Episode 2 - the quest for the land of the long white cloud

OK - last episode - finally got a telephone interview. Now first thing you have to remember is that the timezones are diff rent - something like nine hours. So if you want to set a good example and be flexible (important - all employers are looking for flexible employees ..) you have to get up latest five o'clock in the morning all bright and bushy tailed, ready to impress.

So - my first interview arrived, and as it is over the phone one-on-one it is easy to be cool and collected, no body language or little facial ticks to give you away. So quickly a second interview was arranged - this time with a panel of people, and that went quiet well too - large IT firm, involved in outsourcing, amongst lots of other things, and this was the direction been discussed. However - when we came to the salary part - my expectations and theirs was slightly far apart - so that opportunity faded into the ether. Good experience though and the first interview I attended in sleeping shorts.

Back to sending CV's, replying to adverts but I changed my line of attack slightly - I contacted the advertising employment agencies directly by phone. Again up every morning - very early and contact the agencies with the promising job adverts - no some of these adverts are just fishing expeditions - i am sure there is no real jobs behind the advert but some of the others was more real.

So soon i had a number of promising leads set-up however a second truth dawned on me - I will have to visit for face to face visits. Only things is - it is a few thousand $'s for flights, accommodation and car rental and no promise of success - or even getting a n interview ...

So I bit the bullet, booked the plane tickets, and started making and calling the agents to get interviews set-up. Ha - slight mistake - it finally dawned on me that some of the adverts was ghost adverts - all flash and no job behind it. So I booked three days in Aucklabd and two in Wellington and started packing my bags - with only two real interviews planned for the whole week.

More about my firts visit to NZ later.

Where we currently are - Work Visa requests are in, now the nail biting is in full swing - hopefully I did not have some or other forefather whose really bad deeds will come back to hunt me. It wa actually not such a difficult process - once you understand what paperwork is needed - big thanks to the agents who warned me two months ago to get my police clerances for South Africa going (<--- big hint for anybody who is planning to imigrate - little things like that can derail the whole process - ask somebody who has actully done the process)

More later ...