markraynes

as some of you seen im thinking of going to nz as a truck driver and my missus wants to work. She is a care assitant looking after old people. Also she wants to look after kids too, she got basic qualifications. anyone know of anything over there in this line

thanks

Here comes the sun

Hi,
There are loads of care assistant jobs both hospitals/care homes/community. The wages are far lower than what she would earn in the UK. Im a nurse and senior care assistants in the UK will be earning more than me when i start nursing in NZ!

If you google hospitals in the area you want to live, they are linked to District health boards which usually advertise vacancies, or try

www.trademe.co.nz click on the jobs section
www.seek.co.nz
www.babysitters4u.co.nz

The baysitters4u website is a forum for people to advertise themselves or search for child care.

My sister is a UK registered childminder, she works for an agency in Welly and rather than paying to convert her qualification they simply list her as a UK registered childminder and she gets plenty of work but again expect lower pay. Depending what qualifications she has, she could advertise as a babysitter - school runs etc.

Good luck.

markraynes

thanks pal. shes not a nurse, she works in a care home for old people. but a guess she can train to be a nurse if there is jobs.

Here comes the sun

You must have mis read the post! the links and things are places you can search for care assistants/child care work.

I work as a nurse and I was comparing the salary I will recieve in NZ to a senior care assistant in the UK, point being she will earn even less doing care work in NZ then she would in the UK.

Gill and Rob

Please do a search for other posts about truck drivers, as I don't think that some people have been able to get PR from truck driving. As for care work in rest homes, very different from the UK, no minimum staffing levels and pay of LESS THAN $12 per hour. This too is not a route into PR.

Gill

Gill and Rob

If you do not have PR, you would have to pay the international fees to train as a nurse in NZ. Domestic fees are already about $5,000 PER YEAR for 3 years training.

Gill

happynz

Mark,

Have you considered dairying as an alternative? The hours are long, but often there are benefits such as subsidised housing and a beef or hog for the freezer. Many farmers are willing to train inexperienced staff.

The reason I suggest this is that I personally know a couple who had come over from Argentina and although both of them were professionals, he an insurance salesman and she a medical doctor as well as a certified primary school teacher, they had difficulty getting jobs because of language difficulties. Both of them use English quite well, but they struggled with passing the English language tests that would see them qualify for employment in their respective fields. At any rate, Carlos found a job on a Mid-Canterbury farm milking cows. Carlos and Maria worked hard and Carlos eventually worked his way up to Herd Manager thus giving him a skill which qualifies him for permanent residency (PR).

They applied for and were granted permanent residency a couple of years ago. They have since started a family and all are getting on satisfactorily with their lives.

I know of another fella from Santiago, Chile who has got his permanent residency the same way. He had to do a few years down on the farm to get some experience under his belt, but in the end he got PR.

So the question is - are you only a truckie or can you step out of your comfort zone and have a crack at something different? I suppose your answer to that question will also answer whether or not you will be able to successfully immigrate to New Zealand.

markraynes

not considered that. thanks anyway

TeamEmbo

There are organisations like Access (Canterbury or Nrth Canterbury) which covers Christchurch city but especially rural areas such as Canterbury plains.

This is for looking after elderly, disabled people in their own homes. The pay isn't brill - from memory just above minimum wage. They give you a week's training. Some companies will pay for the training. Some you have to pay for the training yourself. The same goes for on-going training/certificates. This will cover manual handling, personal hygiene, personal space issues, as well as cultural differences and how to show respect in varying homes/set ups and it is a mixture of personal care and domestic care. You have to work weekends as part of your shift pattern and you have to work through the kids school holidays. Am sure you'll be able to find Access and similar organisations on google.

phil01

Hi Mark,

Phil is a trucker and I work at a hospital in HR. There are plenty of care work jobs, including those you do directly in peoples homes where you choose hours to suit yourself..pay for those is around $13.50 an hour.

However, as mentioned by Gill & Rob as a trucker and a careworker you WILL NOT get permanent residency. That means you will get a temporary visa for a specified time period maximum 3 years, it is renewable but it does have implications...medical costs are not free, school is but college is not you would have to pay international student fees which are approx $15,000.00 per year per student. You can only work in the occupation granted on your visa which for you would be truck driving as that is on the skills shortage list and care work is not. You will have a named employer which means to change truck companies you have to pay for another visa and cannot work until that visa is approved.

Just be mindful that if you are intent on coming you will not get permanent residency so if truck driving is taken off the skills shortage list you will be asked to leave New Zealand. If you are coming over and happy to treat it as an adventure with the knowledge you will have to go back to the UK that's great. But the main issue with coming temporary is you cannot train to do another job as your visa states exactly what you can do!