thinking about leaving my job here in ireland, and go to oz on whv. Is it worth it?

ilovesleep · 15-02-2010 11:00PM #1

Would anyone be able to help me out please.

I'm thinking about taking a career break later in the year and thinking about going to Australia on a working holiday visa.

Nothing is planned yet. I don't know where to begin. I don't know if I'll be going for sure. I want to find out what the working situation is like because I will be giving up a good job if I was to continue with this idea.

Ideally I would like to go to Sydney in December. Would like to spend the first few weeks taking it easy and touring. Then moving on in the new year for work. Would anyone have any recommendations as to where to go for work or should I stay in sydney.

I am hoping to have 3000 to 4000 euro going over. So whatever that is in Australian dollers.

Regarding work:

I'm currently working as a childminder for a family minding 1 child with special needs. I love what I do. Anybody that has worked as a childminder would know that theres an early start (to allow parents out to work), late finishes (waiting for parents to come home) and I would be lucky if I was to get a break in between. All this and the actual work invovled with caring for a child is pretty tough. But the worst part is working with a battleaxe of a housekeeper. She is constantly giving out to me. I have been under so much stress and pressure for years. I want to leave. On the other hand I would feel guilty for leaving because my employer is so good to me. So mixed emotions here.

Regarding qualifications - I have a special needs qualification. I was hoping to study childcare later in the year but want to go away instead.

I have plently of childcare experience but no childcare qualifications.

How would it be trying to find work in australia. I would be willing to try my hand at anything. I have a little bit of experience in shop, hotel, factory work. I would probably be looking at low skilled jobs in australia.

Any hope for me. Thanks for reading.

FreeAnd.. · 15-02-2010 11:40PM

3000 to 4000 isnt very much really and you will burn through that in no time. I'm not too sure how much success you will have in finding work or how it pays but you should count for not working for a few months...i'm not sure the cash you're planning on bringing would see you though that...

I know alot of people who have came over and probably end up more stressed when their money runs low and they can't find work...How would you feel if you had to return home after 3-4 months with no cash? If that's fine then definitely make the most of a long holiday there - will your job still be there when you get back?

Mellor · 15-02-2010 11:57PM

It sounds like a bad idea to me,
you currently have a job that is paying the bills,

you don't have enough money to survive for very long out of work in Oz, you also don't have any qualifications in childcare. So work could be hard.
I'd rather stick with the bird in the hand

Dave! · 16-02-2010 12:59AM

Stick at it for now, save up more money, and then go for it !

Xavi6 · 16-02-2010 01:08AM

Without a childcare qualification you have no hope of getting into that area. My missus' family run a creche at home and she worked there for years but it counts for absolutely nothing over here without a formal qualification. I'd be doing a bit more research if I were you.

DamoDLK · 16-02-2010 04:33AM

You could always apply for the holiday visa (3 month limit) first, scope out Oz, see if its for you, get a feel for the place, then think seriously about the WHV. Work is tight enough down here, depending on your area. And 4 grand will go in no time as already said. Tis an expensive oul' country now that the exchange rate is no longer favorable! - even compared to this time last year.

ilovesleep · 17-02-2010 12:25AM

Thanks for the replies.

I was really hoping on oz being a getaway route. But may look unlikely now after reading the replies.

I was thinking that I wouldnt be able to get any work in childcare in oz. I wrote about it in my first post to see if there was any loopholes.

To be honest I would be happy at working at anything.

How would au pair work be? Must google au pair work in australia!

If things didnt work out for me I wouldnt have a job to return to. If I give it up my employer would have to find someone to replace me.

Somebody asked me how would I feel returning home after 3/4 months if I couldnt get work.
I wouldnt have a problem with that. I seriously wouldnt mind - I need a good holiday. However I think I would feel extremely guilty for giving up work and letting people down in work just to feck off across the world for a few months. Staying for a year would make it all worthwhile.

DamoDLK mentioned a holiday visa. Good idea but the most holidays I can get off at any 1 time is a week - ie a week at xmas, and a week during the summer.

I think daves idea is the best. Save as much as possible then go. Well I already have 2 grand. And have almost enough for a ticket. If I was to get a ticket I could possibly be able to save 2 to 3 for december.

I really want to go before xmas too so that I could experience xmas there. Where as if for example I was to go over early next year, and if things didnt work out i'd have to come home again after a few months without experiencing an australian xmas.

Will have to think good and hard about it. Its such a huge decision.

Zambia · 17-02-2010 01:46AM

ilovesleep wrote: »

However I think I would feel extremely guilty for giving up work and letting people down in work just to feck off across the world for a few months. Staying for a year would make it all worthwhile.

Huh? Why sorry its like your life if you wish to see the world and you can go for it.

ilovesleep wrote: »

Good idea but the most holidays I can get off at any 1 time is a week - ie a week at xmas, and a week during the summer.

Thats not a job I would be happy doing, you need time away and more than three weeks a year. At one week maximums.

ilovesleep wrote: »

I really want to go before xmas too so that I could experience xmas there.

Its pretty crap at christmas here, tinsel looks odd it 30 degree heat.

ilovesleep wrote: »

Will have to think good and hard about it. Its such a huge decision.

If you are young enough for a WHV I think you should consider training to go into something that will give you more of a life outside of your employment.

If you get qualified in care or nursing etc there is a lot of places you can move to Ireland is in a recession do the smart thing and train for the recovery.

Australia can wait. That's my 2 cents even if it is only 2 cents of value to you.

Best of Luck

Doc · 17-02-2010 02:12AM

There is work here for au pairs but its long hours and low pay. I have met people who are doing it who also had there accommodation in the home they worked in as part of the deal but personally I would hate to work and live in the same place.

Australia might not be the best place for you to come to in order for you to continue with your current carrier but you don’t sound like that is your main reason for coming so why not come over and work in a bar or a restraint or a shop? One year completely away from your current job might totally refresh you and make you look forward to getting back into it. I say go for it. You are obviously unhappy at the moment with what you are doing. I would advise you to save as much as possible before you get here because you have to be really lucky to just walk into a job over here.

The problem with putting off traveling for a bit is that you keep doing it until you reach a stage where you have so many commitments it seams like it will never be possible to go.

I left it far too long to travel and though I’m doing it now regret not having gone earlier.

So my advice is to stay in your job for the moment and save like mad (It will be easier to get through the days knowing what you have to look forward to). When you think you have enough money saved then save for a bit longer because you will never have enough saved. Then come over but remember to look on it as a one year holiday and not as a way to make money. Look hard and take the best paying job you can get and use the money to enjoy yourself here. Then at the end of the year hear clam any tax your entitled to back and head home and get back into childcare (That’s if in the year you don’t meet a nice Ozzie and decide to stay for good! A year is a long time and a lot can happen.).

Anyway thought Id add a bit of positivity to the idea of you going to counterbalance some of the negatives you’ve heard so far.

ilovesleep · 18-02-2010 10:18PM

Hi doc, what a lovely reply. Same position here as yourself.

I always wanted to travel, ever since the age of 12. But never did. Im 27 now, and I feel if I dont do it now I never will.

The way I see it is I have 35 to 40 years to work and to continue with my studies. All I want is 1 year away.

starlight07 · 19-02-2010 12:45AM

Hi I am currently in the same kind of position myself. I work with adults with intellectual disabilities, love my line of work but each day its getting tougher with the lack of funding, staffing issues, ridiculous hours and a lot lower pay since I started also there is absolutly no chance of promotion. I have a degree in Applied Social Studies and have worked in the disability field since I finished college 2yrs ago. I had a look online and there seems to be quite a few "disability support worker" jobs advertised so maybe you could look into that as you have experience with special needs.

Another reason for leaving is because my boyfriend simply cannot find work in Ireland without experience. Hes finished 5 years in college studying engineering and he is working with a company as an operator on a production line with no possibility of promotion due to the level of competition from more experienced applicants. I plan to have at least 10k saved personally and my boyf will aim for the same, but we are still in the early planning stages too. We are both young, have no ties and really want to work abroad but dont see it as an oppourtunity to go boozing constantly and party, we will travel for a few weeks but ultimatly it is to work and gain experience. I just hope we can convince employers of this when we get there!

Best of luck with your planning

Doc · 19-02-2010 02:29AM

ilovesleep wrote: »

Hi doc, what a lovely reply. Same position here as yourself.

I always wanted to travel, ever since the age of 12. But never did. Im 27 now, and I feel if I dont do it now I never will.

The way I see it is I have 35 to 40 years to work and to continue with my studies. All I want is 1 year away.

Your dead right go for it! You will regret not going much more then you will regret if you go for it and it doesn’t work out.

You sound like you already know this is what you want, so set about making it happen.

starlight07 wrote:

I plan to have at least 10k saved personally and my boyf will aim for the same, but we are still in the early planning stages too.

I wish I had 10k when I came over here first!:D <- closest thing to jealous smiley

starlight07 · 19-02-2010 12:50PM

Doc wrote: »

I wish I had 10k when I came over here first!:D <- closest thing to jealous smiley

Thats the joys of living with my parents and on the breadline until October, Im embracing the student lifestyle once again! Plenty of koka noodles.

ilovesleep · 22-02-2010 10:55AM

After the week I had last week I bought my tickets on saturday, for december.
My work is extremely intense and all the housekeeper does is shout at me. Shout at me to clean. Shout for respect. Dont get me wrong now I do my fair share of chores whenever I can like tidying up toys after playtime, and do the laundry as well whenever I get around to doing it. But my first priority is the child. The housekeeper is there working for them but it seems as if she is blaming me for the mess that they (the parents and family) make.

Australia here I come!

Went over to my brothers on saturday evening to tell him what I will be doing. He spent a few years in australia, and I guess I was looking for reassurance that I'm doing the right thing. He told me that I should have work lined up for when I get there, or I should at least know people over there. I dont know anyone.

I was hoping on going over there just to see where life will take me over there. Nobody knows the amount of stress i'm under at work. The child deserves a better environment than the one I can give but i'm to much of a coward to tell the parents whats going on.

jank · 22-02-2010 02:07PM

If the child deserves a better environment then you should say whatever you want to the parents. What have you to lose? Be brave! Also go tell the house keeper to fcuk herself for good measure.;)

afkasurfjunkie · 22-02-2010 08:08PM

the girl i lived with worked as an au pair in sydney, no childcare qualifications but qualified secondary school teacher. she just answered an ad in the local supermarket. long days and a lot was expected of her. but she had use of a car and got to accompany family on trips to their 'holiday home' (location-where home and away is filmed) and her wages were quite good.
i worked as a casual worker in childcare and it was horrible. standing in here or there where i didnt get to know the children or their routine, plus pay wasn't too exciting. but it was a job. so save LOADS and go do it. i always wanted to go travelling and am so glad i did. saw and did loads and made me appreciate what i have back here at home. although if i didnt have a boyfriend and my family here i would gladly live in sydney. only worked for about 3 months altogether, just to fund living for 3 months in sydney. the rest of my travel money i had saved up.
oh and i wouldn't be too bothered about xmas. its fairly secular and i wouldn't go near a beach on xmas day. full of irish making a show of themselves.

Lloyd Xmas · 06-03-2010 02:09PM

By posting in this forum, its clear you'd like to travel to Oz and give yourself a break. 3 to 4K is fine, although there's many here who'll tell you that its not near enough (It is if your smart from the off)

If you land in Sydney, get yourself into an apartment immediately, as it'll cost you around $120 per week and its a lot less than a hostel.
Hostels will charge for everything, laundry, internet....
In an apartment, you'll have internet (provided you have a laptop), bills, and obviously laundry all included. $120 by the way, will get you something nice bang in the centre of Sydney and there's normally an indoor pool, spa, and sauna thrown in for good measure! You'll find these places on Gumtree (Sydney)

Biggest problem with advice on this forum as regards finance, is that most people seem to factor in around $2000 a month on booze.
This is why 3 to 4 grand is perfect if your not interested in pissing money down the jacks and walking around half cut for the entire year.

My advice would be, to hell with that job; come out here and enjoy yourself. Most people ponder far to much over the decision... At the end of the day its 12 months of your life for jaysus sake and I've never heard anyone ask the question "What was I thinking coming out here"

Just be prudent when you arrive and don't spend much eating out until you have a job. Coming out here and trying a job thats completely different to the conservative sh*te like office jobs in Ireland is a great experience.

Travel only enhances you; there's nothing to lose...

jank · 07-03-2010 12:50AM

I presume that $120 is a shared room?

Lloyd Xmas · 07-03-2010 01:44AM

Yeah, its a shared room - The first one I got was an apartment with 8 in it, but I shared the room with only one other lad.

I've just moved into another place though, and there's only 3 of us in total in the apartment. Its a shared room with one other student, but its right in the centre of Sydney, very clean, and has the pool, gym, sauna etc...

IMO, a well laid out advert on Gumtree with sensible pictures, gives a little insight into what you can expect when you rock up to the door.
If the ad is all over the place and you've a picture of a teapot handle or something daft, personally I wouldn't expect the apartment to be up to much. Just an observation.

ifumust82 · 07-03-2010 01:56AM

Lloyd Xmas wrote: »

Yeah, its a shared room - The first one I got was an apartment with 8 in it, but I shared the room with only one other lad.

8 in one apartment! :eek: Whatever floats your boat!
You do make a good point though,if your planning on staying in Sydney for a least 3 months go for the sharehouse option straight away,you might be lucky and get somewhere furnished

Diamondmaker · 07-03-2010 02:18AM

I reckon as you will be on limited budget that avoiding the 2 large cities could be the go. You will get way more bang for your buck in every regard, you will be able to get around the city easier and even make friends. You can get a whole room to your self for 120-170 in Brizzy for example.

Everyone is flocking to the big cities and competition is likely to be much worse for limited jobs.

Look at Brizzy and further North for a REAL change of lifestyle and Adelaide and Canberra also are worth considering but for very different reasons.

You are only a bit younger than I and I found at my age, that the better quality of life, lower cost of living and the improved ability to navigate the smaller cities has made my new life in Brizzy far better than it was in Dublin.
Even getting to know and hook up with people is easier than it was back in Dublin as everyone is near by. I have mates a walk away now but in Dublin I only met mates once every 2 weeks or so in the pub for example..
Sydney and Melbourne at the end of the day, especially come winter, would be just too like the nose to the grind stone, possible long and busy commutes ( for me any way as the wife and I would rather live n the coastal suburbs and neither of us would particulalry end up working in the CBD or near each other at all) of old and inaffordable accomadation and socialising more difficult across a large busy area. My wife cycles to work here on a safe dedicated riverside cycle path and I have a 10 minute drive against traffic.

On the other hand if you are re locating from a small rural area in Ireland the small cities here will still provide ample distraction and stimulus.

Consider outside the big 2 for a while it may better sut what you require. I would recommend Syd and Melb however if you were coming otu continuing a professional career or similar but as you are not its worth considering your options.

good luck
DM

Spirow · 10-12-2010 05:54AM

Doc wrote: »

Then at the end of the year hear clam any tax your entitled to back and head home and get back into childcare

Depending on what you do when you are in Oz, you might not get a tax refund. If you backpack around the country you are not technically due a refund at the end of the year. Unless you lie to the tax office, which isn't a good idea
There is some information here about that: http://taxrefundforfree.com.au/?p=57

thinking about leaving my job here in ireland, and go to oz on whv. Is it worth it?

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