Should we stay or should we go?

[Guest Sandisonsonthemove]

Hey all

 

Have been trawling through all the forum pages and have to say the information pages are really helpful to the unsure of us out here!

 

My husband Alex and I (Donna) have a 10 year old son Morgan and are seriously considering - again! - applying to move to Oz, Adelaide in particular. Unfortunately every time it gets to filling out the forms I lose courage and push them to one side and before we know it the impetus has gone.

 

Hubbie is a chef (managing a team in an industrial unit at present) and we would hope to get over as it seems that this is on the shortage list but there does not appear to be anyone else on here that is one. If there is or you know of a chef who has moved over could you get them to get in touch with me as I would love to know what the work situation/pay etc is like as the recruitment sites are not great for chefs.

 

So many questions to ask and so many what ifs the whole thing is quite scary. Has anyone used a migration agent or would you all recommend doing the forms yourself?

 

Perhaps just now I will leave and hope someone can answer the above.

 

Thank you in anticipation!

 

The Sandisons

[Guest ReadyPenny]

Hi and Welcome to PIA. Try a pm to Katsmagic, I am sure she is a chef. We didnt use an agent we felt it was a waste of money, saying that though, our visa app was straight forward with just the TRA Hurdle. It's a personal choice, most people who have used agents, would do so again and highly recommend them.

 

In my opinion they charge a lot of money for something that you can do yourself. If your case is straight forward then, although there is a lot of paperwork to do and information to provide, it's not rocket science. However, if you case is a little more complicated, then an agent would be better for you. We spent the money on ensuring that Sean's TRA skills assessment was successful by him undertaking an AQF III in his occupation, which is an Oz qualification.

 

Anyways, good luck with your decision and feel free to post all your questions, the members on here have a whole load of useful information between them!

 

Mandy

[Guest Django]

Speak to Sarah Jane (sjs http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/member.php?u=2349). Her husband Kenny is a chef. THey may well be able to help with any questions you have.

 

Pete

[Guest kfoley0681]

hi just wanted to let you know we have been in adelaide for 5 weeks and i have previously worked in the hospitality section so do have an interst and i read an articale in the local paper the other day stating that catering and hospitality was a popular trade and one that is in demand and that they are in need of people that can actually cook and management so im sure your husband will be ok. the wages were on same sort of wage as a plumber or tradesman what you need to think is not if i erned £20k in the uk i will earn $40k here the whole money thing is so different if it was £20k it will be $20k the same with house prices if you were to look at buying a house in the uk for £300k you would look for $300k here. hope this helps!

[Guest sjs]

Speak to Sarah Jane (sjs http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/member.php?u=2349). Her husband Kenny is a chef. THey may well be able to help with any questions you have.

 

Pete

 

This is us that Petes referring to ! Have PMd you !

 

Good Luck

 

sjs

[lorluc]

Hey all

 

Have been trawling through all the forum pages and have to say the information pages are really helpful to the unsure of us out here!

 

My husband Alex and I (Donna) have a 10 year old son Morgan and are seriously considering - again! - applying to move to Oz, Adelaide in particular. Unfortunately every time it gets to filling out the forms I lose courage and push them to one side and before we know it the impetus has gone.

 

Hubbie is a chef (managing a team in an industrial unit at present) and we would hope to get over as it seems that this is on the shortage list but there does not appear to be anyone else on here that is one. If there is or you know of a chef who has moved over could you get them to get in touch with me as I would love to know what the work situation/pay etc is like as the recruitment sites are not great for chefs.

 

So many questions to ask and so many what ifs the whole thing is quite scary. Has anyone used a migration agent or would you all recommend doing the forms yourself?

 

Perhaps just now I will leave and hope someone can answer the above.

 

Thank you in anticipation!

 

The Sandisons

 

Hi

 

My husband is a chef and worked in contract catering in the UK. He was Head Chef at commercial sites in the UK

 

We have been here for 3 years and he has found it very different over here. Contract Catering is not as big here as in the UK...almost non existent. Very few places have staff restaurants as there are fast food outlets and cafes, pretty much on every corner.

 

The main companies here are Compass/Eurest, Spotless, Sodexho....most of the jobs can be found in schools and aged care services. A full time wage would be in the region of $38-$40K for a chef or chef/manager...and believe me, they will make you work for it!

 

My husband is a Head Chef at a school and does earn more than i have mentioned....and is permanent...but the hours and stress that is involved, really doesnt make up for it.

 

There are plenty of restaurant and hotel jobs....but that's not all it seems. Most of them are advertised as casual, offering say for example 25-35 hours....and there is no guarantee that these hours are there every week.

 

There is a shortage of chefs in Australia for a reason..........no-one wants to do it....you can earn the same money in other jobs and have a much easier time of it.

 

 

My husband would love to get out of catering and do something else....he has applied for other jobs.......but without any luck.

 

Of course, this is just our experience....

 

Good luck!

 

Lorraine

[Guest Sandisonsonthemove]

Morning all

 

Thank you for your comments - Sarah Jane for the PM. It seems that hubbie needs to learn to be a chippie!

 

I realise that things are very different in Oz which I suppose is why making the final decision is so very difficult to commit to the level of spending required to get us there. I think this weekend will be one spent reading all the bumpf from Oz immigration site and seeing where we go from here and perhaps make a final decision.

 

I will of course keep watching and reading on here and asking what probably sound like really silly questions!

 

Many thanks again.

 

Donna

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Hey all

 

Have been trawling through all the forum pages and have to say the information pages are really helpful to the unsure of us out here!

 

My husband Alex and I (Donna) have a 10 year old son Morgan and are seriously considering - again! - applying to move to Oz, Adelaide in particular. Unfortunately every time it gets to filling out the forms I lose courage and push them to one side and before we know it the impetus has gone.

 

Hubbie is a chef (managing a team in an industrial unit at present) and we would hope to get over as it seems that this is on the shortage list but there does not appear to be anyone else on here that is one. If there is or you know of a chef who has moved over could you get them to get in touch with me as I would love to know what the work situation/pay etc is like as the recruitment sites are not great for chefs.

 

So many questions to ask and so many what ifs the whole thing is quite scary. Has anyone used a migration agent or would you all recommend doing the forms yourself?

 

Perhaps just now I will leave and hope someone can answer the above.

 

Thank you in anticipation!

 

The Sandisons

 

Check out career one there is quite a few chef jobs in there............as for pay it does vary quite a bit.........my mrs ( katsmajic ) has a good job at one of the restaurants in the Vale ( Oscars ) Drop her a pm.

 

Good luck.

[lorluc]

My husband has just worked from 7am till 9pm...no meal or proper breaks at all....in 41 degrees heat....the inside of his legs are red raw from sweat. The other chef's feet are covered in blisters.....

 

He is on a salary, therefore doesnt get paid overtime.........

 

Who wants to work like that????

[Guest katsmajic]

Ive only had the one chef job here (got offered another in glenelg but turned it down as conditions/terms changed from the advert to the job offer etc), we came in on hubs toolmaker skills so cant help with any assessments etc im afraid.

Sounds like i have been incredibly lucky in my role as sous chef, im salaried but get paid overtime, im on good money - more than i earnt as a general manager in uk, i do split shifts, get a weekend day off everyweek, usually 4 days a week - been more lately as head chef has been away and ive been doing 60hr weeks - but paid well for it...

theres some great jobs/employers around - and no doubt alot of bad too....laws/legislations here are pretty different/none existent in some places...

[Denise]

Hey all

 

Have been trawling through all the forum pages and have to say the information pages are really helpful to the unsure of us out here!

 

My husband Alex and I (Donna) have a 10 year old son Morgan and are seriously considering - again! - applying to move to Oz, Adelaide in particular. Unfortunately every time it gets to filling out the forms I lose courage and push them to one side and before we know it the impetus has gone.

 

Hubbie is a chef (managing a team in an industrial unit at present) and we would hope to get over as it seems that this is on the shortage list but there does not appear to be anyone else on here that is one. If there is or you know of a chef who has moved over could you get them to get in touch with me as I would love to know what the work situation/pay etc is like as the recruitment sites are not great for chefs.

 

So many questions to ask and so many what ifs the whole thing is quite scary. Has anyone used a migration agent or would you all recommend doing the forms yourself?

 

Perhaps just now I will leave and hope someone can answer the above.

 

Thank you in anticipation!

 

The Sandisons

 

 

Hi Donna

 

I can't help with the chef questions but would just like to say, don't miss out on your opportunity, they don't come along that often.

As far as an agent is concerned, there are many threads on here about this and it comes down to your personal choice and situation (obviously!) I used an agent because my application was quite complicated, we wanted to ensure it was all done properly and I was also told they get priority processing with state sponsored visas. This now I believe is not true although in our case the visa was granted very quickly.

 

Good luck with what ever you decide but dont take too long!!

 

Denise

[Guest covfan71]

Hi Donna

 

I can't help with the chef questions but would just like to say, don't miss out on your opportunity, they don't come along that often.

As far as an agent is concerned, there are many threads on here about this and it comes down to your personal choice and situation (obviously!) I used an agent because my application was quite complicated, we wanted to ensure it was all done properly and I was also told they get priority processing with state sponsored visas. This now I believe is not true although in our case the visa was granted very quickly.

 

Good luck with what ever you decide but dont take too long!!

 

Denise

 

I would also like to second what Denise has said. Give it a go. I have heard so many stories about people who wanted to do it years ago and didn't because of family/friends and now they have no immediate family they regret it.

I have been in the Navy for 23 years now working in Admin and at the end of the day i just want to move to Adelaide. A well paid Admin job woul dbe great, but i wil do anything really (within reason) that means i can pay the bills and have a good life. If we don't like it we can always come back, but at least you will have tried it and will not regret it in 10 years time.