[ulto]

Hi ya!

First Post!
:clap

Im planning to go to NZ in December of this year to work for a year on one of those work travel visa's. I have about 3 years experience in IT doing sys admin work. Mostly Microsoft admin/projects and some Cisco networking. Im fully certifed in MS and Cisco and all that stuff!

Now i have chosen christchurch as my base for the year for 2 things. The weather is supposed to be the best in the summer and skiing 90 minutes away in winter.:)

I know that my likely hood of getting a job in Auckland or even Wellington is far greater then christchurch. But im willing to give it a real go and take a lower paid job if needs be if i can secure the quality of live i want.

Ill be coming from ireland which is an expensive enough country. Im earning approx 40K euros which is just over 70K NZ $. Obviously there are too many differences to compare. But i would be happy enough to secure a job in the 60k even low 50k mark.

Its only for a year an my attitude is your going away to see the country, meet the people and enjoy yourself. I want to get out of "career mode" for a while. If i have to work on a 1st level helpdesk for a bit so be it. That's 2nd worse case scenario, worst is not able to get any job and ill have to move to wellington. I dont want to live in auckland at all. Not that i have anything against it.

The question is? Are IT jobs that hard to get, especially in my line of work (network & Sys admin).
And if so what kind of wage could i expect in that line of work.
Would love to hear from someone with experience of IT in Christchurch.

Would like to hear of any agency's or contacts that may come in handy when im doing the job search

Thanks,
Ultan

[Smiler]

Welcome to the forum Ultan. :cheers

I can't answer your questions on CC (apart from the fact, it's a lovely place) or network stuff but someone else will, I'm sure.

Have you had a forum search for network, CISCO and sys admin? That can also throw up a lot of info.

Just wanted to say hi and welcome. :)

[crispyking]

see this post for links to some job sites - http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15783

there do seem to be a lot of sys admin roles coming up, with your experience you may get a role around the high 50s - mid 60s probably ...

there are certainly fewer jobs and thus more competition in CC than in Wellington or Auckland but you may get lucky ...
:)

[benandclare]

Hi ya!



Now i have chosen christchurch as my base for the year for 2 things. The weather is supposed to be the best in the summer and skiing 90 minutes away in winter.:)

IUltan

Sound move........ Welcome to the forum but alas totally clueless as to IT here in Chch
, but know of quiet a few fellow forumites who are in IT so ecpect they'll be along just now to help you out:nice1

[Familyofmonkeys]

This was also being discussed in another thread:

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15797

[ulto]

I suppose my 2nd question is where are most of these jobs located?
Are there Industrial Parks dotted around the city or are these jobs in only a handfull of locations.

Im just thinking of the areas we could rent close to work.

The other half will be working in retail so for her it would probably central CHCH
or some mall somewhere!?

We would like to live in centre of the city, so we are just assesing our options.

[KelvinAng]

Hi Ultan,

I'm in the same shoe. Before I arrived I knew I wanted to stay in Christchurch but wasn't sure if I could get a job here, so I flew into Auckland first and tried the city for a week. Nope, it really didn't do it for me so I flew to Christchurch to began my job hunt. Via seek.co.nz I arranged for two interviews before I arrive (probably the only two advertised...). One week into Christchurch I received a job offer each from each of the two companies.

In contrast, the two job interviews I had in Auckland were still waiting to decide if I were the most suitable as they are waiting to interview other applicants.

I think although there are fewer jobs being advertised in Christchurch are also much fewer applicants, so it's entirely possible to get a job rather easily here. I'm a web developer so your mileage may vary, but don't totally discount it altogether.

You might want to try the recruitment agency I went to - "The Recruitment Network" (http://www.trn.org.nz). Talk to Trevor (a really nice guy who went the extra mile for me when I haven't got my transport sorted). They are a small operation but worth a try.

Good luck with your job hunt!

Kelvin
ps. I live north of the city centre (Papanui) and near a large mall (Northlands) with two supermarkets, one of them running 24 hours everyday. I work south of the city centre (Wigram), but it takes me just 30min scooter ride to work. Christchurch isn't that big and traffic is smooth flowing (minus city centre traffic which can be rather congested in peak hours) so you might not necessarily need to stay in the city centre if you're after convenience... just my opinion, though!

[ulto]

Thanks for that Kelvin

I suppose where we live will depend where we work. We would love to be able to get a place with a great view but also convienient enough to get to work on a bus/cycle etc.

Whats Lyttelton like to live in. Does it have good bus routes to the city? How long would this take?
I would be interested any where in Banks Peninsula to be honest.

[ulto]

Oh and we dont mind not being near schools etc. It is only the 2 of us.
What is considered expensive rent anyway in CHCH.
Would 300 a week for a 1/2 bed be considered expensive?

[KelvinAng]

I don't know very much about places to live. Lyttelton is by the harbour so I'd imagine the view would be great and probably a bit more expensive to rent than elsewhere.

I'm currently paying $110/wk (everything in, including broadband). But that said, where I'm staying it's a tiny little room which didn't had a door, and when I moved in the landlord hammered one on. The window view from my room are tall bushes that nobody takes care of, and the garage of the family next door. Behind the house where I stay is a factory. They're not noisy but I can't imagine their presence there being helpful to landlords renting out houses or flats. I share the house with the landlord and landlady, and a German couple. Every morning we'll have our own little "bathroom rush hour" traffic to handle. And it's a cold house (old wooden building with no insulation and windows that doesn't close properly).

That makes the $300/wk for your own place by the harbour quite a bargain, isn't it? :D

There's definitely at least one bus that goes to Lyttelton from the city, and buses typically run at least hourly till late. The bus journey should be about 30-45min. You might find metroinfo.org.nz helpful. If you plan to use the bus service often, be sure to get the Metro prepaid card. Saves heaps, as the Kiwi would say!