Unless you have a job to go to, register with New Zealand Employment within the first few days of arrival, you can find their address in the telephone directory. They are mostly modern, friendly places and it is important that you register unemployed, as they do have a reciprocal agreement with Britain and should the need arise you will be entitled to unemployment benefit. or training allowance (depending on assets)
Finding employment is a difficult task and you need to update your job seeking skills if it is a while since you have had to tackle looking for work. Come prepared with a plan of action, remember you will have a lot of other decisions to make and things to do, at the same time.
As you may not have all day to devote to job searching your efforts need to be efficient and well organised. Before you leave England think about how you are going to carry out your search for work once you arrive in New Zealand. By making sure you have a good, up to date CV. you will have one less thing to do. Bring it out on disc and then just get your new permanent address added.
You might find it useful to set aside time each day to look for work. Although it is tempting to organise the rest of your affairs first and then look at job prospects, you might find the process rather slow. If you have some applications in the pipeline, you have more chance of something coming up and at least you will start making contacts.
Job opportunities in New Zealand often come by word of mouth and it is vital that you make as many contacts as you can, as quickly as possible. Let everyone you meet know that you are looking for work, it is by far the most effective way to find employment
Use the employment agencies, (find them in the Yellow Pages) newspapers and NZ Employment Office. Another successful way is to ring round or personally approach different companies.
Kiwis are fairly relaxed in their dealings and will quickly call you by your first name. They would not be too impressed with a letter, enclosing CV, addressed to “The General Manager” if they are a small company, which many of them are. They are far more likely to respond to someone phoning to see if there are any vacancies and then calling in for a chat.
Short term employment contracts are often offered and I think it is reasonable to say that no job is for life here, any more than it would be in England in today’s climate. Voluntary work is sometimes a way to get a ‘foot in the door’.
Most vacancies are advertised in the newspapers on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is important not to become too despondent as opportunities will always come along, it is very much a case of keeping your eyes and ears open and ask everyone you meet if they know of any jobs going.
If you decide to opt for self employment, check out with the Employment Office to see if you are entitled to any free training or Enterprise Allowance (another reason why it is really important to register unemployed when you first arrive - as these benefits are often only available after a certain period of being registered unemployed).
I think it is safe to say that on the whole New Zealanders are extremely helpful and optimistic towards anyone trying to help themselves and the big organisations like the Employment Office and Taxation Department seem to have their fair share of helpful individuals that make life more pleasant.
In their desire to be encouraging they can at times, without realising it, give false hopes and it is important, therefore, not to place too much stock on what people say until they come up with the goods.