[leigh31]

Hello everyone!

It's my first time posting here, and I'm so happy I found this site! It's nice to know there are other people in similar situations out there.

Here's my NZ story:
My bf and I moved to Auckland from the US 2 months ago. We both were in need of an adventure, and so we signed up for year long work permits (that can be extended to at least 2 years or longer, if we want). In my early twenties, I had done the same thing, but in London. It was the best experience, to date. So I thought, why not try NZ? It certainly couldn't be a bad expereince...

We easily found a furnished, reasonably priced one bedroom in Auckland. My bf quickly got a job as a bartender and working in a brewery (the latter is his dream job).

Me, on the other hand, not so lucky. When I went to work in London, I quickly got an entry level job at the BBC. When I returned to the US, I landed a job at the Discovery Channel. I've been working for the Discovery Channel for the last 9 years - the last 6 as an Associate Producer, making shows for the network.
Before I left Discovery, I did my homework. I got in touch with a tv exec at TVNZ, and they gave me the names of 8 contacts down here.

So i figured it couldn't be that hard getting a job in Auckland. I was willing to start entry level. I was willing to get paid next-to-nothing. I just wanted to stay in TV - even if it was a receptionist for a tv company. So once I settled in, I started emailing and calling the contacts. Only two of the eight responded to me. They both wanted to schedule meetings with me. Sounds easy, right? Not so much...

Getting either one of them to commit to a meeting was a job in itself! No responses to my emails...I had to keep bugging them. Finally, I met them both at seperate times. The one woman said she wanted to collaborate with me, and fly me down to Dundin the second week of July for a business meeting. Needless to say, I was really happy. We said we would touch base at the beginning of July. Since then, I have emailed twice and called once. No response, other to talk to her assistant who said she's in Dundin. :confused:

The other woman said she, too, was interested in collobrating, but was waiting for funding. We've kept in touch, but nothing has come of it.

So I moved on. I started with the "creative" employment agencies. I met with a woman named Louise. Very nice. She used to work in TV, so she gave me the name of some friends and colleagues for me to contact.

I emailed them all immediately. Most of them ignored me (which I find to be a very common work place response in NZ...that and not returning calls). One did write me back, immediately. She wanted to set up a time for us to meet. She asked me to call her at her office on Monday to set up a time on Tuesday or Wed to meet. It's been 4 voicemails, 3 emails, and 4 weeks. She never responded again. She completely blew me off. I asked her friend, Louise, what to do, and she said - keep calling her. So I finally got her on the phone. She told me she would email me, because she's "still really keen on meeting". It's been a week. No email.

I mean, I've applied for probably close to 50 positions here - below my skill level, right at my skill level, above my skill level - nothing. I think I've gone on 3 interviews. (not counting temp agencies) After one interview, I emailed her assistant so I could get an address for a thank you letter - no response.

I had one woman email me to say she didn't get my entire resume, could I resend? I resent it, and then I emailed her to say, "could you please confirm that you received the resume?" and no response. I'm just absolutely shocked by the lack of professionalism in the workplace here. I go back forth between being really mad and really sad! :mad:

Anyway...I'm temping at the moment. My current job has been so nice to me, and I like seeing another side of Auckland's work place! But this temp job is only 3 weeks long, and I worry about what's going to happen once it's over.

Sorry for the ramble, just wanted to share my experience. I hope nobody else has had such bad luck here in NZ. :)

Best of luck to everyone!
Leigh

[katandbob]

hi Leigh, welcome, and I am sure that there are plenty of people who know just how your are feeling.

It seems that the TV/Media areas are really backward here....but dont give up, keep trying, and hopefully you will get some response.

Have you gone to these studios...and knocked on their doors?

Sometimes being upfront works any way I just wanted to say welcome and hope you get some good news soon.

Kat

[Smiler]

Hi Leigh

Welcome to the forum. :cheers

It does sound like you are having an extraordinarily tough time of it. I think they should be jumping to grab you with all your experience. :confused:

Like Kat, the only thing I could suggest is physically knocking on their doors, not easy but harder to refuse you when you're standing there?

Oh and OH has just suggested this, have you done your CV NZ stylie?

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

[Koen]

Its not only Tv/media where this happends believe me.

[leigh31]

Thanks for the warm welcome & advice! I have reworked my CV - kiwi-style - but I'm pretty sure most of the kiwi employers see right through it! (meaning, I think they figure out pretty quickly that I don't have any NZ work experience).
I can't figure out if it's a creative-field thing, a foreigner thing, or both! From other stories I've heard, it seems to happen to a lot of us transplants. :(

I've also cold-emailed & called a couple of production companies (that's the closest I've come to knocking on doors). About a quarter of the people responded, but it was mostly, "we'll keep your CV on file."

I tried branching out to other fields....when I first started at Discovery I worked for a couple of years in advertising sales. So I thought maybe that experience would translate? I mean...there is always tons of advertising & sales jobs listed on seek.co.nz. But, that hasn't worked yet, either. :confused:

I just wish companies here would give you some kind of feedback. Or at least have the common courtesy to say - "you didn't get the job." Most times I never hear anything back. I hate the lack of closure.

I'm temping for Air NZ in their PR dept now. It's pretty good...no complaints, other than it's going to end in mid-August! I also started making my own jewelry in hopes of selling it at the local craft markets here. If nothing else, it's a creative outlet.

If my bf didn't love his job, I would go travel & head home to get a job doing what I love.
I keep thinking my luck has to change soon. I'll keep applying for jobs, but I'm not holding out hope, anymore.
:)
Thanks again!
Leigh

[Smiler]

Hi Leigh

We haven't experienced the lack of enthusiasm here (yet) as OH came with a job offer but I know it would make me very despondent. There's nothing more frustrating than a lack of feedback or the courtesy to respond to an enquiry. I agree with you on the lack of closure, it gives me ulcers! Grrrrrr

Just another thought...........have you tried listing your jewelry on trade me or ebay.com.au. I'm not sure of the market here, but in the UK it seems to be snapped up. Good luck. :nice1

[Marco]

And I have similar experiences here in Wellington - trying to find anything suitable in the broad range of Office Management with a focus on PR and/or Communications, but also experienced in Finance and HR.

So, it seems we all have some problems in certain areas of the business.

Regards,
Anita

[wilson182]

I had no problems initially with my job in Christchurch, as it was through an agency and they had waited so long for the right person to come along they pretty much bit my hand off. However, we have now moved to Ranigora and I would like to get a job locally. I have to say I have had exactly the same experience, ie, getting no response. I keep saying to my OH, its not the fact that I havent got the job, its the fact they cant be bothered to tell me. I think I have applied for 5 jobs so far and only two of them have bothered to write to me to say I havent been successfull, and only then after about 4 weeks (and one of those was with a flipping emigration agency!!!) I am not even getting interviews, so in keeping with your remark about us foreigners (this issue had not escaped my attention either), I have applied for a job yesterday (which I have more than enough quals and experience for) BUT I have completely erased (sp) all mentions of the fact that I am English. It will be interesting to see if I get an interview this time.

[Marco]

Hi,
But how can you send a CV without anyone noticing you are English or me being Dutch?
All my experience is in The Netherlands, so it is very obvious I am Dutch (also my name gives them the hint). My first job I got via an agency - they had problems finding someone for that particular role. After a week I understood why and after three months I resigned.

And then I started to encounter the problems we are talking about here.

Anita

[leigh31]

I don't know whether to be relieved or sad that I'm not alone! :confused:

Regardless, thanks for sharing your stories, too!

I thought the same exact thing - about erasing all mention of U.S. or U.K. based jobs. When I first got to NZ, I didn't have any mention of what countries I've worked in because it wouldn't fit on my 1 page resume (1 page is the most preferrable in the U.S.). I got the majority of my 3 interviews, at that point. (3 interviews..so sad it's funny!) :laugh

When none of those jobs panned out, I went to that "creative" employment agency I mentioned. They told me to make my CV 2 pages (with work history back to my teenage years!! For pete's sake, I worked at the mall! I didn't include it) She also told me to put the location of where I worked...that it might "confuse potential employers if it wasn't on there". Well, now that I look back - it's the only way I got my foot in the door -by confusing people!! :D

I was on this very site a week ago, and someone was talking about having a frank conversation with an employment agency, and they told her something to the effect of, people here want NZ work experience...and that other country experience sometimes works against you. So I immediately updated my CV!! I took out all mention of the U.S. Since then, I've gotten 2 positive responses from potential employers. Strangely, one called me today, and talked me OUT of coming in for an interview. She said that I would "be bored in the job, and you have too much experience for it". I tried to fight her on it, and said how interested I was, but she seemed unsure. She said it's "probably better suited for a recent grad"...Hmmm...well, why did you call me then?!?!?! :confused:

But I will say...at least she called!!!!

Anyway...let me know what the response is, after you update your resume! And Anita...maybe a name change? (just kidding!) I've thought about the name thing, too. My name is relatively generic, but I wondered if somehow the potential employees knew I wasn't a kiwi by my name.....

[beeline]

hi leigh, i'm so sorry to hear about your trouble finding work -- i can't imagine how frustrating that must be. i'm american also and headed over in about 3 weeks with my so. luckily i am going for a job because your stories are scaring me! it strikes me as kind of a strange cultural thing. when i talked to a friend of a friend who has lived in wellington for 6 years he said that everyone is really "laid back" but in a bad way because it means that things often just don't get done or don't get done well. as he put it, you don't want your bank or utilities company to be "laid back." the fact that you're getting no response at all seems like it might stem from that same kind of thing.

anyway, good luck to you. i hope you get some more responses soon. keep us posted and let us know if any of your idea work!

[wilson182]

Just as a follow up from my contributions to this thread.....


I have now managed to secure a job in Rangiora:D The basic consensus is that Rangi is a large community with a small industry and every job is hotly fought over. I was chatting to my new employer about this and she said that she was inundated with replies to her vacancy and we all basically had the skills she was looking for, it came down to personality and who she felt would fit in with her office. She gave me great feedback though and said that my covering letter was not the best, it was a basic letter about moving to Rangi and what I could do, but I dont think I had spent enough time "selling" myself. She said that she had recently had her CV professionally done, and she had to include a personal statement which she spent hours over, she commented that for all the CV's she had received not one of them had a personal statement.

My other observation is that Kiwi employment agencies suck big time..... Once I had handed in my notice at my old job, they employed a temp to cover the gap between my leaving and my replacement starting. She is a great girl with bags of intelligence and common sence, more than capable to doing Admin with Managerial experience thrown in (and a kiwi) and she was having exactly the same problem as us. Including people not even bothering to reply..... I told my new boss about this and his response was "how rude" and I have to agree, but I think it is pretty much the norm here.