# From Sydney to London



## AuExpatInLndn (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi all, 

First post on this fantastic website. I'm an Australian citizen living in Sydney for the last 8 years. Loving life in OZ. 
Now considering moving to the UK with the YMS as I'm 29 and think its a good time to go and explore life in Europe. The YMS will let me in til I'm 31 so seems to be a good time now. 
Plan to get a YMS visa and then head over looking for jobs. I am thinking of getting in touch with some jobs/agencies searching through Reed. 
Does anyone have similar experience job hunting? Any luck? Keen to hear some thoughts on successful strategies?

I work in Marketing and am earning $92K AUD here. When I looked for jobs over in London I struggled to find many of equivalent money. The ones paying 50k+ GBP were few and far in between. There are quite a lot of jobs offering 25-35k GBP which seems REALLY low compared to what I am on right now. Although Im happy to adjust to a lower rem I dont want to be living a poor lifestyle. 
Hence the question:
1. What is the equivalent to earning $92K AUD in London money? 
2. Whats 30-35K GBP equivalent to in Sydney money (not a straight exchange rate, I can use XE for that )? So I know what financial impact this will have.
3. considering i'd like to travel around say one every 2 months (3 star) to neighbouring countries, how much money you think I will need to be earning?
4. Any other tips on my planned move, please? 
5. How easy is it to get employee sponsorship?

The reason to move to London is to get some more experience and travel Europe while I am there. I intend to stay for 3-5 years.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

If you are earning 92k AUD £61,500 then stay put where you are.

Things are not good in Europe at the moment unemployment is rife, you are at present earning a fortune and I doubt that the same would be available in England.

Save your money and come here for a holiday, enjoy Europe without burning your bridges in Sydney


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## AuExpatInLndn (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks. Its hard to give up on this dream. Might just wait another 8-10 months to see how things go then. Of course if working and living in the UK is still something I'm very keen to do then will just take a punt. 
The lure is just too hard to ignore


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

qartik said:


> The reason to move to London is to get some more experience and travel Europe while I am there. I intend to stay for 3-5 years.


YMS visa only allows you to live and work in UK (only) for 2 years, and you cannot switch to any other visa category, other than, say, marriage or unmarried partnership. Also even with YMS visa, you are treated as just like other Australians in much of continental Europe, with your stay restricted to 90-in-180 days and no work allowed. 
While you can be sponsored for a Tier 2 skilled worker visa, you have to return to Australia first and apply from there. 
Presumably, with your Indian origin, you don't have a UK-born grandparent which gets you an ancestry visa valid 5 years, and leads to settlement and possible naturalisation.
So you don't have many options for living in UK long-term, and I agree with Hepa that job situation in UK is really bad compared to Australia and seems to be getting worse. For a highly-paid executive position, many firms hire a headhunter to recruit the best available talent.


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## AuExpatInLndn (Jul 4, 2011)

*Thanks..*



Joppa said:


> you are treated as just like other Australians in much of continental Europe, with your stay restricted to 90-in-180 days and no work allowed.
> While you can be sponsored for a Tier 2 skilled worker visa, you have to return to Australia first and apply from there.


Thats fine with me I just want to travel once every 2 months or so. Not keen on working anywhere else but London. 

Thanks all for your replies, I gather its not easy to get the same amount of money over in big ol' London town. But, I'm a bit of a gambler  will do some number crunching and then head out to take a chance.
At the most I'd not find a decent job and just return after travelling for a month or so, and find something here again. Should be a good experience. But, if it works I'd be happy to spend 3-4 years with a sponsored visa and then head back anyway.. Sounds like a plan?


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## ClaytonP (Apr 15, 2011)

I'd stick with the YMS plan, give it a shot for a while and then if a sponsorship comes up, head back to Australia and apply from there. That way you can test out if you like living in the UK before you commit fully.

Here's a good page for immigration/employment info for the UK: WORKgateways


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## All good (Feb 27, 2010)

*...*

Hey there.

I lived in Britain 5 years ago with my wife and my wife was on a YMS (it was just called a working Visa back then). I have dual British/Aus citizenship so I was fine.

YMS will unfortunately most likely hinder your chances of finding a well paid job. 

I am in the exact same boat as you, I am making about 90K/yr in Aus and the equivalent jobs in the UK are paying 23-25KGBP! It's a joke, but it's not stopping me from going over because it's worth the experience.

I plan to live in the outer suburbs where it's cheaper, and I am currently saving every cent so I can bring over enough cash to bail me out if needed. 

I don't actually like London all that much, but the flights to Europe are so cheap from the 4 airports there it's best to stay in or close to a major city. When I lived there last time I was isolated and struggled to travel frequently. Travel is bloody cheap in Europe, and cost of living seems cheaper, especially seeing how you live in Sydney, you'll probably find it very cheap.

If you are single, just find a flat share apartment with another expat and you'll be able to stay closer to the city. You'll also have to change your diet, Lamb and Beef are really expensive, but Pork and fish is very very cheap compared to Aus. In general groceries are cheaper in the U.K.

You'll be fine on the lower wages, just save a nice amount of "rescue" money. I'm bringing over 60KAUD and it's never been better to convert over the GBP, I am actually considering it an investment, because I predict the GBP to get a little stronger over the next few years.

The experience of living in Europe will far out weigh the loss of income, you can always go back to Aus and the comfortable living later. I promise you now, you'll regret not going over if you don't take the YMS before you hit 31.

Good luck.


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## kingrulzuk (Jan 19, 2010)

qartik said:


> thanks. Its hard to give up on this dream. Might just wait another 8-10 months to see how things go then. Of course if working and living in the uk is still something i'm very keen to do then will just take a punt.
> The lure is just too hard to ignore




i will just say good luck mate............. Coz you will need it ...


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## leapfrog (Jun 28, 2011)

You'll love west end theatre shows! I know australians love theatre!


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## JuliaInLondon (Jul 27, 2011)

Definitely make the move to London!! Don't let the economy or the job situation stop you. I've recently moved here and am living on a very small amount of money, but you can get by.

I recommend living somewhere in zone 2. The rent is much cheaper than central London, but the commute is quick if you're working there. Sharing a house is is also heaps cheaper than getting your own place, and a great way to make friends too.

Another thing you should consider is whether you need a car in London or not. Unless you really need it for work, I wouldn't bother getting one because it's so easy to get around on public transport here. Not having to pay for fuel will make living much cheaper!

Good luck with the move


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## leapfrog (Jun 28, 2011)

Completely Right Julia! I live in stratford with a friend of mine we share a flat and work just 30 mins from home by train Once you come to london you won't leave nightlife is amazing


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## AuExpatInLndn (Jul 4, 2011)

OK people so here is the story so far.. started thinking about moving to the UK at the time of the original post.. then got an even better job here.. and heading a team over the last few months. 
But, and its a big BUT.. got made redundant last week and have 3 months worth of transition up my sleeve. Unfortunately due to being employed in this role for less than a year no kick ass redundancy payments.. So well.. anyway.. I have decided to rekindle my UK dream and going to be heading over in January. Not looking for advice about current economic situation yes yes its doom and gloom and monsters on the streets everywhere.. whatever! 

Plan is - will go on the YMS find a job within 1-2 months, take your advice above and stay in Zone 2. Will be flying with my wife (not on YMS as she is slightly older.. sucks!) She will accompany me on a tourist visa. If can find sponsorship then well and good else she returns and I try and get sponsored in the next 6 months or so. Hopefully will be successful - *need input here from you guys about how likely/unlikely it is.. just a matter of luck? Anything I can do to negotiate a sponsorship with a company? Any tips? *

We are planning to sell our house here in The Hills. Sell our car. Our belongings either give away or sell.. in the next 3 months. Slightly BOLD move but have to do it, cant be bothered living in the hills anyway even if I return unsuccessfully, which I am giving myself 3 months for.


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## AuExpatInLndn (Jul 4, 2011)

No replies. Keen to hear from anyone about their experience in the current market re sponsorship by employers.


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## AuExpatInLndn (Jul 4, 2011)

Guys, glad to report that I found a job here which pays me real good money equivalent to AU$ if not higher. Stoked! 

It did take me about 6 weeks of rigorous interviewing and I was very choosy too. My take is that if you're serious and have good skills employers will need you. I was offered way too many dead-end typical YMS type contract roles which I refused. In fact I think I might have even pissed off a few recruiters because I was so choosy. I guess its their job to place people as soon as possible which can be counter productive to your aim of finding a good role. 

Cheers.


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