Moving Abroad - Australia vs America

duchy

ibizafan wrote: »

While not particularly relevant to your original question, I have stayed in the US with American friends several times, and also in Oz as my son has emigrated there. If I had to choose a country to live in out of the two, it would be Australia. I much prefer the way of life there, and while admitting that the weather does play some part in this, it just seems a more relaxed culture. Also, Australians seem more interested in what's going on in the rest of the world, and keen to travel to other places or already have. It's hard to put a finger on it, but their way of life seems more compatible with how we live in the UK. However, I'm sure others will think differently.

I think that's a very good point - I've many US friends whose attitude to the rest of the world is very ...limited......... whereas I've only come across that kind of insular attitude in Australia in the more remote parts of WA.

movinghelp

Another quick update. Still job searching, interview this morning for a role in Melbourne and hopefully another one for Sydney this week. Much harder than I thought due to the time difference - their working hours are between midnight and 8am here - and because people are suspicious if you're not actually in the country.

duchy

Good luck !

I guess this is where technology like skype and conference video calling makes a big difference to the past when looking to relocate. Employers don't need you to interview right in front of them.

(My present job I was interviewed remotely by HR in Utah for a UK position -which was novel .

movinghelp

Another update. Had the skype interview this week and it went well, asked to respond to a brief and will present that on Wed.

In the meantime I've also been looking at other jobs in London and have handed my notice in. Not sure this was the right decision as its basically meant i've now been offered one job and asked to do second interviews for another two.

I don't want to waste people's time but thought it best to have a back up in case Aus doesn't work..

movinghelp

Presented the brief this morning, think it went well. Fingers crossed I'll find out this week. In the meantime I met an estate agent today to get an idea of costs for renting our flat.

They've quoted a 10% finders fee of annual rent plus VAT and 6% management fee which both seem very high.

As the flat is a 20 min walk from my partner and my office I'm thinking about sending an all company email first as that will cover about 1,500 people.. any thoughts?

lady1964

movinghelp wrote: »

Presented the brief this morning, think it went well. Fingers crossed I'll find out this week. In the meantime I met an estate agent today to get an idea of costs for renting our flat.

They've quoted a 10% finders fee of annual rent plus VAT and 6% management fee which both seem very high.

As the flat is a 20 min walk from my partner and my office I'm thinking about sending an all company email first as that will cover about 1,500 people.. any thoughts?

It might be an idea to post this question on the 'house buying, renting & selling' forum, the people on there seem really knowledgeable and are sure to be able to advise.

bigadaj

movinghelp wrote: »

Presented the brief this morning, think it went well. Fingers crossed I'll find out this week. In the meantime I met an estate agent today to get an idea of costs for renting our flat.

They've quoted a 10% finders fee of annual rent plus VAT and 6% management fee which both seem very high.

As the flat is a 20 min walk from my partner and my office I'm thinking about sending an all company email first as that will cover about 1,500 people.. any thoughts?

Well you'll still need someone to manage it if you're thousands of miles away.

You can't necessarily trust people you work with of course, so will need to complete contracts in any case but it might be worth a go.

If you can find a tenant yourself then the management fee itself doesn't look too bad.

movinghelp

Good news. Got the job offer this morning!

ibizafan_2

Great news. I think you'll like Oz. I've only been back for a month, and I'm missing things about the place, including the food and coffee. Australia has the best breakfast cafes and coffee in the world in my eyes. The TV is naff, but who cares when you can be outside a lot more? I recommend Pomsinoz website for information on just about everything, and some interesting forums. My son often posts in the Queensland forum so I do stalk him on there!

movinghelp

Thanks for the tip, I don't think we'll get a TV to be honest but we will want a car. Does anyone have any insight on tax/insurance etc out there?