Hacker News
points by annzabelle 3 days ago | 0 comments
This is all a bit out there, but I moved to New Zealand on a working holiday visa, and within two weeks of settling down in a particular spot (after a two month road trip), I had two job offers, one very relaxed retail, and one tech-adjacent for a small civil engineering firm. I'm making about a quarter the take home I did in the US, but I've cut my expenses a lot (bought my car in cash, carpool to work to save gas money, rent a room in a house instead of a whole apartment, no food delivery), and I'm using this time to reevaluate my values and work on building a lifestyle that does not rely on earning a six figure salary.

My plan when I return is to get my EMT and moonlight as an ER tech while doing prerequisites for PA school or maybe medical physics.

[–] selimthegrim 3 days ago
One of my biggest regrets is not availing myself of an NZ Working Holiday visa in 2014.
[–] killingtime74 2 days ago
This is really a grass is greener scenario because I just left there (NZ) along with a large amount of people I know because of the bad economy.
[–] annzabelle 2 days ago
I heard a lot of doom and gloom about the economy before I came here, but finding a job proved to be straightforward. The pay leaves a lot to be desired, and I'm not intending to extend my visa because of that.

Caveat: I'm not living in a typical region of the country, I'm in Wānaka, which is easier to find a job in but also more expensive than most of the country.

[–] selimthegrim 22 hours ago
I’ve been there but I figured those were all tourist jobs.
[–] annzabelle 15 hours ago
I guess I didn't make the distinction between "any job" and "any job in my field." It's very easy to get offers for "any job" in Wanaka on a working holiday visa, but to get a job that's even vaguely tech adjacent here, especially on a WHV, you really have to luck out, and even then it is much lower paid than it would be in the US.
[–] lifestyleguru 2 days ago
NZ is really greener though. Economy is shite everywhere until further notice.
[–] lifestyleguru 2 days ago
Just any relaxed job in NZ will not let you extend the stay beyond 3 months, no? The employers who are employment visa approved are milk-cow-bank-insurance companies very difficult to get into, not to mention the overall crisis right now.

Ah... it's working holiday visa, I never qualify for these...