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Would you go work in Christchurch?


dreams

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First of all, I don't mean to offend anyone with this post, but I have a question:

Would you go work in Christchurch?

I live in Auckland, I'm 23 going on 24 and have just finished my degree last year in Master of Architecture.

There is a potential job for me in Christchurch with a large well known New Zealand architecture firm...If they offer me the job, should I take it?

Pros:

Big famous firm

Lots of work? = good experience

Cons:

All my mates (including Girlfriend) and family are in AK (and I do like Ak life)

Earthquake risk?

Don't Know anyone in christchurch

Other options:

Potential job in Ak with another big firm but not as famous (again depends if they offer me a job)

Going Sydney to look for work/travel (have a very good mate over there, but no job opportunities just yet)

Any wise wisdoms and opinions appreciated! :hail:

Thanks

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pro : we are all here as well

con : auckland is full of aucklanders

pro ; did the earth move for you it sure as did for me

con ; auckland

pro : you would be leaving auckland

con we would have another aucklander down here

get the drift

:wink:

you know in your heart what to do

your girl can move with or not if it is meant to be she will be there with you

talk to her about it but do what you have to do for you

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is Auckland really that bad??? :slfg:

Uh, you've never been there then? 8)

Sounds like a good move as long as you don't buy any real estate until the ground has been stable for a while...

I'd also research the best area's to live. If you've already been living in Auckland you'll be used to the higher living cost already - Chch is probably cheaper than Auck but not by much.

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Auckland (north shore mainly) is the best! Good fish stores + nicer weather (except for right now) + Im biased like everyone else.

You should go down to christchurch, you have guaranteed work in an unstable economic climate.

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Zomg! so much anti Aucklanders on this thread :nilly:

Cool :sml2: interesting opinions! ok, If I rephrase the question a little bit;

If you were my age (23-24), would you go work in Christchurch?

^ does that change anything? :slfg:

Will wait and see what happens on wednesday, got both interviews on the same day, Christchurch company interview will be over skype :thup:

I've also sent out masses of CVs and portfolios to Sydney today and will see if anything comes back next week as well. In the process, I also sent a message to a firm through their enquiry form with the name of another company in the text.... :digH:

Gotta say though, Oz has some incredible architecture over there!

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If I was your age, yes I would go work in Christchurch. When I was your age I did work in Christchurch, at the Christchurch Press actually.

There are great opportunities down there and you obviously have the skills to be able to assist in the rebuild. The climate is good, the people lovely. The bars are still operating out in the suburbs, the majority of the malls are open. There are still things to do at the weekends and you are really handy to the ski fields and the country. You have to remember that what you see and hear on tv is mostly the negative side of things.

You could always jump on a flight and go have a look. You can get flights for less than $120 return most days.

Even with all the damage in certain areas a good sizeable chunk of Christchurch is either undamaged or the damage is insignificant. If you look at geonet you will see the ground still does shake, but if you go back pre earthquakes and look, you will notice that it always did.

Most of the shakes can't even be felt.

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Re: earthquake risk - I think it depends on how nervous it makes you personally. If it really makes you horribly nervous just thinking about it then maybe its not a good idea. If you are a "take it as it comes" kind of person and think you will not feel anxious down there then definitely go for it.

It sounds like a good opportunity, there will be a lot of work rebuilding chch and you could start off an excellent career doing it.

The best thing I ever did at 18 yrs old was to get out of AK. There are some amazing people in the rest of NZ that are waiting to meet you, I promise you :) Flights home to AK can be pretty cheap, it is not as far to chch as it used to be!

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Also re earthquake risk- I can't remember exact figure but there was a 70% chance of a 6-7 eq in the next year and then decreases the next year

And a 90% chance of a 5-6 eq in the next year and the the next year it decreases

Have a look on stuff.co.nz

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Which firm would you prefer to work for?

I would think ChCh would be an architect's dream at the moment. A lifetime opportunity to be in on the rebuilding of a city.

You are willing to move to Sydney away from friends and family. ChCh is closer.

With internet and Skype, family is not too far away. You will soon make many fishy friends in ChCh and they have Organism! :nfs:

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I like Auckland better than most places in NZ I've been to, maybe it's a city for city-people and that's why. If you end up with some choices then I wish you all the best but it sounds like either of the possibilities will work out a good place to start for you.

(if you do leave Auckland and can't take your fish, please ask your pygmies if they would like to enter my fish farm, some hot babes up for grabs in there :wink: )

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It's interesting that the Auckland bashing comes only from people out of Auckland. If you do like Auckland and consider yourself an Aucklander be prepared to back it up. Christchurch isn't as bad as Wellington for it though.

I think in the current climate CHCH is about to have a building boom and you'll get a lot of experience fast. Whether it'll do much for your portfolio for registration I'm not so sure but if you're getting your foot in the door at a big firm then it's probably worth giving it a go. I know a few people in the industry in Auckland as well and a lot of them are considering moving down for a few years to take advantage of it as the work up here has been dry for a few years and only seems to be getting worse.

I left Auckland when I was 22 to do the same thing, but in IT, and couldn't believe how much I missed it. I was in the same boat as you with family, girlfriend and friends left up here. I ended up spending every 2nd weekend flying back and forth so I could have a social life and then came back as soon as I could find a job. For me the biggest problem was missing the people. It took moving away to realise I really like Auckland though...

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Which firm would you prefer to work for?

Both firms are good, but the Christchurch firm is over twice as big and have a long history in nz, but I have heard from a friend that they're slave drivers... :dunno:

While the other firm seems to have a better balance between work and life (This is what two friends in this firm have told me)

I would think ChCh would be an architect's dream at the moment. A lifetime opportunity to be in on the rebuilding of a city.

Christchurch is an architects dream atm, though if I stayed up here, I'm pretty sure I'll end up doing work on Christchurch as well!

You will soon make many fishy friends in ChCh and they have Organism! :nfs:

Being able to go to Organisms does sound tempting... :D

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(if you do leave Auckland and can't take your fish, please ask your pygmies if they would like to enter my fish farm, some hot babes up for grabs in there :wink: )

Will definitely put you first if I end up moving :)

It's interesting that the Auckland bashing comes only from people out of Auckland. If you do like Auckland and consider yourself an Aucklander be prepared to back it up or ignore all the crap you'll get. Christchurch isn't as bad as Wellington for it though.

Oh, I'm open to all opinions, it's interesting how many people on this forum doesn't like auckland! But I'm thinking that maybe since we're all into fish and/or natural life, then alot of people would prefer a more relaxed life outside of Ak.

I left Auckland when I was 22 to do the same thing, but in IT, and couldn't believe how much I missed it. I was in the same boat as you with family, girlfriend and friends left up here. I ended up spending every 2nd weekend flying back and forth so I could have a social life and then came back as soon as I could find a job. For me the biggest problem was missing the people. It took moving away to realise I really like Auckland though...

Wow, definitely not easy to fly back every 2nd weekend! When I first initially started looking for jobs and found the Auckland market dry, my girlfriend and I talked about me coming back Ak or her flying to Oz every 1-2 months if I found a job there. We know we can do long distance relationships - she did an exchange in japan for a year. In a couple of weeks, we will have been together 5 years :o

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I moved to study down here in CHCH this year and i have not once regretted it. I moved into a flat with people id only met twice and now were a best of friend, practically a family in ourselves.

The CBD is still a no go and some parts are devastated but for the most of the city its fine, just a few unfortunate areas.

With a population of CHCH and the time the EQ hit i am surprised we only lost so few, still tragic on so many levels but this is life and if anything this EQ has shown me that life is short. In my opinion the EQ didnt feel that intense but all to their own and i was in bed when it happened (best alarm clock ever, never ran so fast in my jocks before to the tv and tank)

CHCH is a beautiful city and i cant wait to see how town is rebuilt and it would be awesome if you designed the lay out.

I think you have a better chance of being hit by a bus in Aux then killed in a EQ down here, not only that isnt there a volcano under AUX?

As long as you can deal with the chilly weather def make move its life changing

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the other firm seems to have a better balance between work and life (This is what two friends in this firm have told me)

saw that and thought if this firm really does have a good work/life balance it should be the one you go for. It's better than moving to CHCH to find the job makes you unhappy or put to much stress on you.

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Being an Aucklander who likes Auckland, and we're at a fairly similar age I think I have a good idea of what a huge change it would be for you. Even so, I still think you should go. So much of CHCH is a-shambles at the moment, esp the CBD I hear. This means there huge opportunity to build and rebuild, a lot more freedom with what you can design since a lot may be done from scratch. You just graduated, actually putting yourself out there and getting established early will probably be great for future prospects, and CHCH is one of NZ's biggest Cities, I think it'll be unlikely to come across a opportunity like this again.

I completely understand not wanting to leave family, friends and GF, but you'll have to leave your family one day. I've also known several couples who have spent a year or so long distance and they ended up closer after that time (1 couple's married, another's engaged to marry next year). Considering that Auckland seems to have way more architects than jobs, relocation is probably immanent anyway :P. I'll say that the distance is a necessary trial, besides, CHCH is not so far that she could not visit every break, and you can get pretty nicely priced tickets from time to time.

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saw that and thought if this firm really does have a good work/life balance it should be the one you go for. It's better than moving to CHCH to find the job makes you unhappy or put to much stress on you.

For your first proper job though, a slave-driver job's not such a bad idea xD. Would make you appreciate non-slavery jobs all the more. Plus I still think it'd be great to get in on Rebuilding CHCH while you have the chance, 1-2 years working like crazy isn't so bad, long hours usually seems to mean, good money and less time for spending :lol:.

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