and I did book the academic test thankfully! I think we'll have 80 points but maybe less if I don't hit all 8's and we may not go ahead with my partners skills assessment if we can live without the 5 points. It's good to know that at 65 you still have a good chance. I've just sent you a PM with his details, if anything at least you might be able to get some up to date market info. If you have any further work questions or just general living feel free to ask. I think the only other question I have is if you received your visa this month is there a deadline for you to validate it? The reason I ask is we are planning on getting married before we head out and I need to get the timings, not to mention the budget right!

Thanks for that really useful timeline! How many points did you have for your EOI? I saw that if you get 8's on the IELTS you get extra points, did you find the exam difficult? I worked in Adelaide CBD for two months and in South Yarra (just outside Melbourne CBD) for four months and both jobs were for energy companies. The market I felt was comparable to the UK and it took me around 4 weeks to secure a contract although that might have happened sooner if I didn't have the visa restrictions (I could only do contract roles - can't really comment on the permanent market unfortunately). I came home June 2012 but have kept in touch with some friends - most recently a fellow accountant who said it just took him two months to secure a new role. I guess like over here you need a bit of luck there too. I found it to be a different work environment but that pay and conditions were good and I seriously enjoyed the lifestyle in Melbourne. If you do decide on Adelaide let me know and I can send you the contact details for a good recruiter I worked with whilst I was there.

Hi Morana, Yes you are right it is the 189 visa! How long did it take you to secure your visa from start to finish? Have you made the move to Oz yet and where are you planning on going? I have just booked the IELTS which is at the end of February so just at the start of the whole process. Thanks for the advice I'll take a look at the CPA website although I'd imagine Management Accountant would probably be the same for me considering my work history. Kind Regards,

I'm looking for some advice on partner skills - does anybody know if in order to get the additional 5 points would my partner need to get a full skills assessment from VETASSESS (her occupation as an Environmental Health Officer is on the SOL) or is there a different process with her not being the main applicant? Thanks.

Hello All, After having spent a year in Australia on a WHV me and the better half have decided to submit an EOI for an independent migrant visa subclass 175. I have just signed up for an IELTS exam and have been looking at the CPA website in order to get a skills assessment and was wondering if anybody could please advise me if it would make any difference if I picked the ANZCO code for a Management Accountant or a General Accountant. I'm guessing that from the occupation ceiling list where accountants are grouped together under a 2211 code that it wouldn't make a difference but really I was just looking for confirmation of this. Bit of background I am a CIMA qualified accountant with 5+ post qualified years and I know from being over there that CIMA have a reciprocal agreement with CPA Australia so I don't think there would be any problems in getting a positive assessment but I'm really just interested to know how the ANZCO code would affect things. Also from research I don't think it would count for anything but would having worked in Australia as an accountant for 6 months count towards anything? Thanks, Steve

I also miss the availability of sushi - it seemed to be on sale on every corner in Melbourne and now I have to go way out of my way.

I have to say that I've never had a better sausage roll than the one's I had in Australia! They just don't make them like that in England.

Hi Sean, I was looking into something like this when we were travelling last year and know that MoneyCorp do an explorer card that let's you have multiple currencies in the one account. I never went for this option in the end so don't know the ins and outs of it so can't advise on whether it's any good or not. By the way that sounds like a great trip! Kind Regards, Steve

A lot depends on the sort of work you do I'm an accountant and was over in Australia on a working holiday visa last year and managed to secure a two month contract in Adelaide and another four month contract in Melbourne that was paying market rate. I agree the visa does get queried and certainly doesn't help with securing work but if you are genuinely going to see out a contract you might get lucky.