check with a migration agent 1st b4 u do anything. migration agents in KL provides FREE assessment of your qualification b4 submitting your application.

working on a tourist visa is very risky, even when u r in outskirt doing farming etc. even when u say that it's recommended by so and so, it still sound pretty shady to me. there are ppl who get cheated & left stranded in the middle of nowhere - worst if that "nowhere" is in the outback!

i've been there and back, and RM100k is a lot, much more that what i brought, for 2adults & 1kid. depending on which state u r planning to go, u can still plan to make your money last longer. u may not have a full time job, so casual jobs may be your answer. my family sometimes survived on distributing catalgues and newspapers. it's not as easy as it sounds, and u don't really earn that much. we can barely cover rent. electrical bills & water bills that comes every 3mths will send shock waves into our bank accounts. for the whole 18 mths we were there, all our food money came from our savings we brought from RM. not to mentioned about other things like health insurance, daycare etc

hiring for australians even at fast food joints and supermarkets are still difficult to get in. even when u have a valid visa they'll tell u things like u don't have local experience, or relevant experience, or they'll interview u and simply say u r not suitable. the reason behind those is that they prefer to hire ppl that they know, friend of friends or something like that. it's NOT racist (from where i was, although i understand that certain parts of aust racism is still very much alive). but most australians have rised above that. australians generally are very kind to migrant, especially if they know u r well behaved civilised ppl.

but when come to hiring, it's mostly about who u know rather than what u know. their reason - it's easy to hire but not fire. and problematic staffs are huge problems in aust. one japan car manufactuer ceo once said thier daily absentesim rate is 30%... i.e. everyday, every 10 employees you paid, only 7 turn up for work.. so many car manufacturers had shut their oz factories in recent years due to high cost

haha, my visa group is a pretty "famous" one - 475
not to be confused with 457 which is employer sponsored
475 - is a independent provisional skilled visa
meaning that they give u a visa because u have they skilled required by certain states, which are categorised as "regional". visa lasts for 3 yrs, during which no financial assistance (something like american's social securities, this is known as centrelink), for the whole period.

why i came back? - i simply ran out of money.
but it was a great experience, i really enjoy living there. ppl are very warm, fresh food are great. at least i wasn't eating cheap china carrots and cabbages.

why didn't i fight to stay on? - unlike many who went, getting an australian citizenship was never in my agenda.

why did i went in the first place? - i was a burnt out professional going thru a quarter life crisis. migrating to australia for 18mths was like a gap year i never had. i gave me time to think about what i want in life, instead of going-with-the-flow like everyone else i.e. graduate, get a job, get a car, get a house, get married, have kids, have more kids, retire, look after grand kids and then wait for God to come collect me hahaha

but now i'm back i realised what passion i have in life and i may soon embark on a new and different career path.

being among the australians had also taught me that age is no barrier many things, like starting a new career or dating at 60yo! my neighbour was a 70yo-ish widow with a 70 bf who visits her everyday, and they look soooooo cute! once i even saw an old man with a tongkat, holding a small bunch of flower and a bag (literally d classic brown bag) of chocolates, and was walking towards the beach it was just sweet. i'm going to live life the best i can and never wait around, wasting my life away....

how about u?

hey girl (sorry i don't quite know how to tag your post),

much of what u said is very true
we need to unlearn and relearn and yes, it's easier, much more flexible if you are single or no kids.
the thing about d visa application was i started in early 2007 and didn't get till 2010. i went from being single to being a mum. in fact when i 1st got my visa, we were mulling over whether or not we still want to give it a shot. we did because we realised that we may not have the chance to try again in 10 yrs time.

the learning process is not an issue to most of us. i'm not sure how much u r aware about the hiring scene in melbourne and adelaide. adelaide is a very "closed door" market. we've been thru all sorts of stories from ads being place merely to make employer look like they are an "equal opportunity" employer, when in fact, another family member is about to go on board. there's also a friend whose sister had been helping out in her husband's business now looking for a job, most employer turn her down citing that she doesn't have "any work experience" or that she "don't have skills that are transferable". on the other hand, my husband met an melbournian who migrated to adelaide, she had to lie saying that she was in fact an adelaidean, migrated to melbourne and now back in adelaide, just to get a job. now, these are not ASIANS, all these scenarios happened to australians themselves, as in "white" (not racist, just a description). in many cases, potential employees are willing to learn, reskill, take courses etc. but at the end of the day, what are the chances?

another thing about putting our bios on resume, i'm thinking that it actually helps rather than otherwise. there had been some talk going on that our resumes are weed out because of how "chinese" our name sounds. apparently the general impression is chinese (as in nationality, not decendant), hardly speaks any english, buys their way into a uni degree, and hire professional to do their resumes. when employers finally calls them up for an interview, they were appauled to find that these ppl can't even communicate. as a result, they would set aside any chinese sounding name candidate, regardless of nationality (since it's not obvious). some m'sians who had been in aust for many years said that employers had just warm up to hiring m'sia because of the good reputation m'sians had had in aust over the years.

oh, btw, i found a book in the library that is really helpful, called australian resumes for dummies. dymocks sells it for about $30ish.

yes, i used to live in glenelg, and yes, i missed that place.
but then again, i only live once, and there's such a big world out there... maybe next time it'll be Prince Edward's Island?

well, mercury, what can i say? there's bound to be a bad apple or 2

anyway, most of my experiences are "localised" to adelaide. i get the impression that the "world" in melbourne, sydney, brisbane or even perth is very different.

i stand corrected.

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Added on November 7, 2012, 12:19 ami just thought of something else that might be useful.
many adelaideans are businessmen, either own set up or buying into a franchise. while most franchise are expensive i've seen coffee van / mobile cafe, going for about $25k including van and equipment. but a friend was saying that angmoh won't buy angmoh's style coffee from an ah pek hahaha
cleaning services could also be about that price, but with a much much smaller clientele

This post has been edited by glenelg: Nov 7 2012, 12:19 AM

Shortage of Co Secs? Kidding right? For over 2 Yrs, iz can harly find a single job ad in adelaide for CoSec...
Anyway, if i have a 2nd chance, i would prefer to get a job, get sponsored and then move over... Reason being, the entire recruitment orocess can take as fast as 2 mths and up till 10mths or even a year.... No fun... Seriously... No fun
But the arguement is this, what skill do u posses that is so unique and niche the compan would want to sponsor u? Hence, chances are slim.... But then again, if u don't try, would u ever know? ... think again...