surhythms

Yeah you never know how long it will take to get a job thats the problem. We arrived six weeks ago - well 7 now but the hubby has been looking for work for the past six weeks. We are originally from Dublin but we spent a year in Canberra - delighted we made the move but its a bit stressy when you are looking for work.

I dont live in Mullalloo so I cant comment on what it is to live their either but I have driven there and it looks nice! Mullaloo is on the coast and not on the train line so if that it is important to you you could look at other suburbs that are more inland. Mullaloo is about 23 km fromt he city http://www.myboot.com.au/6027/Mullaloo/suburb.aspx so I guess it depends onw hat you are looking for. Again Belridge Senior High I have no experience of but we only moved here one month ago and I used http://www.bettereducation.com.au/school/secondary/wa/wa_secondary_school_rating.aspx to help me pick a school. Wherever you live you need to be in catchment area for a school unless you are going to go private.

I think you should be ok once the two of you are going to be working. $400 wont get you alot and if you want to live in a good area you definitely will pay more. There is only one of us working at the moment and we are definitely penny pinching. My husband has been looking for IT work for the last 6 weeks and has not found a job yet which worries me slightly because if he doesnt get work I dont know what we will do. I think once you have a bit of savings behind you, you will be definitely able to do it and if you have no childcare costs well happy days!! Just do a budget, buy your petrol on a Wednesday, shop around for your groceries and bargain hunt all the way thats what I do!

I guess it depends on what kind of lifestyle you want and how frugal you are. I think you would be ok initially but I really do think that you need more that $73k to live in Perth. If your children are in school I would get a job school hours. I only have 1 teenager but I have heard that childcare costs here are crazy. I do know people who live on less but they only pay $400 per week on rent.

Hi Angela and Amanda Carine is such a lovely suburb we love it here. Perth is much better than Sydney IMHO - but I am biased because I LOVE IT here . Amanda my daughter is in Carine SHS aswell. I will send you a PM. Angela let us know when you arrive Suzanne

I guess it all depends on how much you are willing to cut your cloth. And how much your rent is etc and if you have 2 cars or 1. We know people who live on this wage and its not easy and I would not advise it to be honest. We have been here 6 weeks and my hubby still cant get a job - we will both be working - I just got my job this week but if you have small kiddies it might not be worth your while because of childcare costs. Get yourself down to centrelink and see if they can help you with mortgage payments etc etc I think they do rebates if you have smallies. Ours is 14 so we dont get anything like that. there are cheapers places to shop like the spudshed in wangara and wednesday is cheap petrol day (Have you landed in Perth yet and do you have savings - I would say get your foot in the door and work your way up. Its who you know not what you know - well thats how it seems to be here!!

Hi Angela We just arrived and live in Carine aswell. I work Monday to Thursday so give me a shout when you get there Suzanne

Hi Middleearth I dont think you will find IT Manager on the SOL. It may be on one of the skills occupations for the state but I dont believe that IT Manager is on the list for WA. Depending on what you worked in like sys admin you will need to get your skills verified by the acs. Have a look at all of the state sponsorship skills in demand lists and that will determine what state you can apply to.

8 hours drive from Canberra to Melbourne I meant - not from Perth - no way that could be done unless you were in a super duper fast auto machine

Hi Saints - I think it might take you about 50 hours to drive from Brisbane to Perth in total - thats about a 7 hour drive at least everyday. It cost us $920 to ship each of our cars from Canberra to Perth . I think it might cost you more money to drive taking into account to the accomodation for the 4 of you. However, it is a great opportunity to see the country - providing there is 2 of you to share the driving. We drove to Melbourne at the beginning of the year and it took 8 hours and we were both shattered from doing it. I think if you look at it as more of a roadtrip it would be very exciting!!

I think 100 - 150k would be more than enough for you both to survive here in Perth and if your OH is getting a job you won't be short of money and will be able to live quite comfortably!! In negotiating a salary I would always say that I want higher than what I am expecting. If you need 100 k to live well tell them you want 120k but you are negotiable and that way it gives you a bit of room to manouever

HI OzDublin - pretty similar to my husband with 15 years experience. Get the CV out there and start hunting now - I know you are not in the country but thats what I would do - also get him to be an active member on linkedin and join all the IT groups in Perth. Is he a network engineer or systems person? It seems that they look for specific experience on the job descriptions and want you to be able to do everything on the ad - really to be in a position to hit the ground running with the role. My OH is still looking but will let you know the progress!! Is it just the two of you coming over?

Hey Ozindublin - yeah thats no problem I will keep you posted. As a matter of interest what type of IT work are you looking for. I can certainly tell you of some of the agencies that he has used have been brutal but it seems that a couple more jobs have come up this week. I will give you an update on what the market is like here in Perth when I find out more......

YIKES!!! 3/4 months is still a very long time to not be getting money in the door especially with 3 children – I would be beside myself!!! Phew at least he has go t a job now. Ah Beeliar that is SOR and a bit of a distance away – to be honest we decided to send our daughter to a public school – they are just as good here. She goes to Carine SH and loves it – Duncraig SH is meant to be very good aswell and Churchlands, too but you do need to be in catchment area for the school. If she is in Year 9 then she will be in the same year as my daughter. I start work on Monday and it’s a trial for a month – It’s a 4 day week because I will be working in the city. If it doesn’t work out I will find something closer to home!! I have to say I really love Perth. I have been around Australia and it is my favourite out of all of places we could live. How old are your other 2 children? Are they settling in OK in Brisbane?

OMG a year? I hope my hubby gets something before then !! Yeah definitely meet up my daughter is 14 and she loves it here. We are living NOR in Carine. It’s a very nice suburb and is 15 km from the city. We had to wait until we got here before we secured a rental and I would say wait until you are here because what is on the net is sometimes not what it is in reality!! We were in Canberra for a year – didn’t like it at all!! Yes we got quotes aswell. We used Kent Removals as they were the cheapest but our stuff got a bit bashed on the way over. We moved 2 cars and a 20ft container for $7500. Its crazy!! What does your husband think of Perth ?

PS Saints he tried Titan but got no joy with them

Hi Saints Well we were originally in Canberra and my husband found it difficult to get work there aswell because of citizenship and security clearances needed for all of the jobs in Canberra so there was no real career progression. His background is in data centres and systems admin/ desktop work so he is being told that he is either over qualified for role or he does not have enough technical experience to do an IT mgt or service delivery role. How did your husband secure an IT job in Perth? I hopeyou don’t mind me asking but is the salarylower than what you expected? It is a good idea to see if he likes the job first. We secured a lease here without having jobs but we have evidence that we can pay the rent. The rental market is pretty tight here but in saying that we got somewhere the first day that we were here – I think it was more luck than anything else. We moved our 14 yr old with us and she didn’t want to leave Canberra. Now that she is here she LOVES it and wouldn’t go back to Canberra. Good luck with your decision – its really hard and very stressful when you don’t have jobs. Suzanne

Thanks Straightothepoint - technical people do find that tough in general

Thanks Jen - have you known anyone that has used them?

Thanks Saints - is there anyway that you can break your lease? What line is your husband in?

Thanks Straighttothepoint that is really useful information. When you say you networked and built up face to face contacts can you tell me how you did go about this. My OH has Australian experience but not Perth experience . We do know that he needs to take a step back to move forward and we have factored that in. He will definitely do lower paid contracts . Cheers Suzanne

He has put in a couple with Data Centre companies but thats it. So companies dont actually advertise on seek if they are looking for someone so how do they get new recruits?

He has tried everything guys - his background is systems admin but he was a data centre manager for 6 years before we moved here. He has tried LOADS of agencies, done linkedin you name it. I work in recruitment (well I did!!) and even with my background of trying to help him its been hard. Any ideas???

Hi Guys We have been here 4 weeks now and my OH is finding it impossible to get a job in IT. He is being told that he is either over experienced or doesnt have enough experience. He has registered with loads of recruitment agencies and some have been good. Has anyone else had issues finding IT work? He isnt looking for a crazy salary because I am going to be working full time aswell. He has tried all the big players in the IT market and still can t get anything. Any advice?? Cheers P.S he has australian experience but not Perth experience

Yeah I agree - we always encourage our daughter to invite people over, have sleepovers, ask her what her plans are for the weekend. Its very much like a taxi service that we run but I'd rather that than having her sitting around doing nothing. As regards education in WA do they actually have exams? In the ACT it is continous assessment and they dont even bring home school books. Her grades have plummeted since we have been here (although she is bright she just cant be bothered so it wouldnt matter what school she was in be it public or private) We still try and encourage her but I know getting top grades isnt the be all and end all.