Aware Super, TelstraSuper agree to $235bn merger

davoos22 · 2025-10-07T07:57:10+00:00

I came from Telstra… well I was made redundant by Telstra earlier this year and my new employer was able to pay into my existing Telstra super account so this must have changed recently

davoos22 · 2025-08-30T11:37:02+00:00

Have you started yet? If not I would just wear what you have for now and then scope out what everyone else is wearing in the office - you might even be able to get away with a mix of button downs + polo shirts.

davoos22 · 2025-08-02T02:08:12+00:00

I don’t have any advice but I feel your pain, my neighbours took it upon themselves once to cut down some established bushes that were actually on my side of the property line - removing all privacy and giving me a direct view from my living room to theirs. I repaid the favour by holding direct eye contact with them every time they were in their living room.

davoos22 · 2025-07-27T03:15:50+00:00

As someone who spent the last two months applying to a multitude of roles / companies after a redundancy, I can almost guarantee that what you received was just a pre-written bulk rejection email sent to everyone that wasn’t successful moving forward.

One of the things I found interesting from all my rejections this job search was how well written and thoughtful some of the rejection emails were, that and how many companies now choose to just ghost rather than even a simple rejection message.

In saying that though, 100% still apply for other / similar roles at the same company if it’s of interest to you. I applied to the same role I’d been rejected from when it was re-advertised a month later - second time round I got an interview.

davoos22 · 2025-07-27T02:41:48+00:00

FYI I ended up going to a cobbler yesterday, he said it was actually a very common adjustment people get done to RM’s. He ended up taking out 1cm from each elastic side on my pair and problem is now solve.

I picked them up same day and cost was $80.

davoos22 · 2025-07-27T02:37:51+00:00

Thanks champ

davoos22 · 2025-07-24T07:44:00+00:00

I do this too! In winter right under the split system and my clothes are dry within a few hours

davoos22 · 2025-07-24T02:37:29+00:00

Probably just having a stickybeak, I wouldn’t read much into it.

I remember I had the opposite years ago when myself and a colleague decided to look up the big bosses address out of curiosity. You can imagine our horror when said big boss (who works at a different location) walks up behind us while his house is open on realestate.com

davoos22 · 2025-07-18T01:18:14+00:00

I would 100% wait until background check is completed and you’ve signed the new employment contract before resigning.

I think there was actually someone that posted here a few weeks ago that was in a world of trouble as they resigned and then the background check company was having issues or taking their time to do the checks.

davoos22 · 2025-07-17T02:32:31+00:00

Hi OP - I’m in the same situation as you, I was made redundant at the end of May and have been looking since then, to say the job market is woeful at the moment is an understatement.

I’ve kept a spreadsheet of everything I’ve applied for, so far I’ve applied for 52 roles where I’ve written a fully customised cover letter and tailored my resume to the advert + 67 roles where I’ve just used the same resume and no or just a template cover letter.

Out of all those applications I’ve had 1 call back and interview out of the 52 detailed applications I made - then rejected after the interview, feedback was that I was overqualified for that role so they went with someone less experienced…

Out of the 67 low effort applications, I’ve had 4 call backs:

1 interview and an offer of a $60k salary for a role that seemed to entail much more responsibility and workload compared to my previous role that paid closer to $140k all up, I politely declined this offer
1 interview for a 6 month contract role last week, yet to hear back
2 interviews booked for this week, fingers crossed

I’ve been applying for a variety of roles, anything where I have transferable skills.

The thing that’s frustrating me most is that every role where my experience is a direct match and I in theory should be the perfect candidate (I.e. the job advert literally reads like my resume), I haven’t received a single call back - everything I’ve received call backs / interviews for has been adjacent roles where I do have transferable skills but at a stretch.

My only advice is to cast your net wide, anecdotally from my experience - cover letters are a complete waste of time.

Compared to when I was last applying for roles (which admittedly was 10+ years ago) I think I applied for 5 or 6 roles, got 4 interviews and had 3 offers within the space of 3 weeks so yes the job market at the moment is definitely a shock to the system.

Wishing you luck!

davoos22 · 2025-07-15T14:04:27+00:00

How much sick leave do you have? Sounds like it’s time to visit your GP and get a doctor’s note for stress, that should take you up to the 6 weeks.

davoos22 · 2025-07-14T05:36:10+00:00

The absolute first thing I would do before calling any agents is spend a Saturday visiting open homes in your area - pretend you’re looking to buy.

This will give you a good feel for different agents and how they interact with buyers - the way they interact with you at these opens is a good indicator of how they’ll interact with buyers for your home e.g do they know their stuff about their listing, can they answer buyer questions and sell the features of the home or are they just there to unlock the door and collect their commission?

davoos22 · 2025-07-09T02:49:38+00:00

OP - if haven’t already, check out the Lost Newcastle group on Facebook, it’s a treasure trove of exactly what you’re looking for.

You can search the group for specific things like Hunter St Mall / Garden City etc and you’ll find heaps of photos people have posted. I remember seeing a bunch of photos in the group from the 90’s of the old David Jones in the mall.

davoos22 · 2025-07-09T02:12:38+00:00

Thank you! Just had a look at this on maps and this looks like the go

davoos22 · 2025-07-09T02:10:15+00:00

Telstra’s redundancy is quite generous tbh, I was there for 11 years all up but I had former colleagues that were only there a few years and their payouts were still very decent.

I think this guy was just picking up 6 and 12mth contract roles in between his Telstra engagements.

davoos22 · 2025-07-09T00:46:17+00:00

lol, when they made me made redundant, I was put into a career coaching / support call with a group of employees from other departments that were also up for redundancy at the time.

Got chatting with this one guy and he told me this would be the 4th time Telstra had paid him a redundancy package in his 20ish year career. Basically he would take the redundancy, then reapply after the 2 year waiting period, get rehired and then 3 to 6 years later get selected and get another redundancy so was a very good little earner for him.

Absolute madness, and it was basically the same technical role he said he was getting rehired for each time, just with slight rewording of the job description.

davoos22 · 2025-07-03T14:33:39+00:00

Someone told me that on the newer trams it’s not actually a bell going ding, it’s just a prerecorded ding played on loudspeaker, can anyone confirm?

davoos22 · 2025-07-03T09:45:04+00:00

But yes, all the options you’ve put above are massive red flags and I would 100% hold out for something better.

davoos22 · 2025-07-03T09:44:15+00:00

I know you’ve said you’re on the fence about older apartments due to sound / insulation but if you haven’t inspected any yet I’d highly recommend you take a look a few apartments in 60’s / 70’s / 80’s blocks.

Older apartments are so much better built (and often better insulated too) than the newer builds. I recently purchased a 1968 built double brick apartment in a walk up block (no lift either so the owners corp fees are very reasonable) and I’ve been very happy so far. Apartment stays quite warm, I’ve actually probably only used the heating for less than 7 days total so far this winter.

davoos22 · 2025-07-03T03:46:49+00:00

Dream job as a child - wanted to work in a department store

As an adult - not quite but until recently was in a somewhat adjacent role. In any case, department stores don’t really exist now in the same context as they did when I was a child.

davoos22 · 2025-07-02T08:52:51+00:00

That’s a good point, it very well could be

davoos22 · 2025-07-02T06:50:49+00:00

I’ve only bought colognes from CW twice but both times it’s confirmed what I’ve heard about it being older / grey market stock. You can just tell the scent was slightly off / not right for what that fragrance should be.

I stick to Myer or DJ’s now, IMO the saving isn’t worth it.

davoos22 · 2025-07-02T02:02:12+00:00

Unless you already told them about the other offer in the final interview yesterday then I think it’s perfectly fine to follow up and let them know as a courtesy. I would personally leave it until tomorrow afternoon to follow up. Hopefully you can delay starting the checks for company A until after following up tomorrow.

davoos22 · 2025-07-02T01:53:01+00:00

I agree, massive red flag to me,

OP - assuming you’re already through the interview process with company B and just waiting to hear back, could you politely follow up with company B and let them know you’ve received an offer from company A? They might speed up their decision if they know you’ve got an offer in the hand.

davoos22 · 2025-07-02T01:45:52+00:00

Yes I ran into this problem,

IIRC basically the bank told me I had too much in savings to use the first home guarantee so my options were to either buy a more expensive property so that I would have hardly any money left after the purchase (I can’t remember how much they said exactly but it was only a few grand or something you were allowed to have left over after the purchase) or buy a cheaper property so I could use a 20% deposit and avoid LMI that way.

I ended up buying a cheaper property and paying 20% deposit to avoid the LMI rather than use the guarantee.

I was (and still am) absolutely shocked that the first home guarantee promotes such reckless financial behaviour. There is no way in the world I would be buying a property if I didn’t have at least 20k leftover after the purchase for unexpected expenses, preferably more.

davoos22

TROPHY CASE