Would like to live/work in New Zealand ?

[Sal]

:icon_question:

Hi, myself and two friends are looking in to living and working in New Zealand, can anyone offer any advice ? We are Scottish, female 20,26,29yrs and would be looking for administration/clerical, accounts or property work. Do you think there would be any chance of being approved for immigration or is it possible to visit New Zealand and look for work while traveling around ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated !

[dan-ish]

Hey Sal,

I would recommend a Working Holiday Visa(WHV) for y'all. It basically lets you got to NZ and work there for a year and have a bit of fun. If you really like it there, you could potentially get sponsored by your employer and end up living there forever!

I did this a few years ago and it was awesome. Unfortunately, I had to come back to finish my uni course :icon_frown:

You and your pals are the perfect age (although 30 is the limit for a WHV...) and I shouldn't think you will have too much trouble finding some work as long as you are pro-active about it. Have a look at Work Travel Company for some info on jobs.

Also, I went with Bunac, although they are probably a bit more expensive and not that necessary if you already have some friends to travel with :icon_confused: .

I'd also suggest you have a quick nose at the STA - working abroad website.

As for being Scottish, well..... :icon_wink:

Good luck, ladies.

Dan-ish :icon_razz:

[Sal]

Hi Dan-ish,

Thanks very much for the advice, real sweet of you ! :icon_biggrin:

Can you recommend any places of interest or good nights out etc not to be missed !?

Hi Sal,
Have to agree with Dan-ish, working holiday is a great start towards immigration as it gives you the chance to live and work in NZ without the massive headaches of the immigration process. If you like it, then the process will be well worth while!

I'm sure you'll love it. I'm on a WHV now, although I haven't done any work yet!

Hi Taffy,

Thanks for that :icon_razz:

How is the cost of living ?

Do you know if it is possible to rent property short term while on a working holiday visa ?

Thanks !!

Sal

Hi Sal,
It depends on the landlord, but some houses you can rent on short term 'flexi' leases. Usually these flexi-leases can be anything from 1 week to a months notice.

As for cost of living, its taking some getting used to. In a way, it feels quite expensive to live here. Marked prices on products you can find in the UK are higher, but when converted back to UK pounds actually work out cheaper. On the other hand, some things have exactly the same or lower marked prices than UK, for example there is a real nice DVD player in a local store here, marked up for $79, which is about ?30. A digital camera I've just bought that I was looking at getting in the UK was ?299 in the UK, and $279 here, so about ?100! ?199 cheaper!!

So you see, some things are more expensive, some things SEEM more expensive, and some things are very cheap! Your weekly shop will be more dollars than it is pounds, but converted back will be much cheaper across the board.

Thats probably quite confusing, as its making me scratch my head! Hope something, somewhere in that lot helps!

Hey Sali-g,

We found somewhere to rent in both Auckland and Christchurch without any dramas at all. In fact, it took us just two days to find somewhere to live for 8 people (in Auckland), even though they knew we would only be there for a while. We even had a table-tennis table in the garage :icon_eek: icon_exclaim.gif !

As for anything special to recommend - there are too many things!! Nights out in Aucks probably centre around the Viaduct Basin, or for a more chilled atmosphere try Parnell and Ponsonby, where I lived for a while. Also, Queenstown is a bit of a party town, although you will pay more to drink there than anywhere else...

As for stuff to see and do in general in NZ, I would recommend the Coromandel Peninsula as my all-time favourite spot in the whole of NZ. Awesome, dude.

If there is anything else I can help you with, just ask :icon_biggrin:

Dan-ish :icon_razz: (but you can call me Dan)