Need a bit of courage - is it worth us trying?

samueljim

Hello everyone

Is it a good idea to sell our house, go to NZ for a holiday and look for a job then apply for a working visa/permit? Has anyone else done this and made it through? Rolling Eyes

I'm sure squillions of others have asked this question but I have read so many message boards I am going cross-eyed Nutcase

. However, I haven't read any horrendous warning stories...Chrissie has inspired me so that's a good start.

My other question is how on earth did some of you manage to secure jobs upfront, assuming you were not on POL/OSL, is it worth just emailing every agency you can find and see if you get lucky? Confused

robothamma · Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 2:05 am Post subject: Me Too

Please somebody answer this as we are in same position ! I'D do it 2morrow
but hubby is more cautious! Confused

xanctus · Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 6:09 am Post subject: Re: Me Too

In my opinion, it is better to go there first and get a job offer then sell the house...but again, that's me!
good luck...

wilson182 · Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 11:33 am Post subject:

At this precise moment, I am sitting in our new rented house in Christchurch. We came over at the begining of the month with some spare cash to see what we thought and if we could make it work. Hubby has now got a job, and next week I am coming back to the UK to sort out renting the house and tying up loose ends over there. We have said that we will give ourselves a year before selling. We have two kids, and we would find it impossible to get back on the property ladder if things didn't work out over here. The experience has been good and bad. Some things we thought would be hard (ie finding a job) were in fact easy for us (hubby is a welder which is on the OSL) and other things that we did not pay much attention to in the UK, like finding somewhere to rent on a budget, were much harder. We are still on a major learning curve, and it is a little bit scary Eek

, but we have no regrets.

samueljim · Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 9:38 pm Post subject: Thanks

Thanks for your replies. My husband wants to rent out the house too, I just feel that if we sold and used the capital we'd have more cash to fall back on, but it would make things v hard to come back to, should we need to. So I think we will probably save for 12 months, rent out and try that way. I suppose it's all down to how much you want to get out there, and how much we're willing to throw in the air for the chance...maybe not as much as I think...!

Moorf · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 12:09 am Post subject:

Obviously this is just our personal outlook but we have sold up our house and are living in our flat which we used to rent out - we basically decided to capitalise on the current high house prices and got a great price and profit - the way the market is going we're pretty sure we'll come back in a few years time to lower house prices in the UK - not that we intend coming back!

We are budgeting c. 12KGBP for 6 months trip to NZ to cover all living expenses until we find jobs. We have no kids and are initially looking for a city centre apt in central Wellington.

Moorf

samueljim · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 7:43 am Post subject:

Hi Moorf

We're in a similar position and were assuming GBP10k for six months, we have no kids yet and are just trying to decide what to do. Keep thinking - nah, it won't work out - but keep being drawn back to the idea, now on a daily basis!
Current (ie today's) plan is to remortgage house and use loan to go to NZ for 6 months, whilst renting out the house in the UK.

D'you mind me asking when you're thinking of going out? Have you got job offers? Sorry if you've already posted all this info somewhere else, I'm a very unripe Kiwi in training. Shy

Sam

samueljim · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 7:44 am Post subject: doh

Sorry Moorf, just read your msg again where you said you were hoping for job offers. Must....read....slower! Nice One

Moorf · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 8:10 am Post subject:

Hiya Samuel

We were lucky enuf to start with 2 properties so are now living in the one we previously rented out - I have to say that we won't' be renting it out during our six months in NZ purely so that we have somewhere to come straight back to should anything go wrong or if we decide to return for one reason or another.

Where are you looking at living? We would prefer Christchurch / Canterbury but in reality the IT jobs we would be after are in Wellington and Auckland so we are plumping for Wellington as first choice but are actively monitoring jobs in Canterbury - see the Canterbury Cluster website - very good starting point for South Island IT jobs.

http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/index.htm

We have days when we wonder what the hell we are doing but as everyone keeps reminding us, you only live once and I don't want to end up like my grandparents who regret missing their chance!

When are you thinking of going?

Moorf

samueljim · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 8:21 am Post subject:

Hey Moorf

Ideally we'd like to go around October - my husband is studying a Masters which he took a year out to do, and that ends in October so we could just go then. We have friends in Auckland and loved it when we went there last year but I would like to consider Wellington and Christchurch too.

We're both in Marketing (when we're working Laughing

!) I work for a top sports brand making fitness equipment but I don't know how desirable that is to the NZ govt! At least we're not estate agents Wink

Some days it feels Totally and Utterly Mental to be considering this and other days - like today - well, there's no alternative really is there? I would so love to go into work one day and say 'hey guys, here's my notice, I'm off to NZ'. I always was a day dreamer.... Shy

Moorf · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 8:45 am Post subject:

Spooky!

I am in marketing - ex-Agency, tried client-side (bah!) and now working as a consultant - not sure what I want to do in NZ but I do fancy a change. Hubby is in IT so it's his skills that will see us get into NZ if anything. Plus we also run our own IT and Marketing co.

Are you intending to stay in marketing or make a change?

Moorf

samueljim · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 9:05 am Post subject:

I'd like to stay in Marketing as I've only been in it for a couple of years and quite like it so far. Husband used to be in Marketing before the studies and I think he will seek that sort of work again as it's something he can get his head round better now. Having said that, he's got IT telecomms background, so surely between us we can sort something out.

Have you considered starting an IT business in NZ? How about an IT Marketing business?! cool

If only it was so easy, eh?

How long have you both been thinking about going? Just over a year (since we visited) for us...

Moorf · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 9:14 am Post subject:

Ah - well I will ask you again after 15 yrs in marketing Laughing

which is as long as I have been doing it - I specialise in Direct Marketing and, more recently, online marketing strategies. We already run an IT/Marketing company from home (hubby works in London - I from home Nice One

) and intially considered going over on a business/entrepreneur basis but were concerned about having to employ a NZ'er within 3 yrs.

Plus, we know from experience that running our own business can eat into our own time so we're going to go back to working for others until we can break free and do our own thing again.

We particularly would like Christchurch having just sold our house in Perthshire, Scotland and already missing the scenery and are getting stressed with the crowded south east!! But - if we have to go to Wellington to get our foot in the door then that is what we shall do.

Would be cool to meet up in NZ if you are still "up for it" in October as we shall be there from Sept! cool

Keep in touch.

Moorf (Helen)

samueljim · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 10:10 am Post subject:

An excellent idea - get that barbie fired up. Having found a few really interesting tips here I will definitely keep posting and looking, so as soon as we know what the hell we're doing I'll drop you a line and see where you guys are!

I e-mailed 15 agencies asking the same question and they all say you need to be a permanent resident to get permanent jobs. How the hell can you get the PR unless you get a job offer, which they won't give you without a WP!! Nutcase

I'm going loopy with all this red tape.

Wow - you left Scotland for Sussex! When we came back from our NZ trip last year we seriously considered Scotland (Edinburgh or Stirling) as an alternative. It didn't really work out for us that time but it's something we may return to should NZ not happen.

Good luck - stay in touch.

Sam (Sam!)

Moorf · Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 12:49 am Post subject:

We only moved from Scotland to Sussex in the knowledge that it was temporary - i.e. sorting out stuff to move on to NZ!

Otherwise we would have stayed there - in fact, if we aren't successful in our move to NZ we will probably move back up to Scotland!

Yep - you've just hit the Catch 22 situation of no job / no work permit and vice versa!

Hence the reason to get in touch direct with potential employers, ask questions and let people know the situation you are in.

All the best
Helen