I'm done with this...

[SiPMerlin150]

Well, here you have it, I'm done with the place. I'm so close to buying my ticket home.
Unless someone wants to trade places with me... A Boilermaker in the U.K. is someone who is CERTIFIED to make vessels that hold pressure. Turns out in Australia its a name for someone who can weld. I have experience...but No... not enough. Places don't want some one who can just weld, but also a forklift truck driver, a crane operator, a metal brake press operator, a machinist, a lathe operator.. all in one...

I'm sorry but you dont get people my age with the experience of someone who has just retired from 50 years in the industry... Apparently that is how I see what they want from people my age...25.

I used to make truck and coach chassis in England, I'd say the welding of those is more critical than that of bulldozer buckets.. Have any of you guys heard of new Asda trucks or Calor gas/BoC gases trucks breaking in half down the M60? Considering I built 30 new Asda trailer and 30 or so Chassis for Calor trucks, that's a fair few trucks on the U.K. roads.

Take it from me.. Australia like to nit pick and aren't too literal with what they mean... 'nuff said!

 

[BrokenBiker]

hmmmm you're not the first person I have heard this from. a friend of mine emigrated around 3 years ago, went through the whole application process and did a few college courses over here, mainly in mechanics and auto electrics. this was seen by the aussies as a good enough skill to have to get him a job over there. turns out that they don't quite have the same meaning for the word mechanic as we do. he got a job in a garage, and was shortly asked to fabricate a spaceframe chassis for some race car they were building. he didn't have a clue what he was doing and subsequently lost his job. last I heard he was driving lorries over there but is very close to coming back too

 

[AndyStobbs]

Sorry to hear its not what you hoped. It is re-assuring to know that the grass isn't greener down under for everyone. That said, a lad I knew was taken down under with his parents before he was 18 - he wasn't given a choice. He came back 5 years later to the UK, and predictably all his old friends had changed somewhat, it wasn't as he remembered it. After a year he got back on a plane to Oz and not heard from him since.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Sorry to hear its not what you hoped. It is re-assuring to know that the grass isn't greener down under for everyone. That said, a lad I knew was taken down under with his parents before he was 18 - he wasn't given a choice. He came back 5 years later to the UK, and predictably all his old friends had changed somewhat, it wasn't as he remembered it. After a year he got back on a plane to Oz and not heard from him since.

I can only try. I've been here 4 months now and I have to say it's easier to find a job in England than it is here.... Much easier to get into an industry ,where as here they expect you to hit the ground running..

 

[Ed.]

Unfortunately it's the sign of the times over here in Oz, no matter what industry or profession you have, employers want a person who is highly skilled in everything, but are only willing to pay peanuts.

I had over 18 years in I.T. sales and servicing, running my own businesses, worked as a Sales and Account Manager in various companies, repairing and building computers, teaching software and tech support. I saw a job for a "Computer Specialist", so I applied and got a call back straight away, went for the interview and they were very happy to give me the job. When it came to discussing the wages I was stunned and ****** off to find that they were going to offer me a retail sales wage, my daughter who works as a checkout chick was getting the same amount. (incidently she has a Degree and a Diploma), 18 years before that I was earning 2 times that amount.

Needless to say, I said I wasn't interested unless they doubled that amount, thanked them for wasting my time and walked out, got a letter from the HR department a week later saying that my application wasn't successful.. Really!!

Trouble is that they will eventually find someone who is probably way over qualified who was retrenched or desperate to find any sort of work because maybe they have a mortgage or something.

My next door neighbour who came over from England is a boilermaker and has done quite well for himself here working in the mines, he does do a fair amount of welding in his job though.

Cheers

Ed.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

hmmmm you're not the first person I have heard this from. a friend of mine emigrated around 3 years ago, went through the whole application process and did a few college courses over here, mainly in mechanics and auto electrics. this was seen by the aussies as a good enough skill to have to get him a job over there. turns out that they don't quite have the same meaning for the word mechanic as we do. he got a job in a garage, and was shortly asked to fabricate a spaceframe chassis for some race car they were building. he didn't have a clue what he was doing and subsequently lost his job. last I heard he was driving lorries over there but is very close to coming back too

I'm glad that i'm not the only guy who has this trouble. So its surely not just me being funny...

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Judging by your stories, it's really not me who is being short tempered about the lack of work over here. I just walked off out of a job detailing cars for Ford... they paid $20 per hour casual, (casual for 3 months probation) and then when made permanent reduce it to $16.75 per hour (crap!) ...well after 4 days casual, they decided to make me permanent! So at £16.75 per hour I was cleaning cars in searing hot sun (28-34oC) and there was only one canopy to work under which was shared by 3 other detailers... I lumped it for 6 weeks, then the other day just told them to stick it where the sun don't shine. I'm a welder and I enrages me when i'm told i'm not good enough to weld. (By the way the term boilermaker over here is someone who makes things from precut parts... which is what I did in England!)

 

[octo0072000]

Judging by your stories, it's really not me who is being short tempered about the lack of work over here. I just walked off out of a job detailing cars for Ford... they paid $20 per hour casual, (casual for 3 months probation) and then when made permanent reduce it to $16.75 per hour (crap!) ...well after 4 days casual, they decided to make me permanent! So at £16.75 per hour I was cleaning cars in searing hot sun (28-34oC) and there was only one canopy to work under which was shared by 3 other detailers... I lumped it for 6 weeks, then the other day just told them to stick it where the sun don't shine. I'm a welder and I enrages me when i'm told i'm not good enough to weld. (By the way the term boilermaker over here is someone who makes things from precut parts... which is what I did in England!)

keep at it you have only been there 4 months you still have the limey attitude you will find something just takes time remember you are now a immigrant just keep looking dont give in

 

[bill_gj]

Isn't the Australian economy changing somewhat (for the worse, perhaps)?
I see that Oz hasn't been making quite as much money from the raw materials/mining businesses since the 2008 financial debacle and the exchange rate (against the pound, certainly) has rocketed, so the average Brit who looks at emigration gets a bit of a surprise when they find they can't afford the huge house with pool they expected.
I also hear that the population is becoming quite diverse, with immigrants from all over - does this have an effect on the wage rates?

 

[cumbriasteve]

in searing hot sun (28-34oC)

As I sit here with a bitter cold wind and driving rain belting my window (same forecast for the week ahead) that thought holds a certain attraction at the moment.

 

[atomant48]

SipMerlin - you have to make sure you're comparing apples with apples when you look at pay rates etc. Without seeing the details, I assume that "casual" means NO holiday pay, sick pay, employee benefits etc etc. which you probably get as "permanent".

I understand your frustration - I was once from that part of the world and I keep a close eye on the job market, but when you're looking for your next job just look closely at what the whole picture is. (Same thing happened to me years ago when 2 jobs were offered with one salary quite different to the other, but one was based on 40hrs and the other was 37.5. I was surprised at the difference it made. )

Chin up - at least you'll be having a barbie at Xmas!

 

[PTvor]

Things are very different in different countries, attitudes are different and working practices are different. You have to accept that and get used to it.

4 months isn't long enough to make a decision in my view. I'd certainly wait at least until the weather picks up, around April.

Also Oz is a big place and if you are in the Sydney area you're likely to have a particular view of it. A few South Africans I've known moved to the UK, lived in London and rapidly got fed up with it. They might have come to a different view if they'd lived in Exeter, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh or dozens of other places where the pace is less frantic.

 

[Shox Dr]

I've known a surprising amount of couples and single people, that have moved to either Oz or NZ.

Most if not all were running from what they perceived as problems not of their doing: No Jobs, No Money, Not taken seriously, Not the lifestyle they wanted... yadder.. yadder...


Little did they understand (and in most cases want to) it was not other people that were the problem but themselves. Moving halfway around the world did nothing, but magnify these traits.

 

[wheresmejumper]

keep at it for now.you have time on your side.
brother in law moved there in search of a better life(unemployed here) a couple of years ago.got screwed around by employers,and potential employers for 18 months.
has found a good company now,very happy.wasnt easy though.it rarely is.

 

[penfold]

Have you thought about looking at work in the mines? I get the impression that the lifestyle means there's a high rate of churn so a regular stream of new victims is needed to fill the junior roles.

 

[F.J.]

I thought you was going to work for your girlfriends dad?

 

[MattF]

keep at it you have only been there 4 months you still have the limey attitude you will find something just takes time remember you are now a immigrant just keep looking dont give in

Christ. Chuck a comma or full stop in occasionally. That was a right mouth full. That's pretty much what I was thinking too. As far as they're concerned, he's an immigrant, so the princess attitude definitely won't help. You're there now matey, so you might as well just buckle down and give it a fair shot. Sounds to me like you've gone there with unrealistic expectactions, to be honest.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

I thought you was going to work for your girlfriends dad?

Only he can work with himself. He's too much hardwork to handle!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Christ. Chuck a comma or full stop in occasionally. That was a right mouth full. That's pretty much what I was thinking too. As far as they're concerned, he's an immigrant, so the princess attitude definitely won't help. You're there now matey, so you might as well just buckle down and give it a fair shot. Sounds to me like you've gone there with unrealistic expectactions, to be honest.

Its not the expectations that are unrealistic. I need additional courses and experience, I cant do a many courses unless i'm a resident, so it goes round in circles.

 

[MattF]

Residency is after three years? Surely there are private courses?

Simplest way to progress is to stop with the choosiness and go with whatever job is available and will give you some of that experience and, hopefully, training. I'm sure it's not the scenario you'd envisaged, but needs must. We've likely all had to suffer crap jobs, unrealistic expectations from employers and/or lousy wages at some point in time. It's simply a means to get to something else.

Stiff upper lip man & don't be letting the side down. We already get enough **** taking from the Ozzies. Good luck too. Stick at it. I think you'll find that if you just go with it you'll find things a lot easier.