Hello:
I got my permanent resident visa 2 years ago and did the same thing you planned. First I traveled around Australia for 4 weeks and within one year I was back in Sydney (where I have been living for one year).
Even I have a decent qualification it took me about 3 months to find my first job. There are plenty of opportunities but competition is very high.
I found web pages (see below) and the Sydney Morning Herald are the best sources for jobs. I talked to several recruiting companies and important is to get the first job after that it is much easier.
However, my experience (in Australia) is that people build up their resume to make it look better. I dont like that and I hired people based on their CV and was disappointed about their performance. However it is important to have a pretty nice looking CV.
I tried to apply for a job from Europe but this was a waste of time, you need an address in the town you are applying (except you are a looking for a senior management position).
Timely response is important too: Jobs get allocated oftentimes within days or a week. Dont look at jobs that have been submitted (on the net) more that 3-5 days, this is mostly a waste of time.
Best places to find a job are Sydney and Melbourne.


Jobs on the net:
www.seek.com.au
http://www.careerone.com.au/

good luck and enyoy your vacation.
Michael
P.S. I got back from the Whitsunday Islands last week  beautiful place!

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Hi Susien, You sound exactly how I felt when we recieved notification of our acceptance! We also had two young children when we arrived in Australia (22mnths and 9mnths) and intended travelling down the East coast, before deciding where to settle as we had never been to Australia before, but by looking on the internet, guide books etc, decided that the area that seemed to suit our ideals best was East Queensland, (Australia is so vast and so diverse, you really need to research which areas will suit your needs best before getting here) We never did get around to doing the campervan bit, as finances, climate and lack of time prevented it, but we have tried to fit in some sightseeing around our everyday living, (We bought a house as property prices started to rise rapidly and we didn't want to be priced out of the property market by waiting too long. so we bought a house and sought employment quite soon after arriving, near Brisbane) Getting work can be a bit difficult, as no-one wants to employ you untill you have a checkable employment history-Australian-, but once you have got one job it is much easier to work your way up or get another job. We have been here over a year now, and I can only tell you that I am still very homesick, and miss family and friends a lot, looking after two young children without the backup and support of extended family can be testing, but we are still here so it can't be that bad! Good Luck!

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Thank you both for your replies. Everyone keeps telling me it is a much better lifestyle in oz, especially for the children, in your view is this true and does the better lifestyle make up for the family and friends left behind in anyway?.
We have booked our holiday for next february so we are looking forward to that.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply
Sue

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Hi again Susien, regarding the better lifestyle for the children and yourselves over here, I can only speak from my own experience...
It is lovely to wake up (nearly!) every morning to blue, sunny skies and know that if we want to we can go on a picnic, go to the beach, a park or anywhere else outdoors without worrying about how long the weather will hold out for, and we can plan something to do at the weekend (when we're all off work) and be pretty sure that it won't be rained off! The cost of everyday living is cheaper too, so there is something left over at the end of the week to have a few treats! As for leaving friends and family behind, again I can only speak from my experience... I do miss them, although I am quite lucky because my parents have been over to visit and are planning another trip, we've also had friends come over and stay with us and more planning to do so! But it is still a long way for anyone to pop over for a cup of coffee! So I do still miss everyone on a day to day basis, but I speak to other friends that I have made over here from the U.K, who say they don't miss home a bit! So I suppose a lot depends on personal circumstances, also it is quite reasonable now to 'phone the U.K from here, (we buy 'phone cards which give you a cheaper rate from your home 'phone) so I ring home a couple of times a week! The lifestyle here is definitely very different to the U.K, it is very much more outdoors because of the climate, (in Queensland anyway!) So a lot depends on what sort of lifestyle you like, as to whether it is better than the U.K or not. Hope you have a great time on holiday over here! (What areas are you visiting?) We might bump into you!
Sian

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Dear Worried,

Australia is one of the most gorgeous countries in the world, albeit expensive. I found Sydney to be the most child-friendly big city I'd ever lived in.

You will find enough expat Brits there to avoid homesickness, and if you keep an open mind you will not regret going. But since it is a long way off, you should try to at least contact someone about jobs before leaving. Good luck.

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Dear Sian,

Thanks again for your reply. We have booked our holiday for next feb and we start with 3 days in Melbourne and we then travel up to cairns. We have booked for 1 month so hope to get an idea of where we would like to live.
With regards to missing family and friends I think the hardest thing will be leaving my mum as my children (christopher who is 2 and jessica who is 5 months) are her only grandchildren.
We all like the outdoors lifestyle, paul, my partner is a very keen runner and I like to be outside with the kids.
I think the things I will miss about England are family, friends, country pubs with log fires in the winter, I hate the cold weather but I do love it when it snows here, my local chinese takeaway, pretty villages (we have lots near where I live on the Norfolk broads) our local quiz and chips evenings, being close to Europe for holidays and the familiarity of what you know.
Where do you live in Australia and what age are your children?
Sue

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Hi Susien, I can definately empathise with you, as my mum too had only our children over there, and spent a lot of time with us all, so I can understand that you probably feel a bit guilty about taking the children to the other side of the world, at least, that's how I felt!
But air travel is becoming so much easier now, and I just kept telling myself that even in the worst scenario, we are only 24hrs away, and as they are now retired they can spend long holidays over here, (they are coming over for 3 months at Xmas) so we could make up for lost chats over coffee then! (we still chat over coffee, although now it's done via satellite!) and of course I can keep her updated with pictures of the children and their progress by e-mail (as they nor I are very computer literate, she bought internet T.V before we left, that we learned how to use together! which is very basic but allows her to have an e-mail address so we can send 'photos weekly, and I am still muddling through on ours although I'm afraid I'll never be a computer whizz..!) We bought a computer and digital camera soon after arriving which has been invaluable.
As for the other things you say that you will miss about England...
You're right, you probably will miss them because, again to be honest, there is no equivalent over here (and yes, I do still miss them too!)
However there are many alternatives... new friends, social gatherings, stunning scenery, plenty of new places to visit, with lovely sunshine to do it in, being in a country that is so diverse that you don't have to travel too far to see somewhere totally different. And none of it will be familiar but it will be an adventure!
We live in a suburb about 40mins away from Brisbane, which is quite a nice area as it is not city living, but everything is accessible.
Our children are now 4yrs and 23 mnths (sorry, think I made a typing error on first e-mail and aged them wrongly!)
Don't know yet if we'll stay here for ever, but at the moment we're just enjoying this adventure!
Sian

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Hi Susien, I can definately empathise with you, as my mum too had only our children over there, and spent a lot of time with us all, so I can understand that you probably feel a bit guilty about taking the children to the other side of the world, at least, that's how I felt!
But air travel is becoming so much easier now, and I just kept telling myself that even in the worst scenario, we are only 24hrs away, and as they are now retired they can spend long holidays over here, (they are coming over for 3 months at Xmas) so we could make up for lost chats over coffee then! (we still chat over coffee, although now it's done via satellite!) and of course I can keep her updated with pictures of the children and their progress by e-mail (as they nor I are very computer literate, she bought internet T.V before we left, that we learned how to use together! which is very basic but allows her to have an e-mail address so we can send 'photos weekly, and I am still muddling through on ours although I'm afraid I'll never be a computer whizz..!) We bought a computer and digital camera soon after arriving which has been invaluable.
As for the other things you say that you will miss about England...
You're right, you probably will miss them because, again to be honest, there is no equivalent over here (and yes, I do still miss them too!)
However there are many alternatives... new friends, social gatherings, stunning scenery, plenty of new places to visit, with lovely sunshine to do it in, being in a country that is so diverse that you don't have to travel too far to see somewhere totally different. And none of it will be familiar but it will be an adventure!
We live in a suburb about 40mins away from Brisbane, which is quite a nice area as it is not city living, but everything is accessible.
Our children are now 4yrs and 23 mnths (sorry, think I made a typing error on first e-mail and aged them wrongly!)
Don't know yet if we'll stay here for ever, but at the moment we're just enjoying this adventure!
Sian

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