Info on Career Opportunities in AUSTRALIA

[Systems Adict]

Greetings All,

I'm after some info that I hope you can help me with....


After many years working in the UK Defense Industry, I've thought it might be worthwhile having a serious look at something a little further afield.

I know that ASC are currently looking for lots of people to fill posts on the Aussie AWD Programme. Not having any contacts within the country, never mind the company, I thought I'd ask some pointed questions on here. (all the vulgar ones your not supposed to ask during your interview !)


#1. I'm currently listed as a Systems Engineer, earning in the £25-£35K P.A. range. Is it fair to say that for a similar role in Oz that I'd be in the $55-$80K range over there ??

#2. At present I use approx 1/4 of my monthly wage on food & drink. Is it comparable down under ??

#3. Looking at other industries & comparing roles / renumeration, is OZ the same / Better / Worse than the UK. (e.g. UK Spark's get circa £15/hr)

On a similar vein, but on the domestic front, a 3 bed, semi-detached house can be had for Circa £100-£150K in the UK. Is it similar / more expensive in OZ??


& Finally,

Domestic Voltage, is it 220-240V AC ??


Many Thanks in Advance.

Systems Adict

 

[Ozzy Blizzard]

Greetings All,

I'm after some info that I hope you can help me with....

Great to hear your thinking about moveing south for a while. You should love it, but we do like to give poms a bit of stick! Too bad about Adelaide though (just kidding ...

#1. I'm currently listed as a Systems Engineer, earning in the £25-£35K P.A. range. Is it fair to say that for a similar role in Oz that I'd be in the $55-$80K range over there ??

i dunno, we'll have to wait for Gf for comment on that one.

#2. At present I use approx 1/4 of my monthly wage on food & drink. Is it comparable down under ??

Its probably significantly less over here. AFAIK the cost of liveing is hidieous in the UK, i'd probably spend 1/6 or less of my wage on food & drink, + i dont make much & i like a decent meal (& a few drinks ).

#3. Looking at other industries & comparing roles / renumeration, is OZ the same / Better / Worse than the UK. (e.g. UK Spark's get circa £15/hr)

AFAIK a sparky can earn $30 ph or more, depending on their position (i.e. apprentice or self employed). Plubers can make $40~50+ ph so i'd say its comperable.

On a similar vein, but on the domestic front, a 3 bed, semi-detached house can be had for Circa £100-£150K in the UK. Is it similar / more expensive in OZ??

You wont find a semi detached house over here mate, its all fully detacthed with a garden. We have heaps of space, so everyone has a 1/4 acre block. The price is fully dependent on location and we have a rageing houseing market here, but you can easilly find yourself a nice 3 bed house with a decent garden for $300~$350K, as long as you dont expect city views or beach front acsess if you know what i mean.

& Finally,

Domestic Voltage, is it 220-240V AC ??


Many Thanks in Advance.

240v

I'm not sure wether someone has PM'ed you about this but i hope i helped a tad.

 

[RubiconNZ]

Domestic Voltage, is it 220-240V AC ??

Many Thanks in Advance.

Systems Adict

That one I can help you with
240V AC

Food and Drink is a interesting one the UK benefits from economy of scale so things can be cheaper and heaps dearer, like a Pizza Hutt pizza here is 2quid 50 instead of 7 quid like it was in Watford, then the supermarkets will have stuff heaps cheaper, I miss my 24 hours ASDA,

Good luck with it mate

 

[swerve]

Its probably significantly less over here. AFAIK the cost of liveing is hidieous in the UK, i'd probably spend 1/6 or less of my wage on food & drink, + i dont make much & i like a decent meal (& a few drinks ).

I dunno about incomes*, but when I worked in Oz food prices were noticeably lower than here in England, so definite agreement on this. Same for eating out. Much cheaper than here.

You wont find a semi detached house over here mate, its all fully detacthed with a garden. We have heaps of space, so everyone has a 1/4 acre block. The price is fully dependent on location and we have a rageing houseing market here, but you can easilly find yourself a nice 3 bed house with a decent garden for $300~$350K, as long as you dont expect city views or beach front acsess if you know what i mean.

I noticed that property prices were very variable, depending on location, just like here. Dunno what's happened to Oz house prices recently, but in 1999 Sydney prices were quite a bit lower for comparable locations than London.

However, it isn't true that everyone has a 1/4 acre block. Despite the propaganda, a significant minority of Australians live in flats, terraced houses, etc., especially in cities. 22% in "higher density housing" (flats, terrace houses, etc) in 2001, according to Australian Social Trends 2003, and rising, & 35.5% in Sydney. Australia as a whole may have a lot of space, but nobody lives in most of it. They bunch up together round the edge.

[edit]*I was on UK rates, & my employer provided a serviced flat, so I wasn't exposed to either local pay rates or housing costs, though I did, out of curiosity, look at the asking prices of houses on sale.

 

[Systems Adict]

Thanks everyone for the comments thus far !

It's all info that will help keep the wife n family off my back for a few hours !

Needless to say now that I've "let the cat outta the bag", I've got to follow thru on my "comments", but that's the joys of change & upheaval at home & in the work place !


For the record, the ad that caught my attention is for ASC. So if anyone has ANYTHING that can help me, like maybe someone who works / has worked there, the more info, the better !!


By the way, is there any truth in the "rumor" that certain defence companies are looking at maybe taking it over ??

Especially seeing as it's one of the few companies Aussie ship building companies left that hasn't had major collaborations / mergers with others...

Systems Adict

 

[StingrayOZ]

ASC is all being done out of South Australia where house prices are pretty cheap.

ASC is currently owned by the government. This is a problem in that being owned by the government to fill government contracts. Yes, it will be sold most likely soon, once the AWD are under way, the LHD is underway and the Collins replacement in being worked up to contract level. The ANZAC replacement is also comming up. US and UK firms are interested but nothing concrete as yet. When more things are stiched up ASC will be sold to somebody nice, and part of the deal is they will have to keep the facilities going.

Pay is reasonable, uk more likely to get more outright but your living expenses will be less here (generally). You can afford things like a V8, a pool, backyard etc. The aussie dollar is pretty strong outright (compared to pound/usd/euro) so any savings should be okay going back to the uk.

Relocating from UK to Au is one of the easier relocations. Life style is usually one of the main reasons.

 

[Ozzy Blizzard]

I noticed that property prices were very variable, depending on location, just like here. Dunno what's happened to Oz house prices recently, but in 1999 Sydney prices were quite a bit lower for comparable locations than London.

AFAIk London has the most expensive houseing market on the plannet. The market here is definatly agressive and overpriced, but i still think it will be cheaper.

However, it isn't true that everyone has a 1/4 acre block. Despite the propaganda, a significant minority of Australians live in flats, terraced houses, etc., especially in cities. 22% in "higher density housing" (flats, terrace houses, etc) in 2001, according to Australian Social Trends 2003, and rising, & 35.5% in Sydney. Australia as a whole may have a lot of space, but nobody lives in most of it. They bunch up together round the edge.

I know mate. I live in Melbourne, and there is an over extended inner city apartment market here. Too many speculative apartment blocks. But If you want a 3 bedroom house, uless you want a terrace in about 5 over priced inner city suburbs, your most probably going to find yourslef a 1/4 acre block. Melbourne has a diamerter of over 80km, with a population of just under 4 million. Thats comperable to london which has twice the population, which means significantly lower houseing density. Thats primarrily due to massive urban sprawl & everyone outside of the inner city getting their 1/4 acre block. All of the other major cities are similar.

 

[swerve]

AFAIk London has the most expensive houseing market on the plannet. The market here is definatly agressive and overpriced, but i still think it will be cheaper.

Yeah, if not no. 1 certainly close to it. And if the job's in SA, I would expect, from what I've heard*, housing to be a lot cheaper than I saw in Sydney, though maybe not as cheap as in some of the country areas I visited on those weekends I wasn't on standby.

.. Melbourne has a diamerter of over 80km, with a population of just under 4 million. Thats comperable to london which has twice the population, which means significantly lower houseing density. Thats primarrily due to massive urban sprawl & everyone outside of the inner city getting their 1/4 acre block. All of the other major cities are similar.

I noticed that, in Sydney. Took forever to get out of it. I looked it up, & found it had much the same area as Greater London, despite having half the population. I didn't see much of the suburbs**, but from train & car windows, they certainly looked pretty spread out.

*Sydney jokes about South Australia proving that Tassies can swim . . . second lowest GDP per head of any state. But Tasmania looks like a very nice place to live, if you can get a reasonable job, & SA could be the same, though a bit dry.

**I lived overlooking Darling Harbour, & got right out into the country when I could: either inner-city, or no city.

 

[flyboyEB]

If you want to work on boats outside of ASC, there's also Austal Ships in Fremantle, Western Australia, and Tasmania. WA is a bit expensive in the housing market but a nice place and Tasmania is nice as well, if you can stand inbred people with two heads

 

[Tasman]

...if you can stand inbred people with two heads

I haven't met one yet flyboy!

I think Tassie is a great place to live but some people find it a bit isolated - obviously you have to fly or travel by ferry to get to the mainland.

Housing costs in Hobart are generally $300 000 - $400 000 for a good 3/4 bedroom house in a reasonable area, $450 000 - 600 000 for river/sea views (more for waterfrontage) and $1+ mn for waterfrontage in the more exclusive suburbs like Sandy Bay or Battery Point! The education system is comparable with mainland capitals (with some but not many limitations in the tertiary area) but salaries are comparatively low in areas like IT. Consequently many of our brightest leave for the big island.

Incat in Hobart and Austal at Margate (close to Hobart) are both recruiting at present.

Tas

 

[Systems Adict]

...Well, that's my application form submitted this week!
Just waiting on some form of feedback now....

In the meantime, does anyone know if they've started the "mass" hiring for the Australian AWD programme yet ??

Systems Adict :frown

 

[OPSSG]

Good Luck

As a Singaporean who lived for 2 years in the UK (Southampton) and loves going to Australia for holidays, I think you will like the weather there!

Kind regards
OPSSG

 

[weasel1962]

Re:

Deleted

 

[t68]

I hope you like your beer coooold.
good luck with hope it works out for you