Want to move to Australia in September

[Clarker82]

I am looking to move to Australia, and I am not planning on staying forever, but hey anything is possible.

I want some information, and looking for someone that I can ask a few questions. I have been reading a lot about getting work visas compared to getting First time working holiday visa. Or as a 3rd option is paying one of those companies a fee and they set you up in a hostel for 7 days and help find you jobs over the next year.

Does anyone have any advice on what approach I should consider going with?

Thanks
Clarker

[pixie_girl77]

I would recommend the 1year working holiday visa if you're young enough to still get it (under 30 I think). You can only get it once in your life. I did that years ago and backpacked around. It was a great way to meet people (living in hostels), travel around the country and see all the different spots (not just Sydney!), and basically see if OZ is for you. If you come over on a specific work visa you might get stuck in one spot and not get to travel around... unless that's what you want
The 1year working holiday visa might give you the flexibility to think of as 'just a holiday' if you find that moving here permanently isn't for you. Alternatively, you could end up with a decent job and they might sponsor you to stay.
Not sure if you can apply for another visa directly from a 1year working holiday visa while you're here though... if you ended up loving it. Better check into that first

[KBaer]

I am also curious about job availability?? I am not trained in anything just a student looking for ANY job. I am thinking of applying for the holiday working visa. A friend recently spent a year moving around while working there but said jobs were hard to come by?? I am looking at spending at least 6 months there....

Thanks so much for any help anyone can give me!

[CharR]

Jobs are somewhat hard to come by at the moment but it depends on what you're looking for. There is still lots of regional work (i.e. fruit picking and the like) as it has to get done and it's pretty much done exclusively by backpackers! You can also try signing up with a bunch of recruitment companies and looking for temp office jobs (anything from packing boxes, answering phones, doing mailings to actual office tasks like typing reports, inputting budget figures, preparing presentations - random stuff that the fulltime workers need done) and there is quite a bit of that around. Harder to get, I think, are restaurant, bar and cafe jobs, because there are just way more backpackers wanting to do those than there are jobs to fill... but the pushier and more persistent you are, the better. Basically, the success rate in securing one of those jobs is directly proportional to how much effort you are willing to put into getting it. I think the point is, if you really want to work, and don't care what you do, you will be able to find work. There's a huge backpacker culture here and lots of jobs that suit travelers, but they are mostly ones that permanent workers won't do.

[5t3v3]

What are the wages like for fruit picking, restaurant/cafe jobs, etc.?

[chris.king]

I am looking to move there with my family and teach? Anyone tell me how I go about getting information (visa) as I am over 30 years old. Any idea what the salary and cost of living is in comparison to Canada?

Thanks

[comet555]

If you're wanting to move with your family then a permanent visa is the best route if you qualify for it. To figure that out you'll have to start here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/visawizard/

I would suggest looking at a 175 permanent visa if you can get it:
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general- ... ation/175/

[cdnexpat]

Wages in general are higher in Oz, and fruitpicking can be pretty rewarding depending where you do it (I did some in my Uni days). However keep in mind that the current financial climate isn't great worldwide and Australia has been affected to some degree as well. If you have a job in Canada my suggestion would be to wait it out until 2010 to see if the economy starts to pick up again.

However what the above poster said is right, the regional cities (<90k pop) haven't been as badly hurt as the cities, so if you don't mind living there for a while you could probably find some sort of employment.

-- Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:48 pm --

chris,

cost of living in australia is higher then parts of canada (can't compare every single part of both countries) in general. Main advantages are (obviously) weather, better lifestyle (depends on your occupation) and in general higher wages (also depends on your occupation though).

Advantages for your kids may be: Easier to get into professional university programs (med, dentistry, etc.) assuming equal amount of effort/intelligence in both countries + HECS and Youth Allowance which means the government subsidizes their education, interest free.

In terms of opportunities if you dont mind relocating to a regional city you have pretty good chances at getting into vice-principal/principal type jobs. As for actual wages it depends where you want to relocate too. However you would be better off contacting schools near where you would like to migrate to.