This is it. A new City. A new adventure. A new life.

[Jacques Voogt]

Thanks Willa

We will definitely come to a meet and greet once there. We may have some affordable furnished accommodation for the first 3 months, just waiting to hear back from them.

I can honestly say that this process is made a lot easier throught the support on this forum and I'm surprised at how quickly things can go from a worry to a sorted state. I can not immagine attempting this kind of a move without you guys.

And I do mean ALL you guys.

[Jacques Voogt]

We have just booked a furnished 1 bedroom apartment in Neutral Bay for just over $400/w until end of December.

It includes undercover parking and utilities and is just across the bridge from the CBD

A unfurnished apartment on property.com.au would go for a similar amount excluding the utilities.

Hopefully we will find suitable employment in that time and will have scouted the area for a cozy long term rental afterwards.

[Bradporter]

Are you able to register with Medicare immediately,

Why do I recall reading that one has to wait for 10 days after arriving to Oz before registering.

Please let me know if you can register immediately, I'm arriving at month end and also need to get this completed.

[HadEnoughofJuju]

The sooner you register for Medi-care the better. The immi.gov sire suggests that you register within 7 to 10 days of arriving but it does not say it is a must.

Something else that many people are not aware of us that if you want to take out additional hospital cover and you are over 30 you need to do so within 12 months of arriving in Australia otherwise there is a 2% loading fee for every year you are over 30.

Here are some links to read through. Hope they help.

http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/settle-in-australia/to-do-first/register-medicare.htm

http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/lifetimehealthcover.htm

[Jacques Voogt]

Hi All

It's been just over 3 weeks since I started this thread and a lot of things have changed... drastically.

We managed to book suitable furnished accommodation for the first few months close to the CBD where we figured our line of work would be the most prevalent based on our research as described below.

Multiple forumites have offered to collect us from the airport. Thank you guys.

Then things started to change.

We changed our flights from the 25th Sept to the 8th Sept for reasons below.

We were fortunate that our furnished accommodation was available from this date and we changed our booking via AirBnB

We have a vehicle waiting for us to arrive.

We managed to find a tenant for our house in RSA moving in on the 1st Sept. We are moving out end of August and spending a week with family before flying.

Three to four weeks ago, we actively started looking for work in the hope that we will get some interviews within the first couple of weeks after arrival.

As we have learned from this forum and others' experiences, it has become the exception to find something before you arrive so we had only a thin slither of hope.

We both got a first screening interview.

We both got a second video call interview. I've been told by the recruiter that they prefer face to face and he does not often see people landing a job via video call so there will most likely be another, 3rd, face to face interview if they like me after the video call.

My video call quality was very bad so we had about a minute of video before having to forgo it for voice only.

We both were offered the position after our 2nd interview.

We are both taking a few steps down in job title/position.

Antonett starts on the 16th (5km from our apartment) and I start on the 18th September (1km from our apartment), hence the earlier flights.

Perhaps this will give hope for those of you that worry about finding suitable employment.

It is possible, although rare, to get something from RSA and it is even possible to find employment for both.

Now to answer chzaau's question, what did we find works well and what did not.

Job descriptions differ slightly between RSA and Aus.

So we had a detailed look at the job description rather than the position.

We contacted everyone we know in Aus within the same industry telling them we are looking and asking advice.

We researched the specific industries to find the market players. (This was before we went on LSD trip and we made a point of looking at their locations while on our LSD trip)

We found that there are only a hand full (4 or less) of positions available that would be an exact match for our skills and experience.

We directly contacted selected companies that does what we do. A lot of companies advertise on their own website and not on seek. This worked for Antonett but not for me.

Antonett contacted 1 company for 1 position and got it. They were advertising on their own site. Trots op jou Liefling.

The 2 companies I targeted directly did not have any careers on their website, nor were they advertising on seek. I found out via contacts, who the team managers were in those companies and phoned them. Gave a short introduction of who we are, what my skills are end when we will be arriving in Sydney. I also asked their email addresses and sent them my detailed resume. They both sounded interested as I have relevant experience but they were simply not looking to hire someone at the moment. You could say I sort of phoned them up for a quick interview. It may also come across as arrogant or aggressive but I made sure that the tone of my call was that I have something to offer in terms of experience and I'll be available whenever they are ready.

I applied for 2 positions (best match to my skills I could find) via 2 recruitment agencies. Both advertised on seek and on LinkedIn. Both positions were in fact at the same company but the advertisements were written slightly differently, so only the first recruiter represented me.

I was a bit more experienced than what they were looking for and that was a concern for the recruiter as they are scared that I'll use the position as a stepping stone and move on within a few months. So I made a point of closing my interview by saying that I'd prefer taking a step down as I'd like to learn the industry in Aus before having to take some lead role and that I'd prefer career advancement and building on my experience within the company as opposed to falling around between different companies "tasting their menu"

I was just about to start expanding my search over the weekend when I was called this morning and informed that they are making an offer and that I'll have the paperwork by next week. I just hope the economy holds up over the weekend or I'll be without a job before I have it.

Of course we also tailored our resumes based on the job descriptions in the adverts to highlight those abilities and experiences that we do have a match to.

If I did not find something by the time we arrived, I'd be exploring each and every remotely relevant position out there. That was the backup plan.

I can honestly say we learned this from other forumites and people we know that made the move before us and shared their experiences and advice with us.

THANK YOU GUYS!!!

[OubaasDik]

I'm not putting that butter on MY bread, Jacques has fallen with his arse in it!!!!

Congrats to both. That is an almost miraculous bit of serendipity. Did you sacrifice any goats, kittens ....?

Edited August 2, 2013 by OubaasDik

[Jacques Voogt]

Hi Oubaas

When I see you posting anything, on any thread, I read it simply because you know how to make anything fun and interesting.

Still plenty of miles away from that 100K job, but it is a job requiring us to do what we do best and it pays a market related salary for the position so I doubt that we would be able to find anything else that would pay more. Besides, I don't do house executive for no pay very well.

The religious activities performed, included but was not limited to:

Having faith

Saturdays, Braaing on a real braai

Drinking lots and lots of coffee

Drinking lots and lots of coffee

And when anyone asked me "Do you have work yet?", I said: "Nah, should be breeze" while silently worrying about the storm to come.

See you soon.

[TheFilanders]

Congratulations on the jobs!!!

Enjoy the last weeks in RSA

[Toitjie]

That is the most incredible post I have read in a long time. Well done to you both for landing jobs so soon and from SA nogal!

I cant remember Jacques - if you dont mind me asking, in what field exactly are you both? Im asking because obviously I would love to also land a job but it would be interesting to see in what field people get jobs easier, if there is such a thing

again - huge congrats and good luck with your last month here

[VanWykeC]

Sjoe, congratulations. I am so happy for you-wonderful to know that things are working out so well for you!

I will be using your posts as a reminder that things CAN work out. Thank you for uplifting my spirit again.

And yes.....I must agree...people on this forum are awesome.

[Jacques Voogt]

I'm a regular programmer with only a diploma in Electronic Engineering specialising in digital technology. My job speciality is embedded software on EFTPOS terminals. If you made payments using your card in RSA at Shoprite, Pnp, Makro, Clicks, Caltex, Shell, any Nedbank Nedlink terminals, Absa Branches, etc, it would most likely be processed by a piece of code I wrote at some point. There are only 2 big manufacturers worldwide and they mostly use partner companies all over the world to distribute their products.

These partner companies normally does work for at least a few of the biggest banks and retailers. The banks prefer to outsource it.

Antonett, is an Internal Auditor with about 3 international Certifications (those little acronyms you can put behind your name) over and above her Honores degree and specialize in Information Systems Auditing.

It may also just be the right timing with the right skills. The company I currently work for has not hired someone new in the last 3 years and those that we did hire before did not have any relevant experience and we had to train them, If they had any experience, they probably would have gotten the job based on that above any other skill. The recruiter also said something similar that they rarely find someone with relevant experience and end up hiring people just out of university and train them up.

Similarly the firm Antonett will be working for recently went through a management change and restructuring, perhaps leading to an opportunity being created.

[OubaasDik]

Hi Oubaas

When I see you posting anything, on any thread, I read it simply because you know how to make anything fun and interesting.

Still plenty of miles away from that 100K job, but it is a job requiring us to do what we do best and it pays a market related salary for the position so I doubt that we would be able to find anything else that would pay more. Besides, I don't do house executive for no pay very well.

The religious activities performed, included but was not limited to:

Having faith

Saturdays, Braaing on a real braai

Drinking lots and lots of coffee

Drinking lots and lots of coffee

And when anyone asked me "Do you have work yet?", I said: "Nah, should be breeze" while silently worrying about the storm to come.

See you soon.

So - in terms of religion -

Saturday - burnt offerings

The rest of the time drinking coffee - not drinking wine - so you are acolytes of the opposite of Bacchus - Uhmmm, Have I been infiltrated?

Still congrats.

[rozellem]

Great stuff. This is an example of "doing your homework"! And look how you paid off. Where is the rental again? Now you can go on http://www.131500.com.au/ and work out your commutes and what time you need to wake up in the morning. When you know how much income you will have and how much free time you will have, you can really start thinking like a local. See you around.

[Black]

Bakgat

[dkm]

Do you need an international driver's license in order to rent a car???

[HansaPlease]

Do you need an international driver's license in order to rent a car???

Nope.

[Jacques Voogt]

Ok, so it has been very busy the last couple of weeks with packing our movecube and still working (and being sent to Cape Town for the last 2 days to provide training), selling stuff and moving out of the house. Hectic and no time for blogging.

I am supposed to be on a plane at the moment, but I'm not. Antonett will therefore arrive alone tomorrow as I need to sort out some passport issues.

Somewhere over the last 2 weeks while packing our container and moving out of the house my passport that was together with all our visa application documents, ID's and Antonett's passport dissappeared.

We checked all the documents a few weeks ago but this morning it was simply not in the file and not to be found anywhere else.

Hopefully I can get it renewed by the end of the week, book a seat on the airship and get to my wife by Friday... maybe.

Anyone know if a temporary passport will be accepted?

I need to start my new job by the 18th, sure won't look good if I need to start a few days late.

Does the Aussies have some award for the most idiotic act of the year? I think I may be a good candidate at this point.

[Toitjie]

Ok, so it has been very busy the last couple of weeks with packing our movecube and still working (and being sent to Cape Town for the last 2 days to provide training), selling stuff and moving out of the house. Hectic and no time for blogging.

I am supposed to be on a plane at the moment, but I'm not. Antonett will therefore arrive alone tomorrow as I need to sort out some passport issues.

Somewhere over the last 2 weeks while packing our container and moving out of the house my passport that was together with all our visa application documents, ID's and Antonett's passport dissappeared.

We checked all the documents a few weeks ago but this morning it was simply not in the file and not to be found anywhere else.

Hopefully I can get it renewed by the end of the week, book a seat on the airship and get to my wife by Friday... maybe.

Anyone know if a temporary passport will be accepted?

I need to start my new job by the 18th, sure won't look good if I need to start a few days late.

Does the Aussies have some award for the most idiotic act of the year? I think I may be a good candidate at this point.

Hi Jacques - I can imagine this is the kind of stress you do NOT need! I have heard from our container agent that another couple managed to get their passports and all important docs loaded in the container and by the time they realised it the ship was already at sea. So these things happen

I really hope you find a replacement soon. I know there are emergency passports...maybe that will be quick? Good luck with the move, I hope everything else goes smoothly for you guys