IT Job Market Questions

Lincoln Imp · Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:38 am Post subject: IT Job Market Questions

Okay, first big post on the forums so Hello to you all....

My wife, 2 girls (13, 15) and I are contemplating taking the plunge and emigrating to NZ...maybe in 1 year but possibly in 2 1/2 years time.

We're thinking of emigrating for a number of reasons (weather, quality of life, nothing to really keep us in UK, challenge, weather, skiing, beach, did I mention weather, locally produced wine, crime, pollution, weather - still)

I'm currently in IT and have an MCSA:Security and MCSE:Security (both on Win2K) and the CompTIA Security+ qual. ( I also have a UK Higher National Certificate in Computing but although worth 50 points on the NZIS scorecard it probably won't mean too much to a Kiwi employer). I've experience of hardware and software, anything from Win95 standalones to Win2K networks, web site updates to web site design, customer handholding to IT sales (I'm sure you get the picture). I've also had experience of providing IT support and tuition on a formal and informal basis whilst serving in the Royal Air Force (23 years). I'm just about to take on a new role, running an IT helpdesk (team of 4 engineers and an administrator) with a view to growing the department and eventually selling an IT Support product both into the existing client base and pushing it to new clients. I'm hoping that the job will give me some great experience, technical and business, that will stand me in good stead for my intended move.

What I'm after knowing is any first hand information about the IT employment market; I would like to know what levels of pay I could expect to earn in NZ, from junior desktop support roles to network admin. I know IT is on the Occupational Shortage List but is it likely to remain so? Are there definite areas that we should avoid when trying to decide where to settle? Has anyone on the forums gone into IT (North Island, Napier or Hamilton - we think, maybe perhaps :) and can they tell me anything about their experiences? Does anyone have experience of carpet-bombing his or her CV to IT recruiters in NZ (and what type of response did they get?).

If we decide to move across I would not want to start off in a high pressure role but would prefer to start off in a relatively junior level job (Chairman of IBM NZ can wait, a desktop support tech role will be fine, got to get used to the country/weather/distance/lifestyle etc etc etc) We should be able to take £100K - £130K in capital with us and I have an £8K p/a pension so we should be able to keep the wolf from the door financially. How do these finances stack up with the average wage for a junior IT role? Will they suffice for a family of 4 or do we need to rethink? (We're not living the high life here and don't expect to become landed gentry in NZ, just want a 'normal' job with a decent standard of living).

As with most of the people that post to this forum I'm more than happy to have the bad news as well as the good - I know that whilst the grass may appear greener it might not taste any better. Any personal experience, professional advice, general comments, free flight ticketswill be most generously appreciated.

Lisa. · Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:27 am Post subject: Welcome

Hi & welcome.

I'm sorry, i don't know much about IT, but there are people on this forum who should be able to help you, i just wanted to extend a warm welcome Yes

good luck with your research, i'm sure your post will be answered by one of the many good people at this forum soon. Yes

Lisa

markkellaway · Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:31 am Post subject:

Hi, this is just a ball park, and applies more to the South Island as that's where I've been looking, but I've been told that $40k is a realistic level for support roles, support managers could probably expect $70k (I'm looking at that type of level for product management). You'll be taking the same kind of cash as us plus your pension, which is going to be worth $22k ish per annum.

We intend to spend around $350k on a house (4 bed, 200 sq. m, 900 sq. mtr. plot, double garage etc.) and have a small $130k mortgage so we can keep some cash in the bank. We've done the sums (have some friends who did the same 6 months ago) and figure that we'll be able to have a pretty good standard of living on that type of income so you should be fine on your salary plus pension.

One thing though, don't sell yourself short. All the advice I've had is that junior positions tend to be filled from NZ nationals, it's the experienced people they are having trouble attracting. With your history I'm sure you'd have no problem getting an offer. If you do want to go for a junior position you should make sure your CV looks like a junior persons CV, I'd aim higher though.

Not sure about the North Island as I've centered my efforts around Christchurch but I would think the larger areas far outweigh the others for jobs (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch). House prices around Auckland are higher I believe, not sure about the rest of the North Island.

On the weather side, make sure you look into this if it's important to you, the weather over NZ is very variable, from sub tropical with lots of rain in the north to very warm and low rain fall at the north of the South island to much colder down south. Take a look at http://uk.weather.com/, you can get climate statictics for just about anywhere.

I think you'll find that a lot of the advice you'll get is that finances should not be the primary reasonf for the move, looks like you've got the right idea on that score.

Mark.