ooStack

Well, GetMeOnline is a very small company, and they mostly do web designing for public facing website, not really suitable for me. So that is out.

However, Natalie from Radius Recruitment get me another Auckland opportunity today. It is Banklink, essentially they are looking for someone in .NET, with experience in WCF, and preferable Silverlight or WPF. And for intermediate role, they are paying 75K to 85K.

Same level as Datacom role, Datacom only pay 65K, so much difference. So if I have other opportunity, I will definitely not work in Datacom. Furthermore I don’t like that manager James, he is only willing to pay 65K and expect to have salary review in 6 months (and that does not guarantee anything). He wants me to work for him underpaid for 6 months. He waits la…

I believe I sure can find a better pay job in Wellington, or maybe I can secure this Banklink job.

Today, I got a call from GetMeOnline, a company in Auckland that wants to hire a ASP.NET web developer. I will meet them tomorrow, and that could be my last chance to find a job in Auckland.

This morning, I got the verbal offer from James in Datacom, it is 65K. Well, I think that is too less as I am expecting something between 75K to 85K. I told him I will consider, and get back to him next week. I am so stubborn, I didn’t ask him if 65K is the BEST he can offer? how about 70K?

Well, I guess I will have to accept first, then look for other opportunities at the same time, and I have interviews with Inov8 and InfoPower next week, and maybe with Fronde as well. So I still have chance to find job that pay within my expectation.

I have been spending a lot of time watching movie on youtube, I should have re-start my ooInvest project soon. First thing, I have to buy a Windows VPS, probably from UltraHosting.

Ok, the last chance of Auckland has gone. Shianne told me that Triquestra might be looking for other role, so I guess I am not suitable for their company. This really wasted my time. I thought the interviews all went very well, then suddenly they said I am too senior, or not suitable for the role.

Today interview with AbleOwl, one hour test and HR interview for a while. Nothing special, if I can get a job in Auckland or Wellington, I don’t think I will work in Hamilton, the city is just too small.

Anyway, I have decided, actually I have no choice, but to go to Wellington next week, hopefully I can find a job there. I am still waiting for offer from Datacom.

Well, wish me all the best in Wellington.

Well, another rejection from Callplus. Their reason? Because they think I am too good and more suitable for bigger role, which they cannot offer to me.

I never experienced this kind of rejection before in Malaysia. I guess the interview process in New Zealand really strict, and they are really looking for someone that can fit into their organization carefully.

So, the last chance I have in Auckland is only Triquestra. I guess pretty soon I have to explore Wellington opportunities.

Tomorrow I will interview with AbleOwl, it is in Hamilton, about 2 hours drive from Auckland. Let’s see how it turns out.

Today is a boring day again, no good news.

Well, I decided to accept the offer from Datacom Wellington. Of course, it still subjected to the contract, especially on salary and benefit. I replied to James, the Business Unit Manager, however I did not get any reply from him today. I should hear from him tomorrow.

Same, as for Compac Sorting, Triquestra, and Callplus, there is no news from them.

Lee Fong is not beside me, I really feel lonely right now. Anyway, thing will get better tomorrow, I believe.

Goodnight guys!

Today I posted my situation on New Zealand Immigration Forum:

I have one job offer from Wellington, and I have to answer them by next Tuesday. And at the same time I have 2 interviews going on in Auckland.

I am struggling to make a decision right now. I prefer Auckland, in terms of bigger city and warmer weather, and I also worry about the earthquake risk of Wellington. However, I am afraid that if I miss the chance in Wellington, and the Auckland interviews are not successful, then I may end up with no job in the next few months.

Any suggestions or comments?

And I got two feedback:

You’re about 14x more likely to die in a car accident than die in an earthquake – have you never been in/near a car? You’re about 3x more likely to accidentally drown than die in an earthquake – do you avoid baths and the ocean?

Auckland has 49 volcanoes. Run! Save yourself!

Take the job, secure your visa….then if you want to …move to Auckland later!

Hmm, maybe I should secure my visa and get the PR first, then I can move to Auckland later, with NZ experience, I should be able to find a job.

I was waiting for any news since morning, but I received none.

There was one call from Datacom Wellington, they would like to offer me a job, however, they also knew that I prefer to stay in Auckland. So they would like to me make up my mind first, before they really offer me an job.

Tough one, I think I will stay in Auckland for another 2 weeks. Hopefully, hopefully, I can get a job offer within 2weeks.

After a long overnight bus, I am back to Auckland. The weather is nicer, I just love it.

After settling down at BK Hostel, I went to meet Gayle from AbsoluteIT, they have arranged an interview with Callplus at 1:30pm. It was a very good interview session as I get to know more about the inside Callplus, and the role is quite interesting and fit my experience, as they developed mostly web-based applications, and the role plays big part as analyst, architect, and tester as well. I should get the second interview chance with the CTO.

During the interview, I got a missed call from Natalie. I guessed it must be about Right Hemisphere response, maybe they would like me to go for face-to-face interview. I called back, and I got a bad news. They have shortlisted two candidates, I am one of them. But too bad, they decided to choose another one.

Such a bad news and all other interviews with other company seem to be progress slowly, I have started to worry.

At 4pm, I went to meet Kara, and she will help me to apply the role in BNZ, Bank of New Zealand.

Nothing much will be going on tomorrow. I just hope to get some good news tomorrow, as I have been here for 2 weeks, I need a JOB!

This morning I went to buy the bus ticket (tonight) to go back to Auckland.

Then, there was this call from Datacom, and they would like me to come for second interview. So I went, and the interview was pretty smooth, they were happy with my answers. Hopefully I can hear something from them very soon. However I will be at Auckland already.

Tonight will be a long night on the bus. I have to get some sleep as tomorrow I have 2 meetings with agency, and 1 interview with Callplus.

Another busy day ahead.

Well, it was a phone interview with 3 persons in a team responsible for their server product Deep Server. There were a senior developer, a principal Developer, and a manager. And yes, it was a tough one. Some I can answer some I can’t, especially I remembered this one: What is the different between IEnumerable vs IQueryable?

Anyway, their products are mostly desktop-based, probably with WPF, and with heavy SQL Server interactions, with Web-Service layer (WCF probably?). Well, I guessed I fit well into Web-Service and SQL Server database area, not sure about the windows-based WPF area though.

I believe, my success on this role is pretty much rely on other candidates quality. Hopefully there are not many good candidates around in Auckland. Let’s hope…

Still no feedback from Datacom Wellington. Hopefully the good news will come from them tomorrow.

And, I have decided, Auckland weather is just way better compared to Wellington, and a bigger city to hang around too, that means more activities. So I am going back to Auckland on Wednesday night bus. Hey, and I got myself another 2 opportunities in Auckland, they are Slinghost and ANZ.

Hopefully I can get an offer early next week, then start on 1st of August, that will be just perfect for me!