Getting Started in Australia

kittenz

Hi all, myself and some mates are heading to australia for a year in November. I was trying to do some research into getting started out there, like finding accommodation, jobs etc. We are heading to Sydney first and staying there for a while so i was wondering if anyone had any experience they could pass on to me of how they got settled in Sydney. Are there any websites with rental accommodation (remembering we will be on a budget over there) that was any use to you, recruitment agencies etc.... Any info on this would be much appreciated... thanks

MarkPH

Sydney is probably the hardest place of all the Australian cities to start in. I went to Perth first, and myself and my friend who was travelling were working within a week, without knowing any contacts or anything. I didnt go onto Sydney, the company I was with had work for me in Darwin and Melbourne (Sydney too, but I didnt fancy working there) and my friend was in Sydney for 3 months before he got a crappy job paying terrible wages. Couldnt find anything. Another girl staying with him was there for 5 months before she got a job trying to get people to sign up to credit card companies on the street. Not the ideal job and crap pay too.

Paying loads for an unfurnished house too. Stay away from agencies anyway, try get a job yourself, the agencies wont do much for you unless you constantly ring them and annoy them. There are thousands of Irish and English looking for the same temporary jobs.

Good luck with it anyweay, and make sure you travel around. Its a massive country (bigger than the EU) and there is a lot to see. Dont have any regrets of not going to places.

kittenz

thanks MarkPH, i have heard that it is hard getting work in Sydney alright, but we were hoping to stay there for christmas and new year's and then travel on, depending on how much we liked the place. There are a lot of destinations we have mapped out to see, such as Perth, as my boyfriends relations live there. Our the flight is into sydney from Thailand, so looking for any information about accommodation there, as i want to be somewhat prepared.... Thanks again...

Anyone else with any info?

Linoge

MarkPH wrote:

my friend was in Sydney for 3 months before he got a crappy job paying terrible wages. Couldnt find anything. Another girl staying with him was there for 5 months before she got a job trying to get people to sign up to credit card companies on the street.

You've given some good advice there, and I don't mean to knock it, but seriously, can you honestly say that these people were motivated? 3 months? 5 months?? Thats just crazy. No developed country, especially the rich city of Sydney has such unemployment rates. As of September 2003, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 5.3%. (ref. wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney). Thats similar to Irelands unemployment rate.

By all means tell us of your experience and we are ever grateful for helpful information and tips, but what you've said above about 2 bums is more along the lines of scaremongering.

muppetkiller

PM me if you want info I lived there for 3 years and went over as a backpacker....Sydney is a real Party place and great for a holdiay but Melbourne is the place to live and work...
Finding work is simple if you know where to look..pm me your background details (Degree and work Experience) and I'll put you in touch with some Recruitment people over there..

MarkPH

Linoge wrote:

You've given some good advice there, and I don't mean to knock it, but seriously, can you honestly say that these people were motivated? 3 months? 5 months?? Thats just crazy. No developed country, especially the rich city of Sydney has such unemployment rates. As of September 2003, the unemployment rate in Sydney was 5.3%. (ref. wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney). Thats similar to Irelands unemployment rate.

By all means tell us of your experience and we are ever grateful for helpful information and tips, but what you've said above about 2 bums is more along the lines of scaremongering.

Well someone who makes 10-15 calls a week for 13 weeks looking for labouring work of any kind isnt much of a bum. And like I said earlier in the post, he found it much easier to get temporary work in Perth than Sydny. Thats the problem with finding work in Australia, you're only legally allowed work for 3 months in one place, there are ways around it, but most places dont want the hassle of a backpacker for 3 months or less and then have to replace them. What I said is to be realistic about the chances of finding work in Sydney, its not the best place to find temporary work and Melbourne Perth and Brisbane are places where one can find temporary work easier.

kittenz

Thanks MuppetKiller, pm sent....


Anyone else wanna help with any info?

Linoge

MarkPH wrote:

Well someone who makes 10-15 calls a week for 13 weeks looking for labouring work of any kind isnt much of a bum. And like I said earlier in the post, he found it much easier to get temporary work in Perth than Sydny. Thats the problem with finding work in Australia, you're only legally allowed work for 3 months in one place, there are ways around it, but most places dont want the hassle of a backpacker for 3 months or less and then have to replace them. What I said is to be realistic about the chances of finding work in Sydney, its not the best place to find temporary work and Melbourne Perth and Brisbane are places where one can find temporary work easier.

Thanks for elaborating, that makes much more sense to me now:)

Grem

Papers for accomodation, theres 2 days a week when the accomodation pages are printed (well there was in Perth anyway). British Balls and TNT magazine are also good for both accom and jobs. You'll pick them up in any backpackers and some shops in Sydney.
As for recruitment agencies just google 'temporary work' or 'work in sydney' and you'll find a whole lot of useful contacts. Depends on your line of work (which we dont know).
I found it easier to settle into a smaller city, dunno why, that was just my experience.
Definately make it to Perth tho, its fab.

_blank_

I just left Australia this morning!

Have a read of my blog for some info relating to what you asked.

Sydney is a great place, and in November it will be hard to get accommodation, but jobs should be fairly easy to come by, depending on what you want to do. I got a job within about two weeks of when I started looking seriously for one, and it was paying enough for me to pay rent and get drunk most nights, which I suppose is all you really want, unless you intend on saving, which I could have done, but chose to party instead.:D

As already mentioned, TNT and British Balls magazines are quite good for finding accommodation and jobs.

Now, where to live. STAY AWAY FROM BONDI BEACH AND JUNCTION. You will be ripped off, and Bondi has become so full of Irish people it is referred to as County Bondi, and there are much nicer beaches, like Coogee, Bronte, Maroubra, and Manly. I lived in Coogee and we got a three bedroomed apartment for $490 a week, which was a bargain, but bear in mind, you will be arriving in the middle of the Summer season, so expect to pay a bit more than that. Our landlady took a shine to us and didn't increase our rent for the Summer. When you arrive you will have to base yourself in a hostel before you get sorted with more permanent arrangements. The YHA near Central Station is ok-ish, as are most other hostels in the Sydney vicinity. We stayed at a hostel in Coogee, and ended up living in Coogee toom, it's a great place and I'd recommend anyone to go and live there. The only thing going against it is that the train doesn't go there, but the bus system is great anyway, it's about a 25-30 minute journey into the city. It took us a week to get sorted, but again, it may take a bit longer in the Summer. Do not go to estate agencies, they will not touch backpackers. The magazines mentioned are great, and you will always see notices plastered all over the place on poles and walls offering places to stay.

Before you come out get your mobile unlocked by your phone company - get onto it now because they can be a bit pricky about it. When you get here get a Vodafone Sim card and use the Cap Plans. You pay $49 for a top up (called a re-charge in Oz) and they give you $230 to spend in a month - 25c a text message to anywhere including home - and if your mates get vodafone cards too, you can ring each other for 20c a phone call - 20 minute duration cap on that. A $79 top up will get you something like $500 for the month.

What else about Sydney - well you'll discover the bars and nightlife for yourself, but the Coogee Bay Hotel is a brilliant spot, especially in the Summer. For Irish bars you have Scruffy Murphy's, PJ O'Brien's, Paddy Maguires (prob the best one) and Dirty Nelly's. The area called The Rocks has some good bars, and Darling Harbour has nightclubs - it can be a bit expensive to go out in Darling Harbour, but it is genuinly a beautiful place.

Melbourne is a very chilled out city, and a great place to live and work. I got a job near enough straight away when I moved down there, and we lived at St. Kilda, which is the cool/bohemian/anything goes area of Melbourne. Not as mad as Sydney, but a much nicer city.

Do not miss the trip to Kakadu National Park - it is brilliant. We gave Uluru a miss, but it's also supposed to be great.

Hope I've helped.

kittenz

Grem wrote:

Papers for accomodation, theres 2 days a week when the accomodation pages are printed (well there was in Perth anyway). British Balls and TNT magazine are also good for both accom and jobs. You'll pick them up in any backpackers and some shops in Sydney.
As for recruitment agencies just google 'temporary work' or 'work in sydney' and you'll find a whole lot of useful contacts. Depends on your line of work (which we dont know).
I found it easier to settle into a smaller city, dunno why, that was just my experience.
Definately make it to Perth tho, its fab.

Thanks Grem, didnt know about the magazines, i will definitely keep a look out. I have started to look at some recruitment agencies already and the jobs look plentiful at the moment, hope that will still be the case when i get there. I work in IT by the way, i should have stated that from the beginning. Yeah i heard Perth is brilliant and we will definitely be going there at some stage as by boyfriend has family living there, so that is a must do! Thanks for all the info

kittenz

Hi Seansouth, thanks for the detailed reply, it has given me a lot of things to think about and discuss with my mates.

Sydney is a great place, and in November it will be hard to get accommodation, but jobs should be fairly easy to come by, depending on what you want to do.

Yeah i figured it would probably be a bad time to arrive there, it being summer and all, accommodation will be fairly scarce, glad to hear that jobs mighten be though, at least that is something.

STAY AWAY FROM BONDI BEACH AND JUNCTION[/U][/I][/B]. You will be ripped off, and Bondi has become so full of Irish people it is referred to as County Bondi, and there are much nicer beaches, like Coogee, Bronte, Maroubra, and Manly.

I heard that Bondi is a fairly expensive place to stay alright, we really dont have anywhere in mind that we want to stay at the moment, any input to the nicest places are always welcome. I have heard of Coogee and Bronte alright, might have to check out accommodation there alright. All we are really looking for is a nice reasonably priced accommodation for 4 of us (or more, the more the merrier is what is say), central enough to all area's, with good nighlife etc. The pubs you have mentioned sound good, so they will definitely have to be checked out.

Melbourne is a very chilled out city, and a great place to live and work. I got a job near enough straight away when I moved down there, and we lived at St. Kilda, which is the cool/bohemian/anything goes area of Melbourne. Not as mad as Sydney, but a much nicer city

Will definitely have to go to Melbourne, if not to live in, definitely visit (sure isnt that where Neighbours is, have to torture the boys that are coming with a visit to the set, haha, they'll love it ) Nothing is really planned as of yet, so all opinions and idea's are welcome. All that is planned is definitely staying in Sydney for Christmas and New Years, other than that, we are all fairly easy about where to go and live.

Do not miss the trip to Kakadu National Park - it is brilliant. We gave Uluru a miss, but it's also supposed to be great.

Will definitely have to go to Kakadu National Park, have just googled it there and it looks amazing and will also be checking out Uluru.

Thanks a million for all the information you have given me, by the sounds of it, you really enjoyed your stay in OZ. I am really excited about my trip now, will definitely have to check out further all the info you gave me. Thanks again, you have really helped a lot

Takeshi_Kovacs

Some very good info here, i am toying with the idea of going as well (although likely it will be on my own). Just wondering, what is the story with driving over there. I assume you need a drivers license, unfortunately i don't have one, and with the waiting time to get test, i would be long gone. Is it possible to drive on provisional over there, or do driving test and get a Austrailan full license?

(Although driving in a 4x4 deep in the outback, i think you would be highly unlikely to be pulled over...)

_blank_

I heard a story of someone who came over with a provisional, handed it in to get an Aussie one, and got a full Aussie one back.

You cannot drive on a provisional licence over here, it's very strict. They have two driving tests. You start out on "L" plates, do a test then get "P" plates, do another test and then get a full licence.

k974

seansouth wrote:

I heard a story of someone who came over with a provisional, handed it in to get an Aussie one, and got a full Aussie one back.

You cannot drive on a provisional licence over here, it's very strict. They have two driving tests. You start out on "L" plates, do a test then get "P" plates, do another test and then get a full licence.

that works, better to do it in an office that wouldnt see too many irish i.e dont go to sydney or bondi office etc. go to a country town.

empirix

Sydney morning herald lon Saturdaymorning has a full list of accomodation for Sydney, be up at 9 and ready to ring that morning, should find a nice little flat/apprt in it, i stayed in Paddington,very handy to get to the city via walking, nice area too. British balls and TNT are crap for accomodation. Hostels are another good way of finding accomodation, you'll see all the message boards etc. But the Sydney morning herald on a saturday morning bright and early is a must!

Enjoy