Thinking of taking an OE in 2019?  

For many Australian and New Zealand professionals, the idea of taking an overseas experience has always been an exciting prospect, but all too often the busyness and commitments of day to day life takes over, and so the concept never really gets thought through properly.  The New Year can bring renewed energy to the task, but if you’ve found yourself asking ‘where to start?’ then this blog is for you. Carve out one evening this week, grab a coffee or a glass of wine, follow these simple steps and you’ll be on the brink of a life changing decision.  Sound good? Let’s crack on.

1. If you were to do an OE, when would you like to go?

The first task is to get a firmer idea in your head of when all this could happen.  Factors that influence this include any existing commitments, how much of a rush you’re in, any friends you’re hoping to go or meet up with, as well as the best time to hit Europe.  Do you want to start your OE by landing in Europe during the spring (March onwards) and enjoy a full summer of warmer activities, or land later in the year and take in the delights of Christmas, new year and warm cosy pubs and snowy walks?  There really is no right answer as most people stay a minimum of 12 months and so get to enjoy everything each season a year can bring – the task at this stage is to find an approximate time that works best for you.

2.   What do you want to get out of your OE?

Once you’ve got your rough time in mind, the task now is to draw up a very draft plan for your OE so you can a) ensure it ticks all your bucket list boxes, and b) get a better grip on what your standard of living and job life will look like.

Most Australian and New Zealand professionals find themselves following a similar pattern for their OE.  They start by doing a few weeks (anywhere from 2-8) travelling prior to landing in London, where they find some temporary accommodation with friends, relatives or MyOErs as they establish themselves in the capital.  From there it’s about finding the right job and getting settled in a more permanent home, before spending many months taking long weekends or week long breaks to travel throughout Europe.

So, now armed with your land date, you can plan out the first few months of your trip – don’t worry about the detail at this stage, it can simply be ‘week 1-3 travel, week 4-8 land in London and find a job, weeks 8-30 living, working and travelling in London.’

Once that’s done, it’s time to do a little more research into what life will look like living in the UK, so you can become comfortable with salary expectation and cost of living.  For a more detailed perspective check out this blog on the comparison between UK life and Australian/New Zealander life – but in a nutshell, if you’re in a good profession and have a good job at home, and you’re leading a comfortable lifestyle, then it’s likely you’ll find the same experience over in the UK.  Quick tip – here at MyOE we’ve developed a ‘lifestyle calculator’ that enables you to quickly and easily see how much you’re likely to be earning and what disposable income you would have – simply get in touch with either our Australian team or our UK team to go through this free of charge with one of our MyOE experts.

3.  How much to save?

Ok so now you’ve got your land date, you’ve built a rough plan of your OE and you’ve got a good feel for what you’re lifestyle will look like and how much money you could be earning.  Now is the time to identify how much you’ll need to save before you leave, to pay for the cost of getting there and those first few exciting weeks or months.

Check out this blog on How much money do I need for an overseas experience to the UK? for more detailed information – the main costs are your visa, your flights and probably most importantly the savings you’ll need for the first two months or so.  As the blog says, we can’t overemphasis having enough money to ensure you’re not rushing into the first job you get offered because you’re skint.  It’s well worth reconsidering your travel date if it means you’re able to save a bit extra to ensure you get your OE off the best possible start.  

4.  Make a plan.

Land date?  Tick.  Rough OE plan?  Tick.  The money you need to save?  Tick.  By now you should be feeling a lot more comfortable with whether an OE is for you, and if it is what it might look like……exciting stuff!!!!

If you’re beginning to think it could be a real goer, now’s the time to make a plan.  Here you need to think about:

• When you would need to apply for your visa
• What type of visa you’ll need
• How specifically you’re going to save every month so you get the savings you need?
• When the best time is to book your flights?
• Who you need to connect to bring this professional OE to life?  

If all that feels very daunting don’t worry.  We’ve been there, we’ve done it and we’ve got the all the t-shirts (well…..we’ve most certainly got insider knowledge of all you need to know, have and do for success!).  Simply download this checklist and start ticking those boxes.

5.  Let’s do it.

If you’ve followed steps 1-4 then what felt like a really daunting and big decision should now feel very easy.  If you’ve always wanted to do it and you can now see how it could happen through your plan, then the question is really what’s stopping you?  Leaving friends and family and worrying about what will happen after are often the biggest issues, but as thousands of MyOErs have experienced, these concerns are never anywhere near as big an issue as you think they might be and the experience you get on your OE far outweighs everything else.  So talk to those you hold dear, and then commit – and don’t forget, we’re here at MyOE to help along every single step of the way.

Feel free to contact us if you want to talk your thinking through, and download our handbook if you want more insights into what a professional OE is like.  We have also organised some free Webinars coming up over the next couple of months, live from our experts in London who can share with you first hand their experience of taking an OE and answer any questions you might have.  Book onto  a session at this link: Free Webinar

We really look forward to meeting you soon!!  Maybe at our next big party night in London – it’s already booked and it looks like a cracker!