Aldo of Italians in Fuga today presents us:

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Alessandro Barel moved his family to New Zealand and talks about their experience on the SpaghettiNZ blog.

Alessandro and his family lived in the province of Verona while for work he had to travel a lot every day and therefore the quality of life was not great.

IT systems engineer, together with his wife, decided to look abroad in search of better job and career opportunities.

Read also: How we move the family to New Zealand

In 2011 Alessandro managed to find work in Barcelona. Unfortunately, they closed the hiring in the health sector and therefore the job opportunities for Alessandro's wife disappeared.

Realizing they had "started off on the wrong foot" they decided to re-plan the move with a cool head, taking into account the point of view of the girls.

New Zealand thus presented itself as a nation that offered several positive factors.

Meanwhile, it was less known (and inflated) from Australia, making it more likely to receive a work visa.

Then both of their professions (especially that of his wife, a radiology technician) were in the Top 10 of professions sought by the New Zealand government for the purpose of granting a work visa.

Without a degree, Alessandro decided to resume the university studies he had begun in order to obtain more points for the visa.

During May 2013 he decided to respond to a job posting on the seek.co.nz portal which matched a lot to his profile.

Ten days later he was contacted by the recruiter.

The first step in the selection procedure was the compilation of forms investigating Alexander and his family's real intention to emigrate to New Zealand.

Fortunately, before being contacted by the recruiter, they had contacted and paid a migration agent to better understand the process of obtaining a work visa.

In addition, Alessandro had taken the IELTS exam to certify the knowledge of English, necessary to obtain a visa.

In this way they managed to demonstrate the seriousness of their intention to emigrate to New Zealand.

Then Alessandro had an interview with the recruiter and then an interview with the company that hired him. All via Skype and from Italy.

Then, ten days after the interview, Alessandro was in possession of the employment contract.

Along with the signed contract Alessandro also received the forms that he had to deliver to the immigration agent who was following him, which proved that the company was authorized and suitable to hire him.

Alessandro then left for New Zealand at the end of August to lay the foundations before the rest of the family joined him the following January.

The first impact with Wellington was hard. The typical Wellington wind is a very difficult weather aspect to manage.

Apart from the extreme volatility of the time, the Barel family is settling in without major problems.

The girls go to school and Alessandro says that the New Zealand school is totally different from the Italian one. You pay a 'voluntary' donation but then you receive services in the counterpart, a different situation than the Italian one.

Without speaking (almost) English, the girls entered without too many problems and are happy to go to school.

From the point of view of work, Alessandro reports that where he works last year they hired 37 people out of a staff of about 150 people.

Without looking for another job, without sending a resume, Alessandro received two job offers from Auckland through recruiters who contacted him on LinkedIn.

The balance of the first months is positive. The quality of life improved by achieving one of the goals they set for themselves.

Of negative aspects, Alessandro cites the weather conditions, the cost of some categories of consumer goods and the quality of construction of some houses.

For computer scientists, Alessandro recommends doing professional certifications because they are taken into consideration.

Also prepare all the documentation possible before starting the emigration procedure. Above all, translate them into English, perhaps asking for the European format from the bodies that produce them.

For New Zealand, prepare for the distance and time difference with Italy, an aspect not to be underestimated.

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http://www.italiansinfuga.com

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