Moving to Sydney/Brisbane

hunter164

Right so I'm looking at moving to either one of these cities before the new year but I'm not sure which one. I'm a 22 year old electrician and I'll be going on my own. Which place is better as regards socialising, general quality of life and work?

Also how much money would I generally need going over? I plan on staying in a hostel.

Thanks

pete4130

Brisbane would be cheaper to live/rent and a smaller city. It's pretty easy to get around and probably better weather all round compared to Sydney. It's hot in Summer and not as cold in winter. Sydney can be very hot in summer too but temperatures can be very low in winter.

Sydney being bigger will obviously have more going on than Brisbane. Theres still really good scene/nightlife things to do in Brisbane. You've got Gold coast to the south, Sunshine coast to the north. Sydney is pretty bad for traffic so if you want to get out of the city it takes more planning especially on busy weekends/holidays.

With regards to work, what visa are you on? You might want to check your qualifications are recognised over here too. If you are on a WHV then you may find it harder to get work with the 6 month limitation on working for an employer, coupled with your skills not being recognised.


Hostels can be as little as $20 a night for an 8-16 person dorm style room. It is expensive here even with the exchange rate. It depends how you spend your money as well. You can party your money away pretty fast.

If you find a place of your own, most likely a house share expect to pay 4 weeks rent as deposit/bond plus 2 weeks rent in advance which could be the guts of $1000 up front for a decent enough room in a nice place in a good area.

Plenty of Irish in both cities if you want to meet Irish people.

hunter164

I've also started looking at Melbourne as I've heard from a few friends that it's great for socialising and things to do in my spare time.

Does anyone know what it's like to get work in melbourne? Also roughly how much money would I need going over about 6000?

pete4130

is that AU$6000 or €6000? Either should be fine to get started and set up. A bit more comfort if it was €6000 knowing it would go a bit further. It all depends on how you spend it. It's pretty easy if you party hard, drinking each night to have that much spent in 4 weeks.

If you budget $25 for a backpacker hostel a night and $25 for food a day if you don't eat out much, lots of 2 minute noodles, going to local bakeries (the bakeries here are great here and cheap) etc its possible to get by on $50 or less a day easily. It's the small things that are expensive. I know in Sydney if you go into a shop and buy a can of coke and a chocolate bar you are looking at $7-$9.
If you add in transport to and from interviews on trains or buses add another $10 a day maybe. You'd be looking at about $420 a week or less doing it cheaply.
If you want to have a few drinks in the hostel on the cheap, then get some box wine. It's infinitely cheap and isn't the greatest thing to drink but for $4 for a 2L-3L box it does the job. Expect a hangover though.

Once you start working, wages are pretty good. Somewhere around the $17 an hour mark minimum for retail/unksilled work. A few $ more per hour if you are casual (no holidays, benefits, no notice to quit etc...) so expect $600pw upwards depending on the rate I suppose.


Melbourne is more relaxed and laid back than Sydney and Brisbane. Lots of Irish there too which is good for meeting people and bad that its more people in the same boat looking for work. I'm not sure what work or rent is like down there though. I'd guess its comparable to Sydney for living expenses.

If you find yourself struggling at first in the cities then take a serious look at going somewhere rural and doing work in the countryside. The pay is ok and even though it might be hard work, its money in your pocket and can secure your 2nd year visa if its in the right spot.

aido79

hunter164 wrote: »

Right so I'm looking at moving to either one of these cities before the new year but I'm not sure which one. I'm a 22 year old electrician and I'll be going on my own. Which place is better as regards socialising, general quality of life and work?

Also how much money would I generally need going over? I plan on staying in a hostel.

Thanks

They are both good cities in their own ways with different things to offer. It all depends on what you are looking for. As regards work it can be hard to find work in Brisbane. Have you looked into what you need to do to get an electrical licence.to work as an electrician? I got mine in 2008 and it took me 5 months to get it and I have yet to meet someone that got it sooner than that. They changed the process of obtaining it and each state is different so I'm not really up to speed on what you would need to maybe check out britishexpats.com and have a look through the electrical forum. Best of luck with it all anyway.

hunter164

pete4130 wrote: »

is that AU$6000 or €6000? Either should be fine to get started and set up. A bit more comfort if it was €6000 knowing it would go a bit further. It all depends on how you spend it. It's pretty easy if you party hard, drinking each night to have that much spent in 4 weeks.

If you budget $25 for a backpacker hostel a night and $25 for food a day if you don't eat out much, lots of 2 minute noodles, going to local bakeries (the bakeries here are great here and cheap) etc its possible to get by on $50 or less a day easily. It's the small things that are expensive. I know in Sydney if you go into a shop and buy a can of coke and a chocolate bar you are looking at $7-$9.
If you add in transport to and from interviews on trains or buses add another $10 a day maybe. You'd be looking at about $420 a week or less doing it cheaply.
If you want to have a few drinks in the hostel on the cheap, then get some box wine. It's infinitely cheap and isn't the greatest thing to drink but for $4 for a 2L-3L box it does the job. Expect a hangover though.

Once you start working, wages are pretty good. Somewhere around the $17 an hour mark minimum for retail/unksilled work. A few $ more per hour if you are casual (no holidays, benefits, no notice to quit etc...) so expect $600pw upwards depending on the rate I suppose.


Melbourne is more relaxed and laid back than Sydney and Brisbane. Lots of Irish there too which is good for meeting people and bad that its more people in the same boat looking for work. I'm not sure what work or rent is like down there though. I'd guess its comparable to Sydney for living expenses.

If you find yourself struggling at first in the cities then take a serious look at going somewhere rural and doing work in the countryside. The pay is ok and even though it might be hard work, its money in your pocket and can secure your 2nd year visa if its in the right spot.

It'd be 6000 euro I would hopefully be able to bring if things work out the way I'm hoping in the next few months! I try and eat pretty healthy so I'm going to presume I'll be spending more on food.

Yea well I was hoping for the rural work I could use my trade and hopefully the money will be good enough for that.

Thanks for the reply.

hunter164

aido79 wrote: »

They are both good cities in their own ways with different things to offer. It all depends on what you are looking for. As regards work it can be hard to find work in Brisbane. Have you looked into what you need to do to get an electrical licence.to work as an electrician? I got mine in 2008 and it took me 5 months to get it and I have yet to meet someone that got it sooner than that. They changed the process of obtaining it and each state is different so I'm not really up to speed on what you would need to maybe check out britishexpats.com and have a look through the electrical forum. Best of luck with it all anyway.

Are you still over there? What's the sparking money like with a licence?

Thanks

aido79

hunter164 wrote: »

Are you still over there? What's the sparking money like with a licence?

Thanks

Yeah I'm still over here but I'm in Western Australia working in mining. In the cities wages are probably $30+ for a licenced electrician and $25+ without the licence. You will probably struggle to find electrical work without a licence though. How long do you plan on coming over for? If you are only coming for a year then it is probably not worth the hassle of getting the license to be honest.

hunter164

aido79 wrote: »

Yeah I'm still over here but I'm in Western Australia working in mining. In the cities wages are probably $30+ for a licenced electrician and $25+ without the licence. You will probably struggle to find electrical work without a licence though. How long do you plan on coming over for? If you are only coming for a year then it is probably not worth the hassle of getting the license to be honest.

What's the mining like? Is it hard to get into? Well I was planning on going over and seeing how it goes and if I'm happy I'll try and stay you know.

pete4130

I work in mining too. The money can be very good but its almost impossible to get work on a mine site if you are on a WHV visa unfortunately. I was lucky enough to get a job on a WHV over 3 years ago but they were desperate for people for that particular role and made allowances. The mining employment has got tighter as well the last 2 years, not so many jobs on offer.

aido79

pete4130 wrote: »

I work in mining too. The money can be very good but its almost impossible to get work on a mine site if you are on a WHV visa unfortunately. I was lucky enough to get a job on a WHV over 3 years ago but they were desperate for people for that particular role and made allowances. The mining employment has got tighter as well the last 2 years, not so many jobs on offer.

Also to get into mining as an electrician without an electrical licence would be even harder. It's a basic requirement for the job.

hunter164

Well my plan is to go over on a WHV but if I like it, then obviously stay. How hard is it to get a normal sparking job over there? Thanks

aido79

hunter164 wrote: »

Well my plan is to go over on a WHV but if I like it, then obviously stay. How hard is it to get a normal sparking job over there? Thanks

Without an A grade licence it can be quite difficult so be prepared to look at other types of work.

hunter164

After looking through things it seems fairly hard to get an A grade licence in Melbourne! How hard is it in Perth?

aido79

hunter164 wrote: »

After looking through things it seems fairly hard to get an A grade licence in Melbourne! How hard is it in Perth?

It's fairly hard to get it in Perth too. I'm not sure about the differences between getting it in Victoria and getting it in Western Australia. A lot of guys including myself went to Adelaide to get get a South Australian licence and transferred it to a licence from the state we worked in but not sure if that's still possible as there has been a few changes since then. Might be worth your while giving Peer in Adelaide a buzz because they'll be able to tell you if it's still an option.

minzabud

You need to get your trade recognised by tra first at a cost of 900 dollars and takes 4 months to come through and can only be applied for on shore, I've failed twice because of this!

I've been here a year in South Australia and Victoria and always found work ranging from 25-30 bucks an hour without a license.

hunter164

aido79 wrote: »

It's fairly hard to get it in Perth too. I'm not sure about the differences between getting it in Victoria and getting it in Western Australia. A lot of guys including myself went to Adelaide to get get a South Australian licence and transferred it to a licence from the state we worked in but not sure if that's still possible as there has been a few changes since then. Might be worth your while giving Peer in Adelaide a buzz because they'll be able to tell you if it's still an option.

Thanks for all the help man I'll send them a mail.

minzabud wrote: »

You need to get your trade recognised by tra first at a cost of 900 dollars and takes 4 months to come through and can only be applied for on shore, I've failed twice because of this!

I've been here a year in South Australia and Victoria and always found work ranging from 25-30 bucks an hour without a license.

So I can only apply to that in Aus? What do you have to do to get it recognised?

Really yea? Do you find work hard to come by or is it fairly easy?

Also for the rural work have you done sparking in the rural area? If so, is the money good there?

minzabud

You need references from employers,trade certs,fas log book,passport,birth cert,visa evidence all certified as true copies of originals.

You make your own luck here as far I'm concerned I lived in rural SA for 7 months doing my regional with two different company's a lot of solar installations and domestic work, I left contact details with electrical wholesales and put up ads on gumtree and landed a job off the country television ads.

Moved to melbourne in April and started working for 20bucks an hour to tie me over until something else came along, got up to 25 after a week and between super and overtime I'm happy enough but the boss doesn't want me connecting/disconnecting anything which is fair enough.

I served my time in a factory doing maintenance work and there's plenty of work around no doubt, but without a license your wasting your time applying.

I'm here on a whv and planned on getting my trade recognised and doing the course in Adelaide and transferring over, but I sent off my documents 4 months before I left to save time and the week I got here word came back that it had been declined due to not being in the country at time of application so had to start application again if I wanted to get recognised but all my paperwork is in Ireland so at this stage with 12 months left in my visa and slim chance if sponsorship it's not worth my while getting it at this stage.