6 Months in and finding it hard

[Natalie]

Hi Everyone!

Myself and my family  (partner and son and daughter) arrived here on 29th December 2016. We had just 4 weeks to sort a house rental, school, preschool etc and try and find work. .......

Well the kid's have settled which is great! But me and my partner are struggling a little. It's been really hard for me to find part time work that fits around the kid's, etc as childcare is just so unaffordable right now. I think a lot of my problems have been with my visa 489 (skilled state sponsored ) temporary visa. My partner is a bricklayer and as long as we both work for 12 consecutive months, after 2 years we can apply for permanent residency. - which is what we want to do,  but because we're temporary at the moment it seems to go against us.....

Anyway, if anyone has any advicethey can give us? Or has anyone been in a similar situation?  It would be great to connect with other brits too, and hear your experiences.

Thanks!

 

Natalie 

[snifter]

Hello and welcome  

I don't have any experience of the visa you are on but can imagine that the temp aspect could be confusing to potential employers who don't understand how it works fully. 

I hope you are able to secure something soon. I'm guessing as you are in a temp visa the childcare rebate isn't available to you as this can help a great deal with childcare costs. Even without it OSHC isn't crazily expensive after school so it might be worth researching that at your local school to see if it could give you more options for a longer working day? Oh, you mentioned preschool so figure that could be what is costing more atm. Have you looked into family daycare or does that cost the same as kindy or perhaps is more cost effective? I'm not sure quite how the costing for that goes off the top of my head. 

 

 

[Rammygirl]

Many employers do not understand visas and will probably think you mean a 147 visa or even a working holiday visa!

 

Try describing your visa as provisional if pushed, not temporary and initially just say you have a visa that allows you to live and work in Australia.  They will ask ( or at least they should) ask for proof.  What does it actually say on VEVO and your visa grant notice, pick the one that looks best and show them a copy.

Also you BOTH do not have to work for 1 year to apply for PR, just the main applicant who then will include the family on the visa.

 

[Natalie]

Hi! 

Thanks for both your replies! With childcare, we're not entitled to any rebate/help etc. So my daughter is in preschool but only 2 days a week, she can go to OSHC with my son but I've been unable to find work on those particular days, I may have to wait until January to get work. I've even applied for work in fast food chains etc, but they tend employ juniors only.......it's really frustrating because I want to work. 

Yes I will try and explain my visa better when applying for jobs which may help. Unfortunately I do have a  criteria to meet also for PR. It says that I need to work or study for 12 consequetive months. ......but I have good news on that front,  I have been accepted on a  course which will also help me to get work! So things are looking up! Plus since I've joined poms we've made a few lovely new friends! 

So many thanks, I wish I had joined sooner!

[Rammygirl]

You might want to check that criteria.  I bet it says the same on the children's grants too.  All ours say we should work for the sponsoring employer for two years, but clearly that is not the case!

 

Look at the requirements for the PR visa, it does not specify that everyone must meet those conditions only the main applicant.

 

Oh and don't explain the visa unless pushed, it can confuse people. Just say you have a visa that allows you to work and live in SA.  Keep it simple.

[snifter]

Tend to agree with Rammygirl re the visa. Keep it simple. Don't go into detail. Just say you have full work rights for SA. 

 

[Natalie]

OK thanks guys!

I will take a closer look at the requirements. Many thanks! 

[llessur]

Yeah, I deleted all mention of a visa/non-profit permanence from my job applications and also took out any UK references (i.e for previous positions I just put the company names and didn't specify they were based in the UK). I personally found a significant boost in positive responses once I'd de-UK'd my CV. Might have been coincidence but worth a try.

 

 

[llessur]

*ignore the profit bit, not sure where that came from...

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[Natalie]

Oh really?  It's worth a try, thanks for the tip. I will redo my CV.

Thanks! 

[llessur]

Don't forget things like .co.uk email addresses.

 

Plus, have you tried recruitment agencies? Both my partner and I had great luck through them...

 

 

 

 

[Natalie]

OK,  yeah I'm with an agency but the majority of jobs are full-time and so I'm not able to take them.

[llessur]

Ah, missed that bit. On the plus side they say that everyone's under employed these days so theoretically part time work should be easier to find than full time. What industry do you work in, or are you just looking for anything part time and casual?

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[Natalie]

Well I did call centre work in the UK  (insurance) but there's nothing with hour's that suit to fit around childcare, ideally I was after evening work, but they don't seem to have that here. 

[llessur]

Hmmm, hopefully something will come up for you in the near future.

 

I did a stint with Origin Energy when I first came over and I'm pretty sure they had out of hours customer service teams in the building, some of the bigger companies must.

 

My partner had good results through Entree recruitment. Candle recruitment were great for me but I think they're more IT focused.

 

Also, I know I've banged on about this before on this forum but speak to your recruitment agency about your CV to see if they'd recommend any changes. I found out after a couple of months that mine (2 pages as per UK standards) was way too short - Aussie employers expect longer, around 4-5 pages.

 

 

[Natalie]

Thanks for your help, I will certainly look into the agencies you have mentioned! 

What? 4-5 pages! That's rediculous! I thought mine was bad being on two! I might have to rework it then!