simon.harpham@ieee.org
Newbie level 4
I am a NZ born IC Designer of some 28 years experience - in Europe.
I have read this thread with interest - I particularly understand what has happened to some of the contributors here: NZ as a professional work place is very different to the rest of the world. Their isolation and subsequent internet window shopping of other nation's achievements makes them actually believe they are world class and they will somewhat arrogantly behave that was towards any new employee.
Beware: if you come to NZ, expect to work for less than you are on presently, do longer hours and experience a much higher cost of living than anywhere such as the US, Canada, the UK or the EU. You will get plenty of sunshine to stare at out of your office window however.
Don't expect to work as an IC Design Engineer - I may well be the only one here at the time of writing and you might be when you come. You might get to do some FPGA work if you are lucky. All that said, if you can be adaptable, you should have the skills to put you well ahead of the local guys for things like system design, Altium simulation support and Hardware simulation - they don't get any appreciable experience of that here. Be prepared for a very aggressive and a somewhat abusive work ethic here in NZ - they have very strict employment law and some very efficient employment tribunals here, for very good reason and they are very busy.
After a successful and profitable career abroad I came home for family reasons a couple of years ago. I am on my second position here and have already had to resort to using the tribunal system for both employer and real-estate infractions on agreed contracts. In both cases the contracts were totally ignored and in both cases both were perplexed at why they lost their cases.
Put simply, there are few opportunities here and through desperation many businesses cut corners and have unreasonable expectations of results due to lack of exposure to world class practices. My point being working in NZ is very much a case of lower your expectations, be flexible and don't let your employers unreasonable behaviour get to you.
NZ is still a nice safe country to visit relative to many other countries in the world, but don't expect to get rich here - you won't. If you are young come for the beaches, mountains and bungy jumping. But make sure it is summer - there is no heating, the houses are nicely painted sheds and the temperatures are about the same as Southern England. If you are not so young come to visit family. All that said, I am struggling to think why else you would want to come here!
I intend to stay awhile yet, but I recognise I wont be retiring here in NZ ... and that is from a professional NZ'er, so beware, do your homework on what life in NZ is really like and good luck.
