kiwibird75

Any Expats already over living in Taranaki, New Zealand, My husband is desperate to find work, he has applied for many jobs where Employers to not get back to him, he is Ex UK Armed Forces with 28 Years logistics experience, he has many skill sets and looking for a chance to earn a good wage before we may join him in August.

He is probably at Management level, but many people have told him that in Taranaki its not what you know, its who you know and is based more on networking, even an employment agency have told him "not to bother with Employment agencies" I find this quite sad, as folk without a job should be their bread and butter!

If anyone hears of anything going please get in touch, he is hard working and just needs that one chance to get his "foot in the door"

MrsFychan

I see from your previous post that you have no worries on the visa front. Do you have to be looking in Taranaki? maybe worth looking further afield and being prepared to live somewhere else?

kiwibird75

The problem I have is that when we go back I am taking my parents also, and as I grew up in Taranaki and my parents have family there this was the best option

toolpath

Have you tried Venture Taranaki, they have a position for Logistics Coordinator at Methanex on their website. Also Taranaki Chamber of Commerce have a scheme for putting prospective employees in touch with employers I think.
You are right, it isnt what you know but who you know here but if you have a skill they cant get it helps. The oil and gas sector is in a bit of a slump here in Taranaki but is due to pick up next year.
Good luck.

kiwibird75

I spoke to hubby ref that position, and he advised that you needed knowledge of the oil/gas Industry and unfortunately he hasn't got this but will look at the other site, thank you

Snap Shot

Good luck. I live in Wanganui and finding work here is like pulling teeth. We mostly get by on my husband's income. He's a kiwi. We moved here when we couldn't get work in Christchurch which is where we had emigrated to from Britain in 2011. The move suited us as we wanted to get out of earth quake stricken Christchurch.

So, he may have to look at vacancies all over NZ. My husband did. We spent money we didn't have so he could attend a job interview in Wellington i.e. flight from Christchurch and accommodation for one night. That was from an employment agency. He got turned down for the job. No, the employment agency did not pay his expenses, but he already knew that. It's funny what desperation can do to a person.

The job he applied for which he was offered was advertised on nzgovt.jobs.nz

The interview panel were total strangers to him. So, whilst it's not what you know it's who you know is relevant in NZ like it is in Britain it's not the be all and end all.

I mean, we could have moved to Alexandra as he had a telephone interview to work there. He also had a telephone interview for another, unrelated job in Wellington, he got turned down for that too.

I had a few months work from an employment agency last year which meant a daily 100 mile round trip each weekday to get from home to work in Palmerston North and back.

I have been looking for work and not finding any since that came to an end last October. The employment agency is based in Wellington and told me it's rare for them to have work that far away.

Last Monday I started a four week booking of work from an employment agency. The work is here in Wanganui. It's an employment agency I registered with a couple of years ago and they did the sum total of nothing for me.

I re-registered with them (I've learned to swallow my pride these days) and hey presto I got work from them. Why now not previously ? I don't know probably just the circumstance of right place, right time. The agency has moved premises into a smaller office and has no local staff as it seems to be run from a larger branch in a nearby town.

I responded to their vacancy notice and just got the (as expected) long silence. Three weeks later they advertise again. So I phoned and said, 'oi, what about the last time you advertised and I applied ? What about that ?' or words to that effect.

I've had five stints of paid employment here in NZ. All but one have been from formally advertised job vacancies which I was interviewed for by people I didn't know, as is normal. The only 'word of mouth' job I got was a couple of months work as one of the managers where my husband works wanted someone to do some archive work. There was a longer stint of admin work advertised publicly there which I applied for and was turned down without interview. Different job, different manager, therefore different budget. So, so much for it's not what you know but who you know.

I have been unemployed for up to a year, here in NZ. That has never happened to me in Britain. Never ever. I'm not allowed to claim unemployment benefit as my husband earns more than the minimum wage. The tax I have paid during my stints of paid employment means nothing to the NZ government. I didn't come here to live off government hand outs btw. New Zealand really IS a foreign country.

I've spent more time out of work than in it here in NZ which for me is embarrassing to say the least. I do voluntary work when I am once again without paid employment and looking for same. It makes me feel useful at least which stops me going mad with boredom. New Zealand isn't going to grind me down anymore than it already has.

kiwibird75

Oh Snap shot that is bad, I did tell my hubby to look further a field like wanganui bur now maybe not!
Too be honest I will be happy working in a hospital, administration somewhere that should be easy enough where we are wanting to settle its the other half needs the better paid job, esp if we are to have that "quality of lufe" that he desired! I'm also bringing my folks who will be living with us for a while then looking at Housing NZ not sure how easy that is to get into but mum is a Kiwi so hopefully not too hard.
Another frustration for me is that my mother won't get any state benefits apart from their pension, here she gets DLA, mobility etc and it doesn't seem that she will get anything like that, this is dissapointing! Put please keep in touch and u never know when I am settled we could arrange to hook up?

Snap Shot

Sure.

Wanganui has worked for my husband, don't write it off completely !

Housing is affordable too.

kiwibird75

Can I just ask what is it your husband does? My hubby seen a job on the NZ defence force site, he applied for it and it was pretty much what he has done for the last 28 years, but didn't get a look in!!! I really despair with the way they do things over there they are sooo far behind the times and communication is disgusting. My work ethic in the UK is communication is KEY always, this hasn't caught on over there yet

Snap Shot

My husband is a Management Accountant. He is employed as a Business Accountant by the NZ Govt Dept he works for.

It's because the NZ Government is expected to share out the work around the regions that he has his job. That's why it's considered scandalous when a Government Department either large or small closes it's offices in small town NZ.

I've applied for jobs that I could do standing on my head and got turned down. Probably because they wanted someone who needed the career development.

I've had four unrelated job interviews at our local council offices and got turned down on each and every occasion. On my most recent turn down the bloke told me the standard of applicants was very high and he used to live and work in Auckland. How totally meaningless and a bit patronising was that ?

That's the only time anyone has had the balls to admit the job went to the internal candidate. A lot of fuss for 6 months work, but that seems to be the way it goes.

I've made countless applications for advertised job vacancies at our local military air base and been turned down without interview.

In the four years we've lived in NZ I've applied for dozens probably now hundreds of jobs. Regional New Zealand has the reputation for not having a great deal of employment. Well, someone is getting the jobs that I'm getting turned down for. So that's dozens, nearer hundreds of people in employment or switching jobs whilst I'm still in the starting blocks !

OK, I got turned down for a job a couple of months ago and was advised that they had 60 applications. So, that's 59 disappointed applicants as only one person will get the job. If they pick an external candidate, I assume.

I did go for an interview for an advertised job a couple of years ago. I am acquainted with someone who works there and they told me that it was all a debacle, the vacancy got withdrawn and in the end the partner of an existing employee got the job. Who knew ?

When we lived in Christchurch my husband was getting job interviews but no job offers. He was just about tearing his hair out with frustration. I got a temporary job from an employment agency which was supposed to be for 3 months. Turned out to be only four weeks as they got an ex-employee to do the job instead. Yeah, that old chestnut.

So, my husband started looking further afield for a job, basically as I previously mentioned, just about anywhere in NZ. That's how he got the job in Wanganui and the rest is history.

That was after 3 months of looking and we had just about run out of 'start up money' i.e. the float, a specific amount of money to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table that we had allocated to ourselves initially. We had to give the rental car back to save costs. We were going on the bus to collect our groceries. I was walking to work. No big deal as I walked to work in Britain.

Some people find the expression it is what it is infuriating. Sorry but it is what it is. I've never believed that New Zealand is the promised land. Returning New Zealanders and immigrants seem to think it is though.

Charismatic

TSB Bank? They run operations from the Taranaki, worth a chat and sending them a resume perhaps?