Right ok so here goes. My husband had a Skype call last night from a recruitment agency who seem very enthusiastic about finding him work as a civil/ geotechnical engineer probably in Christchurch. So now the enviable questions begin lol. He earns 35 000 here in Scotland and as we have 2 pre school kids I dont work. He works away 2 weeks at a time and never sees the kids apart from 1 weekend after his 2 week stint. We just about financially get by. So that's our uk situation. He has been told with 5 years experience to expect about 90 000 in nz. Would this be ok if we lived outside the city ( not far). We don't eat out etc as our salary here doesn't allow for it so we are used to being frugal. What's your opinion and experience? By the way once the kids are at school I hope to return to work as a Barber. Help please should I do this?

Looks like you can get more than 90 on the North Island, Madisons, which is an accredited company are looking. https://www.seek.co.nz/job/36559875?type=standout and there are other listings for the Central North Island so bypass the recruitment agency and get your CV into Madison and the other companies as soon as you can. https://www.seek.co.nz/Geotechnical-Engineer-jobs

HI

​Much appreciate ur reply. Unfortunately most of the jobs who pay more want some sort of NZ experience so hopefully he will get more once he has been there a while.

Sorry no New Zealand expert these days, but I would always be careful what other people say (recruiters). Unless he actually gets the 90K offer, they can say a lot.
It's no different here and you can always expect, but actually getting is the other thing. MrsFychan advice seems good to contact companies directly. Regarding getting by, I suppose that's the norm everywhere these days, especially with kids.

Dnt worry we won't be coming over until employment has been secured. I was more just trying to find out what people generally thought of that amount of money with regards to what's on offer in Christchurch together with the cost of living

It depends on the standard of living you are hoping for. do research into the cost of rentals, travel, Drs appointments, food, utilities etc on 90K you will be taking home $65,429.00 per year

$90,000.00
Your take home pay is
72.70%
of your gross pay
Your take home pay is
$1,258.25
per week

this includes Kiwisaver payments of $2700 per year. Kiwisaver is the NZ pension fund that the employer, employee pay into and then the Governments tops it up if you have saved a certain amount each year.

So what happens to that payment if you leave the country ?

you can withdraw it as long as you have not moved to Aus, http://www.kiwisaver.govt.nz/already.../early/moving/

Much appreciate all ur help

While the adverts may say "NZ experience" I'd suggest UK experience is highly comparable. Maybe its a strategy to cut down on applications where it is harder to evidence work history. Good luck with your search.

Agreed, I think ease of reference checks for agencies is the driver tbh.