Anyone Going to Down Under Live this weekend??

[RonnieRocket0]

Hi Pio'ers,

 

Just wondering if anyone else is going to Down Under Live this weekend? I am so I will try and post as much info as I can my hands on. If there is anyone with any specific questions which they would like info on, then please drop me a line this evening and I'll do my best to help.

Have a great weekend

 

Kind regards

 

Ron Rocket:biggrin:

[LYNDAMUMFORD]

yep, me & OH will be going. To be fair, we wern't expecting it to be that great, however the seminar schedules look really really interesting.

[RonnieRocket0]

I know what you mean, but it will be very interesting to see how the organisations present the way they see the current situation. My main reason for going are the seminars as well as the shipping companies etc.. Fron the list of partners, there are very few if any listed as recruiters.

Hope you have a fruitful day

Kind regards

 

Ron R

[freebo]

I know what you mean, but it will be very interesting to see how the organisations present the way they see the current situation. My main reason for going are the seminars as well as the shipping companies etc.. Fron the list of partners, there are very few if any listed as recruiters.

Hope you have a fruitful day

Kind regards

 

Ron R

 

I'm thinking of going on Sunday so would be interested in any comments, especially on (non-heathcare) recruiters but also just general impressions really i.e. is it worth going if you already have your visa?

[LYNDAMUMFORD]

We have just applied for our visa, so the eligability stalls & assesments weren't necassary for us. However, there were very long queues for them. OH & I were very pleasantly suprised & really glad we went. The seminars were very informative & to the point as they had alllocated amounts of time and the financial aspects were excellent, for exampl transfering pensions, getting a mortgage on a provisional visa (didn't think we could, but we can) transfering money & the 'hope' that things are going to get more positive with future changes, such as tradespossibly going back on the CSL list or FSL. Didn't get a hard sell, which was great, & there was info from carriers for househols goods, cars what not to take etc. Also info on shipping pets. Well worth it in our opinion, canteen on site where food was lovely & well priced. Parking was £18 for the day. Came away with lots of info

[munchkinpie]

Hi Guys

 

We went to Down Under Live today.

We are very new to all this stuff having only decided really to "go for it" this week.

Primarily our main objective was to try get clarification on oh's occupation categorization if possible. (failed miserably lol but all 4 migrant agencies were positive it would fall into 60 or 50 point category)

Also due to being newbies we just wanted to get some info, chat to people, etc so for a tenner it was an inexpensive day out to keep kids occupied :laugh:

Unfortunately didnt catch much of the seminars which is a real shame. Ive listed a few things below and it may seem more negative however we had a very hyper 15month old and 2 bored 12 and 10 year olds, which wasnt best move in retrospect.

 

1) The seminars were in the middle of the hall and all the stands were round the edge. I really struggled to hear what the speakers were saying so kind of gave up. If you really really keen on a certain seminar then i suggest you park near the front a long time before or if you go upstairs where the "education zone" is and walk round towards the cafe and pull up a pew near the rail you can watch and hear much better from there.

2) I felt it was just too squashed/busy and very very family unfriendly. Buggy was pretty much impossible to manouver round the place and I can imagine lots of sore ankles (not just from me in fairness) Particularly round busy stands it was just stupid really.

3) I think it could have done with not so much more stands necessarily but lots of the stands could have done with a fair few more pairs of hands.

 

Sorry if ive been bit of an old moan but im a woman so im allowed.

 

There was one specific recruitment stand with loads of "advertised vacancies" - it was at the back furthest corner {big queue}

There were a 4/5 migrant specialist stands offering free assessments.

A few banks, transportation companies, financial companies, sure their was a stand or 2 aimed more at backpackers etc upstairs near the Uni/Education stands. Only remember 1 property stand.

 

Feel free to fire some questions if need and ill try help.

 

xxx

[RonnieRocket0]

Hi Guys,

 

Myself and the OH went along today to the expo. A lot smaller than others we have attended. We felt that the venue was not really big enough and in all honesty if we had paid the £15 each for the tickets, I would have felt ripped off.

 

Our main purpose was to attend the seminars and speak to moving company's etc.. It was very disappointing to see that there was very little in the way of recruitment. As one of the others mentioned, the queues for the assessments were very long.

 

One of the seminars given by Sue Harcus of WA government was very informative and there was a sublime comment about why people should choose State Sponsorship for their visa application. I quote, its one of the easiest ways of gaining PR, followed by, well if you had asked me before the 23rd Sept 2009. She then went on to add that WA are looking for 140,000 PR's in the next 7 years.

 

So I did detect a hint of apathy towards the current situation. Going around the various stands it was good to hear that the State stands were being very realistic in their forecasting of State Sponsor approval times as well as being very cautious any not painting a rosey picture of the timelines for the granting of visas.

 

We were there for 2 hours, which was plenty of time to chat with the areas we were needing advice about our next part of the process. As was mentioned in an earlier post, space was cramped and not very buggy friendly, my ankles were clipped on more than one occasion, but I sympathise with those who had children with them.

 

If you are going there with the intention of looking for work, then I would forget about going unless you are a health care professional. After speaking with a number of exhibitors, they suggested it would be better to attend the one which is run in March time in Hammersmith.

 

Due to my own circumstances, I don't think there is a need to attend any more of these. But one thing I will add, it certainly confirmed my desire to go to Australia on a permanent basis, roll on August.

 

I hope this was helpful and many thanks to those who have also added to this thread

Kind regards

 

Ron Rocket:happy_face_sticking

[cartertucker]

We went to this expo last year, after it was advertised as a 'Family day out - Sample life in Australia, with food & drink, entertainments' etc

 

Well, we were so disapointed, there was nothing of the sort & after taking my 2 sons along, to show them.....We were really annoyed....:mad:....Lunch cost us £40 (just a few sandwiches & drink! & wasnt that nice either)

 

We didnt really need the 'migration agents' or 'removal comapnys leaflets' as we can get all of that on here, along with impartial recomendations

 

The one good thing I got was a cheap subscription to Australia & New Zealand magazine!

 

Waste of time & money....:frown:

[Pumpkin]

I went to one in March last year when we were just starting our process. It is definitely not somewhere to take children IMHO. Most of the ones i saw were cranky and bored.

 

On recruitment side it might be good for medical professions, there was nothing for anyone else. There were a couple of stands about property and mortgages etc which might be useful now we have a visa but weren't what we were interested in back then. We picked up a couple of leaflets on pet migration, but nothing we could not have found out anyway.

 

Overall, I don't recommend it.