# Finding employment



## lauramitchell (Jun 22, 2016)

Hey everyone,

Me and my family have decided that NZ is for us, We are flying from the UK on the 11th Aug to the North Island first and then to the South to see which Island is best for us. If anyone has any recommendations I would greatly appreciate it. 

Okay so the real question is job opportunities. I am a health and safety advisor and my husband is a steel fixer/concrete/groundworker. 

I have engaged with migration associates who have already got all my documents ready to send. All we need is a job offer to secure the visas. 

Is there any ex pats who have any hints and tips that could help us? Are we doing the right thing by just coming? 

Really want this move to work but as the date is getting closer I keep thinking that we are going to fail as all our efforts are failing while we are in the UK. 

I really appreciate your help in advance. 

Soon to be expats! :confused2:


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

lauramitchell said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> Me and my family have decided that NZ is for us, We are flying from the UK on the 11th Aug to the North Island first and then to the South to see which Island is best for us. If anyone has any recommendations I would greatly appreciate it.
> 
> ...


Cool. 
So as I'm sure you understand, the place where you shall live first will be wherever you get work, therefore you need to make that the focus of your attention. The first place you go to may not be the place you stay or settle so keep an open mind and don't look at it as the place where you must find happiness. See it as a stepping stone that get's you here and the rest can come in time.
We ended up in Wellington at first as that is where I landed 2 x jobs so that's where we lived for the first 2.5 years until we made plans and moved to a more fulfilling area that met our vision of what life in NZ would be like more than Wellington did. Nothing wrong with Wellington, it just didn't meet our idea of the perfect place to settle in NZ.

Can't really say you are mad doing what you are doing without jobs. I understand the pull. We did the same. We booked flights to NZ, arranged the shipping of our container etc even before I got a job. We were just gonna come over to Auckland for 3 or 4 months with enough money to get us through an extended holiday with the plan to get a job asap in the hope we'd be able to stay. The only difference with us was we already had the Resident Visa's so we already had the right to live and work here.

Coming over as a family, and on visitor visas without the right to live and work here is a tad crazy. If there's kids involved, maybe a bit irresponsible. What about school etc? I understand they'll be on school holidays in August in the UK but they'll be due to start another year early September but not here. August is mid year here and mid winter. You aren't the first and certainly won't be the last family to just take the plunge and the risk. Just be aware that coming here as a visitor with the intention of finding work and living here isn't the normal action of a visitor and could be seen as bending the rules or conditions of your visa slightly. Looking for work in this way isn't strictly allowed even though it does occur often. You'll obviously have to make out that you intend to leave after your visit so you'll all need return tickets or at least a ticket out of NZ to a country you are allowed to enter. You'll also have to have sufficient funds in order to get you through the intended duration of your stay and a good idea of your travel plans for your holiday. Don't make the mistake of having evidence that you are looking for work, so don't have any tools of the trade in your bags, don't carry copies of cv's and cover letters etc as if you are picked for a random search by immigration you could have difficulty explaining things. In this day and age you don't need hard copies of documents. Upload them to a cloud drive like Google drive or Dropbox so you can access them from anywhere on a smartphone or laptop.

Due to your industries I'd say Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington or Christchurch because of all the building work. Christchurch probably the favorite.
I'm no expert but you may find it difficult to find work as a H&S adviser here. H&S hasn't really taken off in NZ yet - well, not to the degree of the UK at least, even though it may be a skilled job and on the skill shortage list doesn't mean you'll walk in to a job. For one, any employer will either have to justify offering you work as you don't legally have the right to work here or they must be accredited in order to offer work to someone from overseas.
Its not just as simple as getting a written job offer. There's a few criteria to meet on your part and also a few for the employer in relation to the job offered, the length of the offer, the salary, the responsibilities etc etc.
Your husband is probably favorite to land a job easier. It only needs one of you to get a written job offer to make you eligible to apply for a temporary work visa as the rest of you could then apply for family stream visas on the back of it. Once you have a visa allowing a few years of grace you can then seek more permanent visas.
I'd say not go for the resident visas straight away with a job offer as they still take many months to secure. You wouldn't be able to work until you have the visa approval so it may not be viable for either you or the employer to wait for a resident visa application to go through. Temp work visas take far less time....sometimes in under a week if you have all the necessary info, checks and medicals etc. This means you can start pretty much straight away which makes everyone happy.

Keep the questions coming as we're here to answer them.


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## lauramitchell (Jun 22, 2016)

escapedtonz said:


> Cool.
> So as I'm sure you understand, the place where you shall live first will be wherever you get work, therefore you need to make that the focus of your attention. The first place you go to may not be the place you stay or settle so keep an open mind and don't look at it as the place where you must find happiness. See it as a stepping stone that get's you here and the rest can come in time.
> We ended up in Wellington at first as that is where I landed 2 x jobs so that's where we lived for the first 2.5 years until we made plans and moved to a more fulfilling area that met our vision of what life in NZ would be like more than Wellington did. Nothing wrong with Wellington, it just didn't meet our idea of the perfect place to settle in NZ.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your reply and honesty.
We have booked a return flight for October, as my son will require some education we could not justify him being out for longer than two months. 
I really hope this works out for us as this is our dream. 
We have engaged with migration associates who have all our documents ready to go so I am hoping that future employers can see we are committed. I thought that going to face to face interviews would increase our chances. 
We have also been speaking with new zealand skills in demand who have been on the hunt for a vacancy. Hopefully they will be able to assist us when we arrive. Fingers crossed! BIG RISK!


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## hyweldavies (Jun 7, 2014)

lauramitchell said:


> Thank you for your reply and honesty.
> We have booked a return flight for October, as my son will require some education we could not justify him being out for longer than two months.
> I really hope this works out for us as this is our dream.
> We have engaged with migration associates who have all our documents ready to go so I am hoping that future employers can see we are committed. I thought that going to face to face interviews would increase our chances.
> We have also been speaking with new zealand skills in demand who have been on the hunt for a vacancy. Hopefully they will be able to assist us when we arrive. Fingers crossed! BIG RISK!


I am not sure associates / consultants can actually do that much to help you or improve your chances of success, in reality if you meet the criteria to get a visa, you have to fill in all the forms and provide all the evidence. 

I think it might be easier to get a Visa if you are on the Christchurch rebuild : https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/work-in-nz/nz-jobs-industries/construction-jobs

I really hope it works out for you and your family but I'm not sure how likely you are to be successful. I dont know what happens if you get refused entry at the port in terms of how long you then have to wait before you can apply for a visa.


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