[admac]

after toying with the idea for some time, me and my g/f have decided to look more in to making a new life for ourselves in N/Z and have been researching the idea for sometime but would like some honest opinions from people who have actually made the move.

Hopefully some of you will be able to give us some sound advice.

I work in the building industry as a multi skilled interior and exterior plasterer normally specialising in external renders such as acrylics and scratch rends on the exterior of offices and flat blocks which have been popular in the uk for some time now, gf works for a firm of health and safety consultants and is in the process of finishing her neebosh general and puts together things such as risk assesments and health and safety procedures for her firms clients.

In real life terms does anybody know if the skill sets we posess are in demand in N/Z and would sustain a reasonable income?

The main reasons for deciding on leaving the uk are firstly we plan on having kids at some point in the next few years as we are both mid 30's and are not prepared to bring them up here with youth culture the way it is.

A better work life balance as we are both outdoors types, horses, scuba diving etc which we would like to pass on to our future kids.

We are under no illusions that we can wave a magic wand and make things better, or happen overnight and are fully aware that we have to do some hard slogging to sucessfully leave the UK so have come up with a plan that involves coming over on a reccee for a month at christmas this year so would it be adviseable to start the ball rolling with applications now?

G/f has friends living in north island that have lived there for a few years and would leave tomorrow but I've convinced her to take off the rose tinted glasses at least for a while so we can research thoroughly!!

Thanks for your help in advance.

[dusk]

hello and welcome to the forum.

I think you are taking the right approach, it's best to do your own research about your own circumstances first.

Be aware that if you're planning to come over on a recce at Christmas you won't have a lot of luck with anything job hunting related as NZ agencies and companies tend to start taking their summer breaks around then and things will be very quiet on that front.

can't advise on your specific jobs, as i don't know anything about those markets, but best of luck with the research and application if you decide to go forward.

it won't hurt to have a quick look at the points indicator on the NZIS website, to give you a rough idea of how you rank, this will determine how easy you will find getting approval, whether you will nedd to get a job offer up front etc.

[Kiwi-In-Texas]

Hello and welcome.





Suzanne.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.:)

[Leanne]

Welcome to the forum.
:)

[StevieD]

Welcome to the forum!

I don't know about external rendering here as it is mainly lap board or the new brick look panels on housing, not sure about the big cities on commercial premises.

OSH is as everywhere else here, but not sure about employment prospects.

Take a good look at the immigration website, do your research on there and this forum, sure you will get a good amount of info from these sources.


Steve

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Hello and welcome.

I know a couple that have come over and found OSH related work. Been here about 6 months and one has even moved jobs within the sdame citry (Hamilton) in that time.

This would suggest there is work around in that industry sector.

Can't help with your rendering skills, but building trades are generally useful skills anywhere I would think.

Your reasons for coming appear to be sound enough.

You will only know about the financial side by doing enough research. It has been discussed here and extremely great length and the only sensible answer is that there is no sensible answer. Everyone's circumstances are so totally different.

Good luck.

[Nick88]

Dusk is right about the Xmas break. Most building firms close for 3 weeks (completely!) over that holiday, consequently all staff MUST take the holiday then. So be warned that getting to see the boss for an interview is highly unlikely.

I agree with your sentiment about raising a family outside the UK. That was one of the big reasons we came here. My two have about 150m of drive to ride their bikes on, and over 3 acres of garden to play/run/make secret houses. This would have been an unobtainable dream had we stayed in Surrey.

[Belmont Babes]

A warm welcome to you both. I completely agree with your sentiments about bringing up children here as opposed to UK. Good luck with all of your research. I am sure that you will find that nearly all questions can be answered here, they're all a really good bunch :)

[AndyR]

welcome!

[Red Devil]

Hello and welcome to the forum... NZ certainly is a great place to bring up children, we noticed that just days into our 'recce' trip back in April. Our 5 year old son loved the size of play areas and choice of apparatus, not your basic slide, swing, roundabout that we have in the UK :roll

To us, NZ is undoubtedly the definitive outdoor adventure playground... it's no wonder the children look so happy all the time :D

Good luck with your plans and keep us posted :nice1

[peebles16]

Hello and welcome along from us too :)

Karen