Ozzie is Back with Good News to Share!(Migrating in June to Sydney) - Advise pls!!

[ozzie_expat]

Dear members,

I am glad to be back on this resourceful forum after a looo..ng time , and i have some good news to share which could be encouraging for many other applicants and aspirants. I landed a consultant job in an Australian IT firm(Sydney) by trying from India itself!

YES!!! for once in my life i felt what it is to be Lucky! I have struggled so much in frustration in the past 3 months to try and hit all possible doors to get a decent offer, and i know for a fact now after my experience, the chances of landing a job by sitting offshore is very very remote!

It could have been better if i tried locally from Australia after i migrated but i was always skeptical to make a move without securing a job, but i did set a dead line for June for my attempts from offshore and decided to take the risk of trying for opportunities over there locally after i migrate in june.

Trust me! Getting the visa was just the first step and relatively easier compared to cracking your first job offer without a prior aussie local experience..

But guess what! i was able to grab an offer after several attempts of failures.. I cannot express how frustrated i was for all the rejections but then i kept trying as it was better than just doing nothing!

P.S: The job website <http://www.seek.com.au/> proved to be very useful, at least for me as i come from IT background.

Finally, got a suitable offer and I am to Sydney in June . My friend lives over there, he has offered to help me by sharing his accommodation initially, till i find a suitable rental.

Now,
Questions to knowledgeable members who live in Australia for some good advise:

Rental:
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I came to know from my friend (lives in parramatta) that the bare minimum rental around North Ryde (near to my office) doesn't go below 300$ per week considering safety and locality.

I would like to get ideas from members here on,
1. Safe and friendly neighborhood near North Ryde - Places/ areas?
2. Single bed room house with kitchen and a car park - rental costs?
3. My initial commute from Parramatta to North Ryde till i get a car- Train or Bus? (My friend said there is no direct commute and it might take more than an hour! )

Funds:
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1. What is the limits to carry Cash while migrating?
2. Any limits on traveler's checks?
3. Monthly living expense - rough figures?

Car:
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1. Best fuel efficient car(sedan or hatch back) from 20k to 25k that has good resale value and low maintenance - reliable brands?
2. Diesel or Petrol - which is better?
3. Driver's permit - Process to get it? and time taken? charges?

Stores/ Shops:
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1. Cheap and best whole sale stores for general groceries, veggies, meat, etc..?
2. Cheap and best online stores for electronics? (computer products are unreasonably expensive in AUS compared to US and even India, observing from some Aussie online stores!)
3. Cheap and best branded/ casual clothing stores?

Any advise is greatly appreciated! If there is a thread already open regarding these, honestly i am not aware! otherwise i wouldn't have opened this now.. pls guide me to those threads by highlighting the links..

Thanks and wish all other aspirants the very best in their endeavors!

regards,
Ozzie

[OzWay]

Lucky you :-) CONGRATS !!
I guess you are one of the very few people who got an offer being off-shore. I am sure you must be pretty talented.

I am afraid I cannot answer your questions as I am not in Oz but going there soon on job hunt. I am from IT domain heading to Adelaide.

Could you please share your interview experiences (things you were assessed on and the general attitude of the interview panel) as compared to those of India?
You may PM me if you prefer.

thanks in advance.

[louisam]

Congrats Ozzie.. wud b great if u cud share ur job hunting experience..

[ozzie_expat]

Thanks Guys for the wishes!

My experience was very tough. It was very discouraging to apply being offshore, it was as if there was no requirement for my experience in the Aussie job market. I was always told by my friend in AUS that most companies and recruiters will only respond to applicants who are locally available for a quick interview if convinced over the first round of phone interview and that mostly none of them prefer to make an international call to get to the applicant unless they really want your skills and will not be able to fulfill their requirement immediately from the local market, and all this is true i believe, after my experience hunting being offshore.

Things i felt that they focused for the position i applied were,
1. Strong Communication and Spoken Language. (advise: try getting tuned aussie accent and practice them)
2. Confidence in skills what you have projected in your resume.
3. Strong Interpersonal skills
4. Mindset to be flexible and adaptive to what the position demands.

Ability to demonstrate with examples to justify the above points. The Spoken language fluency and communication skills will be assessed while talking to you which is needless to say.

For Applicants for Jobs,

- Research and Prepare Well!!!!! Do some research on the local job market to know where the demands are for your skills and experience. for ex) for my experience if i had tried in Perth or Adelaide, i doubt strongly if i would have landed a decent offer. For my experience it was clearly either Sydney or Melbourne. job sites will give abundant idea on this. Spend quality time on it and then prepare to apply to avoid rejections and disappointments.

- I would advise not to get disappointed if there are no responses when you apply from offshore, this is normal. In about more than 15 applications that i had made, i got call for only 2 and fortunately they were good offers where i could settle down with one of them.

- I can strongly advise that your chances of getting responses for your application are very much higher when you try locally from Australia with an Australian phone number on your Resume.

- Don't be very choosy if you want to secure a job quickly,as the abundance of opportunity for available skill set in the market is not like in the US in my opinion.

- It is very tough to get your first break as a non-aussie because almost all the companies prefer if you had prior experience with any of the other Australian company. The companies value local experience very much in addition to you skills and this determines the compensation as well. This is where your strong spoken language and communication will give the recruiters some confidence in considering you that you can handle it besides lacking local experience.

- Remember that almost none gets through in the first few interviews. You will fail in a few to understand what is expected and tune yourself for the next ones. You will soon land a good job for sure as long as you are confidently adapting yourself for the local requirement.

- Of all that boring advise , though it seems difficult, try to keep a cool head and be confident!!!!

Wish you guys all the best!

regards,
Ozzie

[ozzie_expat]

Try this job site, it has proven to be very resourceful and helpful for me in the job hunt!

SEEK - Australia's no. 1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site

regards.

[ozzie_expat]

Just one more additional and important detail,

If you are applying now, mind the fact that financial closing is in June for Australia if am not mistaken and also the best time to hunt and get results would be before end of October this year. After that, its done for the year in my opinion as its year end and festive season kicks in, there will be zero recruitment.

If not before end of October, then the next period is from feb, mar, apr next year which are the months in general when maximum recruitment takes place and lot of openings are advertised compared to rest of the year.

Good luck..

regards.

[ozzie_expat]

PLEASE READ: Helpful websites for your move to Australia

This sticky which i just notices has some great information.. Thanks Kaz101..

[gilldl]

Well Done to you !

[numair_fadlullah]

congrats ozzie! i'm also moving to syd on the first week of july. I still couldn't manage a job though lucky u!

I'm also doing some researches about the costs n living in sydney...n I can shed some light on some of ur queries.
1. What is the limits to carry Cash while migrating?
If u r carrying more than 10k aud/person, u have to declare it when u r entering aus. there could be a limit set by ur govt too. (for bangladesh the limit is 5K usd or equivalent per person..there cud b similar rules for india).
But there's an option if u can make international fund transfer. you can open a bank account in Australia online (I opened my account with Westpac...check their site). Initially u shall only be able to deposit in this account. If you want full access of the accounts before moving to Aus, then get ur ID docs (birth certificate,passport,national ID,driving licence) certified by a bank officer (have to be an international bank) and post these to the bank. It would take around 2-3weeks to remove the restrictions from the account. U can then transfer ur fund from India to the bank acc in Aus.


3. Monthly living expense - rough figures?
totally depends on how u wanna live....r u taking ur family? "For 2 person, a safe amount is 1800-2000 aud per month"....tht's what my friend in Syd said....


3. Driver's permit - Process to get it? and time taken? charges?
if u already have a driving licence(written in english), u can use tht to drive in Syd for 3 months. check this site for details...
International drivers

[gilldl]

My sister lives in Sydney and her and her husband share a 2 bedroom town house in yowie bay and pay $550 a week rent , Yowie Bay is one of the most Southern Parts of Sydney itself and takes about 40mins by train to get to the city centre , friends of ours that live in Bondi pay $900 a week for a two bedroom flat - but it does have sea views . I guess your bduget will determin size and location - but i work alot in sydney and I do find it quite a bit more expensive than Brisbane especially the public transport . Hope this info helps