How's life in NZ/Aus?

dSTAR

One Cold Hand wrote: »

By the Beard of Zeus it's warm in Melbourne today!

No kidding. Feels like its pushing 40 degrees where I am.

Xavi6

An average 28 degrees here. Meh

watna

Was quite warm in Wellington too. Went to a free outdoor concernt in the botanic gardens and it was warm until about 9pm.

I have to say, they really know how to do summer here! I can see why they put up with the miserable winters.

slingerz

jank wrote: »

Still looking for an IT job. Hope it picks up this week. I suppose I had to pick the quietest time of the year to go job hunting. At least the other half got work. Im a manwife at the moment!:D

Are IT Jobs hard to find?

pclancy

watna wrote: »

Was quite warm in Wellington too. Went to a free outdoor concernt in the botanic gardens and it was warm until about 9pm.

I have to say, they really know how to do summer here! I can see why they put up with the miserable winters.

Ah was that the soundshell thing? Good gig? Read about that place today.

pclancy

slingerz wrote: »

Are IT Jobs hard to find?

Depends. I've been looking for a desktop or server contract since November and havent had any luck so far at all. There are perm jobs though but not too many.

jank

By the looks of it there are loads of IT jobs in Wellington, but I suppose it depends on your experience. If your a grad then Id say forget about it.
Christchurch being smaller for IT there is not that many jobs but it still ticks over. Had an interview today, so fingers crossed!

Love the summers here so far, Nice sunny days, but not baking heat and high humidity which suits me fine. Warm but fresh id call it. 25 degrees today supposed to be 30 tomorrow. Plan for the day is to lounge around all day reading my book in Hagley Park. There are benefits to being unemployed.:D

watna

/shakes fist at Jank..... layabout!

Work is crazy busy for me at the moment. Still, at least the week is going fast.

I sent in my application for my work permit today. Apparently it takes 4 weeks to get assigned a case officer and then 91% of applications are decided in 10 days. I really hope I'm in that %91. Fed up of being on a WHV and having to contract and also fed up of the worrying about getting deported!

jank

What type of visa are you getting Watna? Is it permanent residency or just a work permit.

watna

jank wrote: »

What type of visa are you getting Watna? Is it permanent residency or just a work permit.

I have an application in for Permanent residency. I lodged it last October but the waiting times have gone up and it apparently takes about a year for it to come through now. I have to apply for a work permit so I can stay in the country until the residency comes through. They're both under partnership as my OH is a kiwi.

It's a bit annoying though. You need to be in the country for two years after your residency comes through for the residency to actually be permanent (i.e for the rest of your life). I only intend to stay here for another 2 years in total so if I realise the PR took that long to come through I wouldn't have gone through the hassle and the expense. Ah, hindsight!

jank

Wow a year! Better get cracking so.

How long will your work sponsored visa last? This might be an option for me.

Rabies

I came here on a whv like most people. Used that for a year, then got sponsored by work, I opted for a one year permit because I didn't know if I'd stay around or not. THat ended back in oct/nov. I now have a permit valid for two more years. I applied for two and a half years but got two years. Not to worry.
Will apply for residency at some stage too.

Crumble Froo

when i left ireland, my employer said she was sorry to see me go, and there'd be work for me if i decided to come back. obviously, this was in a different climate... but...

if i get an email back saying 'yes'... then im off. just spent the last hour or so in tears, i can't believe it, but doesnt look like ill be getting work here any time soon, and i have feck all savings. it's taking two trains and a bus to get to the beach, and somewhere between $15-20 for the return trip, which i can't afford.

brendansmith

Crumble Froo wrote: »

when i left ireland, my employer said she was sorry to see me go, and there'd be work for me if i decided to come back. obviously, this was in a different climate... but...

if i get an email back saying 'yes'... then im off. just spent the last hour or so in tears, i can't believe it, but doesnt look like ill be getting work here any time soon, and i have feck all savings. it's taking two trains and a bus to get to the beach, and somewhere between $15-20 for the return trip, which i can't afford.

Jesus C, im sorry to hear that. Everything has been turned on its head over this fu(kin downturn.

dSTAR

Crumble Froo wrote: »

just spent the last hour or so in tears, i can't believe it, but doesnt look like ill be getting work here any time soon...

That sucks. Why don't you pick up some cash in hand job somewhere ('bussing' or kitchen hand etc) to keep you going until circumstances change? Like you hinted at things have taken a rapid downturn in Ireland and it seems that more and more people are losing their jobs each week.

pclancy

Yeah what about temp admin or general office work? Don't give up just yet

Crumble Froo

aye, im applying for those jobs tomorrow.. really really would have preferred something in the care industry, mind. i'm not exactly a confident person, at all, and i can tell you for a fact that i am not good at those type of jobs. can get a little soul crushing at times, but meh... im pretty low right now anyway.

that said, i did apply to my old boss/franchise (they've a few offices in dublin, so ive applied to all of them), and one of them did just email me back, saying to call them when im in dublin. so ill have to email again and see how that one goes for me.

keane2097

Im coming out of an electronic engineering course this year and I'm thinking of leavig Ireland cos job prospects are very bad.

I assume I'd have very little chance of getting a job as a graduate in the engineering industry? Would I have any chance of getting anything decent?

If not how is the job scene for normal jobs like working in shops and stuff?

Anyone got a link to a thread where there's discussions about visas? I'm hoping they're still easy to get...

keane2097

Oops - sorry double post

Coileach dearg

Crumble Froo wrote: »

aye, im applying for those jobs tomorrow.. really really would have preferred something in the care industry, mind. i'm not exactly a confident person, at all, and i can tell you for a fact that i am not good at those type of jobs. can get a little soul crushing at times, but meh... im pretty low right now anyway.

that said, i did apply to my old boss/franchise (they've a few offices in dublin, so ive applied to all of them), and one of them did just email me back, saying to call them when im in dublin. so ill have to email again and see how that one goes for me.

Don't give up hope anyway, you're bound to find something. Perseverance is they key. I was in the same situation when I came out here first, three years ago. I was about to go home after 6 weeks of flat out looking for work and I got something. There's usually a shuffle around with employees in February, looking at jobs elsewhere hence frreing up some roles. It doesn't matter that there's an economic crisis, that trend won't change. Keep applying anyway and good luck.

Crumble Froo

thing is though, what if, come february, i still don't have anything? cos ill defo be running out of money at that stage, and i can't leave the country until i've heard back about my visa, which wont be till may/june.

havent heard from the place i used to work at, gonna ring them tonight.

watna

Crumble Froo wrote: »

thing is though, what if, come february, i still don't have anything? cos ill defo be running out of money at that stage, and i can't leave the country until i've heard back about my visa, which wont be till may/june.

havent heard from the place i used to work at, gonna ring them tonight.

Sorry to hear about all this Crumble.

Are you sure it won't be until May/June? I applied for my work permit through partnership last week. I was told it takes 4 weeks to be assigned a case officer and after that %91 of cases are decided on in 10 days. That's 6 weeks. You could hear back a lot sooner. Is that the visa you applied for? It's a temporary entrance visa and can be up to two years.

Can your parents lend you the money for a return flight home? Then you can just stay there until you hear from NZ. I know if anything happens with my visa and I can't work after my WHV runs out I'll be very tempted to get on the phone to the parents and tell them I'm in a bit of trouble and need to come home for a while. Pride can get stuffed.


Hope you're ok. I know how hard it can be.

Crumble Froo

well, for the christchurch branch, when i was ringing up about it in december, i was told at least 70 working days. im gonna ring up *now* and see if that's still the case. mine's a work permit and visa, because im applying from outside the country.

well, if i booked a return flight, i'd need to know hwen i was returning... i have enough now to book a single flight home, and i already owe the parents about a grand after my ireland trip, so i dont think ill be able to bludge more off them till ive given that much back to them.

watna

Crumble Froo wrote: »

bludge

Loving the use of NZ slang there!

Hmm, I wonder why there's such a difference between Wellington and Christchurch. Immigration really does suck.

Could you buy a one way ticket and get a bit of work back home to get a return flight when you need it? That'll take some of the pressure off.

You can just pretend you forgot you owe your parents money!

Crumble Froo

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

*jumps on watna*

i just rang them!

30days, 60 MAX!

im staying in sydney!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Cold Hand

Less than an hour until...

dSTAR

Had a few bevoirs with some Polish and Greek friends last night on Lygon Street and ended up in a sweaty Salsa club on Sydney Road. My Polish friend wants to hit it again tonight the mad barsteward :pac: <== Beer

Crumble Froo

are there any boardsies in sydney? i enjoyed melbourne, i had something vaguely resembling a social network, and it was less mindmeltingly hot. i could cope with the heat if i had a reason to go out in it (inside is really no respite, but i just can't face the concept of willingly baring myself to direct sunlight in this climate).

watna

Crumble Froo wrote: »

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

*jumps on watna*

i just rang them!

30days, 60 MAX!

im staying in sydney!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Told ya! :D

So glad to hear that. Let us know as soon as it comes through and I'll do the same for mine!

The Sweeper

Good on ya CF - good to see you don't have to go back to Europe. Hope the job front picks up for you now!

Made friends with a bottle of Bundaberg rum last night. It doesn't feel like it wanted to be my friend this morning though...