[brock86]

Hey All,

I just finished a civil engineering degree in Canada and am looking at working in New Zealand for a few years to gain some experience.

Im just wondering if anyone has any information on what the job market is like or could tell me the names of some companies I could apply too. I know of Opus, BECA and GHD, but these companies don't start accepting applications until April and I'm sure employment wouldn't start until later on in the year.

Any information would be appreciated.

[JandM]

Hello, and welcome to the forum. :)

[andrewp]

Have you tried seek.co.nz? When I do my daily listing of Engineering jobs there seems to be a huge number for Civ Eng. Seems the demand is in Water, waste and roads. I have even seriously considered going back to Uni and adding a Civil post grad diploma to my B Eng. Did all the paperwork but chickened out.

Good luck.

[TonnyTessa]

I can think of DHI and MWH. Which area of civil engineering are you into?

[brock86]

I can think of DHI and MWH. Which area of civil engineering are you into?


I'm interested in structural.


I have looked at websites like seek, but for the most part they are looking for people with a lot of experience.

[WANZLittles]

I have been watching this closely as this is the field I am in. From most of my conversations, via email, the employeers and Head hunters are relucant to talk to you unless your in the country, for this reason we are planning 2 recce trips, on to check things out and the next for interviews, I probably will try to get into see some emploeers on the first trip just to touch bases and get my face and name infront of them.

[Barestdegree]

Long time reader, first time poster. We just sent along our ITA to London. I've applied for 4 or 5 civil engineering jobs through recruiters on seek.co.nz and have not heard a word. I have over 10 years experience mostly in stormwater and site development. I'm hoping to get more interest once we have PR or WTR. Good luck!

Brian
Seattle, WA

:cheers

[WANZLittles]

Long time reader, first time poster. We just sent along our ITA to London. I've applied for 4 or 5 civil engineering jobs through recruiters on seek.co.nz and have not heard a word. I have over 10 years experience mostly in stormwater and site development. I'm hoping to get more interest once we have PR or WTR. Good luck!

Brian
Seattle, WA

:cheers
Welcome Brian. I'm about 300 miles east of you in spokane

[JandM]

Hello and welcome. :)

I know MANY forumites haven't been able to raise any reaction from employers till they were actually in NZ, so maybe it's as well to be prepared/resigned to that.

[sbinder]

Looks like I'm a little late to the posting, but two bits of advice anyway. First, check out ACENZ (http://www.acenz.org.nz/) for their membership directory - they're the local equivalent to ACEC (not sure what the consulting engineering council is in Canada, sorry). You can look through the directory at firms by geographic location and specialty to get an idea of potential firms out there. Also, I used the recruiters Beresford Blake Thomas (http://www.bbtworldwide.com/) when I was coming out from Seattle and was pretty satisfied with what I got out of them - the jobs on their website also give a decent idea of salary ranges. I ended up at Beca, which I solicited on my own, though. Another structural-specific firm is Structex, but I have heard some not-so-great things about them.

You might find the market pretty tight right now; I know the building and industrial sectors are really suffering but transport (bridge and tunnel) should be getting a boost from NZTA and the stimulus package soon. Regardless, there is never enough engineering labour in the country and if it weren't for the recession, most companies and recruiters would be banging down the door to talk with you - you just might have to push a little harder right now to get their attention.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions!
Cheers,
Shane

[nate]

I know it's a late reply, but better than never, right?

I'm a structural engineer who moved over last year from Denver. I had a lot of help from Laura at Career Engineer (recruitment service) in Auckland, you should call them up and introduce yourself. I had several interviews lined up before I came, and I accepted a job with CPG. They sponsored my WTR and it was quite painless.

Since then the market has changed a bit. You should definitely try for a job, hard out, but don't hold your breath. It's not as bad as it is in most other parts of the world, but there aren't a lot of firms that are hiring.

If you have more questions or want some more specific advice, PM me through the site. Good luck.