Decision to immigrate to OZ?

[Rudi]

My name is Rudi and my wife's name is Marlene. Our son will be born on 31 May 2006. I have a MBA from the University of Southern Queensland (2005) and my wife has a Bcom degree (Accounting) and completed her articles. I'm 35 years old and my wife will turn 34 in June 2006. I'm currently a manager in the South African Government (16 years experience). Despite my efforts to develop myself and applying for various senior management positions it seems as if the South African affirmative action programs are not going to recognize my skills and competencies. Future job prospects for white males in South Africa, especially in managerial positions, are becoming more and more difficult by the day. I have 25 years left to be productive and build up a good retirement support system for myself and my family. I'm specializing in human resources and have experience in most of the HR fields. I also have international human resource management experience. My intention is to imigrate to Australia, no specific city in mind.

Is Australia really a country of opportunities and have South Africans access to jobs? In South Africa we only hear about the misfortunes of returning South Africans and not the success stories. I understand that one would have to start over and again climb the corporate ladder. I have many more questions but would add them as I get guidance from the South African "Australians".

[Marius]

As far as opportunities are concerned, here in Australia you are guaranteed of at least a fair opportunity. The rest is entirely up to you. That is fair and how it should be, control your own destiny. Saffers that return return for various reasons, mostly because they cannot adapt to the lifestyle, miss family, no help around the house or at work and various others.They are however in the VAST minority I have to say. The overwhelming majority of Saffers here are very happy, have good jobs and make a decent living in a fairly free, safe, fair and open society. Your success here is directly proportional to your effort. Nothing given or expected for mahala. That is why we are here, we have the guarantee of an fair opportunity, me in my career, my wife and most importantly our daughter all in a mostly safe and free society. I am sad to say in my opinion not everyone in SA have a GUARANTEE to a FAIR opportunity, suffice by saying that. That is my view, other may differ. Immigration is a big step, make sure you do it for the right reason, then DO IT.

I am sure you will find a job in Australia fairly easy seeing you and your wife's background.

[chatterbug]

Hi Rudi,

Welcome to this forum. I saw your post in the other forum and some of the responses you got over there. I was about to try and "rescue" you when I saw your post pop-up here!

Is Australia really a country of opportunities and have South Africans access to jobs? In South Africa we only hear about the misfortunes of returning South Africans and not the success stories.

Rudi, in my opinion this is definitely true. Australia is experiencing a candidate short market and they go to great lengths to get skilled people into the country, hence a very active immigration program. As you might know they don't just take everyone, they essentially look at the current shortages in the Australian job market and then seek those skills in other suitable countries.

So if you are able to immigrate, i.e. pass the points test and all the other hoops you have to jump through, in my opinion it is highly unlikely that you would struggle to get a job over here. That is assuming you posess the basic competencies needed form any person of your calibre/stature/qualifications, and you are of good character, have good references and transferable skills.

It will also depend on how fussy you are and how much money you have to support you through the job seeking period. I'd say work on a 3 - 4 month wait to get a decent job in your field. Others don't want to wait that long or can't because they either don't have enough money or have enough money but don't want to spend it for just normal living expenses (or they work on their wife's nerves and need to get out of the house). They look for any job just to get some income and to stay busy, whilst they then look out for the "ideal" job. Either way is fine, just depends on what you are like.

I am in the same field as you are and it took me 2,5 months to get a very good job

I understand that one would have to start over and again climb the corporate ladder.

This is not necessarily true. I actually took a step up and found that my experience in SA in my field stood me in good stead. You also have an Australian qualification which will be instantly recognisable over here. There are obviously some differences - but they are not insurmountable.

I am off course only speaking for my experience which is limited to the Brisbane job market, but I cannot imagine it being very different in other areas. Anyway check out the jobsites, they are very good: the two best ones are www.seek.com.au (go to the "seek executive" tab if you are looking for jobs above 80k) and www.careerone.com.au

Also go check out the www.hays.com.au site to get an idea of the relative worth of HR positions in the various "markets" (different cities)

You should be able to come out here in the "skilled independent" visa category with PR from day one. From there on its up to you, and yes there are many opportunities with no AA ceiling hanging over your head. Marlene should also have no problems - In my company we have just recruited a couple of accountants and boy was it difficult to get skilled and competent people - mostly because there was a shortage of qualified applicants (the total opposite to my expereince in SA) and those would be snapped up within days.

Anyway I don't want to make out as if it's the easiest thing in the world to settle here and get a job, but all things being equal (which you don't get much of in the SA job market) you should be able to start a new life and live reasonably well (however you define that) Other than the job I must say we underestimated the impact of immigration on our lives in general. It was more difficult than we imagined, but if I knew then what I know now, I'd do it again, and I don't even think I would've done it differently!

If you want more info or want to ask specific questions please PM me!

Optimistic BUG!

Edited May 27, 2006 by chatterbug

[Rudi]

My name is Rudi and my wife's name is Marlene. Our son will be born on 29 May 2006. I have a MBA from the University of Southern Queensland (2005) and my wife has a Bcom degree (Accounts) and completed her articles. I'm 35 years old and my wife will turn 34 in June 2006. I'm currently a manager in the South African Government (16 years experience). Despite my efforts to develop myself and applying for various senior management positions it seems as if the South African affirmative action programs are not going to recognize my skills and competencies. Future job prospects for white males in South Africa, especially in managerial positions, are becoming more and more difficult by the day. I have 25 years left to be productive and build up a good retirement support system for myself and my family. I’m specializing in human resources and have experience in most of the HR fields. I also have international human resource management experience. My intention is to emigrate to Australia, no specific city in mind.

Is Australia really a country of opportunities and have South Africans access to jobs? In South Africa we only hear about the misfortunes of returning South Africans and not the success stories. I understand that one would have to start over and again climb the corporate ladder. I have many more questions but would add them as I get guidance from the South African “Australians”.

[Danie]

Hey Rudi wat gaan aan...? Jy het 'n paar dae terug hierdie post geplaas.... maar gelukkig word baba 2 dae vroeer gebore...

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php?s=&sh...findpost&p=5239

Wonder maar net...

D