willdart666 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Hi all, The girlfriend and I have decided that we would like to see a bit more of the world and experience life in a different culture. We've decided to move to New Zealand as her brother lives there and we've heard great things about the country. My only concern is my job, which I love. I'm a lighting engineer and would like to continue to be so in NZ. Does anyone have any experience of what the industry is like over there? I've heard mixed reviews of the situation. One New Zealander I know says I shouldn't have any problems getting work but it's mostly theatre and corporate, and others (mostly Brits) have said there's nothing and I'm wasting my time. I would be willing to change careers if the right job came up but for now I'd like to know what the live events industry is like there. We've set a target of between 3 and 4 years to move so there's plenty of time to gain a bit of experience in areas that I'm not 100% on right now to make me that little bit more attractive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Have you all the working visas that you need? Tourist visas are easy to get, working visas definitely NOT easy to get. Have you all the paper certificates that you need, you could need the NZ equivalent of approved electrician and all the other qualifications that you need and use here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Judging by the number of proud Kiwis I have who work with me, I would say that jobs in NZ are fairly scarce on the technical front - or at least the well paid ones. 3 of our 8 techs are Kiwis at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willdart666 Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Have you all the working visas that you need? Tourist visas are easy to get, working visas definitely NOT easy to get. Have you all the paper certificates that you need, you could need the NZ equivalent of approved electrician and all the other qualifications that you need and use here. 3 to 4 years is the current plan, I'll get to the visa once the plan is more together. Qualifications are one thing I'm looking at right now, trying to find out what I can do here thats recognised over there is quite on my mind. I'd rather not spend all my time and money on something that will end up as worthless and be of no benefit to me there. And mac.calder, Oz isn't out of the question. It's just NZ is first choice. My girlfriend is also in music so it's certainly one of the big factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takeiteasy Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I very good friend of mine packed & left for NZ... been out there working ( set up a lighting Co ) about 9months now and he loves it.... completely different to the UK and his only wish is he did it years ago. Only took him 24 months to plan/ sort everything out & move there which isn't that bad really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomo2607 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Im very intertested in this topic too. Me and the other half have been talking about this for a while.... She works in education so is pretty much set on the job front. we have got to the stage where we are looking for job offers to allow us to get a wroking visa. We have already met the imigration criteria etc.Tara (the other half) is an art teacher and im just looking for anything realted to live events... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 May have changed now, and is really related to Australia, but watch out for the unions. A friend, a fully qualified, experienced industrial sparks got the visa, and a proper promise of a job. Was back in two months as the unions froze him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takeiteasy Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 ooooooo S**t thats not good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 ooooooo S**t thats not good Good news though - Australian theatre, corporate events and live performance (TV excepted) are not well represented by their union - in fact technicians are more of a footnote on a performers/artists union. There are no "union houses" etc... Electricians are different. NZ is much the same I believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takeiteasy Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Well I didnt know that :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GridGirl Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 There's no union issues in New Zealand - not in live events anyway. Equity does exist - it's a branch of the Australian MEAA - and was involved with the recent palaver over the filming of The Hobbit but there are no union concerns for technicians. In terms of work, there is work if you look in the right place. You'll be hard pressed to find a fulltime permanent job, but there's a reasonable amount of freelance work. It'll obviously vary depending on where you are; Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are really the only places you'll have a chance to make a living as a freelancer. I'm originally from Christchurch (but now working in Sydney, Australia....) and it's a lovely place to live (slightly biased, possibly!) but there isn't as much work as there is in Auckland. There's also TV work available in Auckland, and some in Wellington, but very little in Christchurch. If you're a qualified sparky as well then you shouldn't have too much difficulty finding work - a hire company I used to cassie for had a sparks virtually on staff who knew very little about theatre or entertainment, but they were prepared for him to learn on the job as he had an interest and the sparky qualification. Keep me posted - I have some contacts in Christchurch which I'd be happy to share with you closer to the time, if you go ahead with it! Be warned though, it's not an industry where they're crying out for qualified people - if you were a doctor or a chef you'd have very little problem getting a visa, but it'll be much trickier for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willdart666 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 Hi GridGirl, Many thanks for the reply. It's good to hear a positive view on the situation there. We were thinking Auckland would be our best bet, at least then we are in a good place to find work and can move around once we are more settled into NZ life. Training is my big focus over the next few years. I'm mostly rock and roll over here but I have a few friends in TV and theatre so I do plan to spend time in their shoes. Any contacts would be amazing. I don't see why I won't be using Blueroom in a few years so I will certainly ask again nearer the time. (or just bring this back from the dead!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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