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Hi all, I work for an on line parenting website called Kidspot. We are currently recruiting for part time staff (hours to suit) in our Directory Team in the Melbourne Office (off St Kilda Road) The work involves making/receiving calls to prospective advertisers to the Directory. Full training is given. Pay is approx $20+ per hour PLUS uncapped bonus.! I have worked for Kidspot for a year and love working here. If anyone wants a job description or further information please let me know. Elaine

Just wondering the demographics of where people originated from in the UK, so which county did you come from and where have you ended up?

Regular visitors to this site will surely recall my now, clearly iconic thread, "Melbourne smells" written back in April 2011, 6 months into this move of ours to Melbourne. Thank you all for your contributions. Well, we have continued in Australia, we have not given up and in 2 days we will make a move down to Torquay, we have found a wonderful house and we absolutely love the town and the area surrounding it. It's a bold move as it will leave me with a 90 minute commute to work, and my wife with a 60 minute commute twice a week, but I am confident I will find something in Geelong soon. It's like our move out here 12 months ago all over again. It will be totally different to this last 12 months, but I must say there is a lot to be said for not giving up. We were desperate to escape suburbia and felt trapped in our rental contract and work, but we just carried on and found a few things we enjoyed and just kept doing them. We are so glad we didnt just give up and go home. The message is, really, that it can be hard when you first get here, maybe not what you hoped for. But it's important to spend the first year finding what you want and where you want to live. Its unlikely the first place you land will give you everything you dreamed of. We now are permanent residents and we are off to get what we came here for. Good luck to anyone just starting out over here from the UK and make sure you keep at it as you will find what you are looking for in the end I am sure!!

Hi /I will be in Melbourne next Dec i am searching for part time job /i am accounting / i graduated from faculty of commerce / i have some experience in business management and data entry if any one can help me....Thanks.

We're looking to move to Mornington/Martha but I'm just wondering what the position is like in the area for part time jobs maybe along the lines of audio/copy typing, shop work or that sort of things? OH will most likely be working in the CBD but I just wanted to do my bit for the finances and of course start to meet people. Have you found it easy.

Hi there, I have a couple of questions about getting my quals and experience recognised in Oz... if anyone has been through the system with the same level of qualifications and experience as me, I would be really interested in hearing about it... I'll explain a little about where I am... I am currently applying with TRA as a gas fitter for the purposes of a visa (it's cheaper than using VETASSESS as an electrician). However, I would also like my electrical qualifications and experience recognised. I understand that if TRA successfully assessed me and issued an ARTC, then once some additional training had been done with PEER in SA or CET in WA, a full grade A license can be obtained. My uncertainty is that I don't have C&G 2360 or 2330... I am just an NIC registered Domestic Installer, with a full scope license and 17th Edition. I have plenty of experience rewiring houses, fault finding, testing and certifying but only in the domestic field. I'm not sure if my quals and experience will be enough for an ARTC? Has anyone else on this forum applied for ARTC, only being a Domestic Installer? My other question is about when to apply... I have read that a few people on here have applied for ARTC whilst still being in the UK (from a thread in Sept 2011)... I thought that an ARTC can only being applied for with a valid visa to work and an Aussie address? Can anyone who has any experience of this tell me how they managed to apply whilst still in the UK? Did you give an Aussie address on your app or were you honest? Thanks in advance guys - this forum is sooooo helpful!

Hi, moveing back to the Uk.Would like to sell or consider P/E Lowset brick house Has 3 bedroomeds all double with cieling fans,double fitted robes,main with ensuite,+ family bathroom.Double garage,fully fenced on 2.5 acres two road frontage.15 min Toowoomba 1hr to Brisbane.Check it out on realestate.com.au Enter Withcott. 4352 1st Prop on page, Prop.No.107364785 ReMax

Hi John My name is Richard, I have recently moved to Perth from the UK to continue my career and experience life that this wonderful city has to offer. I am currently looking for part time work or causal hours in Perth and I am available to work straight away. I am keen, hard working with a positive attitude and always aims to provide a high quality service. Should you require further information or a copy of my CV please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind regards Richard

I am on a 457 visa and I'm interested in doing an part time online, global MBA course whilst continuing to work full time on my 457. Is this acceptable within the terms of my visa?

Hello! Been some really useful threads on here already so after the occasional bit of lurking here I thought I'd sign up and say hello! I'm applying for a 175 visa and just did my IELTS on Saturday (fingers crossed) and already passed the skills assessment, should be ready to put in the visa application soon! Oh, and hello to anyone else who was doing the IELTS at the Bede Centre in Sunderland on the 3rd if you are on here! Neil.

Hi there, please can anyone let me know how easy (or not) it will be to find part time work in the above areas in these times of uncertainty. I've been accepted on a Student Visa to SC TAFE and possibly to AICA on Gold Coast for July 09 so we can only do 20 hours, plus we need to fit it around college and our sons. We are willing to do almost anything. Please help if you can as this is the only thing thats stopping me sending my acceptance forms back! Many many thanks for viewing this post. Diane:confused::unsure:xx

So how are the reading and listening parts scored? I noticed that the answer sheet is computerized, which probably means that it is run through some sort of a scanner. Personally, I would much rather have someone correct it because -especially for the listening part, we can put down a synonym for an answer that is correct, but the computer may mark as wrong. What do you think? Or are both parts marked by both a computer and a person?

Just noticed that when checking my online banking with yorkshire bank that the address bar show it as being part of the National Australia Banking Group (Europe). Would this make it easier / cheaper to transfer money once in australia or even move the account across to NAB?

Hi All, I am moving to Sydney in November with my husband and 7 month old baby and am looking for part time work. I am looking for something in the evening or weekends so my husband can have the baby. I have done market research previoulsy so wouldn't mind something like that or similar call centre based role as it will allow me to meet other people (probably all students if its anything like the UK) and get some extra income without having to pay out for childcare. Thanks,

Soooo, today was the day I took the IELTS for a second time, and to make a long story short, I royally screwed up the listening section. :cry: I don't know if it's me or not, but I found it harder than the last test. Even the reading section was harder - instead of writing three words, only one word was allowed. It was murder for me to find the exact word or even a closely related word in such dense paragraphs. Honestly, I don't think I've done too bad in the reading, but it's that listening section that I know I missed out on. :arghh: The good news is that I won't let this deter me.... I am determined to take it again if I fail. Point is, I wonder if IELTS upped up their difficulty standards, or if it was just me... I guess time will tell :confused:

Hubby wants us to consider emigrating to Perth, but has also mentioned Queensland or Adelaide. We plan on a visit but would like to ask what part would others advise/recommend? I am 31, hubby 34, children are 8, 7 & 5. We are quite an out going family, we enjoy days out, eating out, the beach, animals, shopping, good food.... we do nt want to live anywhere too remote, we all fancy somewhere coastal. The weather is an issue, anywhere too humid would be a problem I think as I am sure the children would find it too much, maybe they'd adjust. I won't want anywhere that gets too cold in the winter, but I guess winter there is nothing in comparison to the UK, but nice warm weather all year would be a bonus. So somewhere ideal for families and nice weather. Any ideas?:wink:

Hi very new to the site! My partner is currently filling out form 40SP and is stuck on Part E: About your home! Does it mean home we live in England or the home we will live in in oz? As we dont know where that will be yet can we put his parents address?? Thanks for help in advance! Carly

Morning/Evening All. As we know the migration procedure (journey) is one of many ups and downs, ones we can negotiate fairly easily and some we find a lot more difficult. But in the grand scheme of things what for you personally was/is/might be the most difficult part. Is it the paperwork, the 'choices', saying goodbye to family, arriving, settling, 'fitting in' money concerns, homesickness, anything that you have or will experience, what has been the hardest part? On a very personal level I guess I am really lucky, having taken the 'dive' many moons ago the paperwork though difficult was relatively easy to overcome. My family were/are very supportive of me (in fact they often said, GO, :mad::wubclub:), and to a degree always managed to fine work no matter what it was. I guess the most difficult part for me is realising that each time I go back my parents are getting older and I worry about them constantly, no matter how supportive they maybe. But some how I get through this with their love and support, and hey, 24 hours and if needed I could be back here like a shot, no matter what was going on in Australia. I realise that to some this will be a fairly hypothetical question dependent on far into the migration process you are, but your concerns and worried are as valid at this point in time. So in the grand scheme of things what or will you find the most difficult thing to overcome when we decode to embark on the journey that is migration? Cheers Tony.:wink:

Hi everyone, We sent off our skills assesment on 30/04/11 and received them back within a week. We then sent off the WA SS last week and received it back today saying we have been succesful. Does anybody know how long the main visa takes to come back as I think we have been VERY lucky so far!! We are still in shock that it has been approved so quickly. Also, we stated that we would be taking $80,000 with us which was based on the sale of our house, however, we were planning to keep the money in this country until the exchange rate is better, our SS acceptance letter stated that we have to transfer the $80,000 to cover our living expenses.........are they going to check this and kick us out if we don't transfer it? Look forward to hearing your replies : ) Thanks

Hi all , We have had our permanent residency granted in april this year. looking to move to the Brisbane area before the end of the year .I am a stonemason to trade and have been working on a self employed/sub contracting basis for 11 years now , meaning i have been working on contracts for many many companies over the years and completed loads of smaller jobs as well , I am trying to put together a CV/resume at the moment and pulling my hair out as I dont know how to word my work experience and companies worked for etc , has anyone been in this position before or can anyone who knows about reading or writing CV's advise me on what sort of thing to put in as i cant list every company I have completed work for or list every job I've done as it would take too many pages and I hear companies dont like very long Cv's , this is the first one I have done since leaving school !! :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

Hi all Were are trying to complete our Vetassess skills assessment & are trying to obtain the syllabus for the City & Guilds 2360 Part 1. Cant find a copy anywhere & apperently City & Guilds not hold the syllabus in their archieves either. :arghh: So what did other people do :confused: or has anyone got a copy etc they could give me, ppppplllllleeeeeaaaaasssseeeee. :smile: Thanks in advance :hug:

Bit of a long one this, have been so busy the last 2 weeks have barely had time to think, but now getting into the swing of things thought it was about time for arrival report number 2. Perhaps a grap a cuppa and get comfy first though...:wubclub: First few days were really crap, jet lag really hit us hard, we felt so drained and ended up spending 2entire days in bed trying to recuperate. Two weeks on and we are both much better, but I have to say I was surprised at just how much it knocked us for 6. We went to Melbourne 2 years ago and were fine within 2-3 days... I think the worse jetlag this time around is owed to the fact that because our flight leaving the UK wasn't until 22.00, and getting up at 9am, meant an additional 13 hours of being awake. We were then delayed by 6 hours as well once we got to Singapore , bringing our total 'being awake time' to just over 42 hours.:goofy: We did of course doze on the plane but I shall think twice about booking a flight at place of origin so late on in the evening again... Anyway, when I say us, it's just me and my hubby. We have no children and this is our own little adventure before we settle down and look at starting our own family. Being a midwife I am lucky that I have a job that is transferable around the globe (which is partly why I chose to get into that field in the first place) and after almost 3 years of working in the NHS decided the time was right to try something different. So I started job hunting last April and applied for my then QNC registration (which subsequently turned out to be an extremely lucky decision, and granted in 5 weeks after hearing nightmare stories of all those poor people being stung by aphra) and by May had had 2 telephone interviews and offered 2 jobs. Now we would have been in oz a lot sooner if it wasn't for our house, which lost 15k with the market crash, and the bank refusing to let it out as we were almost in negative equity. Fortunately after 6 long months, the bank finally realised that if they could keep us paying our fixed rate mortgage (higher than the bank of englands current rate) they would be on a winner, so agreed to us letting it out. November 2010 onwards has been crazy, we decided to ship some of our sfurniture and belongings, as I was offered a relocation package and had some lovely furniture that we felt would be irreplaceable for the same or even similar cost in oz. We applied for the visa, which took 10 days, and then thought of nothing else but oz morning, noon and night that only those who have emigrated can relate to! We lived with the inlaws to save some money for 4 months and then flew on April 3rd 2011 after a tearful farewell from friends and family. Our first impressions of Australia were and still are great. Climate wonderful here in Brisbane, sure afew rainy days but warm, and when the sun does come out, the heat is unbelievable. We have a litre tub of suncream which we keep in the car and is fast becoming our best friend! Friendly people (I was quite scared of being called pommy all the time but so far so good!) and great coffee! I just love the coffee culture here, cafe tables lining the streets and people sitting out in them virtually all day. There is no recession here that's for sure. We are initially staying up in mango hill for 4 weeks (being jest the 2 of us we didn't need a big house, nor did we have the money to spend on an inner city apartment) which has been great albeit a little far out. We spent the few days after the jet lag driving round and looking to buy a car, and managed to pick up a little Toyota echo for 7000 dollars. We already knew from researching ahead how expensive to our English pound, cars are here, although we found quite a few little garages who had much cheaper vehicles if you don't mind roughing it for a bit! I would have been quite happy with a banger but the OH was adamant we would find something a little more upmarket, so the 7000 dollar echo it is. Next task, find somewhere to live. Now that did take us by surprise, whether it's because of the floods, or population growth or a combination of both, real estate is ferocious here! After doing the commute on the M1 from bris central to mango hill/ north lakes we soon decided that lovely as the area is, the journey is a killer. So have recked up quite a few kms looking at ferny grove and it's surrounds, the gap, camp hill/ norman park/ coorparoo and eventually decided that any of those areas would do for now! Especially as we couldn't limit ourselves to just one area as trying to find a rental was soon becoming a nightmare. We would phone up enquiring about properties newly listed, only to be advised that they had already had applicants. Or we'd be advised of an inspection date, push for a private viewing which the agents would be adamant they couldn't do, and then get a phone call the next day to say the property had gone. It turned out people are blindly applying for property, and for particularly for Coorparoo area, anything within the 350-400 per week would be snapped up. We learnt fast to keep an eye out on real estate website and as soon as anything new came up that looked ok, called up for a viewing, and blagged a bit to get a viewing asap. With this method we managed to view quite a few of which about a third were absolute wrecks. How anyone would put their homes up for viewing in such a state I will never know. Anyway, After a week of intensive and unrelentless searching, driving and phone calls and fearing we'd never find anywhere to live, we viewed a couple of apartments in Coorparoo/ camp hill area that was just within our price range and perfect for what we were after. So we hot footed it down to the agents offices and applied there and then, we were the first to view one of them and were told they'd call us the next day to let us know. One of the receptionists seemed unsure about us as we have no credit rating is oz, and no previous rental history, but we fought our corner and attached a covering letter with our application really selling ourselves with phrases like 'a young professional couple,' ' as landlords ourselves to our UK property, we understand how stressful it can be letting out your home, we are honest reliable and responsible who will make excellent tenants'. I also played up to the fact i needed a crb check and letters of good standing for my QNC registration, and attached references i had written by contacts before we left the UK. Our savings account balance in the UK, my contract of employment, a letter from our mortgage provider saying our mortgage was paid on time and never been in arrears etc, as well as paperwork from other financial dealings like our council tax letters were all added into the mix. Basically it came down to throwing as much paperwork as we could at them, as well as a good chat at the desk to try and make them see that we were decent people.! After all that, the next day we had a phonecall from one of the agents saying wed been approved and that they had 'decided to give us a chance'. Bloody cheek, still we were chuffed to bits and it came at the right time because we were absolutley shattered. I dont think we could have continued our search for another week! The second property, we didn't get but at least it made our decision easier. The only small problem is that our current accommodation finishes end of the month, I start work on the 3rd may, but the property isn't available for us to move into untill 17th may. As a side note:**Any tips anyone has on cheap self catering accommodation close to the mater for 2 weeks would be fab.... On the shopping front, I have to say some items brought from our uk pound savings are expensive, coke for some reason was 2 bottles for 22 dollars in Coles! We stuck with the Coles cola brand, 99c can't go wrong! But on the whole, we haven't found it to be that bad. Reason being, you have to look at what you earn in dollars and work out your shopping cost from that. You can't keep converting it to uk pounds because then yes, everything is really expensive. We have also found some great little hardware shops, fruit and veg markets, and little shops on the side of main roads which are loads cheaper than in the supermarkets. Same goes for little butchers and bakery shops dotted around. If you look around, there are cheaper places, and neither of us can understand what everyone is going on about in terms of food shopping being so expensive. Perhaps the supermarkets up north of the city are a lot cheaper? Or because its just the 2 of us ? To be honest It's really baffled me that one... If you want the convenience of everything in the same place, then be prepared to pay the prices, tesco doesnt dominate the landscape here, and you have to be prepared to shop around. So in addition to the above we have also sorted out Medicare, which was easy and took a few minutes, and applied online for a tax file nimbler, again didn't take long to apply but we still haven't had them yet. Now we have sorted out a car and somewhere to live we are spending some time exploring this beautiful country (or at least a very small part of it!) and enjoying every minute. The beaches on the sunshine coast are stunning, being in mango hill it's easier to nip to mooloolaba than battle with the southern motorways to get to the gold coast, but it's more for us to explore when we eventually live that side of the river. I had my first experience of body boarding today (along with all the little kids lol) but good fun. Water temp 24 celcius, and just beautiful. Southbank too, is a real gem, and even in the aftermath of the floods there are pools and lagoons free to use, as well as the gardens or stroll along the river. The weather here just makes it so much easier to enjoy these things. It will be amazing once they have finished all the renovation going on there. The only little moan I have is traffic here. It is a nightmare. And some of the drivers here are nutters! Have never commuted to a major uk city for work, so can't compare (perhaps it's the same) but you have people overtaking you, undertaking you and if you don't go as soon as the light is on green (no amber here is like red, red now GO) they are up your a**! Quite an experience I can tell you! Peak times avoid like your life depends on it, or be prepared to sit in traffic for endless hours. On the other side, public transport here is fantastic, and cheap. Costs 3.88 dollars from bald hills station to Brisbane central. Where we lived in shropshire it cost us £5.59 to go 10minutes two stations away. So there you go, long rant but we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves here, and skyping home for free and being able to see and speak to loved ones like they are in the next room makes it so much easier to stay in touch. Going to a brisbanittes meet up a week on sat so hoping to meet some fellow poms. Considering 1:10 are brits here (apparently) we have only met one young girl in pizza hut from Liverpool. Cheerio for now:smile:

:cry: I am writing this we a teer in ma eye but me and ma old gal have decided to part , we have been together for a long time and she has been through thick and thin we ma, never ever let ma doon but we have decided that enough is enough. As a Scotsman i know this will hurt me in the pocket but what can i do:cry: sad sad day, och well

Well we are here at long last! Flew Singapore airlines, we were really worried about being over weight (20kg allowance which we got upped to 25kgs in advance though our cases finally weighed 24 and 28kgs:confused:) but we needn't have! The guy who checked the bags in didn't bat an eyelid, didn't weigh hand luggage (which was also well overweight:embarrassed:) and our personal items were not really the slimline laptop sleeves they advised on the website, but big and bulky (because they were stuffed with socks, and god only knows what else) Anyway, flight to Singapore was good, as good as a 15hour flight in economy can be at least, though the second leg really did us in. Just after take off a lady 6 rows in front of us had a stroke, and was unconscious so we had to land in Jakarta, Indonesia. Because the plane landed with full fuel tanks, we were delayed then 5 hours whilst they checked the plane over to make sure it wouldn't fall pieces when we took off again:err: so we arrived in Brisbane at 11am pretty shattered, but none the less managed to get through customs, sort out our car hire and drive to our temp accommodation. :smile: (just as a side note: we later heard the lady who had the stroke was fine and recobpvering well) Customs was by far the easiest, breeziest experience iv had going into any country. We declared our Yorkshire teabags, they didn't even check! Just said 'oh no worries mate' and out we walked! First impressions of Brisbane, great! Lovely weather, 21 degrees but felt much warmer because of the humidity. The local area we are staying is lovely, clean leafy, lots of nice attention to detail on the walkways and in public areas. And driving down the M1 was great, everywhere seemed to be really well signed and took us no time at all to find where we were staying. We had a little walk round a local aldi to pick up some bits and pieces, was abit disappointed with the choice, and some items they didnt sell (like sugar) but I don't think it was a major outlet and on the whole the price wasn't too bad. I will report on my findings of doing a proper food shop, having researched the cost of living extensively on this and other forums over the past few months! After that, we hit the sack at about 1830, woke at 2am, then slept until 6am when we sat outside in our pjs listening to all the woo woo birds with a cup of coffee.:biggrin: Then at 11am just couldn't stay awake any longer, so slept the whole afternoon until 5pm.:SLEEP: What a killer this jet lag is! So now it's 7 but feels like morning (even though it's dark outside) and we have wasted a whole day just slouching around! :eek: We are hoping we will sleep tonight throughh till tomorrow am, and will then be in keeping with aussie time. Though in all honesty I think that's a little ambitious, I can see us being wide awake at 1am::arghh: Anyway, Will update when we are a looking a bit more like this:jiggy: and a little less like this :dull:

Hi we are looking for someone to carry out part time office work - answering phones, entering job cards, invoices and general office work. Must be experienced. Please PM to discuss further.