I'm Coming over looking for work!

Rimbo

Hi everyone,
Just thouhgt i would introduce myself.
Firstly, Thanks for all the advice you lot have given. Clapping

Yes, without knowing it You have all helped in some sort of way when i've popped in from time to time and looked at some of the posts you guys have made. So now i've just joined to ask some direct questions. Wink

I have taken the desision to come over and look for work. i have four weeks to do this, perhaps around the 10th September. I have not applied for an EOI. due to a bad education my points tally only comes to 65. with a job offer it raises to 130 (i think). Last year we talked with the emigration group and they said our only way in was to get a firm job ofer first. Then after applying for several jobs i quickly learned that no-one would really entertain me until i was there. So i have made a snap desision to pop over and now i need some quick advice.

Firstly, is it a good investment to leave the wife at home and come out for a month looking for work? or would i be better off doing it from my PC? if i don't succeed, i don't think we'll ever leave. We have some assets in our home, but do we risk it and use this money to come out for a longer period to look for work just like Chrissie asked a couple of months ago?

How is she doing by the way?

I obviously need to re-establish links with Job agencies etc to arrange initial interviews with themselves before proceeding to interviews with employers. But, should i make an application of any sort first? residence, work to residence EOI, it's all very confusing! Confused

I work within IT (Infrastructure Support Team Leader) a jack of all trades and master of none. I only have work experience (15 Years) and no formal work related quals. Should i still look for work in my feild or find other work? (I'll Shovel dog poo for a living as long as i'm outa this place).

Looking at the self asssment form, it appears that working outside Auckland gives you an extra few points. Is this true?

Sorry for the lengthly topic, there are loads more answers i need but i'll leave it there before i bore you to death. Nutcase

John.

Lisa.C · I Like It Here Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 75

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum.

The only point i feel qualified to answer is the part where you ask... should i leave the wife behind and go out and get a job offer?..... If you have the funds this is a good idea, we mused on this possibility ourselves but decided against in the end as we felt it would be a waste of money, we are just going to sell up and go, my partner is a chippie so we know he'l be able to get work, (perhaps someone else on the forum will answer your likelihood of securing work in IT,) for this reason we will go on a visitor visa, secure work then apply for residency, sounds brave but many go out this way Nutcase

Oh yes, i also know that you do get 10 extra points for working out of Auckland.

Good luck John
Lisa

Moorf · Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2004 11:31 pm Post subject:

Hi John

Definitely a good investment going out there and talking to agencies and companies (in fact, go direct to companies first as agencies can be a bit "selective" and choose candidates that have legal right to work there first) (in my opinion! Hmmm

). Any contacts we have made have said "see you when you get here". You can understand why when you realise how many candidates check out jobs in NZ but never actually bother to make themselves available for interview or show commitment by being on the ground in NZ....

Have you checked out the Canterbury Cluster site I posted previously? Good starting point for IT jobs.

http://www.canterburysoftware.org.nz/directory.htm

We leave the UK on 21st Sept so if you are in the Chch area keep in touch and we can perhaps meet up and swap stories / tips! We shall be in NZ for 9 months looking for work - I mean, if we can't find something in 9 mths then we have MAJOR problem!! Uhoh

Moorf

Rimbo · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:12 am Post subject:

Thanks,
Looks like theres lots of brave people out there. My Wife is willing to do the same, just sell up and go over. Problems arise with our son, he's eight and we would not be able to get him into school until we have residency or a work visa (am i right?). Then theres the obvious risks that my wife is brave enough to chance, i'm little more cautious. Give up 2 good jobs, sell the house and cars and furniture etc. Spend a year looking for work and probably spend around £25k or more in rent, food (beer!) and travel. I suppose we would enjoy the experience though.

Am i being too cautious?

Mmmm... I think i'll check out the job front first on my own, this way i may spend about £4-£5k in one month (arnt flights and car hire dear! Eek

) and have a good laugh while i'm there before i commit the family to a nomadic lifestyle looking for work.

Thanks for the offer Moorf, i don't know where i'll be and at what time as yet. I will definatly be looking around Chch though, so maybe we can meet up, i have checked out your link, but not in detail as yet. I know what you mean about the "see you when you get here", i finally stopped applying for jobs last September until we could afford for me to "pop over", i'll have to see if they'll honor there promises of an interview when i tell them i'm coming later this week.

John

Moorf · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:25 am Post subject:

John - we too sold up a big house, got rid of our jobs, cashed in and are taking the risk - what the hell, it will be an adventure... having said that we don't have kids and I don't envy those with children having to make such a decision to "up and leave" - must be 100 times harder.

I believe you can pay for international schools (or similar) if you are over with kids but don't have residence etc - perhaps someone can find the relevant discussion for you?

£4k for one month? Are you staying in the penthouse?!! We found flights for £750 ish, accommodation won't cost much if you go for a motel or such like and as for beer... well I can't comment on your consumption!! Laughing

I would also recommend you seriously think about where you want to be based before you go - otherwise you could spend alot of time and money and effort travelling from city to city and have no focus. Plus, bear in mind that for an EOI you get extra points for getting a job outside of Auckland Wink

.

All the above is purely my own opinion, let common sense prevail!

Helen

Lisa.C · I Like It Here Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 75

Know what you mean on the kids front, we have two.

Our friends went out last year, applied for work visa's after securing work, once they had work visa's they were able to enrol their two kids in school, they went during the summer hols so the kids only missed two weeks of school, so it's possible Yes

I get the feeling you think you won't find work quickly and so i understand your cautious approach, good luck in your job hunting!, fingers crossed

do you have your flights booked?

Lisa

Madhu_India · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:49 am Post subject: go over there

Hi!
i have been going this forum and all your Pm's from quite some time. I also had few talks with recruitment agencies in NZ and few IT companies in NZ. Yes you are right on the point they say "Come over here & we wil see".
As I have talked to few of my friends in NZ, 6-9 weeks will be a good time to get a job, if you are qualified enough and you know what you are doing. Dont worry be positive, go there and you will get what u want. IT is going good there and they need good people.
regards,
madhu

Rimbo · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:59 am Post subject:

I thought with the amount of traveling i'll be doing i will spend alot! It's about (initial enquiries tell me) £700 for a Vectra size car for the month. Don't know the cost of petrol out there so i'm guessing alot of the time.

Just spoke to the emigration group. They tell me not to bother as i don't have any recognised qualifications so my points tally will only get to 100 with a job offer!!!! Eek

Can't belive this so i'm well gutted. Sad

Can i ask what sort of quals you guys have? and where can i find a good accurate self assesment form to get my points?

My problems is i only have work experience and 15 years of it. Last year this was good enough with a letter from ITANZ. So up until now i thought that my points would be good enough, last year you earned extra for being in the IT industry and with a job offer and a letter from ITANZ which apparently is not available anymore. Does anyone know if this is true as i'm now very desparate.

John.

Moorf · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:08 am Post subject:

John it's really hard to advise - from what I gather from your posts your best route would be to go over and see what you can get job-wise... and judge the response you are getting.

Can you be more specific about the sort of job you are looking for and what experience you have?

Re car hire - surely you would be better off not hiring a car and flying between cities instead? If you plan the trip properly and get an itinerary sorted you should be able to do without a car. Flights between Auckland and Chch are approx £80 - 120 return (someone correct me if this has changed!). Or work your way down from Auckland via Wellington on the train? Again, cheap!

If you go to the New Zealand Immigration site http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/Stream/Work/WorkAndLivePermanently/HowDoIApply/ExpressionOfInterest/ you can fill in a points form online and get your score immediately - plus it explains what points you get etc etc. Do you have a HNC or HND? They count....

Lisa.C · I Like It Here Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 75

Hi,
Look don't give up yet, try this site, i THINK that if you have experience but no quals you can be assessed by the NZQA, possibly similar to ITANZ,
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/for-international/qual-eval/index.html
It's worth a look Yes

Lisa

Moorf · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:27 am Post subject:

Unfortunately you can't turn "no qualifications" into qualifications. From what I understood you have nothing that could even be assessed.

Plus, they are quite strict about how they process assessments ( I submitted a pre-assessment form last week).

I don't like to be negative but that's the way it goes with NZQA - plus, once assessed it is up to the NZIS whether they decide it is appropriate for your application or not.

Like Lisa said - don't give up, but be realistic. Lisa - am I missing something - can work experience we assessed as work experience? Would be interested to find that one out!

Cheers
Helen

Lisa.C · I Like It Here Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 75

Moorf you are probably right, you have far more experience at this buisness than i do, i was trying to help but have probably wrongly raised hopes, so accept my apologies for this. Embarassed

Moorf · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:39 am Post subject:

Oh Lisa - I am not an expert at all! I have picked up everything I know from you guys and from reading, and reading and reading!!

Perhaps reality is biting and I am seeing things as they really are now and not as I'd wish them to be Uhoh

but please don't stop posting your thoughts - that's what makes this forum what it is

Nice to hear lots of viewpoints whether good or bad Nice One

Rimbo · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:55 am Post subject:

Yo,
Thanks for your words of advice and encouragement.
Lisa, you did not raise false hopes. i appreciate the fact that your all talking to me and giving some input. even the fact that i can't spell isn't putting you all off!

The question still remains if i should bother coming over or not.

i'll give the the basic run down.

You already know my job title, but basically i lead a team that deals the the PC/Server side of things in our business. We purchase, install and support this equipment. We provide the business with services such as e-mail, internet and the accociated security that goes with such ie Anti-virus, antispam etc.
in the past i have been an operator, technical support analyst to what i am today. I have worked my way through the company i work for without obatining any work qualifications or academic quals such as HND/C BTEC etc. so all my effort to obtain a visa revolves around my work experiance. up until today i thought that the ITANZ body still helped with people like myself. i will check out there website after though.

with the basic points indicator i only score 80 (i think)
with a job offer this rises to 130

this is because i only have the usual school leavers quals, CSE's!

Sad

John

Moorf · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:10 am Post subject:

Does your wife have a qualification or job that is on the Occupation Short List? That is sometimes a way round it.

Have you seen the sort of job you want / are qualified for advertised anywhere? Have you identified an area of NZ where this job is particularly in demand (i.e. for IT jobs we are pretty much limited to Auckland, Wellington and Chch).

Unless there is a recruitment agent on this forum (?) I don't think anyone can answer your question re "should you just go and look for a job" as this is a very personal choice - if you are DETERMINED to live and work in NZ then you will find a way! Nice One

Have you considered talking to London IT recruitment agencies who deal with jobs in NZ? Any contacts you can make are beneficial and you may find a way through via them?