Frenchy

I will be flying out to NZ in Feb potentially to do a reccie
We have received our documents to apply for residence under skilled migrants will be looking for job offers before we sell our UK home.. I am suddenly in the middle of a panic about EVERYTHING (Suppose this is normal!)
Hubby will be looking for work as either aircraft, motor or marine engineer and myself as District Nurse, clinical educator or tissue viability Nurse.
With only a 2 wks 4 days visit we have so much to cram. We have booked few day in Auckland, week in Papomoa and week in Russell.
Beginning to wonder if work for us both may be in areas like Hamilton or Te Puke
Also like the sound of New Plymouth anyone got any suggestions?
Also looks like hubby will be potentially earning around $45 if I were full time I have been told to expect around $50,00 but as I want part time this may come down to around $20-$30,000
We hope to come over with around £170.000
What areas would be best and can we expect a good lifestyle on this income and buy a decent place cash?
Sorry about so many questions but feel really confused and aapprehensiveas want to hit the good areas on our rreccie|_Also need to consider decent schools (11 and 13)
Many thanks

Biddy

Hi Frenchy - ca va?

As you are probably aware Auckland is a bit of a double edged sword. It's the most expensive place to live in NZ but also the place where you're most likely to find work!
With £170k you would buy yourself if not all then most of a good family home in most areas outside AK - especially within 30 mins - 1hr commute of the major cities. We're about an hour out of Welly for ex and you could buy yourself somewhere pretty good for that.
As a nurse I feel you could pick up work practically anywhere and similarly your hubby as an engineer would be in demand. I think it is generally easier to find work once you are here so if you are flexible about location then how about taking sometime to travel and finding the area you really want to settle in? Chicken and egg re work and home -do you find work and then hope you can find somewhere nice to live near that or the other way round - your choice. I have been to Hamilton and didn't particularly like it - but I know there is fantastic countryside all around. Pretty much all other cities have access to the shore/beach which is a big attraction. Haven't been to New Plymouth yet, but have heard that it's relatively inexpensive to live in.
Put some money aside for emergencies and general living incase you don't find work quickly - it's always good to know you've got some squirrelled away.

Good luck and hope it works out for you.

turkeytickler

Air New Zealand have just laid off a load of their aircraft engineers in Auckland and outsourced to China (I think) so i would imagine the market in that trade at least would be a little tight. They still do plenty of maintenance in ChCh (i know, i live 5 ks from the airport and have to listen to the wretched engines rattling all night )

tht

Frenchy

Thanks Biddy
Wondered how realistic it would be to do day trips from Bay of PPlentyto West coast ie New Plymouth
Do you like the area you are in?
What made you settle in that area (twenty questions!)
Thanks

Biddy

Bay of Plenty to NP would be a long trip - several hours and certainly not one you'd want to tackle on a regular basis. Roads are a little different here!
Love the area I'm in - traffic can be bad at times (rush hours can double the journey sometimes esp if there's an accident) I live v close to state highway 1 which I had imagined to be like a dual lane motorway / A road - but is actually only 1 lane each way for most of it's length!
We have a lovely climate - don't get the Windy Welly Weather and generally a couple of deg c warmer.
We settled here because we didn't want to mave to Auck - big and relatively crowded - so chose Welly. Wanted somewhere up to an hour out of town with coastal access and it just happenned to be Waikanae. We did a lot of research from afar and got the kids into School and kindy before leaving UK (both schools here are great) - checked out house prices etc on the net - but ended up buying land when we got here. We now rent ($270 pw 3 bed with lovely gardens and views) until our house is built - next July hopefully.
Attached are a couple of piccies - Kids on beach with Kapiti Island immediately behind and South Island in distance. View from our rental.

Good luck.

livewire

Work for aircraft engineers is a bit limited at the moment, as TT says much of it is being put out offshore by Air NZ (sore point here right now) and Qantas are said to be considering the same. As for marine engineering - can't really say much about work opportunities, guess it depends very much on where you are located in NZ.

Joshlin

Have a look at www.stuff.co.nz - go to job stuff and you'll get a sense of jobs available - it's got a geographical filter so you can focus on a specific location or just trawl through whole NZ.
likewise visit some of the dhb websites for nursing positions - they all have vacancy sections which are pretty accurate - www.cdhb.govt.nz takes you to canterbury, www.bopdhb.govt.nz takes you to bay of plenty and there is a dhb site for every area - if you put district health board into a search engine you should get them come up.
I would say with the combined income you mention and the £170k savings then you should do OK in most areas, AKL aside.
Good luck

Frenchy

Another qqueryfor Biddy (You seem a popular buddy, biddy!) I notice from another thread that you are in hhealth caresales this is another area I have considered if I am going to leave the NHS after 27 years (Good bye pension-what pension?) I figure things may be brighter in the ccommercialworld. Have a load of experience in wound care do you know much about sales positions within this arena.
Glad we got our ITA last month got 125 points without job offer, that would have not got us in now with the new 140 pass.
On many of the internet sites for jobs they state at the end of the advert that you need to be a NZ resident to apply, is this generally the case?
Many thanks for all your help and a vverymerry crimbo to all.

cottageinthesky

I would definitely spend a few days, if not a week, in Wellington - major health care facilities, airport, marinas and its nothing like Auckland, which is not my favourite place in NZ - Wellington is compact, often described as a village with skyscrapers - great arts scene, even from the city centre, you're only minutes away from untouched native bush, beaches and peaceful, leafy suburbs, good sports facilities, temperate climate - I used to wear gloves and scarf in England from about late September to May - have only worn them in Wellington a couple of times a year - think we were near the top of the sunniest number of days last year. I'm a great fan - oh, and you can visit Biddy's little slice of heaven in about 40/50 minutes at the right time of day!

Biddy

Hi Frenchy - I spent 10 years with J&J in wound care sales in the UK! I'm now working for Tyco Healthcare.
In my experience you'll need to be here to get work and then it'll probably be through an agency - especially as you'll be 'new' to the industry.
About 6 months before coming here I started contacting agencies to put me on their 'radar'. Just before I arrived I contacted the most promising again to arrange interviews and got my current job within a few days of getting here.

Suggestions would be:
http://www.synergyconsult.co.nz/ Who I got my job with
http://www.src.co.nz/ContactUs.aspx
http://www.scitechrecruit.co.nz/home.lasso
http://www.momentum.co.nz/
http://nz.hudson.com/
http://www.gaulterrussell.co.nz/

Here is a link to a list of a whole bunch of rec agents to look through
http://www.nzs.com/business/services...ent-companies/

Good luck.

I'd suggest starting salaries will be anthing from $40k - $70k dependant on the company and how much they like you - plus various bonuses, car etc.

Frenchy

Thanks very much for that Biddy
I have made a S&N contact (Dirty word to you eh!) as I have done a fair bit of education, article publication and product evaluation with them. They dont have anything in NZ at present.
Nurse education in wound care within the commercial world would be my favourite most suited route as I currently teach on the tissue viability and leg ulcer degree modules.I obtained my post graduate certificate in education last year and it would be a shame not to carry on with that.
I have been going to Harrogate for the past 15yrs so more than likely you will have attended too. You were not midland territory by any chance?.
sounds like we need to make the journey across from the East coast when we are in NZ in Feb as I have read lots of positive threads of the area.
I am sooooo excited. hubby is too (he has just been made redundant for the second time this year--Merry xmas!!!!)
Many thanks for those links
Looks like I need to get CV's out there!
Cheers
Dawn (and yes it is Dawn French but not the famous one!)