[duane1x]

I got an email today from INZ that they are matching up ICT skilled migrants with potential employers and would I like to participate? I believe this would be targeted at those in the ITA process, as that's the stage where I am currently.

They mention that this is a trial, so possibly new? If anyone out there participated in this, I would be very interested in learning your experience - what sort of responses you got from employers, and how quickly. Apparently they circulate the basics of your qualifications and potential employers can see if there is a match.

I have a few concerns. One is that it is early in the timeframe for me to be doing this - I have been thinking of going over in the fall, with time for kiddos to finish out the school year and put the house on the market. If a company did have an opening, they probably wouldn't want to sit on it for six months. The second is that I've read some threads about the migrant pipeline as a source for cheap labor. Either because the migrants aren't attuned to the local marketplace and what they're worth, or because they are desperate to land a position so they accept a lowball offer. I wonder if that's a widespread perception or just some peoples' paranoia. But I had planned to get feet on the ground and do my own research and networking. ?Last of all, I'd really planned on getting over and finding where I wanted to live (leaning to Chch or Nelson areas) and then finding the position to match, rather than the other way round.

Someone once told me, find where you want to live, and then figure out what to do there. And this is the first time I was actually going to give it a try.

Any thoughts welcome. ?