Sparkies - can you help?
 

Hi Folks!


What a stressful business this emigration malarky is!!! Sorry to post yet another question..

We've just received our ITA :thumbsup: and were selected from pool with 140 points and no job offer. I'm worried that our application will be declined as we have no job offer and if they interview us - they'll not be impressed that we've never been to NZ and have no family there.

Therefore a job offer is the way forward! My questions to all you sparkies are:

Has anyone had any luck in securing a job offer before getting to NZ? Is it worth a monumental push or do you guys think it would be fruitless. My OH says that with trades, they like to meet you, start ASAP etc.

Should I send him off for a few weeks to job hunt while we're waiting for our application to be processed?

Anyone know of any good recruitment agencies? We're very open to where we go, though we may struggle to afford Auckland!


Thanks for any advice. I imagine there are lots of people who have gone through or are going through the same chicken and egg headache. Good luck to you all.:fingerscrossed:

HeatherGirl
Where there's a will, there's a way.

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

my husband not a sparky but in IT. He was finding it very frustrating being in the UK and dealing with agencies that either didn't deliver on the jobs he was applying for or even after Skype interview said "you look great for the part, when can you get here so WE (the agency) can interview you. Seems agencies want to interview you before they put your CV to the companies.
We took the plunge and sent hubby out for initially 3 weeks, he was offered a job within 5 days of being there, went to Immigration the next day, got his Work Visa and was working the next day and didn't actually come back to the UK until the end of Oct for 2 weeks. That left me dealing with closing up the UK side of things, house sale, leaving parties for the kids, organising container etc.
As for agencies you should be looking on places like Seek and Trademe but also contacting companies direct.

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Hi :)

My hubbys a sparkie, we got granted a work to residence visa as he didnt have a job offer (and struggled to get one with not being here), he basically had to work in NZ as a sparkie for 3 months and get his provisional registration (EWRB), he done both and we were granted residency :D

It is a bit of a pain but its a catch 22 situation, companies seem reluctant to offer jobs before you are here... there do seem to be electrical jobs available though (check out Trade Me or Seek).

You can only get your EWRB reg once you have an employer to sponsor you too.

We had been to NZ on holiday twice before and my parents and hubbys uncle are here, not sure if that played any part in the visa :confused:

He's actually had a complete career change now as was fed up of sparking, got us into this beautiful country tho!

Good Luck - feel free to ask any questions about the process and I can try to remember!

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

It's been some time since I was in that situation, but as as Boogieboard was saying it is a bit of a catch 22.

I'd get over here and do your regs and stuff and do the round of interviews.

Don't expect too much......I don't see this industry doing that well.

Check out Trade Me and Seek and send in a CV or two

I wouldn't give any agencies the time of day. They seem more interested in getting you on their books than finding you a place

Best of luck

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Oh, and if you need some more 'trade' info, PM me

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

As long as you've done enough research and can answer the questions they ask then there's no reason to be declined. Do a search on the immigration forum about the kind of questions asked and have some answers ready. They were very into asking me 'what if' type questions eg what if I can't find work, what if I have to try a different area of NZ etc. Try and think of what might go wrong and have some idea of what you'd do in those cases:sneaky:

I had no job offer and got residency straight off.

One thing to bear in mind is that if you can't register to work in NZ until you are actually working [I believe this is the case with electricians] then you will probably get a job search visa instead of residency. This gives you 3m to get the visas in your passport and then 3m to enter NZ. You will have a 9m visa which allows you to find suitable work. Once you have and have worked for 3m [I think] then you can convert to residency.

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

I'd go along with that.

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Thank you everyone!



It's reassuring to know that Persephone. I should manage "what if" questions as I spend every waking moment thinking about what ifs at the moment!

I expect that we will get the job search visa (if anything). It seems a bit strange as surely if we had PR straight off - I could look for work too and we'd be more likely to settle... still, we'll take what we can get! It states that the kids and I will not be automatically included in the job search visa - I guess we could come out as visitors... but how would that work with the kids' schooling?

One more question! At what point will they ask to see evidence of funds available? We have to sell the house first but don't want to do this before some indication that we will get at least some sort of visa. Man! It's all about timing isn't it??

Thanks again everyone. Really appreciate your help.:):)
HeatherGirl

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Hi Heather, i'm heading out to christchurch at the end of the month on a temp work visa to help with the re-build, i'm a carpenter.. I'm being recruited through an agency who have a lot of clients struggling to fill vacancies... I think their might be about 70 guys or so heading out, not sure about all their trades though...Here's the agents website address, send them an enquiry and see what they say. http://www.canstaff.co.nz

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Hi I am curious how this worked as I thought there was a requirement to do labour market testing for a work visa?

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Not if the occupation is on the LTSSL

Re: Sparkies - can you help?
 

Thanks SachaG! We'll definitely give them a try :thumbsup: