You are muddled about all your points 1, 2 and 3.
Your application will be checked out thoroughly by the CO - that is, all your evidence will be verified by asking other people to confirm it. When that is all done (which can take months), if it is all satisfactory, and if you don't have a job offer, then the CO will call you to arrange an interview with you. It is how the CO is impressed by your answers in the interview that make him/her decide what visa you ought to be offered. The interview is designed to find out what you know about how things work in NZ, both in your career and in society in general, to see if you would be likely to impress an employer and be quickly offered a job, and also that you are prepared to manage your life efficiently, like sorting out housing, medical care, school for children if any, etc., without being distracted by those things from your work - this is all known as 'employability'.
If the the CO is fully satisfied, then Residence is offered. If the CO has doubts about aspects of your preparedness, you can be offered an SMC JSV (also known as deferred Residence), which gives you the right to nine months in NZ to find skilled work, and if you do, you get the Residence you originally applied for. If you appear to the CO to lack most of the necessary information, you will be refused. Here is the official information about the CO interview.
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/43652.htm And here is an old thread with questions from the interviews. (The regulations have been the same for a long time, so don't be concerned that the early posts date back several years.)
http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27398
If you meet the conditions here
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/41494.htm (having a job in NZ, or having studied in NZ at a high level), you will be given Residence, as you had stated in part yourself. I've already linked to the regulations relating to what I said just above, in case the person does not have a job offer and has to have a CO interview.
There is no such thing as Residence which expires. Residence, while a person is within NZ, can last for ever. It is issued with two years' travel conditions, which allow a person to go from NZ and return as many times as they wish during that time. When the travel conditions expire at the end of the two years, if the person is going to want to continue to come and go freely, they need to have qualified for Permanent Residence, which is a totally different visa. It is granted to those who have demonstrated commitment to NZ, and have held Residence for a minimum of two years. The requirements are here.
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...quirements.htm