its me

Hi all,

Can anybody give me any advice as to regards to getting a job interview for my Oh please. He is a plumber / heating engineer, has been since he left school (he is 46 now). So far he has gone on to apply on the internet for about 10-15 jobs in his trade. Is this the best route to go down or is there anything else he could be doing? Or does anybody know of somebody wanting to employ this particular trade?

Any ideas of help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Justcol

there might be plenty of work for plumbers but you'll get
no joy as a heating engineer as kiwis dont do heating, they prefere
to live in igloo's and have old fashioned electric fires all over the house
i cant really offer any advice apart from keep doing what your doing.
look on trade me and seek.co.nz for vacancies.
It might also be worth looking up any trade organisations on the net
and contacting them.

Batty

Hi - you need to contact Bevs - she's the expert on this.

its me

Thanks for the reply's guy's - Batty, who's Bev's ?

Am Loolah

She's our gawgus other moderator - "BEVS here"

You could also try www.tradestaff.co.nz



Now you have 3 posts you can PM her.

BEVS

EErrgg. Let's start a dialogue

When it comes to applying for and getting a job offer in the trades here , it is all about feet on ground. In other words, the NZ employers will want to know when you are arriving & when you can start.

Of course, you cannot just arrive and start work as a plumber here in NZ. First you must run the fire coals of the PGDB of NZ & then you must either have a temporary work visa /permit or even PR.

The NZ employer may also want to know that you have had at least a prelim assessment from the PGDB and so can uplift a PGDB limited plumbing licence & be eligible to sit the PGDB registration assessments which would then mean you can become an NZ registered plumber. This would not mean you could become self-employed etc. It would simply mean that you would be seen as good enough to be employed by a company as a plumber.

It would be illegal for you to start up a self employed plumbing business here in NZ until you have the craftsman papers. You cannot have those until a good couple of years and exams following the registration assessments and exams.

There is a shortage here but the economy is slowing and so the pull for overseas tradesmen slows also.

The only thing I can suggest is that you continue as you are and blitz plumbing companies with your CV. They will not really take much notice though unless you can give them some idea of a start date. You could also try the UK NZ expos which happen around the UK. The only other thing I can think of is to look through the list of accredited employers ( see the BE wiki) and see if any want a UK plumber. Other than that, it really is a case of arriving here on a reccie and blitzing the place for a job offer.

Once you have that ,you would go for a temporary work visa to get you here . He would be working under a PGDB limited licence at plumbing. ( Same as for a final year apprentice) THe NZ employer has to countersign this form and vouch for the work. He would work under an NZ registered plumber. Similar to CORGI write off. Once you were here and working , you would apply for PR using the NZ plumbing job offer ; the limited licence and the PGDB prelim assessment to get you through the SMC for PR.

One thing to remember is that an NZ plumbing company will not be impressed by an overseas CV. They are quite insular in that way. They only see NZ plumbing and that , in their opinion , is the best in the world. So, you need to offer them good work at a rate they will be prepared to pay. At the same time you need to haggle for a going rate of pay, otherwise you will end up being offered a much lower rate than your NZ counterpart.

Please note that the plumbing industry here thinks it is the best in the world. :wink: That isn't so, of course, it is quite behind in many ways, but it is how they see themselves.

May I also say here that there is not that much call for heating engineers. Not reticulated gas anyway
There is work for gas. It is confined to certain areas & would limit work possibilities. Bottled gas is sometimes used for hobs and fires.
There are some central heating firms around which tend to use diesel from what I can make out.

Take a look at the PGDB site and this post and get back to me with your thoughts.

We can go from there.

The PGDB websitePGDB site You may already know this , in which case I wouldn't be wanting to teach you to suck eggs as it were.

Some links

Master Plumbers Assn

OnGas
TradeMe plumber vacancies

ashby

We have a favourable PGDB assessment--just need a job and a signature to get the limited license.
We are IN NEW ZEALAND.
We are going to do the blitz thing too but have already run into issues--they don't seem to want to sign the stupid work visa.
Don't know why??

We are about half way through our PR process.

theduke

Plumbing companies are paying people off here at the moment, things in the construction industry are very tight and will only get worse, sorry to be so doom and gloom, but you will be very very lucky to get a job in plumbing at the moment.

plumbers are in no way held in such high regard here as in the UK either so salaries will be hugely lower than he will be used to in the UK.

BEVS

Hey you.
There is nothing for the employer to sign re. the temp work permit. all they need do is give you a letter stating terms & conditions. That it is full time, permanent & the paid holiday & sick pay entitlement . A start date also helps. You would go straight from the job offer to applying for the temp work permit.

You would need his CV, plumbing quals and work exp ; the prelim assessment letter from the PGDB and the employers letter stating the jobs terms and conditions and a copy of the application for the PGDB limited licence which both the NZ employer and your OH signs. NZIS may wish to wait for the licence to arrive, in which case phone the PGDB to see if it can be fast tracked. Always state that you are after helping the employer by starting soon as poss.

You would also be applying for an open work permit on the back of your OH's application. Two forms.

It is true to say that as per the worldwide recession, the economy is slowing. We haven't heard of any tradesmen being laid off here - top end of South Island - yet. Although it could , of course, be in the wind. Work is certainly quieter than this time last year , or even last Autumn.

Wages are certainly lower than in the UK or perhaps also the US of A. My husband certainly earns a lot less now , being employed, than he did being self-employed in the UK. As is always the way, if you are self-employed , you make a far better rate of income. i don;t find that plumbers are held in any more or less esteem , NZ or UK. People certainly seem to want one all the time . There is no doubt though that , as with many occupations, the wages are poor given the amount of study and training that goes into the trade. IMHO it is equal to that of a degree.

theduke

There are people being laid off in the Auckland region in all trades. Less building works around. Saying this, I also know of plumbers being laid off in the UK, they are being told move to London or you are out of a job basically.

[/QUOTE]Wages are certainly lower than in the UK or perhaps also the US of A. My husband certainly earns a lot less now , being employed, than he did being self-employed in the UK. As is always the way, if you are self-employed , you make a far better rate of income. i don;t find that plumbers are held in any more or less esteem , NZ or UK. People certainly seem to want one all the time . There is no doubt though that , as with many occupations, the wages are poor given the amount of study and training that goes into the trade. IMHO it is equal to that of a degree.[/QUOTE]

Having worked in both the UK and currently NZ in relatively high level positions in the construction industry and can honestly say that plumbers are held in lower esteem here than in UK. All tradesmen are (even although everyone seemingly wants one) average wage in UK Approx. 50k(GBP) average wage in NZ $60k all he will be allowed to do is work on Plumbing until he passes his Gas cert, which get you maybe an extra $5-10k per year.

Best bet is email companies direct from the yellow pages nz, most plumbing companies will not go to agencies for workforce. Also note most plumbing companies here have drainage contractors as part of their business so if he knows drainage and plumbing it would be beneficial.

Sorry don't know how to split Quotes hence above???

BEVS

Plumbing , gas and drainage are each stand alone trades within the PGDB framework.

Anyone wanting to work on gas must pass the PGDB prelim assessment for gas and then the 4 day registration for Gas. Same applies for plumbing. If one wants to be become registered at both , then it will be two lots of prelims and two lots of 4 day course work, exams and assessments at $3500 each.

As far as I am aware, overseas drainage trade qualifications are not recognised by the PGDB. Or at least they weren't. If someone wants to become a registered drainlayer, they will need to complete the National Certificate and then pass registration for drainlaying.

Being able to work on gas will not normally gain one any extra rate of pay, although I have no idea how it is for Auckland.

Becoming a craftsman in any of the above three would gain more $$ per hour after a good bit of haggling .

It is possible to work at either of the three trades under the appropriate PGDB limited licence. It is one PGDB licence for each . If one passes the registration then one uplifts the appropriate licences. It is one for gas. One for plumbing and one for drainlayers.

Your quoted rates of pay are interesting. We know plumbers in the UK who are no where near the £50K GBP . Admittedly these are employed plumbers, not self-employed plumbers and gasfitters. Equally we know employed plumbers here on around $45K per year and less. I'm not sure any of this is about esteem as such. It's more likely about business economics & what companies can get away with when it comes to rate of pay and then charge out for that trade employee.

Anyway, all the best to those plumbers & gasfitters hoping to live and work here in NZ.