FAO Fitzy, NCC etc

1

Oz

Im probably going to go soon. Have been talking to a good few about it but thought I would open the debate to the TFK massiiive

From what I’m hearing best bet to make cash quickly is to head to West Coast and look for a labouring job out in the bush. Need to pay off some debts etc before looking for a proper job. Also looks like I’m heading alone which Im not too keen about but fuck it needs must at this stage.

Any general advice about Oz at the moment? And do ya need to book a return flight if you get the 12 month visa?

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KIB Man,

First off, yes you do need a return flight booked as far as I know. Its 10 years since I arrived here, so some of the lads on the TFK massive who have been here on 1 year visas should be able to let you know if thats changed.

You’ll find work here no matter what city you go to - its a simple fact that if you want to work in Aus, you’ll find work. The west coast and QLD are booming because of the continued mining boom, but most of the jobs there are for experienced or qualified people. If you have any sort of trade experience or qualifications, you’ll doo well anywhere.

Not sure what you do KIB man, I have the impression you are more white collar. White collar work is picking up now and you should be able to pick up contract work without any great hassle.

If you go to the West Coast and want to go east later, just factor in about $400 - $500 in air fares (unless you want to drive).

I would try to have something sorted out in advance of arriving here, have a look at the recruitment sites online ( www.seek.com.au for example).

If you want to get more specific, PM me. Happy to do what I can for you in advance of your arrival.

Though you won’t be kipping in my gaff.

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dont stay in one city too long

follow the weather - i.e. stay out of victoria & nsw in their winter

you’ll get a job easy enough - pm me when your in brisvegas

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Don’t go apple-picking. If it comes to it try and pick capsicums.

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I would recomend avoiding de-vining grapes as well.

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I’d say avoid labouring in the bush completely myself. Fuck that for a game of soldiers.

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you dont need to have a return flight booked before you go. flights can only be booked up to a year in advance, and seeing as they have a year holiday visa with a second year possibility, its sometimes not possible to have it booked therefore you dont need it.

money in the bush isnt all that great. granted, you wont be spending it, but its possible to find proper work in cities and make some money. most people just go try find labour/bar work. Try find work at what you do and make proper money. labouring a couple of years back woud get you $12-18 an hour. Office type work can get $30-40 an hour. and get your tax rate sorted straight away too when you land. sort out a bank account when you get there too. make sure you pick a bank that is nationwide (commonwealth or ANZ etc) as some banks are regionalised.

as NCC says, keep moving too. dont end up living in bondi for 11 months with every other gobshite who is there ‘travelling’ and drinking in Irish pubs with their neighbours from home.

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you’d probably earn a few dollars with a swift one of the wrist down oxford street

1 Like
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If you arrive on a 1-year work visa you’ve to open a bank account within a certain period of time after your arrival, I think it was 1 month or maybe 3 months. I got stung with this and the fuckers wouldn’t let me open an account.

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[quote=“Fitzy”]KIB Man,

First off, yes you do need a return flight booked as far as I know. Its 10 years since I arrived here, so some of the lads on the TFK massive who have been here on 1 year visas should be able to let you know if thats changed.

You’ll find work here no matter what city you go to - its a simple fact that if you want to work in Aus, you’ll find work. The west coast and QLD are booming because of the continued mining boom, but most of the jobs there are for experienced or qualified people. If you have any sort of trade experience or qualifications, you’ll doo well anywhere.

Not sure what you do KIB man, I have the impression you are more white collar. White collar work is picking up now and you should be able to pick up contract work without any great hassle.

If you go to the West Coast and want to go east later, just factor in about $400 - $500 in air fares (unless you want to drive).

I would try to have something sorted out in advance of arriving here, have a look at the recruitment sites online ( www.seek.com.au for example).

If you want to get more specific, PM me. Happy to do what I can for you in advance of your arrival.

Your more than welcome to kip in my gaff.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that.

Strange you should say that white collar work is picking up on the east coast. Guess I’d prefer a kind of 6 month contract etc but thought it would be very hard to get with the 12 month visa? Have spent a lot of money calling Oz in the last few days and the general gist of what my mates are telling me is that,

a) you can pick up extremely well paid labouring jobs near Perth. Its very tough work, long hours, on some roster - 2 weeks on and 1 off but that you end up with 10k for those 2 weeks and you have free board, travel and food along with it. Ive heard these ‘streets paved with gold’ stories before about other places though. Plus there is the tradeoff that its a bit quiet on the west coast generally.

b) if you head to the east coast then you will need a lot of money to get set up. money i dont have i must add. also that jobs are very tight at the moment in project mgmt, consultancy etc. To be honest being stuck in sydney going to irish bars wouldnt really be my scene. Have heard melbourne is gorgeous but wouldnt have a clue where to go really. I probably know people in every major city in Oz so while your offer of crashing at your gaff is appreciated it prob wont be needed :thumbsup:

Also since I have to sell this to the missus, what is the life of a teacher like in Oz dont ya know. She says she will come out for the summer and see then. Her experience in London wasnt what dreams are made of.

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i assume that you are only allowed to work for 3 months in 1 role?

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thought you could tell me? perhaps i thought it was 6 months though…

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when i was over it was 3 months btu it could have changed

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its supposed to be 3 months alright, but its not exactly monitered to the letter of the law. I worked 4 months in one job, and worked witht eh same company in other cities then. cant say I’d ever heard of anyone getting any problems working for more than 3 months in one job.

west coast is as good as you make it. people always have the opinion that its quiet and boring. not necesarrily true. granted Perth doesnt have a massive amount of clubs open 24 hours, but in and around Northbridge there are excellent pubs and clubs. to be honest, I probably found nightlife in Perth better than Sydney and Melbourne. I wasnt in Brisbane long enough to get a proper feel of its nightlife, but looked fine to me. Perth is a lot cheaper to live in and get around in than Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne.

There are a shitload of teaching jobs going. Pay scale isnt huge tho, they dont get near as much here. Standard salary is around $40k or so, so it is on the lower end of income earnings there. teaching in remote areas can pay very well tho, and can get set up nicely by the schools with accomodation and cars and stuff. but you’d be living in a shitty little village with nothing aorund you for hundreds of miles.

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[quote=“Gman”]its supposed to be 3 months alright, but its not exactly monitered to the letter of the law. I worked 4 months in one job, and worked witht eh same company in other cities then. cant say I’d ever heard of anyone getting any problems working for more than 3 months in one job.

west coast is as good as you make it. people always have the opinion that its quiet and boring. not necesarrily true. granted Perth doesnt have a massive amount of clubs open 24 hours, but in and around Northbridge there are excellent pubs and clubs. to be honest, I probably found nightlife in Perth better than Sydney and Melbourne. I wasnt in Brisbane long enough to get a proper feel of its nightlife, but looked fine to me. Perth is a lot cheaper to live in and get around in than Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne.

There are a shitload of teaching jobs going. Pay scale isnt huge tho, they dont get near as much here. Standard salary is around $40k or so, so it is on the lower end of income earnings there. teaching in remote areas can pay very well tho, and can get set up nicely by the schools with accomodation and cars and stuff. but you’d be living in a shitty little village with nothing aorund you for hundreds of miles.[/QUOTE]

Nah its 6 months

From the offical site:

What does this visa let me do? (WHV)

If you are granted this visa you can:

  • enter Australia within 12 months of grant
  • stay up to 12 months
  • leave and re-enter Australia any number of times while the visa is valid
  • work in Australia for up to 6 months with each employer
  • study for up to 4 months.

If you hold a second Working Holiday visa, you may return to work for a further 6 months for an employer with whom you worked on your first Working Holiday visa.

Boards.ie has a good bit of info on the whole thing too. Think I’ll do well to pick up ‘white collar’ work going on the experiences of those on boards. I have that Prince 2 qualification which seems handy as its on a lot of job specs and about 3 years experience of the corporate world. Not particularly sure I want to head back into to it either but if the money was miles better than bar/labouring work then obviously you would.

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The biggest problem you’re going to have is accomodation. If you’re staying for an extended period in one place, finding a rented flat can be difficult and rents are increasing all the time here, so try to suss that out in advance. Its a good idea to have a few blokes on the ground here you know and better if you come over with some people.

Best advice is as per GMan - don’t sit in an Irish pub for 12 months getting pissed, you can do that at home in a far better pub (the pubs are shite here).

In fact, I would totally avoid Coogee, Bondi etc. They’re beaches. Big deal, there are far better beaches. They’re both utter dirty, manky kips and fucking dangerous places at night.

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well just to let you know, I was able to pick up a ‘white collar’ job whilst out there really handy. I was offered a few jobs actually. dont know if I was just particularily lucky or if the job was in demand at the time, but I made it clear I would only be there for 3 months and that I was on a WHV. Still didnt matter and I had a choice of where to work. A lot of people donot even bother trying as they think its not possible. and like I said, money was way better. I even chanced my arm and asked for a raise in Darwin and got an extra $10 an hour for the couple of months I was there. If you dont try it, you wont get it.

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what you make of Darwin GMan?

I spent a week or so up there. Really nice spot but way smaller than I had imagined it would be, and looked like the sort of place you could get tired of pretty quick?

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yeah its a very small “city”. basically just 3 parrallel roads and you could walk one end of the town to the other in ten minutes. It wasnt too bad a spot, as it was a real backpacker stop off, so every night of the week there was something going on. Weekends we’d head off to Litchfield, or a croc tour or something else somewhere close by. Fierce humid there tho, badly need aircon where ever you’d be staying. was mainly only there to work and stayed on for a couple of weeks longer as was on serious money. Wasnt too bad of a place as couple of us joined a gym for the short time and there was a small golf course there too and nightlife was always buzzing. most people to Darwin arrive, stay a night or 2, head off to kakadu, and come back for another night or 2 and then leave. Its about all the time needed really there tho.

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Bring Bernard’s business card with you KIB-he’ll sort you out!