Is not doing a LSD trip crazy??

[vitchie]

We did a trip and it also keeps us going through the doubtful times. But maybe another take on it, how many people have been on a LSD trip and then came back said "No, it's crap, let's stay in SA"? I think the majority of people I know that committed to a LSD trip end up going to Australia anyway, so it is more of a formality.

 

To me, the LSD trip was like Pandora's box, once opened, you cannot close it. Once you see things working the way they should it is difficult to go back to blissful ignorance in SA. 

Edited August 31, 2016 by vitchie

[Deezo]

I cant really comment on an LSD trip but i spent 5 weeks in Australia back in 2012/2013 and had an amazing time while i was on "holiday" and what one must remember is that an LSD trip is only going to be similar to that.

 

We cannot really know how life will be in Aus until we are there so in all honesty dont waste your money.

 

Oh and when i was on holiday i got to see much of Sydney (NSW), Queensland and Brisbane and not once did i say to myself "Wow i could see myself living here" because i wasn't in the reality of it all as i wasn't commuting in traffic, shopping for groceries and doing all the everyday norms that drive one crazy but thats just my personal take on it   

[elleneo]

We didn't do an LSD trip, we figured we want to move and the money we saved helped to make a much softer landing when we arrived, no regrets whatsoever, 7 years and 2 cities later we are still content and happy to be in Australia.

 

my advice..save your money..Australia is awesome!

[JoVincent]

On ‎29‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 5:37 AM, dlmonnink said:

I didn't do one. Arrived in Melbourne in March and started applying for jobs that evening, got a job the next day luckily.

Network on here and the Facebook groups for South Africans in whichever city you land. That's how I managed to land my job.

Also wanted to live in Brisbane but thought it would be safer and easier to get a job in Melbourne - wasn't wrong

 

@dlmonnink This is our thinking at the moment actually - we were keen on Brisbane as we have friends there, but my husband is in finance and has been told by numerous people that it will be much easier to get a job in Melbourne. What iis your occupation? Can you recommend any recruiters in Melbourne that you can recommend?

 

Gosh it really is so hard when you are basing such a big decision on online research, opinions of friends living there/here & recruiters' feedback. Part of me wishes we had some experience living in Aus before so we knew better what the right decision was for us, but a LSD trip will just not give us enough information either I don't feel (and financially it would be insane flying a family of 4 over for a holiday, and to be honest the sooner we can get there to settle down the better).

 

 

[Addy31]

@JoVincent my husband is also in the finance industry and we have been told that Sydney is our best bet. We really wanted to try out Melbourne as it seems to be more affordable than Sydney. I guess one just has to take a risk and see how it goes.....

[dlmonnink]

4 hours ago, JoVincent said:

 

@dlmonnink This is our thinking at the moment actually - we were keen on Brisbane as we have friends there, but my husband is in finance and has been told by numerous people that it will be much easier to get a job in Melbourne. What iis your occupation? Can you recommend any recruiters in Melbourne that you can recommend?

 

Gosh it really is so hard when you are basing such a big decision on online research, opinions of friends living there/here & recruiters' feedback. Part of me wishes we had some experience living in Aus before so we knew better what the right decision was for us, but a LSD trip will just not give us enough information either I don't feel (and financially it would be insane flying a family of 4 over for a holiday, and to be honest the sooner we can get there to settle down the better).

 

 

 

I'm a software developer. There always seems to be a demand for good devs around so I found a job extremely quickly. Perhaps it would have been the same in Brisbane but I didn't want to take the risk as costs of not having a job here can lead to a large loss financially, especially for us saffers who come over on the Rand. The only recruiters I know are in the software dev recruitment space. If that's an option for you let me know and I'll pass along details.

[Duggen]

9 hours ago, JoVincent said:

 

@dlmonnink This is our thinking at the moment actually - we were keen on Brisbane as we have friends there, but my husband is in finance and has been told by numerous people that it will be much easier to get a job in Melbourne. What iis your occupation? Can you recommend any recruiters in Melbourne that you can recommend?

 

Gosh it really is so hard when you are basing such a big decision on online research, opinions of friends living there/here & recruiters' feedback. Part of me wishes we had some experience living in Aus before so we knew better what the right decision was for us, but a LSD trip will just not give us enough information either I don't feel (and financially it would be insane flying a family of 4 over for a holiday, and to be honest the sooner we can get there to settle down the better).

 

 

 

Hi JoVincent,

 

I work in Finance in Melbourne. I moved over with the company I work for so have limited experience with regards to job hunting.

 

I like to keep tabs on what's happening in the market though, so have made contact with a recruiter. It seems to me that the market is fairly active.... there seems to be numerous attractive positions available.

 

What area of finance do your husband work in? 

[BobSA]

Hi @JoVincent

 

I am in Finance in Melbourne and I know a few South Africans also in Finance actively seeking roles in Melbourne and some who have managed to secure roles. I myself have seen about 4 recruiters in the last few weeks. The summary of our experiences is as follows:

• Having a track record with a company that recruiters can recognise is a huge benefit. i.e. Big 4 firm/mid tier auditing company or mining company that they are familiar with.
• Recruiters tend to box you just like in SA- if you have experience in Financial Services they will not put your CV forward for Retail/ FMCG roles. This is due to a combination of the supply of candidates exceeding demand at this moment as well as Employers being strict in terms of only wanting candidates who have prior experience in their specific industry and not wanting to do the training. Please don't question why they think a person with for example mining experience can't adapt to a retail environment etc
• While the VISA process and Australian institutes might put our qualification on the same playing field it seems to me that in reality they don't carry the same weight as the people who you compete with from Ireland, England, USA, New Zealand in the eyes of the people who sift CV's like the recruiters and HR people. I'm pretty confident South Africans would knock the socks off in an interview setting. But you need to get that interview before you have an opportunity to impress.
• Culture of finance professionals doing contractual roles for 6-12 months is a growing trend as and such permanent roles are harder to find as employers have this option actively available to them.
• The jobs at big name brand entities usually have anywhere from 200-400 applicants quite quickly so competition is fierce.
• If you have contacts or people who are senior- make contact and get them to vouch for your application. Every bit helps and it makes a huge difference.

So in summary, There are jobs but not as much as earlier in the year as the festive season approaches. And if you have specific industry experience that has roles advertised it will be very easy for you. If however, you wish to change industries or work at a certain level as back home you might find it a bit more difficult.

 

Good luck!

[JoVincent]

Yes @Addy31 we have been told the same thing, that said I think it is also a huge financial services focus. My husband is a CA who went into commerce and more recently a Financial Manager at a manufacturing corporate. We were originally thinking of Sydney, but coming from a small-ish town like Durban, we think Sydney is too big & fast paced for us and looking for something a bit smaller (even though Melbourne is also very big haha). My hubby will also need to start pretty junior to get the Aus experience under his belt, so his salary in Sydney may not support our family of 4.

 

Thanks @dlmonnink, unfortunately not in IT, and in Finance as said above. But thanks for the offer!

 

@Duggen Have a look above at what I wrote to Addy31 :). Would so appreciate you letting me know what feedback you get from the recruiter. I would imagine things are going to get quiet now leading up to December. Unfortunately my husband also has a 2 month notice period, bummer, so I think for now we will just network and touch base with recruiters and restart the job search in early Feb next year when things heat up again. He will resign from his work in December, and we're booking flights for first week of March.

 

Thanks so much for all the advice @BobSA! Hubby did his articles at Big 4, that was some years ago, but he's definitely made it prominent on his CV as we've also heard that it makes a huge difference in being considered. Definitely open to contract jobs to start off with, it would actually potentially be nice in terms of having a chance to then look around for the best possible permanent role, while still earning a salary. And definitely networking as much as we can at the moment.

 

Thanks all for the advice & sharing your experiences.

[AFreshStart]

28 minutes ago, JoVincent said:

@Addy31We were originally thinking of Sydney, but coming from a small-ish town like Durban, we think Sydney is too big & fast paced for us and looking for something a bit smaller (even though Melbourne is also very big haha). My hubby will also need to start pretty junior to get the Aus experience under his belt, so his salary in Sydney may not support our family of 4.

 

 

@JoVincent

 

I was born and raised in Durban and spent the last 15+ year in Cape Town. We live in Sydney, just outside of the CBD and our lives are WAY more laid back here than they were in South Africa. I'm guessing you've not been to Sydney and are making an assumption on it being "too big & fast paced" from third party information? Sydney is a city that has 600+ suburbs, so when you think of Sydney, where/what are you thinking about?

 

As for Melbourne being cheaper, where? If you compare apples with apples in the CBD and match suburb with suburb it's not remarkably cheaper, it's only when you move further outside of the City, but then Sydney is the same, though more dense. If you are willing to commute an hour to an hour and a half each day your money will go further, if you want to live 10-minutes from the CBD, less so, Melbourne is no different.

 

My wife is in finance and we survived on a single salary in Sydney, as a family of 4. That said she is with one of Big 4 and has 10+ years experience with them in Audit and in a senior role, but we've thrived and don't feel that Sydney is either too big or busy, but to each their own.

 

Both Melbourne and Sydney are great, though personally I prefer Sydney's moderate weather, esp. coming from Durban. Melbourne's weather is an acquired taste, I'm back there for business next week and am never quite sure what to pack

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[RedPanda]

1 hour ago, AFreshStart said:

 

Both Melbourne and Sydney are great, though personally I prefer Sydney's moderate weather, esp. coming from Durban. Melbourne's weather is an acquired taste, I'm back there for business next week and am never quite sure what to pack

 

Hahahaha....for sure! We landed in the middle of May, and in the past 6 months the max temp for our suburb has not gone over 24°C! And in the winter months the average week max was about 12-16°C (going on memory). Ok, I must add that even the locals are all grumpy about this particular late spring, so maybe it's not usually quite as bad as this year has been. But certainly, if you liked the weather in Durbs then you will not like the weather in Melbourne. If weather is important to you, and you like it sunny, go elsewhere- you will be happier. But if you liked the idea of a smaller town, also look at Adelaide, investigate your chances of employment there.