Wooky

Dump it and forget it. The amount they charge in interest on cards should be illegal anyway.

Have to say its quite funny that people on a migration forum are bemoaning the amount of immigrants and threatening to vote BNP lite! Oh the irony.......

It's all brown dogs in China and Vietnam too, reason is that they're actually bred for eating, people don't, as a rule, grab Rover off the street for a stew. Have to say I didn't partake of the tarantula in Cambodia, looked revolting!

Hi Ruthy I'm a UK legal exec with about 15 years experience but they don't recognise us as lawyers in Australia. The Institute of Legal Executives in Victoria is more for legal secretaries. I found work as a PA in Melbourne - good money and no stress! You could look for work as a paralegal but competition is tough particularly if you don't have "local experience". Have you checked government websites. They have jobs where they ask for legal qualifications but not necessarily qualified to practise. Not sure if that will fit with any work visa application. I came over on a spouse visa and hoped for the best :-). You can expect to earn between $60-$70k as a sec/PA so its not bad. Better than I was earning in the UK as a lawyer just before we left London! Good luck. Dawn

Wpuldn be for everyone Paul, but in nine months travelling, we met loads of people.in their sixties and seventies, including one Belgian bloke who was mooching about China on his own looking for a place to study, he was 74. To be honest, if you can climb four steps into a train, clamber into a top bunk and put up with Cambodian buse, then you can get from London to Singapore overland.

We've just done that Fisher, well London to Bangkok overland. Month in Russia, three in China. Brilliant time, and we're both 48

Yep, true, but she's applying for legal secretary positions over here, not bothered about practicing. She's scoring 'excellent' on the secretarial skills tests but still struggling to find a job, even temping. Nohea, where in Queensland are you and where did your other half find his job?????? Sorry about the double post, on me phone and not particularly internet savvy, me

Thanks Sal Surf, agents would tell you that, its how they make money at the end of the day. I'm a chippy, 20+ years experience including loads of high end work and running the carpentry side of jobs in the UK. I've applied in regional Australia not just Melbourne which is supposed to be crying out for chippies, nothing, not one phonecall in six weeks. Just to clarify, I hold Australian citizenship, my parents were ten pound Poms in the seventies but I haven't been here for 24 years. My wife is a UK lawyer and can't find anything either, lacks 'local experience' apparently, which I think is my problem. Carpenter is still on the skill shortage list, but that list is no reflection of the jobs available over here in our experience. I'm not saying don't come, but be aware that its tough over here ATM. Not sure where you're from, I've been in London the last 24 years and I'd have work tomorrow if I was back there, would be earning more than what's advertised here too. Just so you know

Thanks Sal Surf, agents would tell you that, its how they make money at the end of the day. I'm a chippy, 20+ years experience including loads of high end work and running the carpentry side of jobs in the UK. I've applied in regional Australia not just Melbourne which is supposed to be crying out for chippies, nothing, not one phonecall in six weeks. Just to clarify, I hold Australian citizenship, my parents were ten pound Poms in the seventies but I haven't been here for 24 years. My wife is a UK lawyer and can't find anything either, lacks 'local experience' apparently, which I think is my problem. Carpenter is still on the skill shortage list, but that list is no reflection of the jobs available over here in our experience. I'm not saying don't come, but be aware that its tough over here ATM. Not sure where you're from, I've been in London the last 24 years and I'd have work tomorrow if I was back there, would be earning more than what's advertised here too. Just so you know

You don't have to in Victoria, not sure about the other states but you should ba able to find out on the respective government websites. Be aware that there are a lot of unemployed trades out here at the moment, in Melbourne anyway, I've been looking for six weeks and not had a sniff of work yet.

...........how to shoehorn a twenty year carpentry CV into a job packing peanuts?? Seriously, they want relevant experience and two recent referees for a job packing godforsaken nuts!! Arrrgghhhh!! There's probably an expensive, one day nut packing course at some TAFE somewhere. This is driving me, errrrr, nuts!!!

Expected 'em to be 'orrible, but not quite this 'orrible to be honest, was hopng Clegg et al would rein them in a tad but they've just taken their minister for kit kat wrappers potfolio and quietly tutted on the sidelines. Ended up with a government further to the right and more 'orrible than Thatcher in my opinion. What's even worse, they're all braindead to boot!!

Yeah, its all going swimmingly, unless you happen to be disabled, sick or one of the many that have lost their jobs to this despicable government' s idiotic policies.

Just to let people know, if they don't already, a British HGV licence is not transferable over here. Just swapped mine today and they only would give me a car licence, they don't recognise a foreign truck license over here. I've had an HGV in England for eighteen years, swapped for an Aussie truck licence in 95 (did the course and my test in Oz, still have an old Oz licence) but no go, would have had to start at the beginning again. I know not many will be coming over looking for driving work, I didn't, I'm a chippy, but for me and, I expect, some others, it was a viable alternative. Not possible. There goes another potential income stream!

Errrrrr, if you're ever looking for another one, please drop me a line!!!!!