Dupa cum va ziceam in articolul anterior(clic aici) situatia inceputului de 2016 nu este tocmai roza iar cei care vor sa-si caute de lucru prin Noua Zeelanda trebuie sa se zbata mult mai tare.
In continuare o sa va expun peripetiile unei tipe din Africa de Sud care a venit ceva vreme in urma cand era cumva mai usor ca acum. Dar intotdeauna sunt greutati. Povestea o am de la o agentie de imigrari NorthShore Immigration(textul este in engleza):
A NEW MIGRANT’S STORY
Hi All,
My name is Delia H and I have been attending the New Arrivals meetings for the past few months now. In fact, I attended my first one in June while on holiday with my husband. I wish that more people would attend these from the moment they arrive in Auckland as they are a great source of information and very encouraging for those of us faced with the daunting challenge of immigration.
I guess my adventure started on 7 August when I touched down at Auckland Airport. Quite an emotional beginning as I had left my husband and 9 year old twins in South Africa. But I was still excited and enthusiastic – here I was ready to take on New Zealand.
I was going to use the public transport system to get around (first myth), going to make sure I had interviews lined up each day (second myth) and that I was highly sought after in South Africa so was going to be snapped up for a position in a couple of weeks (third myth).
So let’s go back to the first myth – public transport. My husband and I visited in June and were very impressed with the bus system (we had a hired car but everybody said the buses were great). I mean look at the people I was staying with – the husband takes a bus to work each day – it drops him right outside his office in the city – sounds amazing! It’s a little different when you don’t have a job and you have no idea where you next interview is going to be. My advice – you need a car, so make a plan – buy one, hire one, borrow one (just don’t steal one ). You need wheels to get around – you cannot be figuring out which bus or train to take and where it stops (or doesn’t stop!) when trying to get to an interview. So I figured by the time I’ve paid for a hire a car for 3 months, I probably could buy one for the same price. And that’s what I did – got a little run around which I fondly named my blue Ferrari. It’s the furthest thing from a Ferrari (which my son promptly pointed out when he saw the picture) but I have grown to love it and it has certainly been instrumental in my success here so far.
The next myth – having interviews lined up for each day. Those who have tried it and are trying know this just does NOT happen! You can apply for hundreds of jobs through Seek and Trade me and all sorts of other search engines but be prepared for the silence. Aside from the automated responses, the chances of actually getting an actual reply to your CV are few and far between – let alone a call for an interview. So this really messed up my game plan. I did get many calls and interest from recruitment agents telling me what a great skill set I had, but the moment they heard I had no work visa, their enthusiasm waned and they were quick to end the call. This becomes very frustrating and disheartening as you know you have the skill but nobody is willing to even meet with you.
So I took my mobile phone with me everywhere – while running, walking, sleeping and even next to me when in the shower – I didn’t want to miss that all important call. You can imagine my excitement when I got a call while out running one morning to invite me to an interview. I was overjoyed. I shined my shoes and ironed my shirt all ready for the big day. After all the advice I have just given you on having your own wheels, I didn’t even take the blue Ferrari – I caught the bus! My meeting was near Britomart in the city so it just made sense. The interview was with an agency who was really enthusiastic about my CV and was wanting to put me forward to the client the next day for an interview – until she realised I needed a job offer to secure my work visa (an oversight from her side and she apologised for getting me to come in). No problem, lady, it only cost me $11 for a return bus ticket – that’s no big deal. But it is when you are paying in another currency and this whole little trip actually cost R88(e vorba de ranzi sud-africani..pt. o conversie in lei faceti paritatea de 1NZD=2.7RON la cursul actual, verificati pe bnro.ro)! So there I was all dressed up with nowhere to go. So what do I do – I spend another R32 on a cup of tea at MacDonalds so I can use their free Wifi to google map my route home!
Let’s look at myth number three – I’ll be snapped up in a few weeks!! I had now come to realise that this was going to be a whole lot more challenging than I had anticipated. Yes, I had a great CV, in the New Zealand format and I had 15 years experience in the medical field, but how was I going to get in front of people and sell myself? I wasn’t getting much joy from the recruitment agents either – many of them do not even understand the process of applying for a work visa, so they are reluctant to put you forward to their clients as they themselves have no idea how it works. So they see you as one big risk. I had nightmares of seeing my CV on millions of recruiters’ desks with a big red sticker on the folder stating ‘NO VISA!’ And when I did find a recruitment agency willing to see me it was not what I was used to. In South Africa, they tweek your CV to the various jobs they have on their files and put you forward to the client. Not here! I was told to send them three different versions of my CV so that I had a range of options to apply for. This I did and then I was told to contact them if I see anything suitable and then they would apply for me. One even told me to come back to them once I had a work visa as they would love to place me as I have good skills. I tried to explain that this would be pointless as having a work visa would mean that I have a job. I rest my case! Don’t get me wrong, I am not bad mouthing recruitment agents, I am just saying that you have to make it happen, don’t wait for the recruiters to do it for you.
So what now? I got up each morning, got dressed and started working. My job each day was to get a job. I was on a mission and nobody was going to stop me. I took that blue Ferrari and I networked – I went to businessmen’s breakfasts, meet & greet socials, backyard braais, book launches, tea parties, dinners with friends – you name it I was there. Everywhere I went I made sure that I networked with people, took down names and numbers, made mental notes of who was there, exchanged email addresses – I felt like a networking guru. It was hard work and very draining as you always have to be on top of your game and totally switched on to everything that is going on around you. It was tiresome at times and on some occasions I wanted to decline dinner invites or coffee with somebody’s colleague who may have a contact but I pushed through and kept at it.
My motivation was my husband and two kids who were back in South Africa relying on me to make it happen. Weeks were going past and I was missing then terribly (emailing and skype is great, but when weeks turn into months it’s just not the same).
I was very fortunate to be staying with lovely people – they embraced me with open arms and I soon became part of the family. That’s another bit of advice I can share – surround yourself with positive people, don’t try and do it alone. When planning my journey I had said I wanted to get a flat of my own as I’m very independent and didn’t want to stay with other people. In hindsight, that would have been the worst thing for me. I don’t think I could have sat all alone in a little room by myself without any support. My ‘adopted’ family took me in, encouraged me and were there to give me a hug every now again when I needed it – they have been amazing and will be a part of my life forever.
I could go on for days sharing my experiences with you. There were good days and bad days, emotional days and sad days, but in the end you have got to want it that much that you will stop at nothing. And you have to have faith that it will all work out in God’s time. Your prayers will be answered and you have to believe in yourself and trust God.
My networking paid off – I had interviews at three different companies, all through word of mouth contacts for jobs that were not advertised. The third one really was a case of me following up. I had met a guy while on holiday here with my husband in June. I went to see him again just after I arrived in August and he made mention of a contact that he had in the medical field. After some time I emailed him to remind him again to put me in touch with his contact. And it was after that that everything fell into place for me. That phone call home to my husband in South Africa was awesome – I woke him up and told him to resign and pack his bags.
My work visa took three days to be approved – record breaking time, I believe. And here is my last bit of advice for today – use a reputable Immigration Adviser based in Auckland. They are experienced advisors and they work with different cases every day. Who better to help you than people with hands on experience and I have not looked back. So thanks must go to the team at North Shore Immigration Services!
It’s been four months since I’ve seen my family and they arrive next week – in time for Christmas. I’d say that is a success story. My husband has been awesome and a pillar of strength for me from afar. I have had peace of mind knowing that my children were blessed with a wonderful Dad and were well taken care of while I have been so far away. I have many more stories to tell, but will have to save these for another time.
What I would like to say is thank you to all those who have played a part in this experience. I am so blessed to have been surrounded by a great support structure. Weekly phone calls of encouragement, advice and sometimes just an ear to listen. I have met many people along the way and have made friendships that will be cherished forever.
I know the feeling to be standing at a New Arrivals meeting listening to people who have just got job offers / work visas and wishing it would happen for me. I know how it feels to be desperate for that lucky break. I know how it feels to be apart from your spouse and children for months. I’m not the first and I won’t be the last so I hope I can pass that same support and inspiration on to others.
Dar nici macar asta nu conta atat de mult cat scaderea pretului la proteina din lapte. Dupa cum stiti NZ este o tara agro-industriala. Noi o cunoastem ca ar avea oi multe, lana si alte cele. Dar sa stiti ca asta a fost foarte valabil pana in anii’ 60 cand exportau catre UK in principal. In zilele de azi desi fermele de oi nu au disparut si sunt inca multe ce poti vedea de pe drum sunt fermele de vaci, extrem de eficiente si industrializate, in acelasi timp mentinand conceptul de free-range(adica animalele dorm pe camp, nu au staule). Ca atare puteau obtine mult lapte la pret foarte mic pe care in principal il transformau in ceva lactate(de ex. mozzarella pt toate unitatile McDonalds din lume se face la una din fabricutele de aici, la fel pt. milioanele de pizzerii din China) iar restul in lapte praf. Revenind la China, aceasta este a 2-a tara ca destinatie de export dupa Australia. Ce exporta NZ in China cel mai mult ? – manastire intr-un picior, ghici ciuperca ce-i? – lapte de vaca bineinteles dar mai exact sub forma de lapte praf. Chinezii si-au facut stocuri imense si n-au mai cumparat la fel ca inainte.
Muntele Taranaki..un fel de Fujiyama neozeelandez
Noi nu avem festivalul ciresilor ca in Japonia dar nu-i asa ca-s superbi ?
Noua Zeelanda 