A while ago I was contacted by a professional colleague about multiple hiring opportunities at his company, Telecom New Zealand. Now the "New Zealand" part isn't just for marketing appeal... it really is in New Zealand. This is not a remote position in the US that somehow supports TNZ. These jobs were in New Zealand.
This was one of those moments where the Universe does something to show it really is listening--careful what you wish for! Just a week or so before (this back in July), my wife and I had decided there were only 2 places we really seriously consider relocating to (out of the US). Those were Ireland and New Zealand. So here it was, a chance to apply. I thought "ah heck, why not? No way they are hiring a dude 10,000 miles away." So I gave Neal my resume (they call it a CV... no idea why).
About a week later I asked Neal about it. He said, "I turned it in with my recommendation." And I thought that was pretty nice. Then he said, "I turned it in with my *highest* recommendation." And I thought, "Whoa! Neal is one of their Principal Engineers. He leads their design team and is highly respected around the world. Holy s**t! I'm getting an interview. It was about then I began to think this was more serious than a whim. The interview was about 2 weeks later. When the phone rang that night the Caller ID didn't know what to report. I answered the phone to here a crisp New Zealander woman's accent. "Is Curtis there?" It was a very surreal moment. This wasn't a call center calling me for some marketing survey... this wasn't a New Zealander working somewhere in the US. This was the hiring manager from TNZ calling from Wellington to check out her principal engineer's recommendation. Her name is, Faye.
Faye was very friendly and we must have chatted for an hour or more. After about 10 years in the teleco business, I have enough experience and exposure to, at least, be basically proficient in a wide spectrum of data technologies. I'm a principal engineer myself after all. In a couple of words I am "highly qualified." Now it is really getting real. While the interview went well I had to explain I'd need full relocation to afford the move and some basic salary requirements. About another week later, Faye called again and those details were confirmed. But I still needed to be interviewed by some of her peers in a more formal process.
That inteview was just about a week ago. This time there were two women, Faye and Rhonda. Faye was in Wellington and Rhonda in Auckland. Still very surreal. The first question of the "official interview" was, "Describe a time when your technical expertise was necessary to achieve a solution." At first I thought it was a joke. I'm a design engineer. I have been for about 10 years. There isn't a single day that goes by where my technical expertise isn't necessary for a solution. So I tried not to laugh and just answered the question with a few examples. The next question was, "Describe a time where you had to collaborate with a team to deliver a solution." Again... are you serious? My company can't even schedule a lunch without collaboration. My cup overfloweth with collaboration. In fact I spend a great deal of time imposing my collaboration on projects that have a direct impact on my teams for which we were not initially involved. So again without giggling I answered the question. The rest of the interview went basically like that. It was like they read my job description and a few of my project notes and only asked me questions about things even I would call myself an expert at (and I don't like calling myself an expert--cuz I know how much I don't know!)
This week Faye called with the offer. There are a few things I've learned about offers. They are never as much as you hope (aim high!). But in any case, it was well within what we can afford. I have relocation... I have adequate salary... I have a job offer in New Zealand... Am I moving to New Zealand??? I've always wanted to live out of the US one time for a few years. I just agreed with my wife about New Zealand being on the move for list. It may be crazy to go, but I also know that if I don't go... How could I live the rest of my life knowing I didn't go do something I wanted to do forever.
So I guess I'm moving to Wellington. My tentative start date is January 8th. I have about 3 months to sell everything I own, pack up the stuff I'm keeping and ship it all (on an actual ship by the way) to New Zealand. All our tickets will be paid. Since it is the Southern Hemisphere, it will be mid to late Summer when we arrive. We'll get to see Fall and Winter again. Their school year will start in Feb. My office building is on that harbor above. I better tell my boss!
Here are some other links to pictures. (including the picture above which is copyrighted to Mark Tanner--legal stuff...)
