What's New Zealand daily life like? How did you find jobs in NZ?

For getting a job in New Zealand, you need to look for open positions on various job portals, apply to 100s of companies by sending your C.V, get you education credentials assesed, appear for a series of telephonic/skype interviews.

If this wasn’t tedious enough, once you get a job offer, you’ll have to apply for a visa, which if approved, then you can work in New Zealand.

Otherwise, you can always look for internships in New Zealand. They might be not be easy to find, but it will save you from all the above hassles. You can easily work for a month or two, establish connections with the local employers and find a suitable job.

You’ll be able to find a lot of international internships in cities like New York, Amsterdam, Auckland etc. The job profiles vary from research interns to management trainee. And if you’re an IT professional, you’ll have multiple options to apply in.

 I spent my childhood there and majority of my adult life. I’ve only lived in New Zealand in the last 4 and half years and here are my observations:

As an egalitarian society, I feel the gap between rich and poor is much smaller. It doesn’t matter if you make a lot of money or not so much, people will generally treat you with respect without regards to how much paycheck you take home and I absolutely love this about living in NZ.

The weather is perfect, some people like tropical beach weather, some people like the snow, I like it balanced and that’s what NZ offers, particularly in Auckland, where it doesn’t get very warm nor very hot, although it rains a lot. NZ has the best of both worlds, coming from Auckland, it’s just 4-hour drive to Mt. Ruapehu if you want to go skiing during winter, the rest of the year you’re never too far away from the beach (although I find the water still too cold for my liking even during summer), I still enjoy staying on the beach nevertheless.

People are genuinely friendly, you see people saying hi (at least the ones who grew up here or been here a while) and definitely affects your mood for the day. It doesn’t feel like people are “just doing their job” in groceries, people chat leisurely and do take their time to get to know you when they can.

Family-Oriented. In the Philippines, we always say we are family-oriented and we are, but in NZ this concept goes beyond our homes, people from work understand that things happen, children get sick, need to attend children’s school activities and it’s okay to call your boss and accomodate requests, such as working from home, coming in late without feeling guilty about it.

Driving. Every now and then I see people complaining of how bad Kiwi drivers are - they clearly have not driven in Manila. Except for the worsening traffic in Auckland, I think it’s safe to say that drivers in NZ are relatively safe and polite drivers. People here give way, say thank you (via blinkers) and generally respect road rules and I love that about NZ.

"Kiwi experience" or "indirect segregation" is a key here. Many people from worlds best companies like PWC, EnY, Deloitte and also Mckinsey don't end getting jobs in here because they don't have "kiwi experience"

With no prior work experience it is quite difficult. Finding that first job would be next to impossible, coz most IT companies in Auckland look for Kiwi experience, and if not that, then some prior work experience in some other country.
If you have good work experience (3/4+ years) in the IT field, then it is not that difficult.

I routinely hire new immigrants with solid java/j2ee development experience in Auckland. My last hire was from India, and had been in NZ for three weeks when he started. He had a silver fern visa. The one before that was from China and here on a student visa doing post grad study in comp sci. The company I work for is less than 30% kiwi, and there are people from 10 different countries.

The market for developers and testers in Auckland is robust, but it will depend on your years of experience, particular expertise, applied knowledge, and english fluency.

Auckland is an immigrant city, and the skill shortage means that workplaces must be more diverse and open to immigrants than previous posters have suggested. Outside auckland may be a different story.

Employers will be impatient with poor English. You need to have your visa sorted, and be in NZ for face to face interviews to be taken seriously.

Jobs are on seek and trademe, but try to find a good agent who sees your potential and will market your unique skills effectively. They get a commission  from the employer equal to 12-17% of your first years salary, so they will work hard to find you a spot. Consider contracting if you visa will allow it.

Kiwi employers are wary of candidates that have worked for mega-corporations on vast teams where their individual input on projects might be limited. This seems more common with applicants from India and China, and I've seen heaps of applicants with years of experience but limited accomplishments because they've spent years warming a chair and making up headcount for outsource consultancies like IBM. Kiwi employers are also wary of career advancement earned through study,  rather than on the job achievement.

To combat this find some way to demonstrate applied skills and knowledge in your specialty area that is equal to your number of years experience. Show them that you can work independently and take initiative.

Most NZ companies are much smaller by comparison, and they will expect you to adapt to the flatter heirarchies in NZ very quickly. The smaller size and informality can be a real culture shock, and  if you don't prove you can work independently then they will simply churn you within 90 days.

Be prepared to make slightly less than market rates for your first year or two until you can acquire some NZ professional references.

Good luck!