RichP

Hello Britishexpats,

I'm back after 4 years. 2 of which I spent living in Aus. Which I did alone when I was 21.

Background - I have next to nothing to lose other than time. No obligations, £5k, experienced with IT/web dev/ecommerce. Plus usual type work.

Am I realistically going to enjoy this? Or am I going to be in a similiar situation as I am here in England (hard to get work/high living expenses). Most of the feedback from these sites seems to be negative.

I'm 25 now, so my prior youthful "it'll last forever and be okay" outlook, much like the global economy, is begining to fade. I'd like to think I might settle somewhere now.

I don't think I'd consider anywhere else than Auckland.

I'd love to hear your experiences? Feedback?

Kiteboy

Rich
I just replied to your other post.

I can't imagine you having problems getting a job in the industry you have experience with, when I was 25 I hardly hard any work experience.

Yes there is a lot of negative comments on this site. But I can think of far more negative points about the UK. People complain that the living expenses are high here. Its no different to the UK and I've found that if you shop around there are plenty of cheaper alternatives without losing quality.

I've been in Auckland almost a year now, I had no problems on the job front because I had one lined up prior to arriving. Yes, I have found it hard to make close friends. But hopefully that will change as I'm making an effort to get out and meet new people.

At the end of the day its what you make of it. I saw all the negative comments prior to arriving here, but I wanted to get my view of the picture before passing comment.

I would say that most people came here for the lifestyle, I know I did. Its been a hard year for me, as I emigrated by myself. But looking back at what I had in the UK, what I have here and what I can expect to have in another year or two then I would never think of going back to the UK any time soon.

bigjohnny7

If I was 25 and had the opportunity to, I'd be over here in a flash. I didn't come out here until I was 29, and I regret not being able to come earlier.

I don't know about finding work in your field. I'm an analyst and I found a job relatively easily (which I'm still in), but that was just before the recession hit so I can count myself lucky.

In terms of lifestyle, it beats the UK hands-down - especially the specific part I'm from (Manchester). My biggest gripe in Auckland is the lack of a decent public transport system. I can't believe how much I took this for granted back in the UK.

I'm just about to have my first child - my wife is due in 10 days - and if nothing else, this country is superb to settle down and bring up a family.

RichP

bigjohnny, kiteboy - thanks guys. Could you both please elaborate on how the lifestyle is different and your thoughts? That'd be really appreciated. I'm a fellow Northerner too btw

bigjohnny7

Positives: Warmer weather. Easier lifestyle. Lower cost of living. A safer environment all round. Easy to get to the beach. Australia (and South East Asia) are just a stones throw away. Very easy to get out and do outdoor activities.

Negatives: Winters can be cold without a good heating system. Non-existant public transport (in Auckland). Aside from a few good art-house cinemas, there's a general lack of culture. The country is constantly in Australia's shadow. It's very expensive to go to the USA / Europe on holiday. Most importantly - you can't find a decent chip shop where they physically chip potatoes and deep fry them (all of the shops buy them in frozen)!

RichP

Shame about the poor standard of chippys. Australia had the problem too. Could be a good business opportunity haha!

Charismatic

Cost of living compared to wages is probably the biggest downside. Unemployment rate here is just under 7% whereas the UK is 8% so you'd be hard pushed to get a razor between them really.

The truth is at the moment more people are going than coming here.
Link.

There is little will politically or publically for change so I think you’ll see a protracted stagnation in New Zealand regarding income and a decline in standard of living. I think our advice here has always been that if you are in a good financial position in life New Zealand can be a great place to live.

RichP

Thanks man. This is really useful information for me.

My financial situation is dire. I have no belongs other than clothes and a laptop. Just above £5k in the bank. I actually think I'd be in a better situation being an illegal immigrant in Australia where I have connections.

Where has it all gone wrong with NZ? Why is OZ booming, and NZ faltering? Perhaps the net decline could benefit someone with a bit of entrepreneurial flair, I dunno.

Charismatic

Lots of reasons but in my view the most prominent of which are a large income gap, reliance on primary sector exports (agriculture) rather than value added goods and a general lack of modernisation.

All that said the country is just fantastic in the summertime, I mean really amazingly brilliant. Is it enough alone? Well that depends on the individual.

DC10

History 101:

NZ has been in slow but steady decline since two key events in the 1970s. The first was Britain joining the EU/EEC, which meant that NZ was at a stroke no longer the supplier of choice for most of Britain's agriculture imports. NZ had been booming during the 1950s and 60s on the back of that supplier status. Australia had minerals to fall back on.

The other event was that in the 1970s and 80s most countries set up some form of either compulsory and/or tax-incentivised pension scheme to pay for the coming hoarde of baby boomer retirements. The 1972-75 Labour govt did that in NZ, but a chap named Muldoon abolished it as a short-term vote winner and the country has bascially agonised over the issue ever since. The end result is no national culture of saving, no sizeable local corporations (apart, perhaps, from Fonterra), and a huge reliance on overseas money for everything from banking to farming to paying pensions. Australia by comparison has vast pension funds and local companies.

The NZ problem is compounded by a silly 3-year election cycle, which means it is always election time and policies tend to be very short-term vote-grabbing in outlook.

All the best with your move

wellingtonboot

I work in IT in Wellington, been here 5 weeks.

Its expensive. By expensive I mean ridiculously expensive.

I lived in London and that was cheap compared to here.

What we are talking about is readily available - with only 4million nearly everything is imported - you have to import everything yourself if you want cheap goods.

If you dont have work lined up in an IT company on a very good wedge before you come over - my advice, dont bother - from the sounds of it Oz would be better.

Say you got a bar job here... You can work in a bar anywhere in the world.

Why work in a bar where the prices of daily goods means you can barely live.

Dont get me wrong - if it was half the price it would be a great place to live.

RichP

Hey man, thanks for the reply. Few questions: In what area of IT do you work in? How old are you?

I've used my VISAs up in OZ already, unfortunately. Gutted to say the least. As I left JUST before the recession, and have returned to UK and things don't look to good.

I hear you on the bar job. There's no chance in hell I'm going to do that (lived and learned the hard way!). Getting to the age now where I'd want to have some disposable income (and the occasional pissup).

wellingtonboot

29, i bailed from the UK. I work in WIN server ops. also trade forex part time.

If you want any disposable income wherever you live - you have to knuckle down and save or earn enough - which means you had to have knuckled down before hand!

Looking at your situation that 5k is going to be 1K by the time you are here in week 5 after flights, visa, finding work, accom, etc etc. - if you dont have a job before you come i would say you need more like 8k GBP to be safe.

I hear people in what they say regarding finding bargains etc. Lets look at convenience - i dont want to have to go shopping around for basics - but thats the adjustment you are paying for. examples - you can live cheaply by buying off amazon.... paracetamol here is 10gbp a pack and 50p in sainsburys in the uk..... everything is imported because it has to be - very small population here.......

Work is slack as hell compared to London so thats probably worth its weight in gold.

I only got over here from money i made trading forex - that took 4 years to get right. I saved up a bit from work but that wasnt enough.... I am on double in wellington what i was earning in london.

so far so good here. as i say its just the price. couldnt give a shit about the weather - the weather was shit in the UK too.

its more chilled out here work and play. You dont have a depressing cycle rammed down your throat every day like the uk.

I havent travelled anywhere yet to look around - ive just been in work and getting pissed solidly for 5 weeks so far.

RichP

That'd sounds a bit like me. Though I'd probably end up drinking my way through the emergency flight home money too given the opportunity.

What server side stuff do you deal with in your job? What qualifications do you have? How'd you locate the job?

Real shitty dilemma here. I've always made a living on the side focusing on IT but I have a feeling that given the small size of the country it'd be incredibly difficult to do that, , and like you say relying on a basic job (bar work for example) would be strenous. It's good to speak to someone of a similiar age who can give me the lowdown, so thanks.

Anyway, fx trading sounds pretty neat!

wellingtonboot

i started off in it in the uk 7 years ago, been contracting ever since. no qualifications - after all..IT is easy.
i work on windows servers - you will have had to have supported it in corporate environments to do similar, i got the job through a friend that i worked with in london - hes a kiwi.

In london you are looking at 250 people per any IT support job - not that any of them are any good. 2008 was a nightmare - no work and that went through to 2010... its going to take a nose dive again (benefit from trading forex - i can see in advance whats happening)

there are more phillipinos in my team than any other nationality. skills are mixed as was london. You generally have to be in front of an employer to get a job unless you are drafted in specially - in that instance you would be from india.... as a brit you will have to come over and do something else and then get your foot in the door. i am an exception.

I can afford to get pissed every day as im earning a fair wedge - you couldnt here if you werent. Beer in pubs is really expensive and if you like lager like me you struggle to find decent lager - its all hoppy ales!


if you made a living on the side from IT what was your main earner?

if i was in your position i would test the water - set up a gmail account - with a name so [email protected] or whatever - give it a NZ address on it and amend your cv to say an address in NZ - then apply for jobs on jobserve.com.au (select new zealand) - see what interest you get back then you know if you have a chance.


take it from me.... dont ever go anywhere near forex