Hello,
I posted previously on this forum a couple of months ago detailing my situation and seeking clarification on our Visa options. https://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56117
We're both 32, my wife and me. I am a web developer, specifically front-end. We live and work in the UK. I have 5 years professional agency experience.
In my previous post, linked above, I explain that I have no formal qualifications in my career. This has never impeded me in the UK, as any fellow web developer will know, formal education and qualifications is by no means a necessity for this role. I am self-taught like many of my current and former colleagues. Even colleagues have said that university and degrees that came with it did not really cover web development in the capacity needed to do the job we do, though I don't at all doubt the usefulness of going to university to help with this career.
The purpose of this post is to try and understand, from an employers perspective, how much of a hinderence, if any, a lack of formal qualifications is going to be for me trying to seek a job as a front-end developer in New Zealand. Clearly immigration rules mean that having a degree would help massively and while I respect having a high barrier to entry for any immigration is important, it also feels unhelpful and unnecessary given that web development is listed as a LTSS! So from a practical perspective, given my five years experience in the UK, how much can I expect a lack for qualifications to be an impediment trying to work in NZ? Any other web developers out there who have successfully made the move to NZ without the qualifications? Just generally looking for a bit of guidance from anyone willing to share
Thank you.