Readify constantly search the globe for developers who personify "Readifarian" qualities. This has led to our workforce being diverse and joining from all corners of the world.

This incomplete list was put together by some of the guys who have found these sites valuable in making the transition. I will keep adding to it and it will probably never be really complete. There are more Helpful sites for shopping, cars and tourism in the With Readify you can see more of Australia post

Government & stuff:

Melbourne

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home - road rules, driving licences other road related stuff

o www.ato.gov.au – Taxation, laws

Sydney

o www.rta.nsw.gov.au – road rules, driving licences other road related stuff

Sydney Entertainment:

o www.cityofsydney.com.au – general details about Sydney, news, events

o www.darlingharbour.com.au

o http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/

o www.ticketek.com.au – buy tickets to almost anything

o www.ticketmaster.com.au – same

o http://www.eatability.com.au/ - restaurants guide. Good stuff :-)

Melbourne Entertainment:

o  http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/

Sydney transport

o www.cityrail.info – trains

o www.131500.info – busses & ferries

o www.whereis.com.au – local maps

Melbourne Transport:

o http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/

Sydney newspapers:

o www.smh.com.au

o www.dailytelegraph.com.au

Melbourne newspaper

o http://www.theage.com.au/

Sydney other:

o www.truelocal.com.au – your local newspaper ads (from plumbing to electricians and more)

o www.tradingpost.com.au – local private ads (buy/sell)

Online shops:

o www.zazz.com.au – one day bargains (interesting and popular)

o www.catchoftheday.com.au – same

o www.msy.com.au – computers  & stuff

o www.cpl.net.au – same

Lots more

o www.graysonline.com.au – large auction site with lots of stuff

o www.bestchess.com.au – chess, backgammon and mahjong

Communication & IT:

o http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ - details about all the ISP providers in Australia, prices, comparisons and more

o http://www.worlddialpoint.net.au/ - SIP phone provider with good prices and good quality

o www.engin.com.au – same

o www.telstra.com.au, www.optus.com.au the largest landline phone companies

o www.foxtel.com.au – cable tv

On a Friday afternoon it has  become a ritual to share your week with your peers. This was started to increase the overall transparency of the company.

This tradition gives a huge insight into how everyone is  travelling, from a work and personal perspective. As a virtual workforce this run down of everyone's week allows us to keep in touch and understand the highlights and perhaps low lights of the working week. This process also contributes to our constantly growing knowledge network.

The honesty of everyone who responds has shown me that even as part of a  virtual workforce you can get to know your colleagues better than you ever could "standing around the coffee machine" by just asking people how they are feeling.

Here are the 3 questions that are answered every Friday.

1. What were your goals this week, and how did you track against them?

2. What was a non- work related highlight (or low light) of your week?

3. What's the best thing you learnt about software development this week?

The Friday before Xmas was a good time to reflect on the year as a whole so Beer O'Clock transitioned into Year O'clock and some of the responses showed just how much people appreciate working for Readify.

I thought I would share a sample of responses to the question "What was a work-related highlight during the year"

"I’ll take this opportunity to thank everyone at Readify for supporting me this year. Readify is certainly the best employer in Australia in my opinion. I have never worked for any group of people that are focused on lifting up their staff so much. I have finally found a place that makes me feel like a team member more than an employee."

"Making the Summit Club would have to be the work related highlight. To have gained the respect of so many people I consider soooo much smarter than me, is going beyond where I ever thought I would get in my career".

"Five years with Readify... and they still pay me.I know it sounds like a soppy cheerleader rah-rah effort but I figure it's worth donning the skirt and pom-poms every once in a while. There are a lot of people in the world who work in a job that has a bureaucracy bordering on the childish, a pay level that seems to be just shy of slavery, an environment that views humour as the eighth deadly sin and the certain knowledge of the mind numbing drudgery that awaits them today, tomorrow and every other day of their lives until they reach retirement, retrenchment or access to a firearm.
I am so very very thankful that I am not one of those people.
Give me an “R”, give me an “e”....

"The highlight for me this year has been working and talking with people of such a high calibre in the IT space. I’m looking forward to working with many more in the near future "

"working with the Readify management team is as good an experience as working with my fellow consultants/developers – both groups of people have the same drive and passion to be a complete team that punches way above its own weight."

"This has to be working with Readify. I have had an absolute ball and in fact am quite annoyed that everything has to shut down for Xmas - bah humbug."

"Had to be joining Readify in June – a surprise out of the blue – and then to meet the fantastic team of people that makes up Readify!!!  Tech*Ed/Company Kick-off was a highlight – I still shake my head in awe of the magnificent quality of person that is here at Readify and like many others have expressed it continues to be a pleasure to be associated with such great people!"

I have said before in this  blog that working with Readify is amazing, I love it and as you can see so do lots of others.

Readify run Staff Information nights quarterly.

This quarters Information night had a Christmas theme, all presentation slides had a little Santa hat in the corner. It was just a very small acknowledgement of the up coming festive season. The festivity though was not based on the season. It was based on a virtual work force all getting together to celebrate the quarter that has  just passed.

As more of an observer than a participant I watched the young and the not so young eagerly engage in passionate conversation about technology; what has been, what is and what will be.

Being a virtual workforce has amazing benefits as Mitch Denny cites in one of his recent blogs (see below), but watching the interaction of peers with like enthusiasm for what they do on a daily basis demonstrated how important our quarterly face to face interaction with  all staff really are.

Things I never want to give up.

As we get towards the end of the year people are starting to evaluate the personal and professional lives and pull together action plans for the future. Part of this process is understanding what is good and worth keeping (its kind of depressing if you just focus on the negatives all the time).

Andrew Parsons has posted up some of his observations about a recent experience at work where a team of our guys were deploying the new version of the Readify web-site and how the tools of a virtual organisation were really exploited...........

Read the whole post here.

www.readify.net

Discover, Master, Influence - This is our ethos; is it yours?

Take this rare opportunity to become one of those people who do something exciting with their life and get paid for it in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

• Work in Australia
• Work with world experts at the absolute leading edge of discovery
• Work on the most challenging Microsoft platform projects in Australia
• Work from home!
• Interact with Australia's leading consultants
• Gain access to Readify's extensive knowledge base
• Participate in Readify, Microsoft, and third party training
• Work on diverse assignments and customers
• Be rewarded with flexible remuneration solutions

Our culture will allow you to flourish and thrive by developing your skills and knowledge. You will even be able to work from home when you are not at a client site or teaching. We are a young, rapidly growing company specialising in Technical Readiness. We help organisations evolve with emerging Microsoft technologies by providing training and technical consulting around the .NET Framework development platform and associated Microsoft enterprise technologies.

For more information and to apply contact Toni-anne Toni-anne@readify.net

Readify is an Australian technical readiness professional services firm offering technical development consulting (including assessment, planning, mentoring) and training exclusively around Microsoft enterprise and developer technologies. Readiness is the space between early awareness of new technologies, and broad adoption and implementation. Readify bridges this gap for customers who are early and first time adopters of technology.

Readify is one of Australia's young and savvy IT business success stories and was included in the 2006 and 2007 Business Review Weekly Fast 100 list. We are known for our exemplary record of dedication and performance in assisting our customers to achieve maximum results from their technology. We are also known for our ability to recruit some of Australia's leading technology experts and MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) through our commitment to ensuring an ideal work / life balance for our consultants. We maintain a strong focus on professional development and continual learning to ensure that our consultants remain leaders in their field, and we encourage working from home.

Readify has won many accolades for its consulting and training successes and commitment to early adoption programs. This recognition has led to strong support from Microsoft, both locally and internationally. In 2005 Readify became a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and currently hold Microsoft competencies in Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Business Process and Integration, Custom Development Solutions, Data Management Solutions, and Information Worker Solutions.

For more information and to apply contact Toni-anne Toni-anne@readify.net

Readify currently operate from one end of the east coast to the other,

Choosing where to live can be a confusing task. I have outlined each of the major Eastern states with links to State based web sites.

Of course working with Readify can give the opportunity to see and live in a range of Australian cities, with client engagements in the major cities of Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.  If you are looking for a long working holiday, this could the way to do it.

Where should you live and work within Australia?
A fantastic place to live and work, Australia has a high standard of living, terrific education and health services and world class entertainment and leisure activities.. Each state is unique and offers a different tempo and lifestyle. Check the links below to determine which state suits your needs the best.
HELPFUL SITES

Living in Victoria
Join the thousands of people who have immigrated to Victoria. With a safe community, world-class education system, seasonal climate and strong economy, Melbourne is one of 'the world's most livable cities'. This web site offers everything you need to know about living and working in Victoria. From where to live, where to work, and how to get around, to cost of living.
http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/

Living in Queensland
Queensland welcomes people from interstate and overseas with ideas, skills and initiative to share a quality of life that ranks with the best in the world. A relaxed lifestyle, affordable homes and easy commuting make Queensland one of Australia's most attractive places to live and work. Queensland?s capital, Brisbane, is bustling with employment opportunities.
http://www.sdi.qld.gov.au

Living in New South Wales
Bursting with character, Sydney is a vibrant city catering to all your desires whether you seek exhilaration and exploration or 100% relaxation. Discover Sydney's unique blend of dining, shopping and recreation options in one of the world's most attractive city environments. Working in Sydney is fast paced and exciting. Use this site to find out all you need to know on working in New South Wales.
http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/living.asp

Readify is a unique organisation to work with. Some of the greatest minds, all focused on Microsoft development, all in the one place.

That place though is hard to define. They work from client's offices, home offices, ambient places both man made and natural. They work hard because they love it and would probably be investigating the latest technologies even if they were not being paid.

Discover, Master and Share is the company ethos, and everyone who works at Readify is an embodiment of this spirit.

Communication is not hampered by the disparate working locations or lack of formal offices. With email, IM and mobile phones there is only about 3 hours every  day when it is "all quiet" (from about 2:30am to 5:30am). The sharing with colleagues and the community is unrivalled.

There is a passion that permeates the organisation that is difficult to define but ever present. It extends further than the passion for technology or for Microsoft; it is a true passion for life.

My charter is to find like minds to join the Readify team from anywhere and everywhere.

From this space I will bring you insights into working with Readify, insights into our selection process and if you are not from Australia, insights into working in Australia.