Ant&Eve
14th March 2006, 12:58 PM
We’ve been cruising this forum site since around April 2005, and very helpful it has been as well.
Not entirely sure of the etiquette in terms of posts – so if I’ve transgressed in any way I apologise in advance. We’re now some 9 months into living in New Zealand and overall I’d say we’re 95%+ delighted with the place.
Here’s our time line so far:
March 21 2005: Arrived for job search
May 5: Accepted job offer in Christchurch
May 10: Returned to UK
May 16: Applied for & gained work visa in London (GBP80)
May 18: Submitted & paid for EOI ($240) – claimed 210 points
May 26: EOI selected (from pool for initial screening)
June 10: Back to New Zealand
June 14: Started work in Christchurch
June 18: Invited to apply for Permanent Residency
July 4: Submitted PM application and had initial meeting with immigration in Christchurch ($660)
Sept 5 2005: Gained PM + 2 year returning residents visas
Finding jobs
I work in IT (General Manager), and found the job market here to be incredibly buoyant for job seekers. Firms are finding it very hard to get good staff and so finding an IT job here should present no problems.
Having said that I did find that companies and recruitment agents wouldn’t do much with you unless you were physically here. It really paid off for me being here for 6 weeks to do the job search, attend interviews etc. I had three good offers within 4 weeks of getting here.
Mind you, since we got here my wife has found it hard to get a job. We’re in Christchurch and she is an ex MD. Since there’s only some 350,000 people living here, the market for MD/GM positions is quite small...
CV’s & interviews
My background in the UK & US would mandate that a CV should only ever be 2 pages long. Here it seems a bit more relaxed and if you’ve a few years experience behind you, then 3-4 pages are ok. The interviews I mostly found to be pretty relaxed and informal. There’s quite a lot of behavioral based interviewing here, so it pays to be prepared for that.
Work visa’s
Once I’d accepted a job I looked to apply for a work visa or permit whilst still in New Zealand. I was advised it would take between 4-6 weeks to do this here, but about two weeks in the UK!
So back I came and went to New Zealand House on London. I was given a work visa after about 15 mins!
I’d made sure by careful wording of the job offer and contract, that I could credibly claim the job offer was in an area of both immediate and long term skills shortage. The former meant the employer does not have to do a New Zealand labor market test – namely proving that they had tried to fill the position with New Zealand residents first.
I chose to go the work visa approach rather than just going straight for PM as the PM approach seemed to take longer and my first priority was to get to New Zealand with a job.
EOI & PM
I’d seen a thread on the forum about the number of points claimed, and whether once over the threshold, claiming more points was good or bad. I have a feeling that the more the better. What I can say is that the immigration people I’ve met with have been just great. I was asked “why New Zealand, who do you know here, why Christchurch etc” – nothing difficult and very relaxed. They seemed genuinely pleased that we wanted to come here.
Working and living here
So far it’s great! Informal atmosphere at work, they work hard but do have a better view to work/life balance than in the US & UK I feel. I’ve rented a 10 acre lifestyle block about 20Klms west of Christchurch for $2,000 a month. It takes me 25 minutes to get to work in the morning – which has been a massive improvement on the 1.5+ hours up the M6!
When I started work it was just heading into winter here – generally New Zealand houses are poorly insulated and heated by UK standards – so I’d definitely recommend getting a north facing house with double glazing!
New Zealand Driving license
I took the New Zealand driving test (UK driving license holders only have to take the theory paper) – a multiple choice test of some 40 questions at the local AA center. You can drive on a UK license for 12 months before you need to have a New Zealand license. Having an NZ license I think helps to reduce the cost of insurance.
Kiwis. During my job search and subsequently working & living here, We’ve found the Kiwi’s to be incredibly friendly and helpful. People I’ve met while looking for work here have lent us beds, bed linen, armchairs, crockery, cutlery, towels etc to tide us over until our stuff arrived. We’ve made some great kiwi friends already here.
Removals
We had a five bed house in the UK and decided to pay for a door to door service including packing and unpacking. Without doubt one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. We chose Excess baggage on the UK side and they were just great. A sole use 40 foot container cost us GBP5,300. We arranged the insurance ourselves at 1.38% of estimated value. There was great advice on this site about removal companies and that helped us no end. The folks on this side were a company called The Moving Company and they were fantastic. We had no breakages or damages and the guys were brilliant.
Dogs
Getting our dog here cost us GBP2,000 with a specialist agent called Golden Arrow – again a recommendation from this forum. As he has been microchipped and has a pet passport – there are no quarantine requirements, all we had to do was keep him in the house grounds for the first 30 days. So far I think New Zealand is not as dog friendly as the UK, or maybe they just have a different view of dogs – more working dogs than pets. Other than really crappy little designated dog exercise areas – it’s hard to find places where you can walk the dogs off the lead. So we a) use the beaches north of Christchurch (which are great and usually empty) or b) ignore the signs and hope an exaggerated pommy accent will get us out of any trouble.
The great things about New Zealand are:
Compared to the UK, there is on average 14 people per square kilometer here verses 250+ in the UK. The low population density (New Zealand has about a 10% larger land mass than the UK) and physical isolation are for me two defining characteristics of New Zealand. It’s far away from many of the problems in the world and for me, that feels great. If you love the outdoors this place is just about heaven – New Zealand has big scenery and lots of it; & providing you’re not in the main tourist places, you’ve pretty much got it to yourself. The hunting and fishing are world class – I’ve been fly fishing on the Tekapo river – one of the most productive trout rivers in the world – and not seen another soul. My hunting permit from the Department of Conservation gives me access to hundreds of thousands of acres of deer stalking – and it cost me nowt.
The downsides of New Zealand is:
It’s the most physically isolated place on the planet pretty much – it’s a long way from home. For some folks I can well imagine that being so far away and cut off from things could become an issue for them. It’s easy to become ignorant and uncaring about current issues, even isolationist (Iraq…where’s that then?).
Cost of living: Wages are generally I think lower than in the UK and although I think the cost of living is less, I get the feeling that at the end of the day you’re probably about the same if not a tad poorer here.
Driving: Kids being able to drive at 15 and boy racers (hoons) driving like idiots. Driving about (at least down here in Christchurch!) is “slower” than in the UK and people just don’t have that razor sharpness that you get from the daily UK commute! There’s also the “give way rule” whereby if you’re turning left and there’s another car coming from the opposite direction turning right, then they have priority. Also to be wary of is drivers changing lanes – here a car indicating for three seconds to move into your lane has priority, unlike the UK. Roundabouts and kiwi drivers are not two natural bedfellows, there’s a lot of hesitation and confusion over indicating.
Crime: There is crime here and drug issues although I don’t feel there is the same degree of random violence there is in UK towns and cities on a Friday/Saturday night.
The wind! Being in the “roaring forties” you rarely have a day without wind, and boy it can really blow sometimes! A “Nor Wester” can set in for days and blows hot (coming off Australia) and hard. A Southerly can really drop the temperature (there’s a reason why the Antarctic bases are supplied from New Zealand – it’s not that far away!). You a) learn to go with the weather, b) learn to love a windless day and c) take plenty of layers whatever the season!
The sun. With a thin ozone layer New Zealand has the “sun power” of somewhere 1klm higher in altitude and some 450klm north. The sun is really strong here and New Zealand has one of the highest incidences of skin cancer in the world – so you have to get used to putting on sunscreen.
We’re loving it here, we love the space, the lack of crowding, the empty roads, the scenery, fishing, camping, tramping, the friends we’ve made….Overall, it’s 99% bloody fantastic (for us)! Whether in another 9 months we’ll still feel that way I don’t know (I’m pretty sure we’ll still feel that way).
Kiwi – UK translations ;-)
Heaps – lots
Wee – a little, small
Cocky – farmer
Loopies – Townies
Good as gold – Great
Ripped – Pleased
Stoked - Pleased
Chooks – Hens
Dag – Comedian, funny person
Chilly bin – Cool box
Bach – Holiday home
Crib – Southland speak for Bach
Crook – Sick (feeling a wee crook)
Gumboots, Gummies – Wellingtons
Hard case – Joker, comedian
Hottie – Hot water bottle
Jandals – Flip flops
Bring a plate – Bring some food
Mountain oysters – Sheep’s testicles
Other side – Australia
West Island – Australia
No worries – Not a problem
Rellies – Relatives
Mates rates – Special price
That’s it I think. Good luck! - Ant & Eve
Not entirely sure of the etiquette in terms of posts – so if I’ve transgressed in any way I apologise in advance. We’re now some 9 months into living in New Zealand and overall I’d say we’re 95%+ delighted with the place.
Here’s our time line so far:
March 21 2005: Arrived for job search
May 5: Accepted job offer in Christchurch
May 10: Returned to UK
May 16: Applied for & gained work visa in London (GBP80)
May 18: Submitted & paid for EOI ($240) – claimed 210 points
May 26: EOI selected (from pool for initial screening)
June 10: Back to New Zealand
June 14: Started work in Christchurch
June 18: Invited to apply for Permanent Residency
July 4: Submitted PM application and had initial meeting with immigration in Christchurch ($660)
Sept 5 2005: Gained PM + 2 year returning residents visas
Finding jobs
I work in IT (General Manager), and found the job market here to be incredibly buoyant for job seekers. Firms are finding it very hard to get good staff and so finding an IT job here should present no problems.
Having said that I did find that companies and recruitment agents wouldn’t do much with you unless you were physically here. It really paid off for me being here for 6 weeks to do the job search, attend interviews etc. I had three good offers within 4 weeks of getting here.
Mind you, since we got here my wife has found it hard to get a job. We’re in Christchurch and she is an ex MD. Since there’s only some 350,000 people living here, the market for MD/GM positions is quite small...
CV’s & interviews
My background in the UK & US would mandate that a CV should only ever be 2 pages long. Here it seems a bit more relaxed and if you’ve a few years experience behind you, then 3-4 pages are ok. The interviews I mostly found to be pretty relaxed and informal. There’s quite a lot of behavioral based interviewing here, so it pays to be prepared for that.
Work visa’s
Once I’d accepted a job I looked to apply for a work visa or permit whilst still in New Zealand. I was advised it would take between 4-6 weeks to do this here, but about two weeks in the UK!
So back I came and went to New Zealand House on London. I was given a work visa after about 15 mins!
I’d made sure by careful wording of the job offer and contract, that I could credibly claim the job offer was in an area of both immediate and long term skills shortage. The former meant the employer does not have to do a New Zealand labor market test – namely proving that they had tried to fill the position with New Zealand residents first.
I chose to go the work visa approach rather than just going straight for PM as the PM approach seemed to take longer and my first priority was to get to New Zealand with a job.
EOI & PM
I’d seen a thread on the forum about the number of points claimed, and whether once over the threshold, claiming more points was good or bad. I have a feeling that the more the better. What I can say is that the immigration people I’ve met with have been just great. I was asked “why New Zealand, who do you know here, why Christchurch etc” – nothing difficult and very relaxed. They seemed genuinely pleased that we wanted to come here.
Working and living here
So far it’s great! Informal atmosphere at work, they work hard but do have a better view to work/life balance than in the US & UK I feel. I’ve rented a 10 acre lifestyle block about 20Klms west of Christchurch for $2,000 a month. It takes me 25 minutes to get to work in the morning – which has been a massive improvement on the 1.5+ hours up the M6!
When I started work it was just heading into winter here – generally New Zealand houses are poorly insulated and heated by UK standards – so I’d definitely recommend getting a north facing house with double glazing!
New Zealand Driving license
I took the New Zealand driving test (UK driving license holders only have to take the theory paper) – a multiple choice test of some 40 questions at the local AA center. You can drive on a UK license for 12 months before you need to have a New Zealand license. Having an NZ license I think helps to reduce the cost of insurance.
Kiwis. During my job search and subsequently working & living here, We’ve found the Kiwi’s to be incredibly friendly and helpful. People I’ve met while looking for work here have lent us beds, bed linen, armchairs, crockery, cutlery, towels etc to tide us over until our stuff arrived. We’ve made some great kiwi friends already here.
Removals
We had a five bed house in the UK and decided to pay for a door to door service including packing and unpacking. Without doubt one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. We chose Excess baggage on the UK side and they were just great. A sole use 40 foot container cost us GBP5,300. We arranged the insurance ourselves at 1.38% of estimated value. There was great advice on this site about removal companies and that helped us no end. The folks on this side were a company called The Moving Company and they were fantastic. We had no breakages or damages and the guys were brilliant.
Dogs
Getting our dog here cost us GBP2,000 with a specialist agent called Golden Arrow – again a recommendation from this forum. As he has been microchipped and has a pet passport – there are no quarantine requirements, all we had to do was keep him in the house grounds for the first 30 days. So far I think New Zealand is not as dog friendly as the UK, or maybe they just have a different view of dogs – more working dogs than pets. Other than really crappy little designated dog exercise areas – it’s hard to find places where you can walk the dogs off the lead. So we a) use the beaches north of Christchurch (which are great and usually empty) or b) ignore the signs and hope an exaggerated pommy accent will get us out of any trouble.
The great things about New Zealand are:
Compared to the UK, there is on average 14 people per square kilometer here verses 250+ in the UK. The low population density (New Zealand has about a 10% larger land mass than the UK) and physical isolation are for me two defining characteristics of New Zealand. It’s far away from many of the problems in the world and for me, that feels great. If you love the outdoors this place is just about heaven – New Zealand has big scenery and lots of it; & providing you’re not in the main tourist places, you’ve pretty much got it to yourself. The hunting and fishing are world class – I’ve been fly fishing on the Tekapo river – one of the most productive trout rivers in the world – and not seen another soul. My hunting permit from the Department of Conservation gives me access to hundreds of thousands of acres of deer stalking – and it cost me nowt.
The downsides of New Zealand is:
It’s the most physically isolated place on the planet pretty much – it’s a long way from home. For some folks I can well imagine that being so far away and cut off from things could become an issue for them. It’s easy to become ignorant and uncaring about current issues, even isolationist (Iraq…where’s that then?).
Cost of living: Wages are generally I think lower than in the UK and although I think the cost of living is less, I get the feeling that at the end of the day you’re probably about the same if not a tad poorer here.
Driving: Kids being able to drive at 15 and boy racers (hoons) driving like idiots. Driving about (at least down here in Christchurch!) is “slower” than in the UK and people just don’t have that razor sharpness that you get from the daily UK commute! There’s also the “give way rule” whereby if you’re turning left and there’s another car coming from the opposite direction turning right, then they have priority. Also to be wary of is drivers changing lanes – here a car indicating for three seconds to move into your lane has priority, unlike the UK. Roundabouts and kiwi drivers are not two natural bedfellows, there’s a lot of hesitation and confusion over indicating.
Crime: There is crime here and drug issues although I don’t feel there is the same degree of random violence there is in UK towns and cities on a Friday/Saturday night.
The wind! Being in the “roaring forties” you rarely have a day without wind, and boy it can really blow sometimes! A “Nor Wester” can set in for days and blows hot (coming off Australia) and hard. A Southerly can really drop the temperature (there’s a reason why the Antarctic bases are supplied from New Zealand – it’s not that far away!). You a) learn to go with the weather, b) learn to love a windless day and c) take plenty of layers whatever the season!
The sun. With a thin ozone layer New Zealand has the “sun power” of somewhere 1klm higher in altitude and some 450klm north. The sun is really strong here and New Zealand has one of the highest incidences of skin cancer in the world – so you have to get used to putting on sunscreen.
We’re loving it here, we love the space, the lack of crowding, the empty roads, the scenery, fishing, camping, tramping, the friends we’ve made….Overall, it’s 99% bloody fantastic (for us)! Whether in another 9 months we’ll still feel that way I don’t know (I’m pretty sure we’ll still feel that way).
Kiwi – UK translations ;-)
Heaps – lots
Wee – a little, small
Cocky – farmer
Loopies – Townies
Good as gold – Great
Ripped – Pleased
Stoked - Pleased
Chooks – Hens
Dag – Comedian, funny person
Chilly bin – Cool box
Bach – Holiday home
Crib – Southland speak for Bach
Crook – Sick (feeling a wee crook)
Gumboots, Gummies – Wellingtons
Hard case – Joker, comedian
Hottie – Hot water bottle
Jandals – Flip flops
Bring a plate – Bring some food
Mountain oysters – Sheep’s testicles
Other side – Australia
West Island – Australia
No worries – Not a problem
Rellies – Relatives
Mates rates – Special price
That’s it I think. Good luck! - Ant & Eve