Ask HN: Right to live and work in this location

6 points by peterburkimsher ↗ HN
"You must have the right to live and work in this location to apply for this job."

"Whereas we welcome international enquiries, only applicants that are legally entitled to work in New Zealand and can make themselves available for interviews in New Zealand will be considered for advertised positions. Others may not necessarily be responded to."

I'm trying to find a job in New Zealand, Canada, or Australia. I've applied for several without even an interview. I've updated my LinkedIn, posted side projects on HN, and asked a recruiter for help, all without success.

I can't get a work visa without a job offer.

I have all the qualifications and work experience for the Skilled Migrant Category (NZ), Express Entry (Canada), and Subclass 186 (Australia). Having moved a lot on Working Holidays before, it's now my intention to immigrate and settle down.

Should I lie, and pretend I have the right to work already just so I can get an interview?

It seems dishonest, but I feel like an automated filter is just deleting my applications.

6 comments

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You haven’t stated where you are from, nor how would they know about any of your residency papers( unless it’s linkedin and you write about it within the application).

But what makes you think it’s not just them ignoring you/got too many applicants that caused them to not reach out to you? Unless the explicitly told you about this, maybe it’s your resume?

Companies can obviously only hire employees with the legal right to work in the jurisdiction of the company. Depending on the country, there is a process for the company to sponsor the visa of foreign workers. Some companies do this, some do not. Sponsoring a visa is expensive, and if they do not already have a policy of doing so, you would need to be an exceptional candidate for them to undertake the effort required to sponsor your visa.

Companies that do sponsor visas will usually mention this in the job posting. Look for the words “visa sponsorship.” If they aren’t there, but you really want to work for the company, I suggest contacting a hiring manager or even the CEO via LinkedIn and explaining your situation. Since they aren’t sponsoring visas it’s probably a small company and you can easily find a decision maker. Ask them about sponsorship options and give them a soft sell on yourself.

Definitely don’t lie, because you’re just wasting your own time that way. Eventually you will need the cooperation of your employer to submit the paperwork, and depending on the country they might need to pay real costs to file it. That’s not something you want to surprise them with.

I am in a similar situation. And I found that it works great when the recruiters/companies feel that you really want to move and will not do any last-minute cancellation.

In my case, I was just granted a Work and Holiday kind of visa, my SO already moved and started to work. When I told recruiters that I was moving even without a job offer, the conversation was way easier and smother - and yes, I still need to get a long term work visa, but I can work while waiting.

Lying about your work status is the worst thing to do. You want to be completely upfront about it, otherwise you just end up wasting both your time and the company's.

In my experience it is very rare for a company to change their mind about "visa sponsorship" after meeting a candidate. Either it's something the company can do and they will advertise it as such (to have access to the biggest possible pool of candidates), or they don't want to go through the hassle and even amazing candidates won't change their mind.

Applying remotely to jobs and requiring visa sponsorship is very complicated. You're competing with locals and candidates who may need a visa or work permit but are already on site for interviews. You are basically last in the line.

I'm surprised you didn't take advantage of your WOs to build a network or apply for permanent positions. I think your best bet is to pick one country, move there, even as a tourist and start looking for something while you're on site.

Never lie about anything ever when it comes to getting hired. People will find out, you'll be unable to keep it up, and your reputation will be ruined.
No point in lying as you will be discovered straight away when you ask for your support letter addressed to CIC or whatever the Aus/NZ authorities are.

It’s possible to get into Canada without a job offer via the Express Entry system. There is also the IEC if you are under 30.