WORK AND LIVE IN PERTH
Not long ago we told you, that we decided to stay in Perth or better Fremantle for a little longer. There are 3 reasons for this.
First we have to be in Darwin in August and if we would continue our travels with the current speed we would be there way too early. Second is that we really like Freo and Perth. And the third and most important reason is that I have found a job around here. But how is it to live and work at the other end of the world? This is what this article is all about.
FIND WORK
As we arrived in Freo Carina and I had long discussions if I should even try to find work around here and we decided to give it a shot. Way before we started our travels I wished to work in an agency in Australia for a few weeks to gain some experience and see some other ways of working.
This does not only look good in the CV but helps to rethink the way you are working in general. Sounds like a good experience worth making.
We knew from the beginning that it would be hard to find a job. This has several reasons as well. An unemployment rate of more than 6% in Western Australia wasn’t very promising. If somebody searches for qualified workers they would give Australians the chance first. Additionally it is winter around here. Less tourists travel this part of the country in the winter months and this is recognizable for companies and therefor for their need of workforce. A working holiday visa isn’t the best to have if it comes to better qualified jobs. So if we look at it with a realistic view: Who really thinks he can come to Australia without qualification and get a really well paid, qualified job is rather terribly wrong or more lucky than one can be. At the east coast you can work in gastronomy or as fruit picker but Western Australia is very different. So to get a job here I needed luck of course.
But if you don’t try you’ll get nothing in the end. So I started to send out applications to almost every agency in Perth. In general I did not get any response in the first place. But I kept going and rang them to ask if they got my application and if they think I can work for them. Most of them did not need anybody at the moment. One answer did sound very promising, though.
An employee leaves the company and this company needs a temporary replacement filling the gap until a permanent replacement is found. This is my chance to sell myself in a jobinterview. At first this meant to get some business clothing and a haircut I needed desperately anyway. So I could get into the interview knowing of what I’m capable and looking reasonably good. I had nothing to loose and if I did not mess up completely this could work out. That it was clear after about 30 minutes that I could start the next day came as a surprise. As I said, sometimes you need to have a bit of luck. Until the end of June I could work for PerthWeb in East Perth.
LIVING IN PERTH
After I started working we really did not want to live on the campground any longer. Slowly the nights got really cold and to have some walls you could move in sounded like a reasonable alternative. While I was at work Carina browsed flatmates.com.au and registered a profile to find some place to move to. Hardly finished the registration we got mail from more than one person asking us if we are still searching and if we want to have a look at their flat. Besides others we had a look at a flat in East Fremantle which had an awesome view over the Swan River. Natasha offered us to share the place and get our own room. Since the costs were only slightly higher than the campground we could not say anything but yes!
And so we do feel a little bit settled. I earn money, we have a flat with an awesome roommate and on top a view which is hard to find anywhere else. We also made some new friends in this town as we stayed at the campground. Jodie and Shaun moved from the campground to a house at the same day and on coincidence they literally moved in just down the road. Since only Shaun and me are working the ladies can enjoy the bright sides of life.
Thanks to school uniforms I felt like sitting in the Hogwarts Express every morning. After a 20 minute train ride in a train full of future Quidditch-Champs and at the smartphone staring zombies in suits I arrived in Claisebrook where the agency is located. Here my task was mainly to make existing websites fit for mobile devices. But as it is after the first joy the best time was the weekends. We had a great time with Jodie and Shaun doing loads of things in and around Perth. Carina will tell you in a separate post about this.
We had a wonderful time in Perth which we will probably remember for the rest of our lifes. Even if we are looking forward to the joys of continuing our travels, we will miss this time a lot. As we made a lot of social contacts around here it feels strange to leave it all behind. In my job I could learn a lot which I will be able to use in my further career.
And even if we don’t know if we ever come back to Perth or if we really meet Jodie and Shaun on their Eurotrip next year we do not say GOOD BYE but SEE YA LATER!
Thanks to all the guys which made this time to one of the best in our lives! Special thanks goes to Jodie and Shaun for this awesome friendship, Tash for the best place to stay with a view to die for, Matt & the PerthWeb Gang for this great working environment and Mick for the awesome job fixing our bloody car!
<3 Simon
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