Here's some random information.....

[SteveyC]

[edited SteveyC...]
From a random guy who doesn't visit this forum often accept to tout for business. Some useful snippets here, the other was bs I edited out.

Recruitment Agents

Real Recruitment ? excellent agents especially Carol-Ann Hickmore. Have high level management roles at major companies, inc Vodafone.
www.therealthing.co.nz

Pinnacle ? excellent agents esp Ross Turner. Do the recruiting for Microsoft throughout NZ. Also have access to Telecom and Gen-I high level roles.
www.pinnaclerecruit.co.nz

QidR ? I have no experience of these although they seem to be mainly technical IT based.
www.qidr.co.nz

Neil Andrews & Associates ? no experience of these but they won the 2005 Recruiters Award.
www.recruit.co.nz

Hudson ? had a few friends get short-term contracts through these but they apparently take a massive cut of your wages.Their low level staff also are said to be not very experienced.
www.hudson.co.nz

Sapphire Technologies ? lots and lots of contract positions. I spoke to their people in Auckland and they seem a pretty professional lot. Owned by the Select recruitment group.
www.sapphirenz.com

AbsoluteIT ? focus on permanent positions
www.absoluteit.co.nz

Global Career Link ? government contracts for skills shortages.
www.globalcareerlink.com

Candle ? specialise in a lot of the major telecoms and networking positions, Unisys supplier, TelstaClear supplier.
www.candle.co.nz

Duncan & Ryan Associates
www.duncanryan.co.nz

Verossity ? mainly technical positions
www.verossity.com



Companies that recruit directly (usually)
Computerland / Telecom / Gen-I - all part of the same group although recruitment is done by individual parts of the company. Jobs are usually posted on seek.co.nz
www.telecom.co.nz

Fujitsu ? advertise on SEEK
www.fujitsu.co.nz

EDS ? advertise on SEEK for higher roles, agencies for lower roles
www.eds.co.nz

Job Websites
www.Seek.co.nz - the major IT website in NZ.
www.Jobstuff.co.nz - the major newspapers own this website so their published adverts also go on here.
www.Netcheck.co.nz - cross check these with SEEK as most are advertised on both.


Flights (from UK)
Obviously necessary if you are emigrating. In general for long haul flights the further ahead you book them the cheaper they are. There are two general routes ? via USA with Air New Zealand (and Virgin on the new flightshare code) or via Asia with Malaysian, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Royal Brunei, British Airways, Emirates, Quantas which usually stop at their respective home airports. Or you can get a special to LA and another from LA to Auckland- phone up some travel agents and have a chat.

Via USA
Major difference is a HUGE luggage allowance ? 2x 32kg bags per person plus handluggage. This operates on a ?piece? system ? 2 bits of stowed luggage is all you get so you will have to post the golf clubs on later. Slightly more expensive than Asian routes (around ?50 or so). All the Air NZ planes have been upgraded so the kids have video screens each. Air NZ have a new codeshare which means on some flights you get Virgin Atlantic for the London ? LA leg. Also if you are going to Wellington rather than Auckland Air NZ sometimes includes a free transfer flight or a ?5 difference (via Flightcentre)- this will save you Wellingtonians a bit. Some people have commented that LAX is a nightmare airport but you are only there for 1-2 hours?

Via Asia
Luggage is 20kgs per person on all airlines that I am aware of. Some people have noted that Singapore Airlines will give you more allowance (up to 35kgs or sometimes unlimited if the check-in person is nice) if you have a residents visa or permanent residency permit in your passport when you check in. Please check this with Singapore Airlines before you travel!
Gives the opprtunity for a stopover in various places if you want to ? Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia etc etc. Sometimes an airline will let you do an open leg ticket or two stop overs if you fancy a holiday somewhere first.

[ag28com]

We are thinking of flying to Auckland via Los Angeles Airport, what experiences have people had of the place?

We are looking at this route because of the luggage allowance, and also because it is extremely cheap at 444GBP per person.

[Welshgirl]

I came through LAX when I first came to NZ. Firstly, you should be prepared for extremely tight security, including fingerprinting and photographing, as even though you are only in transit, their security measures apply to EVERYONE who lands at the airport. I personally don't find it a problem and am glad they do take security so seriously, but some people find it a little OTT for people who are only changing from one plane to another.

As a transit passenger, you will not be allowed to access any part of the airport, other than the room they put you in while you are waiting to board your next plane. They provide some limited refreshments (apples, crisps, drinks, etc) and there are bathrooms to use to freshen up. The transit lounge is a bit drab and boring, but if you're only in there for an hour or two, it's passable (if a bit boring for the little 'uns!).

To sum it up, not an amazingly exciting experience, but not the end of the world.

HTH ::):

[ag28com]

According to the flight times we could be in LAX for around 3 - 4 hours. Is there any entertainment like TV, etc?

Do you have to collect your luggage when you change flights? Or will LHR check in in put AKL destination tags on our baggage, so that the luggage can be transferred from one plane to the other by airport staff?

[Welshgirl]

No, that's one good thing, you don't have to collect your lugagge - once they take it off you at LHR, you won't see your checked-in luggage until you get to AKL - I think that's pretty much standard with all airlines though.

They do have a few TV's in the transit lounge, (showing an American news channel as far as I recall!). Other than that, there's no entertainment.

[selchie]

Keep in mind that Air New Zealand also flies out of San Francisco International (SFO) now. I'm not sure how that works with Virgin out of Heathrow, though. Personally I prefer SFO to LAX, but don't know if it adds significantly to the flight time.

I realize some folks with children might opt for LAX, so as to visit Disneyland etc. Beware the air; it's plenty brown much of the time. San Francisco has Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and sourdough bread. Nearby in Marin County is Muir Woods, a redwood forest. However it is generally cool, even in summer, so bring a swearter.

I would try to avoid LAX like the plague!! As for entertainment, we tried to name the various yoga-type positions people were trying to adopt to try and stretch out for some sleep. Oh and counting people as they passed through immigration.

It totally took the edge off our trip last christmas. God knows what time of night it was local time when we landed, but they only had TWO immigration staff working to try and clear a full plane load (+/- 300 people?). Everyone lined up in a corridor with no seats or any idea where the toilets were. I know we had been sitting down for 8 hours but the though of a two hour stand wasn't pleasant. Fortunately we had two young kids and one threw up right on cue as a hostess walked past - so we got taken to the front of the que. I dont know if they fast-track kids all the time though. The last passenger cleared immigartion 1 hour 45 minutes after landing - I was watching 'cos there was sod all else to do apart from eat crisps & cookies (eeuugghh).

On the way back it was similar except no vomit & it was day light so the souvenir shop was open in the transit lounge. Yipeee!

To be fair the transit lounge didnt bug us that much, it was the limited resources they had to process the immigration.

Wait until you get to AKL, what a difference! Tthey opened up a new immigration channel for us as we had kids and the girl checking us was playing peek-a-boo over the counter with the kids. This was the first "tick" NZ got as we vetted it as a place to emmigrate to.

Cheers


Nick

[selchie]

So far I have found NZ customs agents and airport personnel to be the cheeriest. We recently returned from Canada, and had grumps on both sides of the border. It must be a dreadfully boring job, and I'm sure they get surly travelers, so I try to cut them some slack. But I still don't like getting grouchiness in response to my pleasant hello.