Conor Coady

Conor Coady

My name is Conor Coady, I’m from the West Coast of Ireland. I’ve been here for two and a half years and I’m a wind energy consultant.

Uhm, I’ve worked in my industry for about eight years . .ah . .in that time I've worked in the UK and in Germany.  Uhm I’ve also worked in Ireland of course uhm, but . ah . moving to New Zealand was a choice and uhm I’m very much impressed with the life style here, the work /life balance.

There’s quite a long summer here in compared with Ireland. I get to go sailing and ah I do a lot of spearfishing and uhm shore fishing, and it’s just a great place to live.

The wind industry in New Zealand is relatively small and close-knit and ah for this reason it’s very useful to be in the wind industry in New Zealand, because you get to know everybody and it’s a good career also. . uhm.  So on coming to New Zealand, I found the whole process, and getting a work visa relatively easy.  Uhm. . I now have residency which I’m, I’m delighted and very proud of. Uhm . . and I do intend on staying here in New Zealand for some time to come.

Applying for a er work visa pr work residency in any country is quite a daunting task. . uhm . .I was pleasantly surprised when I filled out my initial forms  . uhm . . that the man that was there then, was the same guy that handed me my residency over two years later and he remembered me so that was pretty awesome.

Uhm. . , if anybody is planning on coming out here to New Zealand I would highly recommend doing your homework first and making sure you understand what’s involved.  Ah. . it can be a relatively smooth process as it was for me, ah . but you, you just need to make sure you’ve all the ‘T’s crossed and the ‘I’s dotted.

One of the biggest things I have found about people in New Zealand is that ah everyone is very relaxed and people have their own interests and follow them. and you are kind of expected to be an individual in New Zealand, and the relaxed atmosphere allows you to pursue whatever your interest is and you’re very much encouraged.

I wanted to go sailing, and I walked down to the uhm docklands and to the yacht club there. I happened across the last boat out on the races on Sunday and I asked them if they were looking for crew. And because New Zealanders are particularly open and friendly, I was invited on board and that started my hobby, sailing. It was definitely a good example of how open Wellington, New Zealand is and how they have a real non elitist attitude and everybody is welcome.

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