Platty

My husband has the chance to interview for a job in New Zealand, its offers:

* Salary range between $90-105,000k nzd + 17.6% performance bonus
* Relocation package/expenses
* 2 year work visa
* Family also included

The job is for a fixed-line and/or Mobile GSM IP network solution design engineers, the pay seems a bit low at £33 to 38k or is it just me?
Also what is New Zealand like to live in as we have never considered it before?

Perhaps you guys can help?

Thanks in advance.

kato33

With that salary I would definately say go for it.
And if you have children then even more so.
Whereabouts would the job be in NZ? North Island or South?

Nici

sananddave

YES I agree - I would go for it, Thats a great wage for NZ and an excellent package. If your young with kids have a fantastic adventure - you never know where it may lead!! ENJOY.

McGowans

Given that accredited employers only have to offer $50k for visa purposes that's a fab salary.

happynz

That's right up there,

You'll drive yourself mad if you think in pounds and earn and spend in New Zealand dollars.

That's a question that can only truly be answered by you. The thing is that although it shares a common language and has many cultural similarities with the UK, New Zealand is not a miniature budget version of the UK.

At any rate, be prepared for cold drafty houses in winter, shockingly expensive shoes and books, motorists with sketchy driving skills, third rate crap imported from China dominating the shop shelves and (this seems to affect Brits for some reason) not very flash sausages.

The cars on the roads are overwhelmingly secondhand Japanese imports (average age is about ten years I think).

The scenery here is stunning. Most Kiwis are quite friendly. It is easy to find excellent fresh fruits and veg, meats and seafood. The air is quite clean for the most part.

But yeah, asking what New Zealand is like to live is probably too broad a question. As I wrote, that question can only really be answered with any truth by yourself. You can only get that answer by coming here and experiencing it.

Good luck.

Littletoe

Do not convert anything to GBP. If you're earning the dollar - live by that. Over here, I think that would be considered a better than average salary. I think average is about $35-40k - I'm sure someone can correct me on that. You can't convert salary to pounds because there won't be a comparison, its all relative. I believe that most Kiwi families would earn that amount with two people working. That said, it depends what you want for yourselves. For example, I don't know how anyone can survive earning less than 100k! Providing relocation costs and taking care of visas is an excellent package. Not one that many companies offer, so grab the opportunity. There is a real 'brain drain' over here, so skilled and educated people can come over here and ask for the moon. While your hubby is here and if you guys like it you will clearly find more work - the sky is the limit! Best of luck!

KiwiKate

I think you have a fantastic offer there! So many people would kill to be in your shoes!!! Obviously it's a big decision, upping sticks and moving halfway around the world, and only you can decide if that move is right for your family ... all I can say is on that money and package, you should be financially secure and positively wealthy compared to the average ex-pat!! My husband earns 75k a year, and we live quite comfortably here! Hope that helps

luvwelly

You need to ask yourself, what am I giving up in the UK in exchange for this?

Platty

Not a hellva lot, we were planning on upping sticks and moving to Canada but Mr Platty needs a job offer (we haven't got the required points) and quite frankly all the bureaucracy was getting on our tits as he was offered a job but the company didn't seem to know what the hell they were doing.

Now I know this sounds like we are doing the next best thing (we probably are) but atm my husband earns about £50k and because we didn't get on the housing ladder early enough we are stuffed as we can't afford to buy our own place. We have moved at least 5 times in the last 5 years and we really really want to settle down in a place that we can call our own and maybe this is the way to do it.

We are not expecting it to be like the UK, in fact we would prefer it not to be like the UK Even if we only end up staying 2 years you guys have convinced us it is still a fantastic opportunity and we would be idiots to pass it up. Oh and the job is in Wellington

Avid

You could come out to NZ for 2 years (and have some fun) by which time the UK property market should have collapsed and you'll be able to go back and buy a house.

Sounds like a win-win situation for you.

Batty

Yeah, on that salary you'll be fine. We've got no kids but a $325k mortgage and earn around $100k and we're ok. Waste a lot, but still ok. If you won't have a mortgage or not much of one, you'll be brilliant Not many companies offer deals like that - if they continue like that you'll be sweet. It's windy in Wellington I mean, it's REALLY windy. It's gorgeous - my husband is from Upper Hutt and I absolutely fell in love with the place but ... I like the warmer climes of Auckland.

Just make sure you get a house with a proper heating system and insulation - rent till you find the right house. It's so, so important and please don't underestimate this - it's the major gripe of immigrants here and if it hadn't been for forums I wouldn't have known to refuse to see a house without a woodburner and insulation. You'll probably even be able to afford a place with "underfloor heating in tiled areas" lol

Sorry, only just saw that you don't have a property to sell (embarrassed smiliey)

luvwelly

The UK property market never collapses for very long in my experience and once out of it, it would be very hard to get back on the ladder. If you are not on it at the moment than arguably you are taking less of a risk by coming here.
Wellington is wonderful...you wouldn't want to be too remote now would you?

Check out exactly what the relocation package entails.

lizard

You could buy a property in the north of england with an income like that, a fairly nice semi for about £120,000.

Platty

Yes but Mr Platty wouldn't be paid that much in the north

donnaf

As everyone has said that's a good offer - what have you got to lose? One of our worries was selling the house in the UK and if things didn't work out having to start again - I would say you're in a good position in a way because you don't have a property.
We've been here for 9 months now and love it, we've got 3 kids and they are realy settled. There's a great expat community here - if you want to use it. We're in Welly and there's a large (gettin larger) group of us meet most weekends, so plenty of support here. Wellington is a great city, some great property out in the suburbs (and in the city if that's what you want but you pay more for less), fab beaches, parks, museums, loads to do and see and lots of things that don't cost money. We don't have much spare cash but a great quality of life - you only live once girl! Would you regret it if you didn't try it?