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'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

theguardian.com

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Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#111

Post by patrickdavey »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #92
oblio wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it's artificial scarcity, basically. Someone/something is blocking development, right?

It's a series of problems that confound each other, some artificial, some organic. First, we have geography. Auckland is located on an isthmus that ranges from 1 km wide to 10 km wide. It's basically on an island. It's also covered in volcanoes. Wellington is bound by the sea on one side, and hills on the other. It's wedged in the middle. They can, and have, expanded into the sea using land reclamation, but there's o…

I live in Christchurch and looking to buy a house here. There were so many dodgy repairs done after the quakes that there's a real risk of buying a lemon.

I have a friend where their foundations were repaired, turned out the builders had basically papered over the cracks. There are countless stories like this one.

I think the market in Christchurch is going to be very odd once the scale of these bad repairs comes out. New houses are definitely at a premium.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#112

Post by utdemir »

ElCapitanMarkla wrote: post #102
utdemir wrote: post #78

One and a half years ago I migrated to New Zealand from Turkey. * It was almost my first time abroad, my English wasn't great, and I was new to the culture. However I was amazed that how welcoming and patient people were. I hear the opposite from my friends living in Europe and US. * I found a job while in Turkey, and the company sponsored me for the visa; and since they were an accredited employer the visa process w…

Are you in Auckland with that kind of rent?

Yes, I live very close to Auckland city centre.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#113

Post by ElCapitanMarkla »

utdemir wrote: post #112
ElCapitanMarkla wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you in Auckland with that kind of rent?

Yes, I live very close to Auckland city centre.

Thought about living anywhere else? Wellington/Christchurch and Dunedin all have fairly decent IT scenes.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#114

Post by dvtv75 »

fimbulvetr wrote: post #109
dingaling wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just sign up for a degree at a degree mill That's the advice I was given when looking at NZ. At the time I had about 15 years experience in IT but that couldn't be considered as I didn't have a relevant degree. "Do night classes for a couple of years and get a degree" Instead I decided to forget about NZ even as a tourist.

My wife and I considered moving to NZ as well; I'm a cloud engineer with 10 years experience (20 total in software/sys admin) in the US, I've worked for startups and enterprises. NZ won't even acknowledge me because I don't have a silly bachelors degree. Too bad I spent those 4 years getting experience instead of university. Definitely worth a visit, I'd suggest. It's really a beautiful country.

I have a Bachelor's degree in CS. Nobody will hire me because I don't have experience.

Funny thing is, before I got my degree, they were happy enough with my experience but wouldn't hire me because I didn't have a degree. Even had the same interviewer tell me one of those things on either side of my graduation.

"Get a degree and we'd love to hire you for your experience!" "Oh, sorry, you're qualified but don't have any experience."

It's like my degree reset me to zero.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#115

Post by dvtv75 »

utdemir wrote: post #78

One and a half years ago I migrated to New Zealand from Turkey. * It was almost my first time abroad, my English wasn't great, and I was new to the culture. However I was amazed that how welcoming and patient people were. I hear the opposite from my friends living in Europe and US. * I found a job while in Turkey, and the company sponsored me for the visa; and since they were an accredited employer the visa process w…

I know a guy who moved to New Zealand from Hungary, with several years experience in broadcast TV. He thought New Zealand was going to be a new start, and got a job at a regional TV station working with a friend of mine.

After about a year of working for that place, he got very angry with it and quit because they were cheap beyond what you can imagine. He ended up doing a lot of overtime to make up for software and hardware problems. A few years ago moved to Auckland to work for a production firm up there, thinking it would be a better job.

Rumor has it that he gave up and went back to Hungary.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#116

Post by utdemir »

ElCapitanMarkla wrote: post #113
utdemir wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I live very close to Auckland city centre.

Thought about living anywhere else? Wellington/Christchurch and Dunedin all have fairly decent IT scenes.

I can consider living somewhere else; especially Wellington is a good option as you said. However currently I am happy with my job and living arrangements here, but definitely I will consider them when I want a change.

But honestly, I always thought that those cities had even less variety than Auckland.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#117

Post by madaxe_again »

yarg wrote: post #50
prebrov wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not in NZ, but seriously considered it as a destination. I agree with you, the article has nothing to do with reality and is just wishful thinking or, more likely, a PR shill paid up by NZ's foreign promotion board or however they're called. Jacinda Ardern had a strong anti-immigration position during her campaign, she literally promised to cut immigration by 20'000-30'000 per year, from 70'000. No surprise that…

There's a huge number of low skill immigrants in New Zealand, they don't really add that much to the country. I don't imagine that any restrictions on immigration would significantly impact skilled workers. That said, I don't understand why we would possibly have a requirement of VC involvement when the already money is there to actually do the work.

So, despite being an entrepreneur, and having founded several successful and sustainable businesses, I’m one of your “unskilled migrants”. Sure, I’ve been coding since I could walk, I have current and expert systems and web technology knowledge - but I have a bachelors. In physics. Not useful at all, and puts me on the same rung as a golf course management graduate - actually, below, as they have a shortage skill.

One of the hurdles I am repeatedly failing at with trying to emigrate is that I do not have a compsci degree.

It seems that having a bit of paper is much more important than having a track record.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#118

Post by madaxe_again »

fimbulvetr wrote: post #109
dingaling wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just sign up for a degree at a degree mill That's the advice I was given when looking at NZ. At the time I had about 15 years experience in IT but that couldn't be considered as I didn't have a relevant degree. "Do night classes for a couple of years and get a degree" Instead I decided to forget about NZ even as a tourist.

My wife and I considered moving to NZ as well; I'm a cloud engineer with 10 years experience (20 total in software/sys admin) in the US, I've worked for startups and enterprises. NZ won't even acknowledge me because I don't have a silly bachelors degree. Too bad I spent those 4 years getting experience instead of university. Definitely worth a visit, I'd suggest. It's really a beautiful country.

I do have a bachelors, but it’s in physics, so I get the same “well, you don’t know computers, but you do know how to contact spirits. We don’t need spiritualists - rejected”

Jesus, if I had a penny for every time I’ve had to explain that physics and psychics aren’t the same thing I’d be a rich man.

I’m more or less at the point of just giving up on being gainfully productive.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#119

Post by madaxe_again »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #108
madaxe_again wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

45 employees, net profit of about £4M in the last FY.

Impressive

Nah. Doesn’t even count as a “real business” when it comes to immigration options.

Re: 'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

#120

Post by [deleted] »

madaxe_again wrote: post #117
yarg wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a huge number of low skill immigrants in New Zealand, they don't really add that much to the country. I don't imagine that any restrictions on immigration would significantly impact skilled workers. That said, I don't understand why we would possibly have a requirement of VC involvement when the already money is there to actually do the work.

So, despite being an entrepreneur, and having founded several successful and sustainable businesses, I’m one of your “unskilled migrants”. Sure, I’ve been coding since I could walk, I have current and expert systems and web technology knowledge - but I have a bachelors. In physics. Not useful at all, and puts me on the same rung as a golf course management graduate - actually, below, as they have a shortage skill. On…

[deleted]
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