Moving to Sydney
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Moving to Sydney
Jan 2004
Hi,
My husband and I are thinking of moving to Australia for a year,
to try our luck in finding computer related jobs. If you are an
Australian, or have lived in Australia, could you tell me more or
less what are the differences between life in Sydney and the Bay
Area? Especially, do they have a public Kindergarten? And how do
we find a job (newspaper, or Internet site)? Is the job market
pretty good?
Thank you very much!
Laura
Unless you or your husband are Australian citizens or permanent
residents, please do not move to Sydney in the hope of finding a
job. You will be deported at the airport! Australian immigration
like our own is very strict when it comes to tourists hoping to
find work.
If you are in high tech and would like to work in Australia,
there might be ways to do it but you need to go through the
correct immigration procedure. This typically takes many months,
a lot of paperwork, a lot of determination and a lot of luck.
Good luck.
Anon
Laura,
My husband and I have lived in Sydney for 3 years before coming
to the bay area a year and a half ago. My husband has an IT
background, though he did not specifically work in IT at the
time. However, he might have some ideas about finding a job and
what the current situation looks like. We did not have a child
at the time, but friends of mine have gone through the childcare
system and I might be able to get you in touch with them.
Please feel free to contact us at my e-mail address to have a
chat about the specific issues you are interested in.
hast
I lived in Sydney for 5 years, before I came to the Bay area and
I really enjoyed my time there. The weather is fabulous, Sydney
is just a beautiful city, the beaches terrific, restaurants
wonderful. The IT industry tends to be centered around the
suburbs of Ryde, Lane Cove, Frenchs Forest, St Leonards. This
area is known as Sydney's lower North Shore. It's a beautiful
area. Real estate there is super expensive but you can live out
further and commute in. You could probably go online and hook up
with a recruitment agency. The Sydney Morning Herald website is
www.smh.com.au I worked in the IT industry the entire time I
lived in Sydney and it was fun.The work culture is nowhere near
as competitive as here, so work hours are short (being in the
office after 5.30pm is considered late) and genuine office
comeraderie high if you fit in.
The downside of Australia is, it is in truth, an intolerant
culture. Many white Australians do not consider anyone
Australian unless they are caucasian (watch out if you are Asian
or middle Eastern). Woman are still treated poorly inside the
workplace. Many men do not take professional woman seriously (be
prepared to take those jokes putting woman down, or your
ideas/opinions down because you are female, on the chin, with a
smile, unless you want to be labelled a frustrated bitch or
lesbian and sidelined). The pressure to consume alcohol is
intense. Most offices will hit the pub pretty much 3-4 times a
week for lunch and most days after work. Resistance is often
construed as being snobbish.
With all that said I loved being in Sydney at the time, I made
some wonderful friends and have fond memories, but would not
return there to live since I discovered and love the Bay Area
culture of tolerance far too much.
Good Luck with your decision
Lots of luck trying to move to Sydney..I'm saying this
facetiously. We tried to immigrate a number of years ago, went
through TONS of painstaking paperwork, with LOTS of waiting and
waiting until we finally gave up (I'm a computer professional,
no less). If you can stand the people at the
consulate, more power to you
but it made us completely turned off with the idea of changing
our lives into that direction. They definitely don't want you
there, except if you're a tourist or if you have family there.
Try Canada..
anon
Another view on moving to Australia...I lived there in the early
90s and was fortunate to be sponsored for a 12 month position
and ultimately pursuing and getting perm residency. This was at
a time when professionals could practically write their own
ticket. This is no longer the case, and you would be very wise
not to expect that you can arrive and acquire something under
the table - it just doesn't work that way anymore. Australia has
a generous ''family reunion'' program that allows many extended
family members the ability to come to live in Australia with the
sponsoring family member - largely financially supported by the
govt, as these are not work ready people or are too old to enter
the workforce. Very humanist, but may be a drain on the
country's resources. Look into being sponsored by a company
first.
Anon
Hi there -
Well, I have tons of family who have moved to Australia over the
years and was really, really surprised at the one response you
received. I am not sure when the respondee applied but Australia,
from what I hear, is fairly easy to get into, especially if
you're a computer professional.
My sibilings moved to Perth, Australia from Singapore over the
last few years. Both made it in because one spouse was a teacher.
They used immigration agents and heard back in 6 months. I am
very interested in moving myself (reluctant American husband,
though) and two very realiable agents (who have received a lot of
business from my family) have looked at our circumstances (my
husband is a network systems administrator) and said that we will
get in easily with my husband's line of work.
Don't lose heart. I would get in touch with an immigration
firm (let me know if you need contact information) and they will
assess your application up front and let you know if you should
bother. They will do all the work.
edna
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