[Howie]

This is getting real!! We just got back from 10 days in NZ where we had some interviews and got a feel for both Auckland and Christchurch. Auckland was smaller than expected, Christchurch was bigger than expected, but we enjoyed both and can see ourselves living in either city. I think our interviews went well, but no firm job offers yet (we just got back yesterday). Everyone we met with was great and they seemed really interested in hiring us. I am a traffic engineer an there seems to be a lot of work for me. The problem is that I really want to go to school, but just haven't found any funding yet, so figure I might have to work for a while. I was very upfront about this with potential employers. My husband is an aerospace engineer and it's really not a good time for him to be looking for work in NZ. He also interviewed for some jobs slightly out of his field. The big problem is that his best chances for a job are in Hamilton and I really want to study in Christchurch.
Jobs aside, we are really excited about moving to NZ. We had huge expectations before our visit and I'm afraid we had sort of idealized the place, so our expectations weren't entirely met. The people were great though, the country beautiful and we felt much more at home there than we do here in the US. We are actually Canadian and I think overall the NZ culture is similar to Canada. Oh, and driving on the left is hard, but we started to get the hang of it.
I'm not sure why, but we both got the feeling that the employers we met with were being overly optimistic with us. Although they said they would be writing us up job offers, or just checking our references, we weren't positive that anything was going to come of it. I'm curious what other people's experiences have been. Should we really be expecting job offers? Should we be aggressively following up? Or should we just sit back and wait (after a quick thank you note)?
We submitted our ITA just before we left for our trip, although we were still waiting for our police reports. Our FBI report has since arrived, but we're still waiting for one from the RCMP. If job offers do arrive shortly, are we crazy to think that we could receive PR and move down by February?

[Smiler]

Hi Howie

Good to hear you enjoyed your visit and like it here.

Given your doubts about the job offers, how about sending the companies a little mail, saying thanks for seeing me bla blah, look forward to hearing from you. Just remind them of your circumstances and interest.

We did find that you had to be hmm proactive, in following stuff up sometimes, otherwise people can be much more laid back than we are used to.

Are you applying through the US or UK for your visa? We got our PR visa in less than a week once the job offer hit the mat, NZIS in London. :clap

I'm not sure how you get over the Hamilton-Christchurch problem though :D


Deborah

[Jimbo Logo]

Glad you enjoyed your visit and are still keen to come here. From one Canuck to another, I understand exactly what you mean about the similarities of the Kiwi & Canadian cultures. I noticed many myself...and I'm convinced that a high percentage of NZers have an affinity for Canada and Canadians (I have a theory that part of the affinity springs from both cultures developed in proximity to a more populace, robust and self-admiring culture. Kiwis like the Scots, too!). :nice1

Anyway, Howie, I wonder if you could help me. I'm about to send away for my RCMP security clearance, but I don't know how much it cost? Could you tell me how much it is (in CDN$--I still have an RBC account)? As well, did you apply for it through the mail, or did you travel up in person? How long have you been waiting?...and anything else you can think of to tell me about it :laugh

As for the February idea--I don't see any reason why, once you inform NZIS that you have jobs lined up, they can't decide on your case immediately...although, I'm curious; I did all my Visa/Permit stuff here, and they took my passport along with the applications, so when the V/P's came back they were already pasted into my pp. How will this work with you? Will you have to send your passports to the NZ Embassy with your employment offer?

[Diny]

Kiwis like the Scots, too! :nice1




I can think of a couple off the top of my head who certainly don't !!!!!! but hey - I'm just being devilish.

Good luck with everything Howie - and welcome to the forum.

Diny

[Jimbo Logo]

I can think of a couple off the top of my head who certainly don't !!!!!!

You're right Diny...I should watch that old soldier, Major-General Issayshen, eh?

Ya wee devil ;)

[Howie]

Could you tell me how much it is (in CDN$--I still have an RBC account)? As well, did you apply for it through the mail, or did you travel up in person? How long have you been waiting?
I did all my Visa/Permit stuff here, and they took my passport along with the applications, so when the V/P's came back they were already pasted into my pp. How will this work with you? Will you have to send your passports to the NZ Embassy with your employment offer?

Hi Jimbo.
Here's the info about the RCMP police check."The processing fee is 25.00$CAN or 18.00$US, and is payable to the "Receiver General for Canada" by certified cheque or money order. Payments by credit card are not accepted.
The processing fee is in addition to the fee you may have to pay to have your fingerprints taken. "
We've been waiting about 5 or 6 weeks now for it to come back. As for the passports, so far they have only asked for certified copies of our passports. I guess we'll have to send them away to London at some point. Our application is being processed through the London office.
Susan

[Diny]

Hey no worries, I'm English so the people I mention dislike me even more !!!!!

Diny

[Hannah]

Howie quoted: "I'm not sure why, but we both got the feeling that the employers we met with were being overly optimistic with us. Although they said they would be writing us up job offers, or just checking our references, we weren't positive that anything was going to come of it. I'm curious what other people's experiences have been. Should we really be expecting job offers? Should we be aggressively following up? Or should we just sit back and wait (after a quick thank you note)?"

My OH's experience has been similar - employers shown lots of enthusiasm, interest etc. and he's heard nothing yet. We've been told this may be 'kiwi time' operating but it's frustrating. Having been involved in recruitment myself i'm used to getting on with it and, once you have found someone you want you sort things out before they go off and accept another job. My OH has walked away from a couple of interviews thinking 'i've got a job' and then heard nothing. We're in NZ, so things should be easier, but we get the feeling that needing to apply for a work permit is putting employers off. maybe it's easier once you have PR (but we need jobs to get PR - AHHHHH!!!)

[clg]

Things can go slow here. I was offered my original job 2 hours after the interview, I then applied for another job after a few months in the same organization and it took 3 weeks to hear something. Turns out one person, that had to sign off, was running behind. Also, don't forget this time of year things really start to slow down we had 2 hour lunch yesterday followed by 'team building' in a pub!

[ruthyroo]

I applied for two jobs in NZ, one was with a council, the other with a University. The council got in touch the day after the closing date, arranged a telephone interview for the next week, then offered me the job within 24 hours of the interview. The Uni (when I contacted them) were looking at drawing up a shortlist for interview within a month of the closing date, setting up interviews and flying people out a month after that, and maybe making a decision the month after the interviews.... that is sloooooooooooow!

If you are interested and there seemed to be a genuine offer then follow it up yourself. Kiwis are very laid back, and I haven't always found levels of 'service' as high as elsewhere - there's not much of a sense of immediacy and people can take a while to get round to doing things. And while it's normal to them - it's frustrating to you.

[Hannah]

Hi Ruthyroo, re your advice to follow employers up - would you suggest that is that generally ok in NZ? ie. they won't assume we are being pushy?
In UK it's generally thought that you shouldn't hassle potential employers and wait for them to contact you (and i must admit that when i am dealing with recruitment at work i've been really bugged when people keep ringing me chasing things up before vacancy deadlines have expired!).
We were not sure what the score is here so have held off following up after interview....

[ruthyroo]

I don't think a polite enquiry as to when a decision is likely to be made would be seen to be being pushy - especially if you need the job offer to proceed with visa / PR applications.

Good luck!

[Jimbo Logo]

Howie...Thanks for the info re:RCMP sec/check!