Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: 6 Weeks to Wellington....

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Near Wellington - New Zealand
    Posts
    46

    Default 6 Weeks to Wellington....

    Well as the title suggests I am now amongst the ranks of those people doing a countdown to the move from the UK to NZ. We (Deborah and Adrian) managed to get Skilled Migrant Visa's in 2010 and had a trip to NZ in March/April 2011 to activate the visa's and do a recce. My background (like so many others) is in IT, and before we travelled we thought that the majority of the opportunities would be in Wellington and Auckland - so those were the area's that we concentrated our recce around. We met the points criteria and didn't have a job offer - but the interview with Immigration NZ in London went well and they granted us a Skilled Migrant Visa.

    I must confess that meeting some agents as part of the recce did knock my confidence a little as they indicated that my particular skillset was not in great demand in NZ, and that it would be better if I retrained into another database technology such as SQL Server, which is a lot more prevalent in NZ. So on my return to the UK I concentrated on getting some certification and in November acheived my MCTS. Co-incidentally there were a couple of job opportunities using my existing skillset that came up on SEEK at about this time (one in Christchurch and one in Wellington).

    I decided to apply from the UK and was lucky enough to be shortlisted for both positions. All the interviews were by phone and involved both technical questions as well as behavioral based interviews with a panel of interviewers. Due to the dearth of candidates with relevant experience I was offered the Christchurch position quite quickly (4 weeks from first application to job offer). As we had not considered this area before we had a lot of deciding to do, and eventually we thought that this was not for us. Our decision was influenced by the earthquake damage to the city as well as the realisation that if this job did not turn out as expected there would be far fewer other opportunities in that location when compared to Wellington / Auckland. So even though at that stage I didn't have an alternative offer we decided that the downsides out-weighed the upsides for us.

    However the Wellington position was still a possibility at that stage. Unfortunately there was an internal candidate going for that job - so naturally enough they got the position. In the meantime though my agency had put me forward for 2 other jobs, and once again I was shortlisted for interview. This time all went through successfully and I have been verbally offered the job with the contract being finalized this week.

    So what have I learnt from this process?

    1. That it is possible to get a job when you are not in NZ - but you need to have some specialist skillset that is in demand or some other Unique Selling Point to differentiate you from the local candidates and get your name in front of the recruiters.
    2. All the companies were very keen on doing behavioral type interviews - I had not previously experienced it to this extent in the UK.
    3. Things do slow down over the Christmas / New Year period when the decision makers / approvers are on holiday.
    4. To keep at it - there is a job out there with your name on it somewhere.


    For now I am just grateful that this process has completed and that we can concentrate on getting to Wellington and....
    Sell 1 of our cars
    arrange shipping of the other to Wellington
    pack up rented house
    say goodbye to relatives and friends

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    127

    Default

    Thanks for the post .

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,822

    Default

    Congratulations!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    San Francisco to Auckland
    Posts
    626

    Default

    Great news! Best of luck on your upcoming move.

  5. #5
    Manks's Avatar
    Manks is offline Serial procrastinator and general busybody
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    UK->CT, USA->Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    1,853

    Default

    Great news about the job and good luck with the move. It is a rollercoaster but at the end of the day, the rewards are worth it.

    Look forward to seeing you in Welly some time

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    3,697

    Default

    Congrats and thanks for sharing your experience. All the best with your move & new job

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Sheffield, England
    Posts
    212

    Default

    Well done, and thanks for the insight.
    Good Luck with the move (might see you in Wellington some day. :O)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    India -> AKL
    Posts
    80

    Default

    All the very best and thanks for your inputs.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    195

    Default

    Thanks for the positive story. Let the journey begin!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Yorkshire, UK - Wellington, NZ
    Posts
    189

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AdrianT View Post

    So what have I learnt from this process?

    1. That it is possible to get a job when you are not in NZ - but you need to have some specialist skillset that is in demand or some other Unique Selling Point to differentiate you from the local candidates and get your name in front of the recruiters.
    2. All the companies were very keen on doing behavioral type interviews - I had not previously experienced it to this extent in the UK.
    3. Things do slow down over the Christmas / New Year period when the decision makers / approvers are on holiday.
    4. To keep at it - there is a job out there with your name on it somewhere.
    Yes, it really is possible! My partner applied for a job he'd seen on Kiwi Health Jobs, not thinking they'd act on it as we didn't have visas etc. Turns out they couldn't find anyone else in NZ with the necessary skills and experience, so they interviewed him and offered him the job. That was the extra 50 points we needed to lodge the EOI, hurray. It's taken us over 3 years of trying mind, so it pays to be patient. He who dares, Rodders.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •