# Wanting to get the Process started for moving to New Zealand



## tucker0104 (Jul 4, 2013)

First of all, I wanted to say thanks in advance for all the advice. I am currently a reactor operator at a nuclear power plant in the US. I am wanting to move to New Zealand. I know that they don't have a nuclear program, but I am sure they need operators at refineries and other places. I also have a engineering bachelors and am working on my MBA currently. What are some good job websites or good head hunter places? Do I need to apply for some kind of visa to increase my chance of getting the job? If so, what kind of visa? How hard is it to get and how much does it cost? Thanks again and have a great week.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

tucker0104 said:


> First of all, I wanted to say thanks in advance for all the advice. I am currently a reactor operator at a nuclear power plant in the US. I am wanting to move to New Zealand. I know that they don't have a nuclear program, but I am sure they need operators at refineries and other places. I also have a engineering bachelors and am working on my MBA currently. What are some good job websites or good head hunter places? Do I need to apply for some kind of visa to increase my chance of getting the job? If so, what kind of visa? How hard is it to get and how much does it cost? Thanks again and have a great week.


Yeah you're right about nuclear power. None of it in NZ, but I'm sure your skills could be steered towards being an operator or controller in the many fields of generation across the country - eg a hydro station, coal/gas fired station or geothermal generation.
The big players in the generation market are Meridian, Mighty River Power, Contact Energy, Genesis, Todd Energy amongst others.
These companies operate many stations across the country and have all types of generation in their portfolios.
There have been a few operator jobs advertised recently and if I'm not mistaken there's vacancies being advertised for turbine operators on www.seek.co.nz

Just reading your short intro, I'm fairly positive that a person of your experience and qualifications would be an ideal candidate for our team.
I am one of around 28 Power System Coordinators working at Transpower (NZ National Grid) and we manage the real time generation market matching the offered generation against the real time and forecast load with a solution that is the cheapest option for the country and we also manage the real time reactive control across the grid to maintain statutory voltages. We also manage the overall electrical security of the national grid to ensure it is always operating as efficiently and secure as possible.

We are always on the lookout for people with your type of background. I was a senior transmission control engineer in the UK before coming to NZ and many of my colleagues have a similar background being ex operators or ex controllers from the US, Canada, Philippines, SA and a few kiwi's.
I can vouch for the company and the training as being excellent and we are in the top 5% of industry earners.
If you feel this direction could be for you then please let me know and I can introduce you to our recruitment consultant who deals with all the engineering recruitment for Transpower.

As I said www.seek.co.nz is a good site to look for jobs and also RobLaw Max Recruitment is a decent agent that specialises in engineering roles (although doesn't manage Transpower).

You can't get any special visa to make it easier to get a job in the industry.
Electrical workers of certain types need to be registered with the EWRB but shouldn't apply to you as your work doesn't directly affect the public.

You will of course need a work visa to allow you to come to NZ and live / work.
This can be a temporary visa or a permanent visa. I'm sure you would qualify for a Resident Visa which allows you to remain permanently.
F you are interested in my offer above I'd leave the visa process but just read the requirements for the Temporary Working Visa.
If you did manage to be offered a role with Transpower, this offer would allow you to get a temporary work visa within days so you could be in NZ in a matter of weeks depending of there's a job available of course.
You could then apply for a more permanent visa whilst here before the Temp visa runs out.

Have a think. Always around on the forum. Send me a pm if you're able to (have to have sent min 5 posts).

Regards,


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## inhamilton (Jun 10, 2011)

Escapedtonz ... your replies are always so detailed and helpful!!


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