zebedee

A few duplicated transactions but all returned. No drama for us. Totally agree with NicF - I also feel for the IT team on the ground - they will be under horrible pressure, especially over something that has impacted customers so heavily. You can bet you life it will all be about passing the blame and covering one's backside.

I reject anything that involves the word "ice" - roll on summer, as this winter is turning me crazy

I don't, but your username freaked me out for a second, I thought I had posted this!

I get that SA is a bit self absorbed and I can't see our children necessarily staying here when they start seeking work but SA has been a good move for us: Previous life in Devon, UK - lived in a cramped 3 bed house with horrific neighbors on benefits and couldn't afford to move due to insane house prices (thanks to the massive imbalance in the UK driven by London), job prospects generally average, half the year couldn't go out cause of rain, day trips out hampered by high cost of fuel and 10 trillion other people doing the same thing. Current life in McLaren Vale, SA - live in a spacious 4 bed house in a safe, quiet neighborhood with views of vineyards, had no issues with permanent IT work, most days are blessed with good weather, ample places to go without crowds. As far as corruption in the highest realms of the land go - the UK wrote the book!

Been living in Adelaide now for 3 years as a Systems Eng \ Admin. On to my second permanent job now and have found the market quiet but if your interview skills are fine and you come across well, you should do okay. I have had a few interviews over the years and generally people look for attitude first. Skills wise, VMWare is huge as is all the normal MS technologies. Average wage for Admin seems to be around $70 - $75,000.....Engineer is more $80,000 - $90,000. I would register with some recruitment agencies - Candle, Talent, Paxus and Finite are all good. Also contact NEC, HP, Data 3, Iocane, Dimension Data as much IT work goes via them. Avoid coming out at the end of the year \ start of the year as the job market is much quieter over the summer holidays and Christmas. Adelaide is a very small IT community - even in 3 years I have bumped into people who know everyone. You cannot burn bridges that's for sure! I think there is an element of luck involved in finding IT jobs here in Adelaide so you will want some savings just in case but they are there. Good luck!

Good luck - we did a similar thing, no jobs, nothing really and we've flourished in the 3 years we've been here. Oh, and the locals are friendly - until they are behind the wheel of their ute's!

That's not just SA - that's the modernised global world, and you won't find a better example of clowns trying to justify their existences than in London. Automation, computerisation and the explosion of technology are meaning less and less real jobs day by day. You just have to look the world over for the amount of non-jobs, in my line of work, IT, there are more "facilitator" type roles than they are dudes actually producing any meaningful results. With IT now a service industry my job role is looking like it'll eventually evolve into "vendor management" - oh yes, another non-job and I'll be finding ways to justify my existence for sure. And I'll bet money that most other industries are going the same way. There are strong predictions that the whole concept of a job will eventually be a thing of the past so maybe collecting certificates will be a nice pastime as our daily food is delivered by driver less vans. Oh and Adelaide starts with a capital A.

Maybe some alternative words of wisdom would have been more constructive instead? Even at the age of 41 I can relate to her post - I feel caught between two worlds constantly since we've been in Australia. I am heading back to the UK soon to catch up with family and friends and I am half terrified of how I will feel. Will coming back to Australia feel like home? Will I realise how lucky we are in Australia? No idea. The best you can do is keep that instinct close to your heart but do consider the ramifications of what you decide, and there will be nothing stopping you re-locating to the UK when you are older, when you have the qualifications are a bit wiser. Your options won't diminish with age. I wouldn't be surprised if one or all of my children decide to live in the UK for sometime in the future, maybe for good, there really isn't anything wrong with that, it's your (and their) lives to lead.

Good post from Toni - totally agree. I'd add that I find subjective opinions presented as fact (which seems to be a rampant trait of any internet based forum) are a real turn off as far as readability goes. Had no issues with work since arriving - started working for a bank within 3 weeks of arriving, lots of opportunities along the way and now quite settled in a new place as I got a bit fed up at the bank. It's not Sydney, London, Melbourne job scene....but then one persons negative opinions is another person positive ones......

"This is us stealing from our grandchildren." Appropriate from someone who seems to relish in nothing but property investment.

It's one of the few things that genuinely irritates me about living in Adelaide, the quality of driving is poor. But you get used to it, just drive as defensively as you can and don't let people wind you up or push you into driving faster. The more people that chill out the better.

Move on mate.

Do you sleep with your property portfolio? Give it a little kiss and a cuddle before turning the lights off? Night, night my portfolio....

That's good news. AGL totally screwed our bill up - was happily paying $50 a fortnight, then they smoothed it down to $19 - which wasn't enough so they've shot it up to $89 to catch-up. This may help a bit.

Stunning, I am really keen on getting up there - hopefully in the Spring

The cycle track between McLaren Vale and Willunga is fairly flat, straight and runs through the vineyards - it's very easy and pretty and there is bike higher in McLaren Vale: http://www.thecarriagecafe.com.au/file/Bike_Hire.html Just another option.

We always said we would play fair and give SA a fair go - for 6 months before approaching the powers that be to see if we re-locate. As it turned out, in the IT field, I've been fine work wise and things have gone well.

No feelings of wanting to leave SA here. Our quality of life here far surpasses that of what we had in the UK, I miss family but that really is it. Maybe my needs are just quite simple, or I've been lucky with work, or a bit of both but as we hit our 3rd year anniversary I am more convinced than ever we made a good move. It's not perfect and some of the attitudes are interesting but nowhere is perfect. It wouldn't surprise me if my children move away to seek bigger opportunities, be that in Australia or Europe/UK but that's all part of the fun of life.

Def helped seal our decision to move to McLaren Vale, there is no doubt that working remotely is going to accelerate in the future - my last place of work allowed me to do it, my current place is running a pilot. I think the decision to cut back is very short sighted. Build more roads or build fiber optic networks..........

Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom notpom. Really interesting reading.

All part of the fun......

They make me want to ram the car, seriously.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank also, they don't have a dedicated call center as such in Adelaide but they certainly have staff on Grenfell Street that do that work.

Check the RAA for call center work, they have several call centers based here in Adelaide supporting insurance, road side assistance and secure services. http://www.raa.com.au

Assuming it can be safely stored, managed correctly, in a remote part of SA that is also sensitive to Aboriginal history and culture, I am initially pro at least exploring the idea. It's a world problem and sooner or later some nut job is gonna get their hands on some of this stuff. I'd rather see it locked away, ready to re-used for good and see SA earning some solid $$$$ for the privilege.