[Rob K]

Well, the phone rang 2 days ago, and I was offered a teaching position in Christchurch :eek.

That was a bit sudden, but just what we've been hoping for :nice1 .

Now we have 2-3 months to figure the rest out :uhoh .

First question to this group (of several I anticipate :oops: ):

I was on the internet last night, trying to see what airfare from Vancouver to Chch would be. All I can say from my first glance is:...... :wah

The best price I could find for moving 2 adults, 3 kids, and 1 infant, was just over CAN$10,000. Short of leaving some of the kids behind to fend for themselves here in Canada :exit , there seems to be no way around this. (I wouldn't do that :booby :angel :booby )

Does anybody know of any way to get a more humane 1-way airfare from YVR-CHC? We need to leave sometime between late Dec - early Jan, so don't know if any discount period applies.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated :hopeso ...
:cheers
Rob

[veronica]

I can't help you with cheaper flights from Canada except to say hit the phone and keep trying. I think your main problem is your timing, so many people want to travel to visit family at that time of year it pushes the prices up.

[Diny]

I agree with Veronica, this is one of the most (if not THE most) expensive times of year to travel.

Best advise is to keep looking, phone as many places as you can. Sometimes you can play one off against another but you have to be darn lucky to succeed !!! You'll find that if you're able to move your flights a couple of weeks either way you may well get a better quote.

Good luck.

Diny

[coastcat]

That really is just about the worst time of the year to find cheap airfares anywhere! Is it at all possible for you to go solo to start working, secure housing, etc, and then have the family follow a few weeks later?

[Lily]

Hi
Just a thought - have you tried finding a cheap flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles - then flying LAX to Christchurch - would probably work out a lot cheaper!
I've looked into this myself (but going the other way around - Auckland to LA / then LA to Calgary) and it was much, much cheaper! than the airfairs quoted to fly Auckland to Calgary!
Regards
Lily

[Lil]

A tip: Flight prices on 24th/25th December are relatively normal as not too many folks want to miss out on Xmas day, but if you don't mind missing a few hours of Christmas day you should be able to get a reasonable price. The 23rd is in the peak season, but the 24th is not. Play around with dates on on-line booking sites and see what you can come up with. Some of the same sites that we use are global, so try some sites like Expedia or E-bookers.

[A & M]

Hi Rob

Did you get a teaching job without going over there for an interview? Would be interested to hear about your job search as my husband is currently applying for teaching jobs - at the moment just looking at edgazette everyday. Did you use an agency at all?

thanks, Mandy

[lindajax]

Hi,
Idon't know if it is of any help but I've just booked flights from the uk for 31 Dec and they are significantly cheaper than 4days before and after this date
Hope it helps
Love
Linda xx

[Graham Barnes]

Hi there all you teachers!

For secondary teaching, I would definitely say there is no NEED to use an agency, particularly if you teach one of the shortage subjects. I did 'phone a couple of them (Oasis and Edpersonnel) just to get a feel for the jobs market over there. However you have nothing to lose if you do use them because the school pays for their services, not you; they can also help with your transfer. Most overseas teachers are from the UK, followed by Canada and South Africa; similar systems and curricula makes it a relatively easy switch.
I got two job offers from excellent NZ schools (Physics) pretty easily, and my brother was fighting off the offers a couple of years ago (Biology). Both of us just set up a vacancy alert with www.edgazette.govt.nz (which works very well), and sent CV's+covering letters to attractive schools. Telephone interviews, although I had met up with the Head at the first school (Auckland Grammar) earlier in the year during a holiday over there. The Head of the 2nd school (Dilworth) sent his sons to that school so they knew each other well; I think that helped me get the second offer.
Some schools also advertise in the UK TES-online; worth keeping an eye on that too. Rob's done well to get a job in ChCh :clap ...notoriously difficult to break into the circuit there because it's such a nice city. Would be very interested to know which subject and school??
You get WTR (on the POL) which makes the visa easy too.

The most time-consuming bit is the NZQA application and NZTC registration...this can take a 2-3 months, so you need to get going quickly!
By all means, PM me for details because I've been through the whole process, and it is quite complicated and repetitive; they can also be rather bit pedantic if you don't follow their instructions to the letter. Ruthyroo's hubby also teaches (in Rotorua, I think) so she may be worth contacting too.

BTW, primary teaching is a completely different ballgame...MUCH harder to get in, as NZ has an oversupply for locals to do the job.

Unfortunately, couldn't take up either offer as family matters keep us in the UK for another year or so; but there is an on-going shortage (both quantity and quality) which will come to a head 2006/07 because of rising secondary numbers, so no need to panic for a bit!!

Good luck all,
Graham

[Laurie]

Rob....

I just booked a round trip from Vancouver to Auckland in late January.

The best I could do was $1950cdn and that is with flying Cathay Pacific. Seems to be the best deal....flying by Hong Kong and then on to Auckland.

Tried to get something from LAX to Auckland but prices were close to $2800cdn...Go figure that one...

But anyway...Cathay Pacific seems to be one of the cheapest for air travel to NZ.

Best of luck.
Laurie

[A & M]

Hi Graham,

Thanks for all your info. Andy (husband) has done all the NZQA & teachers council stuff, and is registered as a teacher. He's an economics/accounting/business studies teacher but can do some maths as well so in theory should be able to find something. I've been in contact with Ruth too, she's told us all the pitfalls! There are more jobs on the edgazette every day so obviously the demand is there.

We'll be on the spot from Nov 20th which might make things easier.

Mandy

[Graham Barnes]

Accountancy teacher job going at King's College, Auckland at the moment! If Auckland's your place, you won't get a better place to start teaching in NZ...it's a fantastic school.

[Rob K]

Thanks to all for the airfare advice. We'll be getting on it so far as shopping around and contacting people directly, and playing around with dates etc.

Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong does look like a good option...
:cheers
Rob

[Rob K]

The teaching job I just got is a permanent secondary Mathematics position at Linwood College in Chch.

The whole process turned out to be fairly straightforward, and all happened within the past 2 months, all from here in Canada (we have not yet ever been in NZ).

I first came across the TeachNZ website and read there about the supposed shortage of secondary teachers (which I now observe to be true). This led me to subscribe to the Edgazette, from which I began applying to individual schools, by email.

At some point, I decided to contact school Principals by telephone, because I felt somewhat at a disadvantage applying for jobs from halfway around the world, and so wanted to at least make a personal contact by phone if I couldn't be there in person. This seemed to work well in getting a few other schools interested in me; however, in the end it was a school I had applied to earlier by email only (Linwood) that called me, interviewed me, and offered me a job. The staff at Linwood have been very welcoming, and I'm very happy to have been hired there and to have a chance for us to come and settle in the Chch area.

This was all done with no agent, all from my home in Canada. So, I am glad to report that it can be done this way. In my case, I am a civil engineer and teacher with 6 years of secondary and tertiary Math/Physics/Science experience here in Canada. My NZQA application is still pending, but with a teaching certificate to teach in the province of British Columbia, I understand that approval should only be a matter of time.

A question for Graham: what is WTR/POL?

Good luck to Andy & Graham and all other teachers!
:cheers
Rob

[Graham Barnes]

Secondary teaching is on the Priority Occupations List...a list of trades/professions for which NZ has a national and on-going shortage. This means that an employer does not need to prove to the NZIS that it has tried to find a local to do the job before it can offer it to an overseas applicant...by definition, jobs are on the POL beecause there are not enough NZ-ers willing and able! This means that you can get a Work-to-Residence Visa very easily (and probably quickly); unlike a general work visa, this procedes automatically towards granting of Permanent Residence after two years over there, without needing to count points. With the current level at 100, this is less of an advantage than it was 6-9 months ago, but you never know in 2 years time!!??
As a teacher, you can only get PR when you have full registration; as overseas-trained, you will have provisional registration and it will take you up to 2 years to qualify for an upgrade!

[veronica]

I understood that they are short of civil engineers too so if the teaching isn't to your liking you could probably just switch work visas.