# advice on finding a job needed



## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi there.
My name is Christine and my husband and I are trying to find a job in NZ. We want to move to NZ and apply for a residency visa. We both studied biology + did our PhDs. I know, not what everybody is looking for, but with all the environment and conservation research/work and DOC etc. we thought we would have a good chance.
Well, 100+ job applications later, we come to think twice... we had no feedback or 'sorry, there was a better suitable candidate' answers so far. This is rather disappointing and discouraging. How do you handle the accumulating frustration? Do you think about giving up? What other ways are there to find a job or get to know people who might be able to help you find a job in NZ?
It seems like being overseas already disqualifies you… is that true?
So far we try finding a job mostly via seek, trademe, unijobs, conjobs, myjobspace and jobs.govt.nz. Not to forget about linkedin... I'll try indeed.nz from now on, too.

Could anyone please share his/her experiences/feelings/thoughts with me? Thanks very much in advance.
Have a nice day.


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Christine3 said:


> Hi there.
> My name is Christine and my husband and I are trying to find a job in NZ. We want to move to NZ and apply for a residency visa. We both studied biology + did our PhDs. I know, not what everybody is looking for, but with all the environment and conservation research/work and DOC etc. we thought we would have a good chance.
> Well, 100+ job applications later, we come to think twice... we had no feedback or 'sorry, there was a better suitable candidate' answers so far. This is rather disappointing and discouraging. How do you handle the accumulating frustration? Do you think about giving up? What other ways are there to find a job or get to know people who might be able to help you find a job in NZ?
> It seems like being overseas already disqualifies you… is that true?
> ...


Hi there - welcome to the forum.

And welcome to the usual Catch 22! Can't get a job without a visa, and can't get a visa without a job!

Being out of the country doesn't disqualify you, but makes it more difficult for sure. Look at it from the employers point of view - interviewing people costs money, so they are only going to put their resources into interviewing people who are likely to take the job, and start reasonably quickly (or at least in a known timeframe). And someone abroad who hasn't visited the country or even started the visa application process is a bad bet. 

They will definitely look more favourably on your job applications if you come and visit. An expensive job interview!! And still no guarantees. But if you plan in advance, contact as many of the companies that you think might be interested in your skills as possible, and cold-call when you're here, you never know! At the worse look on it as an opportunity for a vacation in our lovely country.

Oh - and I would put your CV on a memory stick or in the cloud where you can get to it rather than carrying paper CVs through Customs - just to be on the safe side. You're coming here on holiday, not to job hunt


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi topcat83

Thanks for your reply. My husband and I already started the visa process and do make it known in each job application. The visa consultant says as soon as we have a job offer it is a matter of 2 to 3 months at most that we could go and live in NZ. We could even go within a month if need be on a temporary work visa. 
We also visited NZ in 2008. That's when we fell in love with the country and since then we planned to come.

We know all that and try hard to make that known in our applications. Do you have any tips how we could enforce this point even more so that a possible employer does not get scared off just because we are not in the country at the moment?

Regarding the job interviews: we thought that Skype would be in broad usage. Isn't that so?

Well, we will think about visiting NZ again and trying to find a job. But just as a last resort since it would eat up a lot of our savings and we would have to travel all of the beautiful country in order to meet just a few companies and universities which are the most likely candidates for employment.

Thanks for your help and hope to hear some more of you.
Have a nice day, 
Christine.


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## all-quotes (Nov 30, 2013)

i dont know which area you are in bio. But it might be very difficult to find a right job if you cannot find it before coming to here. I know a german guy who finished his bio phd 3 year ago at Auckland Uni but he is still staying at home.


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi all-quotes

and thanks very much for your reply. However, it sounds rather frustrating to me... Sorry to say. I know it's hard to find a job, especially in biology... well I suppose we just keep trying.

Do you know any other biologists and how I could contact them for special, job-specific questions? What does your friend do? Which area of biology is he into?

Have a great Sunday morning and thanks again.
Cheers, Christine.


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