[Ana&Steve]

I wonder if An American flew to England and attended the Leeds or London job EXPO if they would have the same chance of finding an NZ job as a Brit? Is it even legal? I did email the EXPO peeps but haven't heard back yet, but I thought someone here might know.
Thanks,

[JandL]

EXPOs are just events to help people (and themselves) link up. Why would they care where you came from, as long as you can do the job and can get into NZ.

Personally I would never fly to the UK just for an EXPO, the one I attended wasn't that great. If you have a difficult scenario you need to deal with, or have a specific company/desk to talk to, then maybe it will be worth your time and effort, if its just a general visit wouldn't it be nearly as cheap to visit NZ straight off?

[owen-family]

Ana,

I went to the London expo a year ago, and all I really did was give electronic copies of my CV to people, and I could have done that all online anyway. I did learn a few things about the immigration process, but nothing like the quality and depth of information I get on this forum. I certainly wouldn't make the trip. I did get a couple of phone interviews, but at the moment the focus is on the seemingly impossible task of selling the house.

Good luck with the job search. I hope you find you find the right one.

Regards

Ed Ellie Katie & Jeremy

[Gar1]

Have to agree. I did not even think it was worth the travel from Scotland to the Expo. All the recruiters etc can be contacted via email/internet

[Ana&Steve]

Thanks for the replies!
Maybe I've gotten the wrong impression about EXPOs...I thought they were the be/all end/all way of getting NZ exposure from companies desperate for experienced people. We've found it difficult in the past to find NZ jobs from here and did go for a work reccy last year to no avail. (Though we had fun:)) It seems companies want to be very sure that you're coming and then staying put. We aren't actively looking to move right now but I want every angle well known to me for when we do.
Also, if the EXPO thing sounded good, we would have made a vacation out of it, visiting friends in Scotland and Spain:nice1

[JandL]

I think the expos are great if you are just starting to look into the idea, or have a specific company to contact. After a while of surfing, book buying, emailing, forum reading you get to the point where they are not so useful.

To note, there are a lot of members who say the same thing about the jobs. Many employers will only really speak to you past first contact, if you are standing at their door with a work visa in hand. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, if you are a specialist then they may wait, but not all companies can afford to wait 4+months for someone who may not arrive. There was a great post from a forumite who hires in the IT industry and he gave valid reasons for not hiring people awaiting visas. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[JandL]

Here ya go, this whole thread is about the same issue, check out BigRods post half way down page 2:

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18663

[Georgebulldog]

I think if your going in the area then go along, also if you are tarfeting one or two companies then def worth it, we went with 2 in mind & got an interview for 3 days later, you may have to be around for a week after. We had contacted them through their website & got nothing so for us it was what got us here but I do think that is only because we knew we had a chance with at least 1 company.
Good luck

[Ana&Steve]

Here ya go, this whole thread is about the same issue, check out BigRods post half way down page 2:

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18663

thanks for the link, I'll read the whole think after dinner:nice1

Thanks again everyone for the replies, it certainly gave me a new perspective on the EXPOs!
:cheers

[NZ Hopeful]

Just to reiterate what others have said, it wouldn't really be worth making a special trip to attend one, we are thinking of going to the Leeds one, we are only about a 40 min drive and we are wondering if it will be worth it. The kids are really up for it only because of all the freebies they get :laugh

[Ana&Steve]

The kids are really up for it only because of all the freebies they get :laugh
:) kids have the right idea: don't complicate things!

[BkyMonster]

My advice is to plan a trip, then send out CVs listing the dates you will be in NZ. This would probably be more fruitful than going to the expo from what I've heard about them. For maximum efficiency I'd pick one area so you aren't going all over. Going welly to chch several times in a week is no picnic.
That way you get to go to NZ and maybe get a job out of it. :)