If you herald from the UK and you’re interested in relocating to New Zealand temporarily you can remain in the country for up to six months on a visitor’s visa.
If on the other hand you want to work in the country and are interested in finding out about jobs in New Zealand, work permits etc., this article provides an overview of the jobs market and how to go about securing employment.
Almost 9,000 British people relocated to New Zealand last year and the majority of these individuals were of working age. New Zealand is a free country, one that inspires feelings of limitless opportunity and economic and ethnic diversity. For these reasons and many more the country is attracting a strong flow of immigration and the people that are choosing to make New Zealand home are coming to find work, build a new life and settle down to a brand new family orientated lifestyle in New Zealand.
So, if you need to find a job in New Zealand, here’s how to go about it. First things first you have to have all your visas and permissions in place. If you’ve been lucky enough to find a short term contract with an employer in say the IT industry you can apply for a temporary work visa that will allow you to fulfil the contract but after which point you should either leave the country or apply for residence. If you need to apply for residence there are two main ways to go about it - either under the skilled worker migration scheme or via family sponsorship.
Once you’ve established your right to remain in the country you should apply for your IRD number from the New Zealand Inland Revenue. This is your tax number and it determines the level of taxation you will have to pay and you will need to give it to your employer. Income tax varies from 19.5% to 39% depending on your circumstances and the amount you earn.
Depending on the nature of the job you’re looking for and the industry or industries in which you would like to work you can seek jobs in a number of ways. There are many New Zealand specific job websites including monster.co.nz and netcheck.co.nz, and the government immigration sites also have employment information for newly arrived immigrants seeking a job in New Zealand. Specific industries have paper and online publications where you can look for a job as well. Depending on the nature of the job you’re applying for expect to have to at least submit an application form and resume and attend one interview in person.
If you’ve applied for migration under the skilled immigration scheme you may be coming to fill jobs in the in demand industries such as IT, health, education and engineering. As a result you should find securing employment straightforward. Make sure you have all your qualifications and achievements documented in your resume and have copies of all your certifications to hand when applying for a job and attending interviews or candidate selection meetings.
The average salary in New Zealand is NZD 34,000 which seems quite low (it’s just EUR 19,000 or GBP 13,000) but the cost of living in the country is also quite low and there are many lower paying industries and jobs that bring the average down particularly in the service industries and agriculture. If you’re a skilled professional in say the medical industry then of course rates of pay are going to be far higher.
The main employment hubs are in Wellington and Auckland and the main employers are in service based industries or agriculture. Unemployment in New Zealand is low standing at around 4.2% therefore once you get your residency sorted and you emigrate you should have no major difficulty finding a job in New Zealand.
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