[peterg22]

Did anyone go to the Hudsons IT & T careers seminar in Chancery Lane, London last night? I thought it was a very interesting evening and they managed to squeeze a lot of info into 2 hours.

It was also interesting to see a number of people in the same situation as myself: plenty of IT experience but no paper IT qualifications.

I also got the distinct impression that in many cases it's best to go out there for a holiday and apply for work out there, especially if you're aiming for a people-facing role rather than just a technical one.

[andrew_08]

Yep, I was there. I had the same impression as you. I will also be attending the April NZ Exp.

It's annoying that NZQA do not recognise industry certifications, but then again, I suppose a lot of people have just written exams after downloading all the braindumps and cheat sheets.

I am not sure which route I will take yet, I know the skilled migrant category takes longer, but at least you have PR at the end of it.

[ablears001]

Yes, I was there too. I didn't get a great deal out of it except like you guys really got the impression it was best to go over on tourist visa to find work, especially as my kind of job seems to be hired by referral rather than through recruitment agencies. I also got the scale of the event totally wrong and sheepishly put away the ten printed copies of my CV I'd brought along!

I'm also going to the April Expo and the move2nz seminar at NZ house (http://www.move2nz.com/Seminar/seminar.aspx?sm=g48) just to keep the momentum going.

cheers
Anthony

[peterg22]

Yes, I was there too. I didn't get a great deal out of it except like you guys really got the impression it was best to go over on tourist visa to find work, especially as my kind of job seems to be hired by referral rather than through recruitment agencies. I also got the scale of the event totally wrong and sheepishly put away the ten printed copies of my CV I'd brought along!

Hey there Anthony! Good to talk again - were you one of the senior crew?

Ah, I brought 12 copies of my CV so I know what you mean.. :laugh I managed to give 2 away though.

Yes, the tourist visa option was quite a surprise and one that I'd not considered. I might follow that but the idea of cutting ties here and just winging it seems a bit strange. What I found useful though was to be able to talk to someone "real" as opposed to via email: I find that people tend to bullsh*t less face to face.


I'm also going to the April Expo and the move2nz seminar at NZ house (http://www.move2nz.com/Seminar/seminar.aspx?sm=g48) just to keep the momentum going.

I'm also booked for the April Expo and will probably see you there: hopefully we'll be able to hand out those extra copies of our CV. I think it'll also be useful to speak to some real potential employers too.

Speak soon no doubt!

[peterg22]

Yep, I was there. I had the same impression as you. I will also be attending the April NZ Exp.

It's annoying that NZQA do not recognise industry certifications, but then again, I suppose a lot of people have just written exams after downloading all the braindumps and cheat sheets.

I am not sure which route I will take yet, I know the skilled migrant category takes longer, but at least you have PR at the end of it.

We should be able to form an expo party at this rate - if all else fails perhaps we should form a company and set up out there..

Yeah, the issue of paper qualifications seems a thorny one: after all, we wouldn't still be in jobs if we couldn't do the job.

[ablears001]

I may be sitting here sipping an aged 15 years Islay single malt and wearing slippers, but at the tender age of 31 I don't think I quite qualify as the senior crew just yet :D

I don't think the April Expo will have a big IT presence (actually it's looking like it'll just be Hudsons again) but it'll be good to speak to Immigration and the like. Are you going to the New Zealand House seminars too?

cheers
Anthony

[Flo jo]

We went to the NZ Expo in London prior to making the decision to go. I wouldn't recommend going if you are only going to enquire about IT work as there was no-one there apart from a couple of shark agencies that were going to charge for "personality tests" before they took you on. Not worth it at all & we didn't pay. there are plenty of recruitment consultants in NZ who are honest about getting work out here. You should just give a call to some of them, but all of them told us that hubby would have to be here to get a job, so he travelled out on a tourist visa after making the connections prior to leaving the UK for interviews etc. He travelled up & down between Auckland & Wellington trying to choose which job to take. I think his story/experience may be on this site somewhere but don't ask me where. I know some people have had jobs prior to leaving the UK but from what we have experienced that is not the norm. We realised it was a risk we had to take else we would always be wondering "what if......." many years down the track.

The Expo however was good to speak to Immigration as we initially thought we had the right amount of points to get PR prior to coming, but then he pointed out that hubbys degree wasn't in the IT field so it didn't count for as much as we thought (hence having to do it all on a tourist visa). Don't regret doing it at all .There is plenty of IT work in Wellington , especially in Project management & we were advised by the recruitment consultants not to dismiss contract work straight away. There's loads of it here & really well paid.

[peterg22]

I may be sitting here sipping an aged 15 years Islay single malt and wearing slippers, but at the tender age of 31 I don't think I quite qualify as the senior crew just yet :D

I don't think the April Expo will have a big IT presence (actually it's looking like it'll just be Hudsons again) but it'll be good to speak to Immigration and the like. Are you going to the New Zealand House seminars too?

cheers
Anthony
Ah! but surely "over 30" in IT is senior now ? :laugh

I'm not sure about the seminars at this stage but yes, it would definitely be good to speak to Immigration. I'd like to get the "official" line as well!

[peterg22]

We went to the NZ Expo in London prior to making the decision to go. I wouldn't recommend going if you are only going to enquire about IT work as there was no-one there apart from a couple of shark agencies....

Interesting.. but I'm not sure if I now want to stay in IT as I'll be starting a TEFL course in April. As I understand it, this would get me further than IT as I'd at least have a paper qualification whereas I "only" have IT experience. Thanks for the info though!

[Stephen Jones]

Did anyone go to the Hudsons IT & T careers seminar in Chancery Lane, London last night? I thought it was a very interesting evening and they managed to squeeze a lot of info into 2 hours.

It was also interesting to see a number of people in the same situation as myself: plenty of IT experience but no paper IT qualifications.

I also got the distinct impression that in many cases it's best to go out there for a holiday and apply for work out there, especially if you're aiming for a people-facing role rather than just a technical one.

Hi Peter

Sorry for the delay... I missed this post earlier

I went to the Hudson's seminar too. I believe that it is slowly paying off now. I am in regular contact with Paula McCashin from Hudsons and getting a lot of good feedback.

I agree with you though that it appears that you have to be in NZ.

Feel free to contact me further

Steve Jones

[Stephen Jones]

I'm also going to the April Expo and the move2nz seminar at NZ house (http://www.move2nz.com/Seminar/seminar.aspx?sm=g48) just to keep the momentum going.

cheers
Anthony


...drat I missed those...
But I too was expecting something larger at Hudsons

Steve