[Kerry and David]

Our family went to visit the London Expo today, we have always said that our location choices would be Christchurch or Wellington. We went for Christchurch as we have visited before, got married on the South Island and felt comfortable about our choice...
Anyway, David works in retail and had a mini interview with a recruitment consultant today who has said that she feels there would be better opportunities in Auckland for him and also for the childrens activities, future etc so now we are confused:confused:
We didn't rule out Auckland for any major reason, we thought property may be more expensive and we haven't lived in a big city before and we haven't done any research in to areas etc....
I know we could stick to our guns and say South but it's opened our eyes to keep our options open....
So now i'm going to look at old threads on the North Shore and back to the drawing board for Schools, colleges, Uni's property:yes

On the job front, we should have some feedback over the next few weeks so fingers crossed:)

I think I'm actually getting addicted to this forum and the real estate pages.... the ironings piling up, the dog needs a walk, pack lunches to make and I'm back on the laptop:o

K x

[nickydwuk]

I think I'm actually getting addicted to this forum and the real estate pages.... the ironings piling up, the dog needs a walk, pack lunches to make and I'm back on the laptop:o

K x

I know what you mean :D

[peebles16]

Oh highly addictive I agree :yes

Karen

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Remember a recruitment consultants job is to find you work. That's how he gets his commission. He may well be correct, but remember Auckland is easily the biggest city, by a long way, therefore there are, obviously, a lot more work opportunities, particularly in retail I would imagine.

Don't rule out what he says, but remember he has his own agenda too.

I'm in IT and we moved to Hamilton. Opportunities are much fewer for me here than they would be in one of the major cities, but we are very happy with our chosen home location.

Ultimately, those work opportunities may force a move for us, but only as a last resort.

Equally, I suppose, Auckland is huge by NZ standards, but still only 1 million people. Hardly even a blip compared to say London or Birmingham.

My advice would be to go with what feels right for you.

[Familyofmonkeys]

There may be more opportunities in Auckland....but unless they are much better paid, you could be a lot worse off. There will still be plenty of retail opportunities in Christchurch....chances are the consultant just had more contacts in Auckland, so could get their commission with less work on their part.
As for your children....unless they have some very unusual or obscure activity, you should have plenty of opportunities in Christchurch, and plenty of chances to try different things from what is available easily in UK.
That's not to say Auckland is a bad place to be...far from it. We are here and enjoying ourselves a lot :) , but will be moving to Christchurch area in a couple of years time as we are not really city folk ourselves.

[katandbob]

in fact there are plenty of choices both job wise and for children where ever you look in New Zealand, so the best bet is to travel a bit and check out the areas.

Kat

[K&CS]

If you're not overly bothered about where you end up, then it can't harm to be open to all suggestions. We weren't - it was Christchurch or nothing for us. That was where we wanted to be. We knew that there would be more opportunities in Wellington or Auckland but we were prepared to wait for the right thing to come along in Christchurch. I have no regrets about that, but that was just the right thing for us. It really depends on how strongly you feel about one particular location - it's more important to some than others!

Kate

[willsken]

Go with what the other say re jobs being everywhere. We wanted to move to Hawke's Bay, Waipukurau in particular. (Tiny, tiny place by any comparison). I was told by the teaching agencies that they wouldn't take me onto their books as looking for a job for me in Hawke's Bay was too restrictive. Guess where I go a job. The secondary school in Waipukurau! :D :D

I say, choose where you want to live, look for a job and if it doesn't pan out then look at other areas.:nice1

[Myrkk]

We had the same when we went to the expo. We said we wanted Christchurch or Wellington to the consultants and then we started getting all these e-mails from people in Auckland. We did consider it, did a bit of research and asked on here, even considered it as a temporary move before moving further south and have decided to stick to our guns.
I agree with BaldyBeardyBloke........although the agencies exist to get you work they are going to want to place you as easily as they can and therefore make more/easy money so will want you to go to somewhere with more opportunities.

[Nick88]

I agree with Willsken & kateandbob, be flexible. You might not get a similar chance for years.

[kellyfamily]

Even places like Auckland has places nearby quieter than the city as does any area. There is plenty of work in NZ so maybe it may be worth taking a job then moving later. If you go North shore you can still be as far away as half an hour from cbd so you get the quiet but from all the job ads i see there is plenty in christchurch , Seems to be a growing area? never been yet but hope to holiday there next year.