Is anyone considering leaving SA?

[KennyKen]

Be prepared for a barrage of abuse from the naysayers. It can't be coincidence that most people

are saying the same things. It's like one massive free masons club. Like I keep saying tall poppy syndrome.

[deryans]

moved here because wife is from here, mistake. I have observed a significant amount of the dunning-kruger effect manifest here in adelaide, which along with Landrys' http://www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/thinkers/landry/report.aspx on the city makes for a grim prognosis, I simply will not and cannot allow my children to be crushed in a nepotistic society, it is the opposite of meritocracy and gives rise to sub standard performance, everywhere I have looked I have experienced it, from local council who are just not up to the job, to government departments with a significant responsibility to the public, just simply not making the grade, for our family and our future intent it's just not good enough.

 

There are also significant pointers that indicate a poor socio-economic and sub-standard social health of the place, there is to my mind a disgraceful attitude to poorer and less fortunate people I have observed in the eastern suburbs, and also, do we really have to ask, if it is such a fantastic place to live, why are all the young people leaving, and why do you think I would swap a 11 room house with garden, cellar, garage and& pool for a semi detached in and around the surrey,kent/biggin hill/oxted area of london ?

 

for the good of my children, simple really.

[KennyKen]

Wow great read. I'm happy for you. Atleast your future ideas will be commended other then ridiculed.

[NicF]

moved here because wife is from here, mistake. I have observed a significant amount of the dunning-kruger effect manifest here in adelaide, which along with Landrys' http://www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/thinkers/landry/report.aspx on the city makes for a grim prognosis, I simply will not and cannot allow my children to be crushed in a nepotistic society, it is the opposite of meritocracy and gives rise to sub standard performance, everywhere I have looked I have experienced it, from local council who are just not up to the job, to government departments with a significant responsibility to the public, just simply not making the grade, for our family and our future intent it's just not good enough.

 

There are also significant pointers that indicate a poor socio-economic and sub-standard social health of the place, there is to my mind a disgraceful attitude to poorer and less fortunate people I have observed in the eastern suburbs, and also, do we really have to ask, if it is such a fantastic place to live, why are all the young people leaving, and why do you think I would swap a 11 room house with garden, cellar, garage and& pool for a semi detached in and around the surrey,kent/biggin hill/oxted area of london ?

 

for the good of my children, simple really.

 

It's funny but I mostly agree with what you have to say and yet I also find it slightly insulting. Probably because despite of all the things you point out I still like Adelaide and I am still more than happy to live here. I work in a University so not really government but not really private sector either, and I have seen nepotism at play and issues with sub standard performance and poor management. But there are also examples of good performers and good management. I would be interested in seeing what some large private companies are like and if things are better or worse in those. I worked in the private sector in the UK which was a very different experience but I also came across people in the public sector that were not much different to those I come across here.

 

The disgraceful attitude to poorer and less fortunate people is not an eastern suburbs thing - it's an Australian right wing thing, and in the case of asylum seekers not just a right wing thing either. I see plenty of this kind of attitude among right wing British as well, so not exclusive to Australians, but does seem to be worse here. And I can personally assure you that there are some well off Australians around that don't have that attitude.

 

Oh and not all the young people are leaving. Plenty are still here. Young people all over the world move to other places in search of work or an adventure or just to live somewhere there parents aren't. I'd be interested to see some statistics about the net loss of young people in Adelaide now compared with 30 years ago if you have them.

[deryans]

No apologies, Can't help it if you find it insulting, my role is often to play with a straight bat as my stakeholders deserve it, since you work for a Uni, I was a mentor for the Uni SA masters program at one certain employer in the city and all the good students left as they were overseas cash cows , one local got a job with E&Y, one aussie dropped out and one brilliant (american) was offered a job by Deloite in adelaide in october 13 and was dropped in the following January because Deloite had no work - sloppy and poor pipeline management and a poor short term excuse by Deloite. Disgraceful, that student now works in government. A waste of a brilliant resource.

 

I worked as a director with a SAPOL team for a new mobile app product venture startup and the chosen development company looked all bells and whistles, but when actually asked to deliver something cringed and failed, all smoke, all talk no capability, nice offices tho' ......... in norwood,

 

I've also seen and also tried to recruit capable teams here in adelaide, you know, mid 20's m early 30's professionals, who come across as being capable, take notes, attend meetings and are otherwise trustworthy .......... bit hard to find them...... and that speaks volumes..... I can't use accountants in my role, I need clever all rounders who are capable and not afraid to ask questions and make mistakes.

 

So how do you think the commoditisation of education is working in adelaide, I seemed to trip over a uni everytime I walked across Vic SQ ?

 

Adelaide is just not up to our standard.

[NicF]

The one thing that worries me in your post is that you equate capability with people in their mid twenties and early thirties. Are people older than this not capable?

 

I could write an essay on what things that are wrong with Universities here (can't comment on UK as haven't been in one there since I finished my MSc nearly 20 years ago) but don't have time right now.

[deryans]

No no, not at all, you misunderstood, I'm certainly not equating capabilities on the basis of age, most of my immediate contemporaries are in their 50's and I'm mid 40's but if I were to be more to the point, I would have good reason to question the numerous executive directorship posts that festoon various government departments , and I'll start with 0, The attorney generals department, 1. Department of Education, 2. Dept of Infrastructure, 3. Department of Premier and cabinet, Office of state records etc etc.

 

looks like a rort........ and the taxpayer is paying for this poor leadership.........shame shame shame

[Lazy Cow]

I have observed a significant amount of the dunning-kruger effect

which along with Landrys' http://www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/thinkers/landry/report.aspx on the city makes for a grim prognosis,

I simply will not and cannot allow my children to be crushed in a nepotistic society, it is the opposite of meritocracy and gives rise to sub standard performance, everywhere I have looked I have experienced it, from local council who are just not up to the job, to government departments with a significant responsibility to the public, just simply not making the grade, for our family and our future intent it's just not good enough

 

 

An opinion is surely based on many things, including personal expectations and experiences. I don't think one person's experience is definitive (and I think, kennyken, you are in danger of simply looking for confirmation bias).

 

My experiences have been different to yours, deryans, however I agree with much of what you write. Does this mean I want to leave South Australia? No, most definitely not. Does this mean I acknowledge the change that needs to take place? Absolutely.

 

I had to laugh when you mentioned the Dunning-Kruger Effect; it would be nice to think they actually had that excuse! I think it's more to do with nepotism, and I worry that is increasing as the number of jobs decreases. I believe that one of the things I love about Adelaide - that 'small town' feel - is responsible for holding us back whilst we lose some of our most valuable resources, our young.

 

Kids have always left South Australia to explore. I love that attitude. I am concerned that they won't come back to raise their families, as in the past, because there's less to come back to.

 

So, why are we staying? Quite simply, this is our home. We are lucky and (at the moment lol) both employed. Our children, however, are not employed. One has already expressed an intention to go interstate or beyond to find the career she's spent so long preparing for.

 

If we had our time again, I believe we would still have chosen SA. We didn't come 'cashed up' (hate that expression!), and our lives here are pretty much as they were in Tonbridge. If I had to make the decision now, the aspects that would most concern me, would be work, and health.

 

Work opportunities? Well, I think that's going to be discussed for a long time, and often falls into the narrow argument of 'I found a job, therefore there are jobs if you really want one' or 'I've been trying for some time, have found nothing, therefore there are no jobs'.

 

Health though. Drug use, particularly methamphetamine (ICE) seems to have become a real issue. It scares me; the long term damage, affect on mental health, crime, unemployment, the cost to us as individuals and as a society. Hospitals are closing, dentists can be expensive...

 

The Landry Report is interesting reading, and full of Adelaide's potential. I think (and I'm really not sure as I'm not that smart!) it has encouraged change, but I think it's been more to do with structural changes etc than changing the way people think.

 

I love Adelaide's sense of continuity, and past, but I am happy to see how many people are standing up and trying to effect political change. I believe that the young people we see today will bring about the changes we need, and that fills me with hope for our future.

 

LC

[deryans]

Nice post LC, well put.

 

I wished so much for our family and indeed adelaide that ad-dull-ade would become something better, but in the end cumulative sloth, nepotism, secretive mates club and a risk adverse nature brought about by a very thin job market makes people nervous, so there will be no great departure, no great projects and no new vision. I assessed this and chose to move on.

 

Often, Instead, small quick wins (which often hide a multitude of sins) of myopic vision will be preferred over a lasting strategy, everything seems temporary in adelaide, TDU, clipsal, festivals here and there, there seems to be a disengagement pre-requisite first, and this is a death sentence for the state.

 

I worked in Justice, I saw first hand what the deconstruction of the social and economic framework does to that segment of society that we call "frequent flyers" at magistrates and district courts, you speak of ICE, it's real and it's overwhelming, it's incredibly cheap to produce and it is readily available to bored youth, youth who will live in those ready made suburbs along the southern expressway with nothing to do and no jobs, a symmetry of the norther suburbs if you like, I can't see that the vision of adelaide was that well planned if this is the case ?

 

The landry report was in 2003, surely it can't take that long to do something..........

[snifter]

Kids have always left South Australia to explore. I love that attitude. I am concerned that they won't come back to raise their families, as in the past, because there's less to come back to.

 

Thought the entire post was a great read but just wanted to give you a reply to this little snippet (am on the run atm).

 

My hubby, his brother, his cousins x 2 and a number of friends all left Australia after uni and went to live and work overseas. Not working holidays or anything casual, but all went elsewhere and forged their careers. One or two with companies here that then sent them overseas for a number of years, others went and found work where they landed. Now, a decade or so on, all but one have returned to Adelaide in recent times and are bringing up their own kids here, my husband included. There is one friend left living overseas, he was in China and is now in Europe and loving it. However he plans to return to Adelaide in the not too distant future once he has done all he wants to do over there.

 

Not a one of them speaks badly of Adelaide and all of them loved growing up here. They had the job skills, life skills, confidence and more to go spread their wings and make something for themselves career wise outside of the state and outside of the country. They have brought those back here with them

 

Its the one who went elsewhere in Australia to seek work have stayed away, they seem to find it hard to return career wise and so have stayed put. Some went to Canberra, others Sydney and elsewhere. One couple did return and have done great doing so but it was a jump into the unknown for them coming back from QLD after a number of years away building their careers. A number of hubbys friends remained in Adelaide and seem to have been happy doing so. They all work, enjoy their jobs for the most part, enjoy their lives and have no plans to leave that I know of.

 

Of course, this is only my circle, its rather varied and I've found it interesting to talk with them about their reasons, their plans back then and now and for the future. They are all pretty positive in their outlook, ready to make changes if need be but wanting to make a go of it here in Adelaide.

[KennyKen]

Firstly I am not looking for confirmation bias. I simply commented that the people I have been meeting in vastly different career paths are all implying the same regarding Adelaide's rut. To the user above - Fantastic if you grow up here. study and complete degrees here. Move abroad, Experience life and different culture's. Enhance careers then have the capability to come back and bring a family up. These people you are speaking of already have a base here, no? I mean family, Friends? Its completely different for someone like me. I grew up in London and thought I hated the place.. desperately seeking a quiet life for my family. I decided to bring my family to Adelaide. I totally disregarded the working aspect of my life. regardless of the daily strains of commuting in London. I soon realised that the motivation was not here. I soon realised that if you have an opinion you're told. "Hold on don't rock the boat". I like Adelaide I really do just slightly concerned at the lack of enterprise.

[snifter]

To the user above - Fantastic if you grow up here. study and complete degrees here. Move abroad, Experience life and different culture's. Enhance careers then have the capability to come back and bring a family up. These people you are speaking of already have a base here, no? I mean family, Friends? Its completely different for someone like me. I grew up in London and thought I hated the place.. desperately seeking a quiet life for my family. I decided to bring my family to Adelaide. I totally disregarded the working aspect of my life. regardless of the daily strains of commuting in London. I soon realised that the motivation was not here. I soon realised that if you have an opinion you're told. "Hold on don't rock the boat". I like Adelaide I really do just slightly concerned at the lack of enterprise.

 

I was adressing LC's comment and concern about kids leaving and not returning to raise their families. I think its as valid for migrants whose kids grow up here, go through the education system here as those who can trace back many generations in Australia.

 

If you are a more recent migrant, with younger kids or kids still in school or just leaving and a shorter time here in Aus, then yes I can see why your POV may well differ or that you may feel very differently. Heck, even some longer standing migrants may be saying the same thing and fair comment if they do. Its their experience, their views and they are entitield to them.

 

I am one of the more recent migrants, but married to an Aussie. I agree with much that has been said in the thread, some good points I sat and nodded in agreement with when reading.

 

But, *shock horror gasp and all that* :cute:I like Adelaide, I think its a good place. Its a heck of a lot better than many places in the UK or elsewhere I have lived. It falls short compared to some other places. Adelaide has its faults, the work aspect can be a real struggle for some, for others its not such an issue but that can happen anywhere, often depending on where you are coming from and your experiences there perhaps?. I think often that work woes will lead to resentment of everything else, even if there are positives, of course not being able to earn or progress or find work in your field is going to be a major sticking point and cause those who struggle to question everything else and their reasons for moving the other side of the world. The same could happen moving house 3 hours up the M4 in the UK. Or moving from Edinburgh to Birmingham. Or London to Penzance. Wherever you move to and from, what unfolds for a person no one can ever know and each persons struggle or settle story will be different. We moved 45 minutes up the road from one place to another in the UK and it was an awful move work wise for hubby. We made another move another 45 minutes up the road again, best move we ever made while there and it worked so well we stayed put 5 years. But we wanted to move on again regardless of the safety net of the job, how comfortable we were in our living situation and how happy we were with life overall.

 

I was going to waffle on a bit about hubbys work situation and all that but its not something I really want to go into on an open forum for privacy reasons. Suffice to say, local Adelaide/SA contacts didn't matter a jot to him when we got here. He's not gotten a job because of who he knew when he grew up here, lived here. If anything its because of his working overseas, his contacts built up then that helped. And its worked out that we can remain in Adelaide living rather than moving interstate for his job. He is lucky I realise that, but it goes to show things sometimes have a funny way of unfolding. If you'd told me this is how it would have worked out for us when we landed in Aus back in 2013, I'd not have thought it. But it has and lo, here we are.

 

I don't think Adelaide is going to work for everyone who moves here, it can't, won't, that is unrealistic. It works for some. There will always be a percentage of migrants who return to their home country, move to another state/city or move elsewhere in the world for one reason or another. Its migration, happens to people from any country moving anywhere else in the world. You start that ball rolling the moment you land here and for those that it works for, great, for those that it doesn't I'm one of the first ones to say consider cutting your losses and looking elsewhere, be that Sydeny, Brisbane, London or wherever else. You need to put your own needs and wants ahead of anything else and rightly so. We ourselves said we'd give it as long as it needed before we made the big commitment of buying a house here, putting down more solid roots and we knew after 5 or 6 months we'd be ok here in the big picture kind of way. We felt comfortable, didn't have the niggles some might and felt our lives overall were better here than in the UK on pretty much every level. Had we struggled work wise it may have been a very different picture but we'd have dealt with it and done what we felt we needed to do, be that move elsewhere or stay here and work at making it work.

 

I guess I just try to consider everyone has their reasons, their motivation or thinking for why they choose to stay or leave. There is no right or wrong, only whats right for them at this point in time.

[zealander]

It's been quite a while since I've been on here and reading this thread has stirred some mixed emotions, I too found Adelaide a big let down. The promise of skilled work, better life style, a "new world" style of living. It didn't happen, no matter how many doors I knocked on, CV's sent, hoops jumped through it just wasn't happening. Slagging a place off won't help anyone's situation and isn't helpful advice.

The easiest way to describe moving to Adelaide is like moving from a vibrant English city such as London, Manchester, Edinburgh or Cardiff and ending up in Bradford, a run down town full of migrants without any prospects. Haters will hate! But there are more social problems in Australia than in the UK, more "hand shakes" and "arse kissing" required and if you don't conform to the generic way of living and you have an opinion hen you'll get shouted down.

Everyone's journey down under is different. It works for some and doesn't for others. I found that Europe has much more to offer than Australia. A good friend described Australia is like an empty and baron America.

Just saying........3,2,1 let the abuse begin

[deryans]

we are 1/2 way through raising our family, a 13, 11 and 7 year old, and I believe that they will have better , fairer and more opportunities elsewhere, i.e. London.

 

The work available for me professionally personally(without joining the boys club and compromising my integrity - and unfortunately for me, that seems to be my personality type) is either non existent or underemployed or so far underpaid for what I do , I may as well stack shelves, which I'm a bit young for ?

 

I know plenty overseas adelaide people who won't or can't come back to the place, because they are expected to drop the two decades experience and start again at a much lower level and report to a clown who got the job through nepotism . This simply an efficient economic model, does not make ?.

 

 

It's all moot, if you can't work, your options decrease and you can't live and you can kiss any hopes you had for your children goodbye. I am certainly not going to place my childrens' future in the hands of a bunch of nepotistic under performers who are both at once incompetent and incapable of driving the place forward.

 

Snifter, you mention "safety net" of the job, well, the general job market in Adelaide is quite thin, if I was a betting man (and guess what I'm always looking at options) the job market would make me very nervous, excluding specialisations in the engineering and defence industries, the Landry report addresses the lack of thickness in the job market as a distinct attribute which makes people like me a little nervous.

[elaine&andystokes]

Deryan's posts have really resonated with me. Currently planning to return to west London after two years in Adelaide. Has been a wonderful experience for our three children age 7, 9 & 11 and myself. Reasonable standard and cost for private education, enjoying variety of pursuits and immersing ourselves in the great outdoors. My work in healthcare has been rewarding and reasonably well remunerated for government without being too stressful. For four out of five, work/life balance has been good. Then there's my husband for whom things have not been so good - hence our desire to return home. Coming from a corporate background but not being connected in he tried all avenues to secure a position here in Adelaide but to no avail - for reasons why read deryans posts - could not have summed it up better myself. He started his MBA here and took it to diploma level but failed to see the point in completing it in an environment that would be unlikely to offer fulfilling prospects / access to a like-minded network. Usually an outgoing optimist, he is now less upbeat as it has taken its toll. However I don't believe in tolerating a situation that makes you unhappy when you have the power to change it - life's too short. Likewise I don't believe in convincing myself somewhere is right for me in the face of evidence to the contrary. Now that we have decided to leave we can take a balanced view. It's been a costly adventure, but one that we have made the most of. Kids have loved it and would be happy in either UK or AUS. Have seen more of australia than a lot of my colleagues. Just need to summon the energy for the next challenge - logistics of the return. But I think we're ready. Will miss the sunshine but bring on the culture and (hate me now!!) what I think is a fairer more open minded society. (Apart from Katie Hopkins & UKIP)

[wubbledoos]

We're all in the gutters, but some of us are looking at the stars.

 

I'll take the gutters and stars over London any day.

[deryans]

We're all in the gutters, but some of us are looking at the stars.

 

I'll take the gutters and stars over London any day.

 

 

If by that you mean that we all have goals to better ourselves and the lot of our children, I agree with you.

 

But one question ? If I have goals and I want to better my position, why would I stay in a place that offers relatively few and discard the opportunity to move to a place that has more ?

 

 

i'll throw one right back at you " when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life" .....

[NicF]

 

i'll throw one right back at you " when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life" .....

 

I hate this saying. I can't stand London - it's too big and too busy and too.... well I don't know how to put it in to words but it just isn't somewhere I enjoy being. I realise that I am in a minority and lots of people love London but it just doesn't offer any of the things ai value in life. Like space, peace and quiet and a connection to nature (yes I know there are parks but you can't live in the middle of them and the rest of London is still there when you leave them).

 

I think moving somewhere to give our kids more opportunities is a mistake. We should live where we want to live and where we are happy and where we can find work. We should encourage our kids to take the opportunities that come there way and to chase them down from where ever they are. There are as many opportunities here as there were in my old home town of Rotherham but regardless of what opportunities are around in the place we are living at the time I fully expect my kids to move away from where ever we are and pursue there own opportunities in which ever place they can find them.

[Lazy Cow]

If by that you mean that we all have goals to better ourselves and the lot of our children, I agree with you.

 

If I have goals and I want to better my position, why would I stay in a place that offers relatively few and discard the opportunity to move to a place that has more ?

 

1. Isn't that why most of us choose to migrate?

 

If our new reality doesn't match our dreams, and expectations, why would we stay?

 

As migrants we learn, I think, that our life doesn't have to be limited by where we are. If it doesn't work; move on. Enjoy the experience; regret nothing.

 

2. Returning to deryans earlier post, I wonder whether one of the biggest limitations to our understanding would be the type of work we each do, and our expectations thereof.

 

For example, my job is well-defined. I am not responsible for policy making, fighting managerial battles, or trying to put my visions into practice. I am expected to have ideas, but do not expect them to necessarily come to fruition. Therefore I do not experience any of the frustrations of visionary upper management. I am a worker ant, if you like.

 

My OH would be considered upper management. He has daily frustrations dealing with a multitude of 'little' managers, fighting to be heard on behalf of their Stores Cupboard or whatever, demanding to understand in a second - and comment on - a job he's taken years to learn.

 

My point is (yes, I will get there ) he would understand, and support, deryans post more than I, simply because it affects his life more. Perhaps to fully understand, we actually need to have experienced the frustrations of working within a supposedly forward-thinking, policy-making group which limits itself by being too afraid to look beyond what we've always done, and too comfortable with the people we've always known.

 

Just a thought; not sure it adds much, but..

LC

[Diane]

I'm a worker ant too, so for the moment Adelaide is fine for me. I've 'been there, done that' with the career building/office politics etc etc in London and the UK and in fact my boss here still laughs about when she offered me a pay rise and I looked at her suspiciously and said "if you expect me to work harder, be cleverer or be more committed because it's more money then thanks but I'd rather not!" (She gave me the rise anyway!)

 

In terms of work, now I just 'work to live' rather than 'live to work' - I do what I am supposed to when at work, then walk away and don't think about it again till I'm back there the next day. For those who are more career-minded, I can see how things here would be frustrating though.

[Guest wen66]

We have not found it a walk in the park like some, but certainly did not come here wearing rose tinted glasses. Everyone's journey and circumstances are different. Processes are frustrating but we're learning. It may take a while..lol..

 

Depending on your field of work, the first hurdle is "not having Australian experience"......get past that and you may, I say may, be on a even field. Noticed recently certain Government jobs are for Australian Citizens only. A few more years before we can apply for those....a little frustrating but continuing to network as much as we can.

 

My OH has worked for big corporate companies in the UK, the companies here are a lot smaller, therefore, we are discovering, they do not have the openings for his area.(even though all the Skilled migration hurdles we had jump through to get here, said there was...) But that has not put us off, we're willing to try and make a life.

 

I am sad when I hear about folk who have no choice but to leave through circumstances beyond their control. Others who chose to leave because it's time for them to move on.

I say, good luck to you, be happy, wherever you are. Thank goodness we are all different, as the world would be pretty boring if we were all the same. One life, live it .

[keldaz]

Thanks for all the posts on this thread, really interesting reading from all view points. For the majority of expats we've met along the way, buying a house seems to be their one and only concern. Doesn't seem to matter where it is, must buy house, must buy house. I think we came looking for very different things to most. Although I've had an idea, maybe if I bought a croc infested swamp and built some houses?, mmm yes me like, 'Water views' 'close to wildlife' , make the rotten look shiny, I'll be an Aussie yet cobbers!

Edited April 27, 2015 by keldaz
I am a stupid head

[snifter]

Thanks for all the posts on this thread, really interesting reading from all view points. For the majority of expats we've met along the way, buying a house seems to be their one and only concern. Doesn't seem to matter where it is, must buy house, must buy house. I think we came looking for very different things to most. Although I've had an idea, maybe if I bought a croc infested swamp and built some houses?, mmm yes me like, 'Water views' 'close to wildlife' , make the rotten look shiny, I'll be an Aussie yet cobbers!

 

For us buying a house was simply down to if we were going to be here in the longer term, we didn't want to rent and be at the mercy of a landlord and all that renting entails. If we'd only been staying a few years or planning to definately move on within a couple of years, then yes we'd have rented.

[Jessica Berry]

There have been many points on these postings I can identify with and the path to employment in Adelaide is not always a smooth one and can be damn frustrating for some of us, for others (like my OH) it will be a shiny example of turn up in Adelaide, skills are genuinely in demand and you go from strength to strength and you wonder why everyone else is having a moan!

 

As we have discussed on this forum many times, it has been evident to the long termers in Adelaide that the job market has slowed down considerably over the past couple or so years and competition for roles is stronger than ever. Management level roles have always been in a much shorter supply in Adelaide than say Melbourne or Sydney but they have now become even harder to source due to the economic downturn and cut backs. See recent article on Rex Minerals for example.....

 

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/rex-minerals-names-new-boss-slashes-salary/story-fni6uma6-1227316848885

 

I have mentioned before my advice to people is to do their research before they migrate to Adelaide. Use seek.com.au as a guide for availability of jobs. So just for example if you put in ICT, then Management as a sub classification there are 9 vacancies in Adelaide which straight away you can see 2 are duplicate adverts so that takes it down to 7 adverts, in Melbourne there are 104 adverts and in Sydney there are 141, so you see how small this area is in comparison to other states. You then need to ask yourself before you come over what job you are prepared to do, do you only want to work at this level, what if you can't get a job at this level, what are your expectations and attitude, what salary do you expect, what is your strategy to get work, do you have savings to cover you if it takes 3-6 months to find work, the list goes on.

 

I spoke to a couple a while ago over here on a reccie and they had been advised at an expo in the UK that both their jobs were in demand in Adelaide and they would have no trouble getting work and would earn a high salary, in my opinion the information was totally misleading and untrue and the reality was one of the jobs was in a dying industry and the other would earn approximately half the amount the person at the expo had quoted.

 

As the scouts would say "be prepared"!

[clan mac]

We have only recently arrived and to be absolutely honest the work situation isn't good. i understand that the employers here don't know me or my hubby from a bar of soap, but I swear if anyone else suggests a training course (costing a couple of thousand $!!!!!!!) i think i might do an incredible hulk! at the risk of sounding like a "whining pom" is it really that hard to understand that if you worked in a specific sector in the UK then your skills are transferable???? i mean surely a sales assistant is still a sales assistant wherever the blazes you trained? particularly so when there is no language barrier. How difficult can it be - be nice to customer, answer questions politely, take money ............. I agree the people are lovely, well mannered, polite and helpful. The houses are pretty swanky too plus great weather and awesome beaches. Trouble is I can't eat awesome beach or pay my bills with nice friendly manners. Unless you have a VERY COMFORTABLE financial cushion then I would advise do your homework regarding the labour market conditions here very carefully. Before anyone asks - no I'm not a sales assistant but my 19 year old son was in the UK. He could work here if we shell out $$$$$$$$$$ for a certificate that says he's a sales assistant so this is why is used this as a reference point. He has had rejection letter after rejection letter and I see a once confident young man demoralised and hurting. That is really hard to see. So my conclusion is this - make sure you do your homework or make sure you bring a hefty chunk of wonga to see you through.