Bibbs

Use Google Maps - will tell you *usual* traffic durations.

I know a few people in the HVAC industry, and it's very quiet. Some of them are having to move over east to get enough work.

Too far from the city for me to be able to tell you. It still has the 'little Brittan' tag. Hopefully a 'local' will be able to chip in.

Because it had a recent building and population boom, and now that Mining/O&G is over (for the time being), those people have left. Meaning a lot of empty houses. The further from the city you are, the more empty houses there are. And Clarkson & Merriwa are a long way from the city. Not many local jobs up there either. 25% unemplyment according to the TV the other night.

Unless you are 100m from the beach, you won't walk it. I'm close to the beach, but with a few bags an eski and a 40 degree day, we take the car.

Been a few times, including a winning final. Went on the beers before, and then caught the CAT down to the WACA. Beers during the game. Then back into town for more beers after. Was v easy. Will be there for SA this week. Can't wait. 30 deg days and days at the cricket, finally summer is here.

No point pussy footing about. For new starters, there will (more than likely) be a job out there for you. You just need to get out there and find it. You will get a load of knockbacks (especially in the current climate) but don't take it personally, don't get offended and upset. Cross it off, and carry on. Aussies are quite insular. We also think we know best, so can get put off by "that's not how we did it back home" type comments. Our reply is "well go home then". Good luck to those still looking. I've sent PMs to a few people I thought I could point in the right direction. But just keep smashing through Seek, through LinkedIn .. even Gumtree and Facebook. Also look direct on companies websites. Often it's the only place the big companies advertise.

I hate to be so flippant, but why take the risk? I always put the "lack of local experience" down as an excuse. They don't want/like you, and need a polite/legal reason.

Because a fair number don't settle, and go home after a short time.

They are all pretty similar. But one of the 'big 4' just offered me a 'Relationship Manager', where I call him and he sorts out all my issues. He's just sorting a re-morgage for me at lower rates, so will see how it goes. ** Edit to add, get a Credit Card, use it for everything and pay it off in full. When combined with an offset mortgage, it'll shave years off the loan.

Where abouts in Reading? I was in Tilehurst for about 6 years, then out in Lower Early. Still have friends out there and stayed in Caversham Park over the winter.

Google maps have a public transport option, so you can see how to get from one place to another, with times etc. Transperth is clean, cheap and *fairly* reliable. I think I've had issues 2 days in 5 years. I picked a random place in Burns, and it says about an hour to the city (Bus to Joodalup, Train to City, then a walk to wherever the office is). Remember, winters here are very wet and summers are very warm. Not very good for a walk to the station at 7am to be at work for 8:30. Being at the end of a line makes it easy to get on, the trains that get into the city at 9am are busier than the ones arriving at 7am. Also, being an hour out the City on a weekday, means it'll be a bit longer on a Saturday/Sunday. Hour on public transport to 'pop' into the city for a show/event isn't ideal. Most people would drive it. In the last 5 years I've been using public transport to all over, but mainly within Zone1 or Zone2 (Bibra Lake, Como, South Perth, Vic Park, Bayswater, Scarborough - with loads of trips on the footy trains out to Subbi). Parking can be got in the city for $10 a day, but you have to be in early, and out early.

It can be done cheap. Me and the (now ex) wife came over with about $10k in cash for a car, and our last two pay cheques. But that was no kids, and we had a support network when we landed to help for the 6 weeks till we were both earning. Think shipping was just over a thousand, and I can't remember how much the visa cost, but it wasn't huge.

Good luck. It's quite common here to contract. Best bet is to smash through Seek.com.au and ignore the agencies. It's true that the east coast is a bigger market, but there is still plenty here. Mainly based around the CBD, so try and get as central as you can be.

I had a poor experience of most. Ended up having to do the legwork myself.