[Questor]

Aaahhhhh!!
Needed a rant and people who understand!

We're all about ready to send off our ITA (well take down to London but that's not the point), just waiting on the medicals to come back, hopefully there should be no problems there.

Just had an email from the lady at the recruitment agency saying that there's pretty much no chance of me having a job interview till April at the earliest, seeing as we're not likely to get over to NZ till June
Now this wouldn't be a problem, but we can't go till we sell the house, and we cant put the house on the market till I get a job offer, cos we aren't that brave, and we need the money from the house to help us over.
It's like such a vicious circle!

Combined with that I have to give 8 weeks notice at work, so whatever happens its going to be at least 2 months from getting something sorted to us getting over there anyway - how do all you guys manage it?!

Sorry for the rant, just needed to vent me spleen a bit

(Frustrated) Jon and Catie

[Moorf]

Hi again guys!

Ok, deeeeep breaths.. in.. out... in... out...

Firstly, can you see a way through all this by renting out the house? I know you want to get the dosh from the sale, but you're putting a lot of pressure on yourselves by wanting it all to happen to a tight schedule. You'll have read the problems people are having trying to sell their properties, if you err on the pessimistic side and rent out whilst advertising the sale then you'll have already taken some weight off your shoulders. Can you free up some cash in the meantime to see you through your initial few months in NZ?

Re jobs, unfortunately the agent is probably right in that most people will a) want a firm date for your arrival or be looking for a face to face interview b) many may even state they can't entertain your CV until you are "on the ground" in NZ. Now if you are going to tell them that you will arrive "when your house sells" that isn't going to encourage them to put your forward to their clients for consideration. Not sure how having PR and being out of the country affects their views - perhaps someone else could chip in there?

Can you arrange some holiday to come over for interviews prior to making the move and perhaps commit to one of you coming over whilst the other deals with selling the house? I know a few brave peeps on here have done that, although I don't think it's the nicest solution, being apart from your family at such a time must be stressful.

We took the bull by the horns and "just did it". Not for everyone, but it worked for us.

I can't take away the stress, but perhaps I and others on the forum can help you through and show you alternative ways to sort out the move. And don't forget my offer... it still stands.. whenever it is you turn up!

And aren't you getting married soon?!!

Chin up, it will work out, sometimes you do need to take a few risks.

Take Care
Moorf

[Questor]

Yes - wedding is in 6 and a half weeks - we've really decided that 2006 is gonna be the year!

While I know what she said is sensible, it would be nice to get something sorted so we can get stuff booked and on the way - I suppose I could come over before the house is sold, but I really don't want Catie to have to sort all that stuff.

I think I need wine :)

[GeorgeM]

It all comes down to your risk profile.

If you can't get a job offer before you get here, and you can't get here until you sell your house/give up your job, and you can't face selling up/quitting until you get a job offer from NZ then you're pretty well scuppered. To go forward you need to break out of this circle.

How flexible are you about what you want to do / where you want to live in NZ? If you must do exactly what you're doing now, and must live in a particular place then just selling up and taking the plunge is a risk. If you have a range of things you're prepared to do (including perhaps taking a step down the career ladder from where you are at the moment, or going freelance, or starting up a business of some kind) and are happy to go pretty much to anywhere where the opportunites are then the risks are far fewer and less severe.

It all comes down really to how much you want to be over here - there are risks attached to the move even if everything appears to be working out well for you. If you got a NZ job offer and then gave up your current job you could still end up hating you new job. Or detest the place where the job was located and you ended up living. Or hate so many aspects of NZ (or alternatively of not being in UK) that you just had to go home. At somewhere along the line everyone who has taken the step of coming down here has taken a big leap in the dark and held their breath.

It does appear to work out for most, I would say. For some it doesn't work out and they end up staying, but less happy here than they were there, or just go 'home'.

We went for it and everything fell in place so well that there must have been a guardian angel sitting on each of my shoulders from when we first started thinking about the move until we became settled. But I know that not everyone is that lucky, and so won't just say 'Go for it - it worked for us'.

But we did have a number of fall-back strategies we would have called on if things hadn't gone so well and this, as much as anything else, was what convinced us that the risks had been minimised. It's all that you can do - the move will never be risk free (something that all intending migrants should understand).

[GeorgeM]

Not sure how having PR and being out of the country affects their views - perhaps someone else could chip in there?Even when (with blue stickers firmly in my passport) I told agents the number of the flight I was coming over on and the arrival date they still told me that I needed to be in Chch before they'd look at me.

[Questor]

I'm not worried as such, Pru (the agent) says not to worry, this is how the health people operate and she'll sort it but I'm having one of my paranoid moments! :)

[chips]

As GeorgeM said, you need to break out of the circle.
It is one massive leap of faith. But it can be done . After a long conflab about what we were to do ,we decided on getting NZQA out of the way and the teaching certificate. Then we put the house on the market, well we didn't actually, we sold it to a guy in Church. We were having a chin wag after mass ,and said we were thinking of selling ,and he said he was thinking of buying. He came around to look with a mate (builder ) and off we went. We took a rental till OH got a job offer ,then put in EOI and had medicals ect , PR in 4 weeks.
Oh my , i have given you my life story, but i guess what i am saying is if it is ment to be then it will fall into place.
Take a leap of whatever faith you are , and if the gods , god ,allah, who ever , it will happen, but you need to get the ball rolling


How much do you want this??????

Oh, by the by, it's a wonderful red sky at the moment , 26 degs at 9pm, Lovely.


Go forward. Chips

[willsken]

I agree. You have to take a risk at some point, we are putting the house on the market, giving up our jobs and coming out in September. (hopefully) We will both be jobless and homeless and with 2 little boys in tow this seems like a risk. But I am willing to take this risk as we will be bringing a bit of money to see us through.

Go on put the house on the market.....it will work out fine in the end! ;)

[Cardy]

We tried to play it safe your way as we werent sure we would get pr but with all the problems we have had with house sale ,in hindsight i would have risked it I know what you mean with the interviews but i found when i got there people couldnt do enough for you they just need to see your committed to the move. I got quite a few job offers one employer even payed for my hotel and took me out boozing(felt terrible when i turned the job down) they are still ringing me in UK now which is a good feeling. I,m sure once you have had a few interviews you will feel confident enough to go for it. Good Luck Paul :) :)

[Questor]

Well, the person we bought our house from (private sale) has expressed an interest in buying it back, so we're seriously thinking about letting her have it, and then coming over, even if I don't have a confirmed job - we'll have a bit of money from the house sale so we shouldn't be struggling, not for a few months at least! :)

EDIT: This of course assumes we get at least WTR (which is all we can get as my job needs registration which I can't get till I'm over in NZ)

[willsken]

Go for it! :nice1

You have so much out there waiting for you. Good luck

[Cardy]

Have you thought of doing what i did and flying over for two or 3 weeks for interviews. i just arranged as many as i could over the internet and by phone. a lot of employers just told me to call when i got there and they would see me!! beleive me there really laid back almost horizontal and the ones i saw didnt like suits. I got return flight singapore airways for £430 stayed at kiwi international hotel on queen st (middle of auckland)Near train and bus station cost $62 nz per night own shower and toilet not brill but passable. I hired a car for long journeys that was cheap too. You never know you might get an offer while your there i did in 3 days.
Cheers
paul :nice1

[Rocketman]

As others had said, if you really want to be in NZ then you need to take a risk.

In our case we waited till we had our PR, put the house on the market. I am just about to travel over to NZ first to look for work will my wife stays in the UK to sell the house. As soon as I have work my wife will complete the sale and follow on.

We have decided on this approach as it means that my wife is still employed, i.e. paying mortgage etc. She can do all the selling up etc. However if it all goes wrong, and I have to return, then we still have a house, and at least one job. We will have lost some money and I will need to get a job, but it seems to be the most risk free solution.

If you are considering a similar method, work out which of you will find work easiest arrange interviews and send them over first.

[Rabbit]

We went over for an interview a couple of weeks ago.

We continually looked at the downsides and the potential risks and we found it all scarey.

Then, whilst walking down a street in Wellington we saw a board saying "Do something extraordinary in 2006" - that stuck in our minds, so that helped us to decide, and we are now going.

One of our biggest worries was that we might not like it, so we will rent out the house in the UK for a while.

Some of the taxation rules on pensions and investments scared me, so we are going on 1st April to get the new exemption.

If I did a risk analysis of getting out of bed, or crossing the street, then I might not do that either. But there are also big risks of spending all your life in bed.

Best to look both ways, but at the same time cross the road, when it is safe to do so.

I have been standing on the white lines in the middle of the road for a week or two now, but it is now safe to cross - so we are going for it.

[zardell]

Oh well said Rabbit.

Good luck to you in your new life.

Julie

xx

[westies]

Maybe the best thing would be to put your house on the market now, at least if it sold you would have money to take with you, even if you have to rent this side for a while, it would definately be one huge worry dealt with.

Good luck to you!

[chips]

Another good reason to put it on the market now is to gage interest. From what most people have had to say on here, the market is quite slow ,so the house might not go until well after your hoped departure date.
Go for it peeps!!!
Chips

[Questor]

We've decided to go for it whatever happens, sod the scariness!
Here's hoping she does want to buy the house back, takes one thing out of the equation! :)