jobs on working holiday visa

[Guest gibbon83]

Hi,

 

Going to oz on a working holiday visa on January 2013. Does anybody know if I would get work as a bricklayer on this visa as long as I get my white card and take my tools?

 

Thanks,

 

Ian.

[PositivePixie]

Hi,

 

Going to oz on a working holiday visa on January 2013. Does anybody know if I would get work as a bricklayer on this visa as long as I get my white card and take my tools?

 

Thanks,

 

Ian.

 

From what we have seen, yes, as long as you get that white card, but then it might depend on what area you are in - we have travelled around WA, and there seemed to be lots of ads for all tradies in most places, and in NT there seems to be a need for all people everywhere tbh.

 

As my disclaimer before I get shouted at by someone though, I should point out that we are not tradies and therefore weren't specifically looking for those jobs, nor did we apply for any, so don't know from experience about literally getting placed into the job as it were, just seen lots of adverts as it were. If you don't get work as a bricklayer though, work isn't hard to get out here, so as long as its not costing you thousands to bring the tools out, you might as well anyway, and then assess the situation for yourself when you get here.

 

Good luck

[Guest gibbon83]

Thank you ever so much for the reply, very helpful. I would probably just take my hand tools so wouldn't cost or weigh much. In general, when working over the there does the wage enable you to comfortably live as well as save some?

I am eager to find out about the cost of living as I have heard conflicting stories. I understand all jobs pay different but I am good with money and won't be spending extreme amounts on lots of excursions. I am mainly going to gain an insight of a working lifestyle with a view to possibly moving there.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[Guest]

Thank you ever so much for the reply, very helpful. I would probably just take my hand tools so wouldn't cost or weigh much. In general, when working over the there does the wage enable you to comfortably live as well as save some?

I am eager to find out about the cost of living as I have heard conflicting stories. I understand all jobs pay different but I am good with money and won't be spending extreme amounts on lots of excursions. I am mainly going to gain an insight of a working lifestyle with a view to possibly moving there.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

 

Don't forget you are on a WHV which means you are supposed to have sufficient funds to support your working holiday. About $5000 AUS is required. A WHV is intended to be a holiday supplemented with casual work and so on. There are conditions to the visa so you can't rely on a definite regular income long term or anything. 6 months tops with one employer although much of the usual WHV work is far more casual.

 

I know a few people caught out because they didn't have sufficient funds. You really don't want to be stuck so make sure you have savings to fall back on and be prepared to turn your hand to anything work wise, not just your trade. Don't assume you will find a job in your field or that you will be able to save lots. If you can save some its a bonus but if its casual work you could be working one week, then nothing for a few weeks and will need to dip into your savings.

[PositivePixie]

Thank you ever so much for the reply, very helpful. I would probably just take my hand tools so wouldn't cost or weigh much. In general, when working over the there does the wage enable you to comfortably live as well as save some?

I am eager to find out about the cost of living as I have heard conflicting stories. I understand all jobs pay different but I am good with money and won't be spending extreme amounts on lots of excursions. I am mainly going to gain an insight of a working lifestyle with a view to possibly moving there.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

 

No worries, happy to help where I can

 

TBH, it depends on a great many things, like where you are, and what sort of lifestyle you have. IMHO, yes you can save a great deal at the same time as living well here, but I know there are many that say oz is more rip off than the UK - it all depends on whether you like it here/wanted to come in the first place I think as well as the actual facts.

 

The actual facts for us are this: We are working as store workers in a store in the middle of the outback at the moment (me and hubby). We are paid pretty much min. wage, but also get free accommodation, which means our outgoings are about $250 on food every other week and $50/month on internet (which is pretty ropey, but still, its internet I guess). That's all we spend. In 2 weeks I now earn what I earnt as a teacher in the UK, I was top of teacher pay scale and couldn't see me increasing my wage at all in the UK ever (especially as teacher's wages were frozen for the next couple of years, so wouldn't even go up in line with inflation). I was working 60+ hour weeks, and constantly thought about work and stressed about it. Here I go to work, do my 42 hours a week, with a loooong lunch break each day and 1 1/2 days off a week, and stop thinking about work when I leave the store. There is nothing to spend our money on (our village is pop:300, and the only place to spend money is the store we work in), apart from online, but as we only get the mail plane once a week, we don't really buy anything. So we save A LOT here.

 

Now, if we were in a town somewhere, and didn't have accommodation included in our package, we would still be better off I think, but we wouldn't be saving the massive amount we are - put it like this - in 5 months working here we will have enough cash in the bank to put a deposit down on a 3 or 4 bedroom house in a desired area (which isn't very expensive, but we don't have expensive tastes, so that's good for us). Rents are about $300-400/week for a house on your own, if you want to share a house with others you would be looking at about $150-300 a week, depending on where and what sort of place obviously. You would also have bills etc and temptations on spending money, but that's a very personal thing. Again, it's imho, but I think the minimum wage in Oz allows to actually live, all be it not living life to the max, taking overseas holidays and that sort of thing, but have a nicer life than we did in the UK - Australians cannot believe how low the minimum wage is in the UK - its about $16 dollars/hour here, depending on the industry/job (most things it seems to be about the 17/18 dollar mark), which despite rents being higher means you can actually have a life. And that's only for min. wage. Don't forget, the tax free threashold is now $18K a year as well here (its just been tripled!)

 

Basically, do the sums, using websites to find out an average wage for your trade, or the industry award rate (easy to google), which is the min. wage, and then rents and stuff for the area you are looking at (eg, Perth, or the East coast and so on).

 

Some people will say its hugely expensive here and you can't live on min. wage. We probably will be when we settle down (this is just a temp. gig to get a deposit for a house), and with two incomes, having done the sums on our lifestyle we will be quids in. The difference is lifestyles I think - I think its interesting how people who say it is so expensive here etc don't give specifics on how or why ever - just its so expensive. And if they ever do its bizarre the costs they give - rents of several grand a week, stupidly high internet and phone bills and so on. If you are happy living in a smaller place, doing without the latest gadgets (eg Ipad 13, or whatever they are up to now ), and don't want to eat finest restaurant food every night, you should be ok

 

If you're on a WHV, as long as you don't go over your 6 months working thing, have sufficent funds in the bank if things go south, and a plane ticket home, you really have nothing to worry about at all, and are in the very best of positions in terms of seeing if you want to move here long term imho.

 

Its certainly the very best thing we ever did and have not one second of regret or doubt (we didn't come on a WHV btw, we came straight out on PR visas, as we are old and crinkly lol)

Edited August 5, 2012 by PositivePixie

[Guest gibbon83]

WOW! That's amazing, just goes to show that if you're willing to live to your needs then it really shows the UK really is hard to live and save, etc.

 

I have sufficient funds and have another 6 months to keep saving as much as possible. Wish I could get a sponsor as the whole process would be much easier. Does anybody know the approx cost of permanent visa?

I lived in Greece for the summer last year and rent was the only outgoing (125 euros a month), food about 5 euros a day. Wages were poor but was suprised to save a fair bit compared to the UK.

I very much love the sun, water, etc. I hate the lifestyle in the UK, I have no visions of life in OZ being easy. I have always been willing to work very hard and have done over the years, sweating all day, heavy lifting, etc. BUT I just can't wind down after work in the UK. Was great in Greece, dip in the see after work, go home for a siesta, back to work. Working 7 days a week, 10 hours a day but was so much happier even on a low wage. I truly believe I will want to move to OZ permanently. I hope that I can get it, I am a qualified bricklayer and have about 10 years of experience in the building trade and probably 2 years in bricklaying with no site experience but am hopeful I have enough experience.

If I settled in OZ and was willing to live by my means (e.g. small accommodation, basics, etc), would I earn enough to fly back to the uk and back every year?

 

Thanks,

 

Ian.

[PositivePixie]

WOW! That's amazing, just goes to show that if you're willing to live to your needs then it really shows the UK really is hard to live and save, etc.

 

I have sufficient funds and have another 6 months to keep saving as much as possible. Wish I could get a sponsor as the whole process would be much easier. Does anybody know the approx cost of permanent visa?

I lived in Greece for the summer last year and rent was the only outgoing (125 euros a month), food about 5 euros a day. Wages were poor but was suprised to save a fair bit compared to the UK.

I very much love the sun, water, etc. I hate the lifestyle in the UK, I have no visions of life in OZ being easy. I have always been willing to work very hard and have done over the years, sweating all day, heavy lifting, etc. BUT I just can't wind down after work in the UK. Was great in Greece, dip in the see after work, go home for a siesta, back to work. Working 7 days a week, 10 hours a day but was so much happier even on a low wage. I truly believe I will want to move to OZ permanently. I hope that I can get it, I am a qualified bricklayer and have about 10 years of experience in the building trade and probably 2 years in bricklaying with no site experience but am hopeful I have enough experience.

If I settled in OZ and was willing to live by my means (e.g. small accommodation, basics, etc), would I earn enough to fly back to the uk and back every year?

 

Thanks,

 

Ian.

 

So much is really hard for someone else to answer for you tbh - for eg, the enough to fly back to the UK each year? That depends a lot on you - if your favourite hobby is scuba diving, and you want to learn to fly, as well as have a holiday in the Whitsundays every year as well, on a lowish income (imho that's the best thing to base sums on - if you earn more, fab, if you don't, you aren't out of pocket) then no. Flights out of Oz, especially to Europe are AMAZINGLY expensive - so much more from Oz to UK and back again then UK to Oz return. But if that's what you prioritise, then yes, you probably could do it every year (although every other probably is an easier task).

 

I know *nothing* about tradies and tradies jobs other than seeing adverts for them, so I really can't help in anyway to be honest there, but once you are on the ground you will sniff things out I'm sure - knowing the industry probably goes a long way to knowing the actual situation I think.

 

A PR visa is the cost of the actual visa (only the first instalment - don't worry about the second one, that's if you can't speak English basically), the cost of the medical (a couple of hundred), skills assessment cost (anything from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand) and police certificates (about £30 I believe), so it depends a lot on the skills assessment really. We were really lucky, mine was very cheap (about £450 I think), so all in it only cost us about £3K for everything, including flights to get here and shipping (we didn't ship much lol). I can't get the immi website to work for what a visa costs now - it went up after we applied, but the links seem to be going to the wrong visa, I'm sure someone who is currently applying will know though for you

 

Good luck with it all - its so amazing and lovely here and we are so much happier here, we can't believe how lucky we are and how well it's all working out for us

[RockDr]

If I settled in OZ and was willing to live by my means (e.g. small accommodation, basics, etc), would I earn enough to fly back to the uk and back every year?

 

Thanks,

 

Ian.

 

Yes, if you prioritise that flight in your budget and put the money away where you won't spend it on other things. (so whatever your monthly wage is, take off $250 immediately, and then live off the rest. That'll give you $3000 at the end of the year. Flights generally range between $2500 and $3500 depending on time or year/route)

If you go the other way round and pick the house you want, and the car you want, and go out for drinks/meals whenever you feel like it, and buy that camera you had your eye on, etc etc, and only then see what's left over for the flight at the end of the year, you might run into trouble.

 

Leave could be your other problem. most full time jobs only get 4weeks paid leave a year, though as a tradie, you might be more flexible.

[nicolac34]

Or just keep an open return from the UK, much cheaper option than booking flights from Australia to the UK!

[Guest gibbon83]

I don't know enough about open returns, would this be a cheaper option for a working holiday visa?

When I set my mind to something I can save and prioritise so I don't think it'll be a problem if I ever moved. You have all been very helpful.

As for the Permanent Visa I am pretty sure that the skills assessment in my trade could be expensive. Is there a general time limit that you have to have everything in by (e.g. medical, skills assessment, etc).

I know that with the permanent visa I would get extra points for my age so that is good but in the UK I have been mainly self-employed so I don't know how I would go about references, etc.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[nicolac34]

When I say 'open' all it really means is that you book a return ticket with the return date as far off in the future as you can get and then you just pay £75 to move the date when you know when you want to fly back. You've got to use it within the year, so only worth doing if you do intend to fly back. It's what we've done for the first few times e.g. Emirates out from Manchester to Perth on 30 June 2011, return date originally booked in March 2012. Paid £75 each to move the date to 10th May 2012. Booked another Emirates return back to Perth from Manchester on 26th May 2012 and random date in November 2012 as the return, paid £75 (and a lot more actually as the fare had gone up) to move it to the 19th December back to Manchester. When we come back at Christmas we don't intend to go back to England for a while so we're coming back on a single.

 

I think Bricklayer has come off the list of independent visas, so you'd need to go the sponsorship route if you wanted to stay, no idea how easy/hard that is to do I'm afraid. Take a look at the visa wizard on the immigration website and see what you'd be able to get.

[Guest gibbon83]

I think it's still on the regional list which would be my best option, say if I wanted to settle in WA. I've been doing alot of research these last few days and luckily I have age on my side. I also intend to do my Ielts test only after I have thoroughly revised. My English has always been good since school so I'm quite confident I can get points from this. It is just my work experience I worry about but hopefully it'll all be fine.

As for the flying, it isn't really the UK i'd miss. It's all early days yet but I'm determined and excited for the future. I do know that I can't settle in UK. Just too miserable mon-fri

[digitalis]

Gibbon, a lot of negative ovr cautious rubbish in these responses. Oz is booming mate, as a brickie you could probably work every day of your entire 2 years if you wanted to, and on good $ as well and get offered sponsorship to boot.

 

You don't need $5000 to "survive" here initally either and people getting '"caught" with less and getting deported is almost unheard of.

[Guest gibbon83]

Gibbon, a lot of negative ovr cautious rubbish in these responses. Oz is booming mate, as a brickie you could probably work every day of your entire 2 years if you wanted to, and on good $ as well and get offered sponsorship to boot.

 

You don't need $5000 to "survive" here initally either and people getting '"caught" with less and getting deported is almost unheard of.

 

 

Now this is what I like to hear. My only query with working as a brickie on a WHV is that would I need an ABN number and transport, etc? and is it possible to get an ABN number on a WHV? I'm not the type of person to worry about little potential problems as I've lived away before and the way I see it mate, if you're willing to work hard and have ambition, you'll overcome any hurdle!

Thanks for the good advice anyway. I don't hear much about sponsorships with brickies but I suppose you have to get working over there 1st and put your name out there.

[Guest]

Gibbon, a lot of negative ovr cautious rubbish in these responses. Oz is booming mate, as a brickie you could probably work every day of your entire 2 years if you wanted to, and on good $ as well and get offered sponsorship to boot.

 

You don't need $5000 to "survive" here initally either and people getting '"caught" with less and getting deported is almost unheard of.

 

The fact is though that WHV requires the person to have a specific amount of funds to support themselves on their WH in Aus. It's a visa requirement. I don't know who said about someone being deported for not having funds (not me) but I do know of people who have been caught out as they didn't have sufficient funds before arriving in Aus and did run out of money and could not get back to the Uk as they didn't have funds or air fare/ return ticket. It is only common sense to have decent funds on a WHV to cover yourself.

[PositivePixie]

The fact is though that WHV requires the person to have a specific amount of funds to support themselves on their WH in Aus. It's a visa requirement. I don't know who said about someone being deported for not having funds (not me) but I do know of people who have been caught out as they didn't have sufficient funds before arriving in Aus and did run out of money and could not get back to the Uk as they didn't have funds or air fare/ return ticket. It is only common sense to have decent funds on a WHV to cover yourself.

 

I'll stand up and say I know someone turned back because of a lack of funds, so its not a complete fabrication, yes it doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen, and tbh, if you turn up to Oz without the require $5K (which is peanuts) you are an utter moron anyway.

 

Not really sure digitalis who was saying in this thread there isn't any work etc either - I have only read positive posts. Not really sure why you are so hostile? Indeed, I only see people stating things and backing them up with their experiences/what they have seen etc. Would you mind sharing your sources to assist the OP and anyone else reading? (IE if you are a brickie yourself, having lived in Sydney etc then its a different kettle of fish from a shop worker in Darwin).

[digitalis]

I'll stand up and say I know someone turned back because of a lack of funds, so its not a complete fabrication, yes it doesn't happen to everyone, but it does happen, and tbh, if you turn up to Oz without the require $5K (which is peanuts) you are an utter moron anyway.

 

 

 

You are very sensitive to criticism, I am amazed you enjoy living in Oz which as we both know is a lot less backward in coming forward, also your above statement pretty much confirms what I thought about you. Incorrect and out of touch.

 

Gibbon, yes you can get an ABN as a tradie, I have one myself. Transport is obviously good to have but a lack of will not stop you from working, at all, as frankly tradies are in such demand. All trades can and do get sponsored mate, the hurdles tend to come when the sponsoree realises they have to spend 2 years in the same place. Getting offered it is a lot more common than this forum makes out as well, which I knew even when I was in the UK anyway.

 

Bit of a heads up about certain elements on this forum mate. Basically majority of the serial posters here who have emmigrated recently did it the PR way, and had to jump through many hoops and provide a lot of cash. As a result for some unknown reason they seem to have a chip on their shoulder about us mere WHV's upping sticks at short notice and coming here with a lot less than they brought and getting on with life. Ignore them mate.

 

You can come here with a lot less than $5000, no job lined up on a WHV and be on your feet almost straight away if you have a good work ethic. If you are a decent tradie, you will be turning jobs away. It's polar opposite to the UK in terms of work mate it's still very much an employees market.

 

Now, do i recommend you come here with less than $5000 etc. etc. etc. of course not but with the way the UK atm not all people have the luxury of "peanuts" like $5000 rattling around their back pocket.

Edited August 8, 2012 by digitalis

[nicolac34]

Guess that makes me the moron that showed up with $500 and our credit cards!! :wink:

 

I did have a £5k limit on it though - does that count?! Lol.

[Guest gibbon83]

You are very sensitive to criticism, I am amazed you enjoy living in Oz which as we both know is a lot less backward in coming forward, also your above statement pretty much confirms what I thought about you. Incorrect and out of touch.

 

Gibbon, yes you can get an ABN as a tradie, I have one myself. Transport is obviously good to have but a lack of will not stop you from working, at all, as frankly tradies are in such demand. All trades can and do get sponsored mate, the hurdles tend to come when the sponsoree realises they have to spend 2 years in the same place. Getting offered it is a lot more common than this forum makes out as well, which I knew even when I was in the UK anyway.

 

Bit of a heads up about certain elements on this forum mate. Basically majority of the serial posters here who have emmigrated recently did it the PR way, and had to jump through many hoops and provide a lot of cash. As a result for some unknown reason they seem to have a chip on their shoulder about us mere WHV's upping sticks at short notice and coming here with a lot less than they brought and getting on with life. Ignore them mate.

 

You can come here with a lot less than $5000, no job lined up on a WHV and be on your feet almost straight away if you have a good work ethic. If you are a decent tradie, you will be turning jobs away. It's polar opposite to the UK in terms of work mate it's still very much an employees market.

 

Now, do i recommend you come here with less than $5000 etc. etc. etc. of course not but with the way the UK atm not all people have the luxury of "peanuts" like $5000 rattling around their back pocket.

 

 

Just for the record I already have the funds needed and have another 6 months to keep saving but I've never worried about this as I have a good work ethic and planned on working straight away when I get over. I think it's bled into many British that we have got it harder than everyone else. I realised this when I worked in Greece. They work min 12 hr days, 7 days a week and don't complain, insist on working with the flu, etc, and are always happy. They laugh at the English for complaining at minor hurdles and can't understand why there's always a problem. Think this may be why we are so negative, as the media grinds us down constantly (bills will rise!it will be showers for 3 weeks! etc etc). I got out of this frame of mind a long time ago. As I said before, if you set your mind on something and go for it then you should achieve it. Think some people go to oz and think they're owed something and just have to turn up. I have every intention of working my stones off and doing what it takes for a better lifestyle.

 

Just a quick one, is it booming everywhere? It's just that WA appeals to me the most and I would like to get an idea of the areas where most of the work is. I like the look of mandurah??

 

cheers,

 

gibbon.

[paddyandhollyB23]

Hi Gibbon

 

Just wanted to bump up your post.

 

I am arriving in Jan with a whv and will be working in construction (site engineer/engineering surveyor) . Your post is the only one I have found that mentions the whv route into oz to get a proper job ie not backlacking/fruit picking. It is good to hear digitalis knowledge of the situation.

 

Basically I have wanted to get over for a number of years now especially with the boom in construction, but not prepared to go down the expensive PR route in case things don't work out. I have been in touch with numerous construction companies and the majority won't offer much unless you sign up for their 457 or on Oz soil. I have something in the pipeline with a Perth company which is looking promising, but have been told by some agencies that once over there I will get a job fairly easily especially in WA.