Quality_Guru

Hello all,

I made it past my phone interview and my face to face interview which was in London. (Quality Manager Role)

I anticipate a response to get an offer next week from the company. The company in question is the largest Construction company in New zealand.

Im looking for anyone who has relocated and either haggled with their package, received a good package, or been turned down any requests. Any industry will do, however construction would be a bonus.

At the start i was told about the following package...

1) $9000 in relocation costs for household items (We are hoping that we can just use this to buy used household items when in New Zealand, as we dont really cherish anything other than photos, frames, my golfclubs (which we would ship) etc.) Would this be possible? and do they transfer money or organise the relocation of items?

2) First Months accommodation (Hotel or apartment). can this be re-negotiated to finding a home to rent as it would be roughly the same costs and mean less hassle for both employer and employee? We would then take over the rent after the first 4 weeks or whatever?

3) First Months car hire - This is fine as it will help us get about. Although i currently in the UK receive my fuel through the company which i advised them of. Would it be rude to question about a company car that we would pay for fuel for personal use? i would also be hapy to contribute a little bit of salary towards this.

4) One way flights....Now i don't know if im being cheeky or silly, but would these usually be economy or business class? we arent bothered which class..although we would prefer business class. and if economy is offered should we ask for business? We are also planning a stopover in either Dubai to visit family or Singapore to do touristy things on the way, which ive read is no problem

5) Visa and Medical costs!! - Now this hasnt been mentioned as of yet, but is there the potential for the prespective employer to pay the Visa and Medical costs or reimburse these costs? Not a game changer however, it is costly. £1500 for both me and my partner.

6) Medical - Im unsure of any medical programmes or dental programmes within the company. Ask?

7) Salary - This is the difficult part, as for the first year my partner will not be working, as she will be flying back to the UK every 3 months to organise our Wedding (Booked for March 2018). How hard can i negotiate on the salary? Ideally we are looking for over $95,000 NZD Per annum as a minimum. however if a car is included this could be negotiated down to $85K.

8) Other bits and peices like Mobile phones, Work Laptop etc.

Any other bits that i have pottentially missed out above then please let me know.

I appreciate some people will not want to discuss packages on the Forum, and in that case please feel free to private message me.

Thanks
QG

mickey_d

We'd have snapped their hands off for any 1 of those in your list, our relocation package was $45, taxi from airport to apartment

MrsFychan

same here we got nowt and never expected anything

Snap Shot

Nope, we got nothing. Arrived in the country without a job to go to.

OK, I'm married to a New Zealander and have a family category visa but who ever said a visa is not a job offer is totally correct.

BEVS

You were lucky.
Himself had to hunker down in a bunkhouse. Got there via a shuttle bus.

Seriously Quality_Guru. WTG. Sounds fab TBH.

cappuccino

I got nothing either! Whatever they offer you, accept graciously.

mickey_d

He was the most miserable taxi driver I've ever come across though

escapedtonz

Ha Ha you guys kill me

At the stage of my interview I asked all these questions.

1) We got $10000 towards relocation expenses - i.e. shipping. We used it to transport a 40ft container over with all of our worldly goods in. They also insured the whole shipment on the company insurance (the under-wright themselves) for free.
Yes you can ship golf clubs etc. Anything that has been outside needs to be scrubbed within an inch of it's life and disinfected with something like Jay's fluid. I brought my golf clubs, bikes, camping gear, hiking gear etc etc.
More than likely you will not receive any money until you are here in NZ and have started work. The company will have to pay you this money in to your salary with the extra amount to cover the income tax so you get exactly what you have agreed as Net pay.

2) We got $5000 towards accommodation. In lieu of this they offered us a company apartment in Wellington CBD for 4 weeks fully paid, however we turned it down as our boy was only 13 months old at the time and we didn't think it safe living slap bang in the CBD. The apartment was stunning but we took the money instead and arranged our own holiday rental in Lower Hutt. We managed to make that money last 8 weeks and cover the whole period whilst we awaited our shipping container.
You probably wouldn't take over the rent after the first 4 weeks. Places a company uses are generally high cost. If we had taken the apartment on The Terrace, Wellington and stayed there it would have cost us $1400 per week after the first 4 weeks....Damn!

3) The company arranged a hire car (big SUV) for us for 2 weeks until we bought a car. No chance of a company car in my job and many jobs where I'd expect people to have a company car here don't for some reason and use their own vehicles ? All depends on the company and the job I suppose. If you need to travel regularly then I'd expect there's a car on offer, however the office may have a number of pool cars that can be used as and when needed ?

4) Economy class. Don't be silly
You may have trouble if you want to stay over in Dubai or wherever en-route. It'll cost more to break up the journey this way and it changes the status of the route from a non-stop journey to at least 2 x legs, maybe 3. Even though it is always 2 or 3 flights, if it is booked as one journey it is generally cheaper. You may have to throw some dollars in there ?
We didn't get anything for the international flights as we'd already booked them before I got the job so the company just paid for the domestic flights out of Auckland. We stayed over in Abu Dhabi for 5 days and Sydney for 5 days on the way to break it up.

5) I tried this but they refused as we already had the visas for 6 months. They did pay for the Permanent Residency Visa's after 2 years and I'll be trying to get them to pay for the whole Citizenship next year....no harm in trying

6) Ask. I get Southern Cross Regular Care as part of my salary package plus a few other benefits on insurance and life insurance, eye tests, executive medicals etc etc. The health scheme covers anyone who lives with me so all the family benefits. We get around 80% refund for all GP costs plus minor surgery etc up to an annual limit per year for free.

7) This is the toughest part. Salaries aren't high here. I negotiated my starting salary up to $85000 in 2011 when I signed the contract. That would have been tough for the family on one wage in Wellington. I arrived here approx 5 days before starting work. I was called in to work around 3 days before I started due to a big meeting being held between management and all staff.....10% pay rise for everyone...and I hadn't even started

8) I wouldn't offer or ask to have a mobile or a laptop. If you need one you'll be given one. If you don't then be happy that you have no ties to work when you aren't there!

The company also put us in touch with a relocation expert who could advise us about anything and everything as we needed. They sent us books and a load of literature for us to read up on before we headed off.

desmondo84

Negotiate hard on the salary. Pay rises are hard to come by. Looking at the package, they clearly want you so push very hard on the salary. I'd ask for a phone and laptop if you need it for the job. Absolutely ask about something like southern cross and see if they boost you up to a higher level of cover to include dental.

Bo-Jangles

I agree if you're up for a conversation about money, I would focus on and drive a harder bargain around the salary, as unlikely that you'll get that opportunity again. A few thousand for relocation is a one off teaser and it would be much better to get that money added as a permanent extra $5000 or $10,000 added to your salary. I would aim to settle on 10% more than their first offer.