[kzn2nz]

Hi. I am an environmental consultant in South Africa taking the first steps towards migrating to NZ. My question is fairly general, in what type of work is out there for people in my field? Is it mostly govt. or private?


In this rather specialised field, would it be better to get work on arrival, or prior to entering NZ?

Thanks in advance!

[Carey]

Look at Department of Conservation , they list new jobs every week which are very varied. Also local and district goverment which advertise through Seek. Canterbury and several other councils have a system where you can log your details and they will contact you if a suitable vacancy arises.It seems most jobs are over subscribed and pay is pretty low but you could make enquiries.

Good luck!

[andrewandjane]

hi there, theres quite a bit, im in the environmental but work for a council. ive looked into other options out of curiosity and there is quite a lot once you are here. check out trade me jobs and seek website, type environmental and theres loads come up for people with a few yrs experience...

good luck,

[kzn2nz]

Thanks for those replies. I assume that I will not have a job before I arrive, and will have to complete all documentation and only seek employment when I arrive, because the councils and government jobs require that before one can apply.

It is, nonetheless, good to know that at least there are jobs!

As far as experience, I have 12 years in the environmental field, and own my own business at the moment. What I dread more than anything is having to learn a whole new set of plants!!! Yikes!

[ruthyroo]

Just a bit on consultancy v's govt / council.

As expected the pay is much, much better working for a consultant! A lot of environmental consultancy work is in the resource management line (planning) - check out consultancies like Beca, Opus, Harrison Grierson etc. - you would be expected to learn / know a lot about the Resource Management Act. The other consultancy you might be interested in is Wildlands - they have pretty much cornered the market in ecological assessment / conservation type work - certainly in Dunedin and Central NI (Rotorua).

Govt agencies of interest would include Department of Conservation. DOC staff tend to either be very hands on practical conservation work or office based policy wonk work (sorry Sarah!) - that's my perception anyway. Competitive and not great salaries, but you can land jobs in some beautiful - if remote - parts of the country through DOC.

Local councils, especially smaller ones, are unlikely to employ ecologists or many specialists at all. Bigger ones in Auckland, Wellington probably might. Again a lot of the environmental work is along the resource management line - working in Planning. There is a big lack of planners in NZ, although it's not an official shortage occupation. The day to day work involves a lot of paperwork / policy / council procedures. The other option is Parks and Reserves type departments, where your environmental skills will be used - but they are likely to be only one aspect of a job that might include asset management, contract management, community development etc etc.

Regional councils tend to hire a lot more specialists depending on local needs. So they take on a lot of engineers, geomorphologists, soil scientists etc. I haven't seen many ads for ecologists, environmental education is probably the closest, but you never know.

"As far as experience, I have 12 years in the environmental field, and own my own business at the moment. What I dread more than anything is having to learn a whole new set of plants!!! Yikes!"

Ha! Coming from the UK my approach to this is... if I go on a reserve and can recognise all the plants on it I can safely assume that it has a really, really bad case of exotic pest species infestation!! Kinda reverse assessments...

[kzn2nz]

I like the reverse assessments approach already! It sort of works like that in SA, but we have mostly Australian and S.American problem plants!


I will definitely look into those companies. I think I will probably end up being a stay-at-home dad for a few months first and then start looking for work in the area where my wife finds a teaching post.

Thanks again!