hexcentric

Hi
Considering a move out to NZ in the near future. Noticed a few old posts on here regarding machinists positions (engineering) but wondered if anyone had any more up to date advice, tips etc on the availability of such positions?
Have to say i'm not getting any younger either, 46 years young, so was thinking of work to residency or even just a short term contract on a working visa.
Any help much appreciated!
Cheers.

hazeandsteve

Where in NZ do you want to go? It might help the hunt.

Justcol

for CNC jobs you really have to head to Auckland, there may be the odd or two in other places
but there are plenty in auckland

Have a look on trade me or seek for whats on offer

hexcentric

Cheers for the replies. I would prefer to be on south island ideally, Christchurch or Dunedin maybe but would consider anything, anywhere.
Would be great to hear from anyone in the trade who made the move and could give me the lowdown on what its like in engineering over there.
Also any info on how best to go about it much appreciated!

Justcol

I would forget about Dunedin, theres nowt there, your chances of finding something are gonna be slim to non.
I came over as a CNC turner 4 years ago, I trawled through trade me and seek for months before coming over
and applied for everything I thought I could do. Most places didnt bother to even reply to say no (you get that a lot in nz)
I also contacted as many agencies as I could letting them know I was coming and when I would be here.
I was offered a job at Tyco in Hamilton after a phone interview about 4 months before I left the uk.
It might be that you have to go down the application process without a job to come to and apply for everything
once you are here. As I have said there are usually quite a few CNC jobs listed around the Auckland area, some
tend to be for the furniture industry and press brake operators but there is a constant demand for good skilled worker.
You will need to have an apprenticeship and qualifications to back it up.
I've just searched for CNC under jobs on trade me and there are 32 listings, 17 of which are in Aux and 12 in Chch.
Dont let the "must have PR or work Visa" line at the bottom put you off, at the stage you are at you need to
apply for everything but without a date for arrival that employers can work around you might struggle a bit.
Many skilled guys have buggered off to OZ so there will be plenty of jobs coming through all the time, just check every week

Heres the trademe search but also have a look at seek

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Cate...ch_suggested=0

hexcentric

Many thanks for that info. Some of those positions look interesting.
Not really wanting to head to Auckland. I'm lucky enough to live quite rurally, with a very short commute to work in a small town, and love outdoor pursuits so not sure that would be right for me. Plus I've visited NZ 3 times and found Auckland to be a bit overwhelming! Christchurch area would probably be better.
How are you liking your new life over there? And how does the work environment differ to that of the UK.

Justcol

I've been here 4 years now and NZ is definitely my home. Things are different here, some for better, some for worse.
I like to make the most of the things that are better rather than carry on about the things that are worse.
Work wise, it was a bit of a culture shock for me, the kiwis I worked with when I got here were just robots,
They did whatever they were told, never questioned anything and worked like dogs in crap conditions.
The Place I worked had no heating at all and no insulation of any kind so when you got to work in winter
and it was -4 outside, it was -4 inside and would be until the sun came up and started to warm the place up.
I only returned to machining to get a job when I first arrived and sacked it after a year. I am know a prison officer
with the Dept of Corrections and will be till I retire, it's the best job I've ever had.
I dont know what the official average wage is for machinists but I was on $23 an hour 4 years ago and most guys
I spoke to were in the $20 to $25 bracket. Things may have got better since I left engineering, I dont know, but
with the current economical climate I wouldn't have thought there has been much change.

hexcentric

Thanks for the info. Hmm, not selling me CNC machining over there though lol. Its a bad enough trade in the UK but at least where I work has heating!
Anybody else out there worked anywhere better?

Wally58

Hi I came over here two and a half years ago and got a job working for Sandvik Coromant as a sales engineer in the Auckland area .
I sell tooling to engineering companies who of course have CNC machines.
The industry here is small compared to the UK and alot of it is in Auckland- but there are pockets of industry everywhere. We have 6 engineers for the whole of NZ - 4 on the North Island and 2 on the south.
Most of the business down there is around Christchurch but there is also some in Nelson which is beautiful.
You could try companies like FW Hamilton and AW Fraser as they have quite a few CNC's between them. Engineering is not booming here but as Justcol says there are always jobs for decent CNC setter operators as a lot of operators here are Asian and cannot set up machines. Hope this helps.

hexcentric

Thanks for that info Wally. Sorry for not replying sooner, pc went u/s lol.
I'm a setter/operator/ programmer so a bit more versatile. Latterly been doing R & D work on Mazak machinery but also can program longhand to a degree, and have some basic cad/cam experience. Don't know if all that would help.
Never thought of Nelson I must admit. Was there about this time last year, hope there's no landslides this year....