claireh1981

We were planning on going, but are they actually useful?

The advertisment says there will be employment experts there, but are they specific to certain jobs? I am worried we will pay £30 to get in (which I find a bit pricey anyway), and find it is just a load of packing companies.

Any comment from people that have been?

ceri75

[QUOTE=claireh1981;4579270]We were planning on going, but are they actually useful?

Hi Claire
i would definately recommend going, yep they do have a lot of stands that probably wont be appropriate but the insight given from expats, removal companies, employers etc is really useful & i dont know what stage you are at but i was finding myself getting a bit lost with it all as far as which step to take or direction to go in next & it really helped.... up to you though...

P2L

For anyone going, take your passports with you cos the banks ( National, Westpac & I think Kiwibank) are there & you can open an account from the UK with them. Don't worry, there's no need to deposit any monies with them to do it

Leighlou

Hi Claire,
Just to say that OH went to one last weekend in Edinburgh and it was really of v. little use to him. He is in IT / Project Management and the only employment agents there did not have any NZ representatives, just UK temps with no knowledge of NZ market handing out leaflets (bit irritating :curse. He did say there was loads for medicos, teachers, and lots on property info, and money transfer info etc. So does depend at what stage you are at, and what employment you are looking for. Hope this helps, Leighlou.

Smelly Cat

Hi

Rich and me are off and making a weekends of it, we are going with open minds and looking forward to speaking to others that are going to do the same.... so maybe we will pass and not even know.

Hope you find it usefull we just want the advice.

Fi

Jules & Danny

I posted this on a previous thread about the expo - couple of folks said they found it useful then... apologies for repeating myself...

We went to the October 2006 Expo at Earl's Court (well.. the IBIS hotel round the corner to be precise) and bear in mind that less than 6 months later we now have residency and are living in Wellington - admittedly for all of 3 days now (listen to me... Mr. expert Welly resident!!)

Anyway, from the Expo, I (I, being the Danny part of the username) was eventually offered a job and even given a choice of locations (Auckland or Wellington) - Wellington was always going to be our destination, so things have worked out well. I start early March. I feel lucky to have that pressure lifted before we go.

Tips for the expo.

Prepare some CVs, but don't expect to be handing out loads. Bring electronic copies too (CDs you're happy to give away, or on memory sticks to copy). Most stands have learnt that it is costly and inefficient to take back suitcases full of CVs, so many will direct you to their website to apply online or to send it to them by email. Especially the stands that don't have a lot of reps on them, and the agencies.

Expect lots of people to be there. It's busy and getting there early and trying to do it all at once doesn't guarantee anything. It's not huge, but perhaps do a few stands in the morning, take some time out, go for a walk, grab some lunch and do the other stands in the afternoon. It can get hot and stuffy too. Bring some water.

The companies seem to be pretty evenly split between IT and engineering, with a few local government, health and education. I was interested in the IT & Consultancy sector, which is well represented by IBM, EDS, Synergy, Telecom amongst a few others. There are a couple of agencies as well. Be prepared to queue to talk to the representatives - they do a great job in faking interest, especially after the number of people they must have heard say "I'm thinking of moving to New Zealand...", but a lot of the stands aren't well represented and so you'll have to wait your turn.

They won't hand out job offers there and then, but some stands do want to progress matters before they go back to NZ, so make sure you're presentable, articulate and are able to discuss your skills and experience. Also make a point of saying you can make yourself available for discussions after the expo, or during the following week etc if they sound interested. The same people often do the Manchester expo and some other sminars, so they are often around in the UK for a couple of weeks - make sure they know that you'll meet up where/when necessary.

Don't assume the expo is the answer to your prayers. You could get a real sense of anticlimax as the weeks go by and you haven't heard or received anything. Remember that most of the people on the stands do a week somewhere else and then often take vacation after the Expos. By the time they have gone through the thousands and thousands of personal details and tried to match them up with what they want, it could be a couple of months before you hear anything.

Certain companies or regional organisations will be also be delivering seminars during the week of the expo. Hawkes Bay (Napier, Hastings), Priority One (Bay Of Plenty) did a couple this year and they are a great way to meet some of the driving forces within those regions and learn about their areas. They also have stands at the expo, but with the amount of people that attend the expo, you'll just be another eager beaver in a long line filling in your details and receiving a carrier bag with some regional details in. If you opt for a seminar, you could end up having a pint or two with some of the speakers in a local pub after, which is where you'll get decent information. Even if you're not thinking of relocating to those areas, they are a valuable way of getting into the NZ psyche and could easily influence your final destination.

Find out what companies are attending. The NZI or the expo-newzealand.com site often gives an indication of what companies will be there. Make sure you target the ones that are suitable to you, but not forgetting the larger corporates or local government orgs that have might have multiple positions.

Hope this has been useful, sorry it's a bit wordy.