Plumber Paul

Hi Steve, I'm working on a mine site in WA as a plumber/poly welder and have sub contracted to Monadelphous in the past. They are recognized as being a good company. The flat rate you're on sounds about right for a supervisor, you'll make some good money up here on 10 - 12 hour days, with double pay on saturdays and sundays. There are no living expenses while living at the mining camp and as other people have suggested, staying in Bali for your week off is a good idea if you're by yourself. Mondelphous will pay for your flights to and from Perth. Good luck with everything!

When we applied for WA SS last year September our case officer asked how much we'd be bringing with us. We said that we'd bring approx $20000 to Australia. He then asked if we'd be able to have access to extra funds and all we said was that we'd be able to lend money from relatives if need be. He seemed fine with that ...

Thanks Verystormy, I am aware of the effects of FIFO on family life. The company that gave me the FIFO job did tell me the 4:1 roster is also known as the marriage breaker. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Thanks for the replies and valuable input guys.

Cheers Elfie, The 4:1 roster is not a cool one but it has so far been my only opportunity for FIFO so I feel I need to go through with it. I've already started by doing my medical assessment and have a few courses this week ...

Cheers Ian, Yeah, you've only got about 3 months until you guys arrive. Exciting times eh? I hear mixed reports from people about the work situation here in Perth for plumbers, the ones on PP generally battle and the ones I know personally didn't have any problems. If I were you, I wouldn't stress about it. I've been in Perth 8 months now and I've had 3 jobs - walked out of the one and straight into another on both occasions. Fortunately my current employer who I'm about to leave has said I must stay in touch for work when I'm finished with this FIFO adventure. Good luck man

Hey to those in the loop I'm starting a 4:1 FIFO role in the coming weeks and I'm starting to fret a bit. Before we arrived in Perth, working at the mine sites had always been something that I had hoped get a chance to do, the reasons are obvious - money. The idea was to work flat out, sacrifice a lot and work to a financial goal (not huge, just enough to give us a boost) and then establish ourselves nicely here in Australia. I really like my current job in Perth and the money is pretty average. So now the FIFO opportunity has popped up and at first I was really excited but now starting to question it big time. I have a young family (both girls 4 and 1 yrs old) and its a hectic thought of being away from home for 4 weeks straight. We're already making plans to hire an au pair to help us a bit. Is anyone here on PP in the same situation? Any advice as to how to go about making that much easier? Thanks Plumber Paul

Good to see that you've got a set date to arrive in Oz!

Best thing is for you to keep saying to yourself, 'when I arrive in Perth I will find work.' Keep thinking about what you need to happen and then it will happen in some way or another. Keep positive my man!

Yip, been plumbing with passion for 13 yrs. I found a list of plumbing firms, sent off my resume, got a phone call asking to go for an interview, got the job. I'm in my 2nd job now thanks to my friend who told me of an opening at the plumbing firm he works at. All good.

Hey Oz dollar, I too arrived in Perth by myself in February this year. It took me exactly a month to get everything sorted (a job, a house rental, a car, banking stuff, WA drivers license etc) and only then did my wife and two kids join me. It worked out far better like that and definately easier for all of us. I was fortunate to stay with friends for that month while I tried to sort everything out. I found a job on my 3rd day, a car in 10 days ($5000) and a rental in 30 days. We came out to Perth from London with only $15 000 and have managed pretty well so far. Good luck with your move.

Grab an old toothbrush and use lots of good old WD 40 on clean them up. A wire brush on the heavier rust works really well too.

Well Ian, getting those barn conversions done will mean extra dosh for you to bring over here to Perth which will help you in the initial few months ... We've been in Perth nearly 6 months now and we're still adjusting to the new life, getting easier as time moves on. I'm still plumbing the transportable living units and industrial kitchens for the mining camps but we've hit a quiet period and waiting for new projects to kick in. I have beers in the fridge now and its mid winter. Yesterday I spent the day at city beach, it was 23 degrees, sunny with perfect blue sky and yet again had to remind myself that it is in fact mid winter! Catch you later

There is hope for all us Tradies in Perth, have a look at this article - http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/14286922/young-tradies-cash-in-on-labour-shortage/. Could someone please tell me there is some truth in the article ...

Up at 5am, out the house at 05:50, tools out for work at 06:30. Finish 15:00, home by 15:30.

Bring your tools, every single last one of them. Bring all your power tools, cordless or not, every last one of them! Because they cost more than an arm and a leg here in Perth. Happy days, Paul

Hi, I'm confused by what you say about 'photographic evidence?' Whats that all about? I remember getting a booklet from my visa agent saying that I had to have a 12 months gap training course through a group called CPSISC and that I'd have to fill out profiling cards for each stage of on-site training etc. When I applied for my plumbers tradespersons license I asked the plumbing licensing board what this 'gap training' and 'profiling' was all about and they said they didn't know anything about it. So I just forgot about it and never bothered about it again. Is this what you're talking about? If so, would you mind giving me some more details/information about it? Is this 'gap training and profiling system' just another way to get an AQF level III in plumbing? This whole thing is just a money making gimmick i reckon. That TAFE migrant plumbers course is all that you need to be get a 3 year re-newable tradespersons license. I'm keen to hear back from you. Thanks, Paul

Hi Richard b, I've also been here since February 2012. I completed the 2 week migrant plumbing course in April which gave me an AQF Level III but no gas. I wasn't gas qualified in the UK either. To get gas qualified and licensed means a 3 week course at TAFE which I can't afford at the mo. Have you done your migrant plumbing course and gas course yet? And is it pretty straight forward? I've seen loads of jobs advertised for commercial plumbers at www.indeed.com.au, but I've heard that to get on the big commercial sites you need to join up with the unions and starting rate on those sites is about $40p/h. I agree that a lot of ads say minimum of 5 yrs wa experience but as long as you got your Australian standards 3500 they'd give you a fair go I think.

It took me a month to find a place to rent. I must have gone to view about 12 places in different suburbs NoR in the Morley, Dianella, Guildford, Ballejura, Noranda and Bayswater area. It was tricky to view some places while I was working but fortunately I finish at 15:00 everday and a lot of viewings are in the late arvo (generally between 15:30 - 17:00 for a measley 15 min. I filled in 4 applications 1 of which I put down a weeks holding deposit. It was a success! The estate agent told me that a good cover letter/introduction letter, a previous landlord referal, a letter from work and bank statement was what generally gives the advantage. He also mentioned that landlords/estate agents feel that imigrants are more serious about making a good start and will persevere more because of the lengths they have gone through to get here. Just make sure that you show how serious you are to settle into a new life in Perth. We found a cool spacious 3 bedroom house in Dianella for $400 pw with a large front and back garden, a long driveway and a garage at the rear - heaps better than what we were living in London (a shoebox). Before I got to Perth, I too like EVERYONE else tended to look at areas like Joondalup, Hocking, Tapping, Banksia Grove, Butler, Clarkson and all those new suburbs SoR and was fixed on getting a spot in one of those areas but when I arrived and understood the layout of Perth I realised (personal opinion) that the more older and established suburbs are better. I recently took a drive through Mindarie, Clarkson, Butler etc and jeez do those suburbs come across as souless, boring and artificial (again, a personal opinion) and you'd have to contend with Perth's largest car park - the Mitchell Freeway and Kwinana Freeway. Good luck with your search Paul

In my opinion there is a fair amount of work out in Perth. Seek isn't the only place to be looking for work. How about http://www.wjobs.com.au/, the local west australian newspaper has tradesman jobs advertised on wednesdays and saturdays, how about looking at the master plumbers association website? Getting work is all about being in the right place at the right time, networking and research. You are right that its not so much what you know but rather who you know. In my first week in Perth I had 3 interviews, 1 never got back to me, I declined one and took the other. 3 months later just as my probation period was ending I got offered another better paying job with much better prospects. It depends on what industry you'd like to work in. Mantainance? Commercial? Residential? I believe the better paying is commercial. Residential is hard labour intensive work and the cut throat industry doesn't pay well. Get out of your mind the possibility of earning $100 000 at a company in Perth - thats only if you head up to the mines where you take home about $3000 a week. My mate is starting his FIFO tomorrow. Finally I really do believe that Australian employers expect a hell of a lot more out of you than English employers so expect to work hard, really hard. Plumb with passion Paul

Hi Chris, I completed my migrant plumbing course in April. It was a two week course at TAFE in Freemantle. I chose it over MPA because it was a full time course (08:00 - 16:00) Mon to Fri for the two weeks. MPA was offering 1 night a week for a period of 10 or so weeks. The course is really straight forward, giving theory insight into the Australian standards as well as a bit of practical. After completing the course you get a Level 3 certificate in Plumbing. If you've already completed a Vetassess or have a permanent residency visa then the course will cost you $606 plus another $330 for the water regulations book and australian standards AS 3500. Plumb with passion Paul

Hey Kev, It does feel like you have to start over again, even plumbing is quite a bit different here. I had to go on a 2 week migrant plumbing course at Fremantle TAFE as prescribed by the Plumbing Licensing Board of WA. I started a new job 2 weeks ago as a contractor plumber and applied for an ABN (Australian Business Number). My previous job was plumbing on residential housing (new builds) all over Perth where as now I plumb transportable containers (donga's) and kitchens for the mine sites up north. Are you working? There should be loads of work for you in Perth. I can't believe the amount of new builds in this city. Paul

We used The Emigration Group, based in Cheshire. They were fast, proffesional and always dealt with any query of mine immediately. A tad pricey, but worth it.

We used The Emigration Group. They were proffessional, efficient and expensive! THey answered any phone call and email enquiry on the spot and were always reassuring.