Karenk Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hi GuysI would appreciate some advice....We are planning to leave for Perth in January so that our son can start his school year there. I am however scared to make the move without one of us securing employment first.Our options would be to make the move and then do everything we can to find employment on that side or we are thinking of letting my husband go over towards the end of October to try and find employment and stay for about 2 weeks. (he wants to come back after the 2 weeks to help us with the packing up and the move)Firstly - for all the people who have immigrated within the last 6 months (during the recession), how long did it take you to find employment and it would be interesting to know what labour market you are in. (medical, engineering, IT, etc)Secondly - if we go with the 2nd option, is 2 weeks enough to meet with recruitment agencies and attend interviews? ThanksKaren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milada (Ms Maritz) Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 We had the exact same plans as you in the beginning of the year.... husband and kids came to Perth before the school started. It all went perfect until the recession started. Husband nearly had a job - went for third interview already, then he was informed that due to the recession, the position was frozen He had to start all over again with job hunting, and we ended up in Sydney. It didn't take him too long to get that job, but it was in a total different location than our original plans. Due to the fact that he got a job in Sydney, he and the kids had to move here. In the end they could only enroll at schools two weeks after the schools started.From my own experience, I would really recommend that your husband fly here in October on his own...... BUT..... two weeks won't be enough. Sometimes these Aussies can drag out interviews. There was always at least a week's delay between interviews before my husband heard anything from the company.I stayed behind in South Africa to pack the container and sell the house. It all worked out perfectly for us.....Oh yes, my husband is a Chemical Engineer.It's very difficult to recommend something to someone, as our circumstances may differ! But just wanted to tell you our own experience.Keep wellMilada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kangabok Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 The end of year (Dec) and beginning (Jan) are difficult times to jobsearch here as it is the summer holiday time. Please bare that in mind...although I do understand re the schools etc but it took my husband 4 months to find work when we came over beginning of Jan 2009! Even the advertisements and jobs on websites like Seek only picked up by mid Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legalbuff Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Hey KarenK,Give it at least 2 months, in my honest opinion. The GFC (how I loath those letters....) have hit Perth really hard and even tho it is recovering, it's slow going at best.Also - they are NOT in a hurry when you apply for jobs. It takes a while for interviews to be set up, then second interviews, maybe medicals etc etc etc...Rather be safe than sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggel Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I think it will depend on your husbands occupation.Let him apply online, and make sure the people know that he will be ready to start work in January. Follow all jobs that you are really interested in with a personal call. Make sure that the people know that you are willing to come over for an interview if it is necessary. Especially if he is shortlisted. This will give you a good indication if there is any jobs available, and if anyone is interested. Coming through and trying to secure a job for January in October in only 2 weeks, will be very difficult. Do most of the legwork from SA. Then maybe he will decide at a different time to come for some interviews, if maybe you could line up a few from SA.My husband is in IT, and he applied for a job in Albany (WA) from SA. He send his CV to the company, and they took 2 weeks before they called him for an interview. They did a skype interview , a second skype interview and only then offered him the job. All and all it took almost 2 months from the day he send his CV, but he did not have to go to Aus for the interviews.Good luck with the job hunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Mitchell Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi GuysI would appreciate some advice....We are planning to leave for Perth in January so that our son can start his school year there. I am however scared to make the move without one of us securing employment first.Our options would be to make the move and then do everything we can to find employment on that side or we are thinking of letting my husband go over towards the end of October to try and find employment and stay for about 2 weeks. (he wants to come back after the 2 weeks to help us with the packing up and the move)Firstly - for all the people who have immigrated within the last 6 months (during the recession), how long did it take you to find employment and it would be interesting to know what labour market you are in. (medical, engineering, IT, etc)Secondly - if we go with the 2nd option, is 2 weeks enough to meet with recruitment agencies and attend interviews? ThanksKaren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Mitchell Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi KarenWe had the same idea last year. We wanted to be here in January for the school year start, but I could not find employment over the distance due mainly to the "recession". Even a week in Perth last October with 3 pre-setup interviews resulted in nothing.After lots of prayer and consideration of our options, we took the plunge without employment. We arrived in January 2009. We found the support from other South Africans on this side absolutely mind-boggling. We connected with other South Africans mainly via Grace CRC church.It took me 4 months to find employment and I did whatever I could find in the mean time to keep us going - I built shelves in a shop, worked in a call centre and did labour work on building sites. On average for this type of work I could earn $18 to $20 / hr.We came with PR and once the Family Assistance from Centrelink kicked in, it brought some wellcome relief as well.I had to take a job at a low salary, and not really what I was looking for, but things are picking up and in my view the "recession" in WA was emotional in many industries - in other words, it was just a scare and the recession never came about. Some industries were hit hard but others kept cruising. I am qualified as Mechanical Engineer and work in Building Services (HVAC). The market is still really busy and the internet ads for employment has been steadily picking up speed.If you can pre-arrange some meetings and interviews then 2 weeks can be helpful. Before the recession you would have been guaranteed employment within 2 weeks, but at the moment there are no guarantees. I think it depends on your line of work.I found the best employment site to be SEEK.COM.AU.Hope that helps. Good luck with your very tough decision!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi GuysI would appreciate some advice....We are planning to leave for Perth in January so that our son can start his school year there. I am however scared to make the move without one of us securing employment first.Our options would be to make the move and then do everything we can to find employment on that side or we are thinking of letting my husband go over towards the end of October to try and find employment and stay for about 2 weeks. (he wants to come back after the 2 weeks to help us with the packing up and the move)Firstly - for all the people who have immigrated within the last 6 months (during the recession), how long did it take you to find employment and it would be interesting to know what labour market you are in. (medical, engineering, IT, etc)Secondly - if we go with the 2nd option, is 2 weeks enough to meet with recruitment agencies and attend interviews? ThanksKarenI dont think it will be. Not without some level of luck. Look, the recruitment agencies in Perth have a very different work ethic. People out here have a different work ethic. Tomorrow is another day sometimes and the process can be quite long. Its typical for it to take a month or two to find work in some cases, some people take even longer. Agents have a habit of not coming back to you or providing much feedback even though they tell you in the interviews that your skills are in demand. I had a company who wanted me take 6 weeks from initial interview to tabled offer and the position was vacant for 8 months. Sometimes the red tape within the companies themselves makes it a slow process. Another common complaint is the lack of feedback when CV's are sent before you are in Aus. So although I never looked for work during the recession I do know that the actual process itself can be a bit slower. Saying that, if the agents know that they need to move quickly and you have a skillset in demand, you may come right quickly. Two weeks is not much time in Perth, not unless you can schedule interviews in advance before you come. To do that, I would suggest phoning the agents from South Africa rather than just emailing them. Make sure that you are seeing 6-7 people a day if possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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