[Paul & Rach]

We came here just over 3 years ago hoping like many people on this forum to make a new life in this country. We both gave up well paying jobs and were prepared to make every sacrifice to change our lives and live here forever. We rode out the early days blues, the home sickness and doubt which many here will recognise. After 2 years we felt we could live here happily and start planning to get our own house and make a life.

11 months ago every thing changed. I was marched in to an office at work and "dis-established" as they call it here (made redundant). A shocking experience but I tried not to dwell upon it. Since then I have made every effort I could to find new work. Initially I thought I could find work quickly but I have found the IT employment market to be impossible. There is deep recession in the job market here and some very dodgy practices such as :

false adverts (extremely common),
people interviewing simply to gather information from me about my former employer,
Interviewing for non-existant jobs
Agents Interviewing for vacancies which had knowingly already been filled.
changing job descriptions as a means to exclude applicants,
poor pay,
pathetically short contracts
project withdrawals,
interviewing for projects which haven't been approved.
withdrawing the vacancy after being told I got the job.
Impossible sets of technical requirements. Bizarre combinations of tools which surely only a few people anywhere may have encountered.
Absolutely no scope for adapting existing closely related skills to the job.
Being excluded from applying because I once worked for a company they did not like. (this happened this week)
A total in-ability to act quickly and decisively about projects and people.


Auckland is a desperate place to find work. I've applied for countless jobs. Some, I have 110% confidence I could do well. Others, I could turn my hand to easily. I've been told 5 times I got the job only for the employer to withdraw the vacancy or project. I work hard at finding work. I have many, versions of my CV. I've sought professional help with the CV and interviewing. I spend every day looking for work and find almost nothing to be positive about. My confidence in this job market is shattered. Even if I get a job now I cannot picture myself being happy, valued, confident and progressing here. The situation has by now, affected my personal confidence and I find the length of my unemployment an embarrassment and an issue in itself.

New Zealand is a lovely place but if you cannot earn a living, what is the point ? I feel lost and isolated here. I think I have made a huge life changing mistake coming here. I spend most days alone trying to grind out some opportunity for work. Its a miserable depressing existence. Also, we are gradually losing everything we have. Living off money we brought here for a house. Its a sickening feeling. Total financial free-fall and I have no way to reverse it except to consider leaving.

I know things are bad in the UK right now but looking at job sites there, I feel like a starving man peering through a restaurant window. I see opportunities which simply don't exist here. I see opportunity and a means to to carry on. I see friends and family I don't see here. I see potential and a better "life" than I have here in this place. I've never given up on anything in my entire life, ever. But with the annual christmas employment slump on the horizon (usually 4 months long) I am now days or weeks away from buying a ticket out of here.

[Georgebulldog]

That is very sad to read & sounds like you have had an awful time of it but have you thought of trying Wellington? After so much upheaval would it worth a try in another city? I can see your point about going back to the UK though, friends & family there to give support
Best of luck in whatever you decide

[cappuccino]

Really sorry to hear of your experiences but alas this is not the first time I heard similar stories.

I really hope you find a job that will keep you here but totally understand your frustrations.

Good luck with whatever path you take.

[Mamee & Co]

I'm sorry to hear your tale, but I think it is typical of recession in any country you find yourself in. My OH is an architect and has now been OOW for 6 months. This happened in the nineties too. The same things are happening here too in this profession and I know of one IT professional who was OOW for 9 months and eventually only got a job through someone that he knew.

I can well understand why you would need family support around you at this time. We are also watching our life slowly slip away from us here which is why we are thinking of moving over there.

Hope all goes well with whatever you decide.

Mamee

[broadsword08]

keep the old chin up... you'll do whatever you think is right and make it work the way you need it to... have you considered a change of vocation and location?

[sizzlingbadger]

We've constantly got that nagging doubt of what if OH gets made redundant at the moment. I'm working as a real estate agent but making no money, if he got made redundant we'd be between a rock and hard place very quickly :exit

Is there any chance that you could take a career change and a move else where within NZ ? Even downsize just for the short while ?

Having spoken to relatives back in the UK, right now would not be the right time to move by the sounds of it. A job one of my relatives advertised got over 300 applicants, it was only for part time menial work ! !

Good luck and I hope for both your sakes your problems are resolved soon whether it be moving back to the UK with your head's held high or a move/job here in NZ :nice1 The stress must be immense :(

[JandM]

Sorry to hear this - it must be gutting. Good luck in general, and with whatever you decide to do.

[shakyle2906]

Good luck in whay you decide to do.

I can imagine what your going through, we have had a long hard 9mths of just my way coming in. Ive watched my hubby suffer terribly too which has been awful. He has now been lucky to secure a few weeks work, which is good but we still wonder what will happen after this ...........

Best wishes

Sharon
x

[ExitStageSouth]

I know things are bad in the UK right now but looking at job sites there, I feel like a starving man peering through a restaurant window. I see opportunities which simply don't exist here.

It sounds like you've given it a good shot, but just a word of caution from someone in the restaurant -- the diners aren't leaving and there's a queue at the bar.

That's not to say you won't have a better chance here (you likely do), but just be prepared for more knock-backs. Perhaps you can start your UK job-hunt without commiting to the expense of moving again?

Best of luck with whatever you do and thanks for your take on the NZ employment scene.

[Clappy]

We came here just over 3 years ago hoping like many people on this forum to make a new life in this country. We both gave up well paying jobs and were prepared to make every sacrifice to change our lives and live here forever. We rode out the early days blues, the home sickness and doubt which many here will recognise. After 2 years we felt we could live here happily and start planning to get our own house and make a life.

11 months ago every thing changed. I was marched in to an office at work and "dis-established" as they call it here (made redundant). A shocking experience but I tried not to dwell upon it. Since then I have made every effort I could to find new work. Initially I thought I could find work quickly but I have found the IT employment market to be impossible. There is deep recession in the job market here and some very dodgy practices such as :

false adverts (extremely common),
people interviewing simply to gather information from me about my former employer,
Interviewing for non-existant jobs
Agents Interviewing for vacancies which had knowingly already been filled.
changing job descriptions as a means to exclude applicants,
poor pay,
pathetically short contracts
project withdrawals,
interviewing for projects which haven't been approved.
withdrawing the vacancy after being told I got the job.
Impossible sets of technical requirements. Bizarre combinations of tools which surely only a few people anywhere may have encountered.
Absolutely no scope for adapting existing closely related skills to the job.
Being excluded from applying because I once worked for a company they did not like. (this happened this week)
A total in-ability to act quickly and decisively about projects and people.


Auckland is a desperate place to find work. I've applied for countless jobs. Some, I have 110% confidence I could do well. Others, I could turn my hand to easily. I've been told 5 times I got the job only for the employer to withdraw the vacancy or project. I work hard at finding work. I have many, versions of my CV. I've sought professional help with the CV and interviewing. I spend every day looking for work and find almost nothing to be positive about. My confidence in this job market is shattered. Even if I get a job now I cannot picture myself being happy, valued, confident and progressing here. The situation has by now, affected my personal confidence and I find the length of my unemployment an embarrassment and an issue in itself.

New Zealand is a lovely place but if you cannot earn a living, what is the point ? I feel lost and isolated here. I think I have made a huge life changing mistake coming here. I spend most days alone trying to grind out some opportunity for work. Its a miserable depressing existence. Also, we are gradually losing everything we have. Living off money we brought here for a house. Its a sickening feeling. Total financial free-fall and I have no way to reverse it except to consider leaving.

I know things are bad in the UK right now but looking at job sites there, I feel like a starving man peering through a restaurant window. I see opportunities which simply don't exist here. I see opportunity and a means to to carry on. I see friends and family I don't see here. I see potential and a better "life" than I have here in this place. I've never given up on anything in my entire life, ever. But with the annual christmas employment slump on the horizon (usually 4 months long) I am now days or weeks away from buying a ticket out of here.

It sounds like you are in the position that I will be in about two months time. I've been looking for nine months now and there is no sign of things getting any better.

The points I would make:

Most of the things in your bulletted list go on in the UK too, with the exception perhaps of being interviewed unnecessarily by agents.

The UK is not any better yet whatever the rose-tinted spectacles might be suggesting.

There isn't much comfort that I can offer I'm afraid except don't take anything personally. I can remember the recession in the UK of the early 1990s and things are much the same here now.

All you can do is batten down the hatches and hope that you are still standing when it is over.

[doreysc]

Well the IT contract market looks good in the UK when you see the adverts but there are loads of people looking for relatively few contracts. Many, many jobs are going offshore, especially the more junior roles
I am being made redundant at the end of the month so I have a definite availability date and from about 10 applications for local contracts that are a good fit for my skill set I have not had any response other than the automatic one from Jobserve acknowledging receipt.

Edit - and I have heard of all the same tactics being used in this country by the agents as you are reporting in NZ - the pimps appear to be the same the world over

[incredible hulse]

Good luck. I have a couple of mates who got laid off by 'New Zealand's' bank in Wellington a few months back and are still out of work with little sign of anything coming their way in NZ. One is going to Oz (has just got offer).

It's something I worry about at the moment as my field of IT is small in NZ and prospects would be very few if I was out and I think I would have to 'commute' to Oz or return to the UK, where although the market is impacted by the recession I think the fact it is general a bigger market their maybe a better chance. I know a few people who were laid off from London banks and all of them are now in employment (similar salaries, roles, etc) - personal experience is not the same of NZ

[mgf]

Feel your pain mate and wish you the best.

[andrewp]

You have my deepest sympathies. It's tough out there. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Carey]

Sounds tough; as s.o. else suggested have you considered a change of career? Studying a course?
Hope it all works out for you somehow.

[dianney]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope things pick up for you very very soon. It is so sad to hear how this world wide recession is hitting so many people and shattering their dreams. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
Fingers crossed for everyone in similar situations.

[Rosetta bird]

Shoot, feel for you. I was made redundant in dec 08 but luckly hubbie is a teacher. so opted to study. struggling with 3 kids 10,12 13, and there are few part time job op's.

All i can offer are my prayers, these have been known to work.

In my thoughts RB

[Ben2008]

Thank you for sharing. It is an eye opener for ppl like us who have yet to cross the ocean.

[CjChris]

Sorry sorry to hear your troubles. I know just what you mean!

For us, it was a matter of going down with the ship or jumping overboard and swimming like mad for the shore.

We're swimming, mate!

[Kiwi Mac]

I am really sorry to read this.

My wife has just ben through the very same sort of thing. She works in marketing and business development mainly, with some PM bits on the side and was contracting in Wellington.

She finished her last contract in September last year and was promptly unable to find any work because the whole of Wellington shut down for the election, then the annual Xmas "3 months off even though we are at work" period, then the government hiring freeze (Wellington is so dependant on government for work) and the economic meltdown etc etc.

She experienced all the things you list in spades! Here's a few of the more choice examples:

1) Went through 4 interviews (including one with the CEO and MD!) and psychommetric testing for a job, only to be told that the job no longer existed

2) Interviewed for a senior role ($120k +) and was astounded to be told that they had "no idea" what they thought they might pay

3) Was told by one agent that she was a dead cert for a temp job, the client loved her CV and so on - only to find out a week later that another agency had supplied someone for the vacancy

4) Never having phone calls or emails responded to

5) Re-doing her CV more times than I can count. In the UK, if it is more than 3 pages long it is thrown in the bin - here it is completely the reverse, it must have MORE detail - hers is now 12 pages long!

6) Interviewed for jobs only to find out that budget approval had not been sought before advertising and that as a result the job no longer existed

7) She now thinks that "start work urgently" means "in around 6 months time" in NZ!

She used to work in recruitment and HR and says that she has never experienced so much incompetence and bad practice. She says it is like children playing at being grown ups in the office!

She cannot understand why they put you through exactly the same process for a 6 month contract that they can cancel on no notice as they do for a permanent position. In the UK, you ring the agency and say "I need a (insert job title) for 6 months, starting Monday. Must be able to do X, Y and Z. Send someone over." You then get sent over on Monday and start work - and if the client does not like you they just ring the agency and say send me someone else! No here though....!

She also says that the reason they need such detailed CVs (which they seem not to actually read in many cases anyway!) is because they are all stuck on the "situational" interviewing process and cannot think outside the box enough to properly question and probe in an interview. All this "Tell me about a time when you...." interviewing is so rigid and so out of date. Last interview I had in the UK for a NZ$120k equivalent job consisted of a 30 minute chat with the MD and lunch with the 2 guys I was to work with! I got the job. Can you imagine that approach here? But they had actually read my CV and already knew I had the technical skills they wanted, so it was only a personality fit issue.

Fortunately we were able to enlist financial help from family in the UK to cover our huge mortgage, because my income is almost all in the summer months and is paid in lumps rather than throughout the year. We have credit card bills of over $25k to pay off and lots of other bills to settle that are long overdue.

Fortunately she recently managed to get a good PM job until the middle of next year at $75/hr + GST so it won't take us long to get things back on an even keel now. We were certainly reaching a point where we would have had to face some hard choices such as selling our property in a bad market if we wanted to stay and so on. She must have applied for well over 50 jobs.

Neither of us is prepared to return to the UK: we have not been back even once since we left in 2004 and it will never be home for us again now.

Hope you manage to hang in there - it can (and will) get better.

[sasvanb]

Hi Kiwi Mac,

I feel your frustration... and sympathise from the point of view that when things are not working out it can feel as though the whole world is against you.

It has been tough in the job market in NZ, especially over the last 6 months or so... as it has been all over the globe. Let's hope those green shoots start to prosper and things pick up for everyone.

A couple of things I would like to pick up on from your post though... You are talking about salaries of $120k and $75 an hour... This type of salary in NZ is (I think most would agree) fairly exceptional for this country. If this is truly the salary level you (or your wife) is expecting (regardless of how well qualified you are, and I'm sure you are!) then it perhaps isn't surprising given the current climate that it has been a struggle to achieve a job at this scale.

The second point you raised is an expectation of C.V at 12 pages long here in NZ. Speaking as a qualified Careers Adviser (from U.K.) having applied successfully for two jobs since being here (within one year in a tough market) I strongly advise that nobody submits a C.V. of this length... anywhere in the world. Sell yourself in 3 pages (absolute max) and less if possible. Always tailor your C.V. for each job and back it up with a strong cover letter that expands on how your experience meets each of the key points in the job description. 'Situational interviewing' I would argue is still one of the most prevalent types of interview process in many parts of the world for very good reasons. Employers can not always judge from a written application just how well a someone's experience will fit with their company. Hence the reason they rely on competency based questions. Makes sense to me...

I'm not sure really how helpful it is to compare the recruitment agency market here with the UK. A comparison in population size says it all. The jobs market is smaller here. And yes, more than one agency will advertise the same job. Having said that... it is tough at the moment and I do feel for you. And I agree to a point with your observation of practices such as non-response from agencies or employers during the application process. It can be frustratingly slow or even non-existent (my husband and I have also experienced having several applications completely ignored) and I agree, this is bad practice. However, I would say this is not 'standard' practice.

I hope things improve for everyone out there. Persistence pays off in the end... :D

[petri]

... The jobs market is smaller here. And yes, more than one agency will advertise the same job. ...

I've been on both side of the fence (mostly on the employer), where does this originate from? UK? Australia? US?

It feels like the model is something one would use for outsourced work (call an agency and ask for a worker who's capable of doing X) but doesn't work quite well with actual long-term positions.

Over here in Finland we've either hired directly or used an external agency to pre-process the applicants. The agency may be the contact for the job but their main task is to offload the work from the hiring process and there's never multiple agencies involved for the same position.

[Kiwi Mac]

Hi Sasvanb

My wife has certainly had no trouble over the 3 years prior to the recession getting $100/hr contracting roles (for 6-12 month duration contracts) and when she was doing permanent she was on $125,000/year.

The big fly in the ointment has really been the recession and the fact that Wellington jobs are so dependant on the government, either directly or indirectly. She is now on $75/hr until June at least, so that is great. She wants to go permanent but won't do it for less than $150,000 a year, so it will take her a while to find the right position I expect.

I work for myself now anyway so no issues fo rme.

Regards the situational interviewing and the CV, it is the agencies here that have forced her to the ever-increasing length. She has such a variety of skills and has found that employers/agents are way too literal in their interpretation of written applications - unless it specifically uses the words "Project Manager", as an example, they appear incapable of inferring from your work history that you have lots of experience managing projects.

Thus she has been forced into mentioning by name every job title and skill that she has acquired over the last 25 years, otherwise the agents don't realise she has the skills and she does not get put forward for roles she can do very easily and employers don't see that she has the skills either. One of the agents recently asked her for "more detail" in the CV!

She agrees with you that it should be short, but finds that few hiring managers are skilled enough to extrapolate the necessary information.

Ditto the situational stuff - I find it overly procedural and in my world, procedure is the last refuge of the unimaginative!

[Ana&Steve]

She has such a variety of skills and has found that employers/agents are way too literal in their interpretation of written applications - unless it specifically uses the words "Project Manager", as an example, they appear incapable of inferring from your work history that you have lots of experience managing projects.

Thus she has been forced into mentioning by name every job title and skill that she has acquired over the last 25 years, otherwise the agents don't realise she has the skills and she does not get put forward for roles she can do very easily and employers don't see that she has the skills either. One of the agents recently asked her for "more detail" in the CV!


We have found this to be true with recruiters as well. Some of it comes from us not knowing the Kiwi titles or names for positions, and I suspect some comes from ignorance of IT on the recruiter's side and the fact that they want their commission so they want to present their client with the "perfect" applicant as they understand it. Going to the recruiter "cold" (not with a position in mind but hoping the recruiter can find a fit) was worse; we found it very difficult to make them understand [Steve's] skill set in relation to the jobs they were peddling. We did get some practice rewriting CVs in respect to an advertised position, and next time we'll have a better understanding of the navigation of the NZ job hunt. Trying to do all this from the States (we were in Welly on a job reccy for much of our "education") seems nearly impossible:rolleyes: but hey, others have done it so we'll give it a go!

[winka]

All this "Tell me about a time when you...." interviewing is so rigid and so out of date.

Small employers like Transport for London (TFL) and most of Londons councils use this interview approach:clap

[sasvanb]

Thus she has been forced into mentioning by name every job title and skill that she has acquired over the last 25 years, otherwise the agents don't realise she has the skills and she does not get put forward for roles she can do very easily and employers don't see that she has the skills either. One of the agents recently asked her for "more detail" in the CV!

She agrees with you that it should be short, but finds that few hiring managers are skilled enough to extrapolate the necessary information.

I do sympathise. My husband has had similar issues with recruitment agencies within the IT market. Very frustrating. But he doesn't have much choice but to go through them as this is where most of the jobs in his field are advertised. I wonder, has your wife also tried the government recruitment websites direct? Try to cut out the 'middle man' so to speak. I always prefer to apply directly to the organisation if possible. Last job I went for I had to apply via an agency (they were handling the screening of candidates) but I had managed to get hold of the detailed job description from the employer website... upshot was, I went in to speak to the agency woman and knew more about the job than she did. How daft is that?? :laugh

[mooncalf]

Isn't IT Professional still on the Immigration long term skills shortage list? Given the market and the lack of jobs I find it appalling so many people are being drawn here to work in IT when in reality the market is too small to contemplate. I have taken a job on a third of the salary I was in the UK which is not sustainable to provide for a family on a single income basis as I was in the UK. Even half my UK salary would have been manageable and believe me I was not on a stupid wage over there.

[Angelonthemove]

My heart goes out to you Paul & Rach.

We have finally found work after 8 months and lossing our home etc. I fully understand as I too wonder if this was the right move. I am struggling to get back to NORMAL what ever that means. I feel constantly down and now have no confidence.

CV writting and applying for jobs is a full time job. I now have to work the other end. I took a recruitment role out of necessity rarther than choice. OH in IT and on half his salary so had to take something.

CV are expected to be full of the finer details here in IT. OH is now 16 pages long after we had cut it down to five pages. ONLY when it was full of everything did he finally get a job.

YES agency are crawling (polite version) to get jobs on. Then they squabble over candidates. Yes they interview you and waste your time to get their 4 candidates a week quota. Drives everyone nuts.

Jobs are duplicated.
Some are only just in the wind and someone internally has given them the nod.

But that nod has given me the chance to secure 3 people a job who were unemployed and grateful.

There are jobs begining to creep through, BUT several large govt dept have shead loads of people, flooding the Wellington market.

I would go tomorrow and move back to Europe IF I thought we could get job. Without my family who have bailed us out financially we would have literally starved over here, and I am not being over dramatic.

If you are not happy and you can find a job over in the UK or can move in with family until the recession changes in a years time, then go. At least you have them as over here being out of work is very lonely.

You also do not need to be told to downsize, etc I'm sure you have done everything possible. You coudl apply for a cleaners job but with the other 14,000 applicants you would be deemed over qualified, under qualified, what ever the pre type phrase of the month is.

If we had walked away when my OH lost his job we would be $80k better off than we are now, what a waste of our hard earnt money being optoomistic that a job would come .soon


From a fellow person who knows exactly how you feel.

Take care and good luck in what ever you chose to do.

Angela

[JandM]

You've evidently missed the OPs' good news, Angela. http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?p=323626#post323626

[Angelonthemove]

No I did not miss that one (I even posted) I'm just not good with names and so out practice.:exit

Great news for them but my reply is still valid for anyone else in the stinky.

[petri]

Isn't IT Professional still on the Immigration long term skills shortage list?

Not only that but it's also an area of future growth.

[Ngeru]

My experiences here have been very similar and it's not because of the recession. It's been like that for the 4.5 years I have been here and probably a lot longer. I have found recruiters and employers always seem to be looking for the 100% perfect fit for a given role. Despite the supposed skills shortages, they're simply not prepared to take a chance on someone who fits 85% of the bill and quite frankly it's insulting that they can't see a smart educated person with wide range of experience in front of them who can and will quickly learn the missing 15% on the job. This is why they jerk people around so much, they spin it along for as long as possible without making a final decision in the hope that someone better will come along.

The same old tales get trotted out time and time again, how they've not decided how much to pay, someone is on leave and they can't make the final offer, they have changed their mind, the job is no longer available yada, yada yada. I see it in action every day, managers place advertisements and dither around for weeks and months on end without making a decision and play every delaying tactic and excuse they can, in order not to fill the role until Mr or Ms Right comes along.

[CjChris]

If we had walked away when my OH lost his job we would be $80k better off than we are now, what a waste of our hard earnt money being optoomistic that a job would come .soon
Angela

I absolutely know how you feel. I really wish we had "cut our losses" a long time ago, but we kept hanging on, not realizing that certain companies would keep OH hanging on for MONTHS while they decided who their top candidate would be (and not him).

It is amazing how fast savings can get eaten away and the next thing you know, you are one grocery shopping excursion away from being broke.:uhoh

[movergroover]

Paul and Rach,

I'm sorry to hear that you feel so isolated in NZ. I hope that after a couple of months of posting things are looking up for you now.

I have my fingers crossed you :yes

[Ben2008]

My experiences here have been very similar and it's not because of the recession. It's been like that for the 4.5 years I have been here and probably a lot longer. I have found recruiters and employers always seem to be looking for the 100% perfect fit for a given role.

We had very similar experiences while we were last in NZ in 2007 when the economy was at its peak. Recruiters and employers had a lot of good thing to say and after 2 or 3 rounds of interviews, the phone rings and they say, Sorry, you're not the one.

We're looking to return - and dont know if we're being foolish to think things will be different, as we have 3 kids to consider now. Reading Paul & Rach's account certainly puts things in perspective.

Completely agree with CJChris, "It is amazing how fast savings can get eaten away....." that was exactly why we couldn't take the risk to stay on and wait for a job offer to come along....

[Kiwi Mac]

My experiences here have been very similar and it's not because of the recession. It's been like that for the 4.5 years I have been here and probably a lot longer. I have found recruiters and employers always seem to be looking for the 100% perfect fit for a given role. Despite the supposed skills shortages, they're simply not prepared to take a chance on someone who fits 85% of the bill and quite frankly it's insulting that they can't see a smart educated person with wide range of experience in front of them who can and will quickly learn the missing 15% on the job. This is why they jerk people around so much, they spin it along for as long as possible without making a final decision in the hope that someone better will come along.

The same old tales get trotted out time and time again, how they've not decided how much to pay, someone is on leave and they can't make the final offer, they have changed their mind, the job is no longer available yada, yada yada. I see it in action every day, managers place advertisements and dither around for weeks and months on end without making a decision and play every delaying tactic and excuse they can, in order not to fill the role until Mr or Ms Right comes along.

Hear hear; my OH went through all this, despite having 20 years experience that knocks most Kiwis into a cocked hat - which is actually part of the problem!

She finds them about 10 years behind in their work practices and notes that they dislike employing anyone who will make them look bad....

[Navyref]

A week ago we (wife and two boys) left New Zealand (Mordor) and arrived back home (England ) after 288 days in Mordor. New Zealand, what a disappointment!!!

I left the UK hoping to settle in New Zealand. We bought the cars, got the boys in school and bought a house - we did the whole lot, but my job turned out to be pants. I took a lower position than I had in the UK (and a huge reduction in salary) because I thought it would be worth it, what the country offered far outweighed the reduction in wage - WRONG - without the dosh you can't afford to do anything in Mordor. My colleagues were around 15 years younger than me and my supervisors were not much older and couldn't manage wiping their own backside. They spoke to juniors (and occasionally me) like they were a piece of dog dirt ...but basically they were just a bunch of feckless, racist kids.

I applied for numerous different jobs to try and improve the situation but didn't even get a sniff of an interview, let alone a reply acknowledging receipt of my cv/application, so we quickly decided to take stock, sell our house (at a profit) and re-group back in the UK where luckily my old job was still available!

We are glad to be back, no more having to listen to that stupid accent! I could go on but I won't because I'll sound bitter. New Zealand wasn't for us, but I'm not saying it won't be for you, but those planning to come out here, please do your home, we did, but not enough!

There's no place like home!

[Kanga]

...but basically they were just a bunch of feckless, racist kids.

<snip>


We are glad to be back, no more having to listen to that stupid accent!

Sorry it didn't work out, glad you've been able to slot back into your life in Blighty but be careful that when making remarks about Kiwis you don't sound a bit like that which you claimed to despise in your work colleagues. It's all to tempting to trash everything about NZ when it doesn't work out as this makes your retreat easier, but remember there's plenty about NZ and living in NZ that is incredible and many happy souls are enjoying life here. Sorry you didn't find it.

[benhila]

"no more having to listen to that stupid accent!"

Rather than pick on one unfortunate remark, I hope that whoever reads Navyref's post does hear the sound warning with regard to work.

Too often immigrants get caught-up in the race for PR and use work as 'means to an end' in the belief that if one job doesn't work out, another will come along. This is often not the case; while as pointed out by many posters, in recession times it is near-impossible to find work anywhere in the world, it is also true that immigrants are (understandably) at a disadvantage when seeking work in NZ. Being stuck in a dead-end job and watching your savings evaporate on a daily basis can be utterly demoralising!

Hila

[Arwen]

Sorry you have had such a hard time of it Navyref. I hope you find peace and happiness back home in Blighty.

[Navyref]

Sorry it didn't work out, glad you've been able to slot back into your life in Blighty but be careful that when making remarks about Kiwis you don't sound a bit like that which you claimed to despise in your work colleagues. It's all to tempting to trash everything about NZ when it doesn't work out as this makes your retreat easier, but remember there's plenty about NZ and living in NZ that is incredible and many happy souls are enjoying life here. Sorry you didn't find it.

Kanga, your signature says it all - hopped the ditch to Oz and now back in NZ again

[Kanga]

Kanga, your signature says it all - hopped the ditch to Oz and now back in NZ again


Sorry, that's too cryptic for me!

If you're interested in why we went to Oz and why we returned I've made some posts in this bit of the forum~ but in a nutshell we have perpetual wanderlust and opportunities came our way at a time when we were in a position to take them :) There's plenty I dislike about NZ but much more I love and there's certainly plenty I love about Australia too, but I don't think it's right for us to live in at the life stage we're in. I don't think I made sweeping critisisms about either when we left though, neither did I blame NZ for what happened to us in our first two years here, which wasn't pretty and will see me eating beans on toast for some years to come!

[benhila]

and will see me eating beans on toast for some years to come!

Isn't the UK the best place for that? :laugh

Hila

[Angelonthemove]

Update for me is, I walked out of the recruitment job as despite filling 4 vacancies they would not pay my commission as they took it off the $300 a week they were paying me for doing the whole office admin, cheap skates!

I have just had a 1st telephone interview for another role that although the pay is low it sounds like a really nice job. Keep you posted. I managed that interview by totally hacking my CV down to suit the role, as I would have normally been disqualified for being over qualified. My cv of 6 pages went down to 3! Something I did learn whilst slaving away in recruitment recently, how they assess your CV.

I'm applying for another role and its taken me 2 days so far to rewrite the whole CV and still not finished. But both roles are direct which is the only way I am going from now on. NO MORE AGENCIES :exit

[andrewp]

Good luck Angel

:cheers

[JandM]

Yes, the best of luck. :nice1

[Arwen]

Best of luck to you Angel. My fingers are crossed. :)

[Leo]

...eating beans on toast for some years to come!

:cheers Wow! A revelation indeed...

I guess I'm not alone... Hopefully, I won't have to downgrade to tap-water and stale bread :wah