Depending on what types of office activities are your strengths, the first port of call should probably be your former employers.
You already know their needs and systems, and may be able to identify the types of work that could be done at home.
Just letting them know that you are available for short-term project or overflow work would be a first step in this direction.
You can also begin contacting firms that provide outsourced office services, such as transcription or document editing services.
You'll probably need to have some examples of your previous work in these areas, and they may want to trial your work on some smaller projects initially, but there is increasing call for off-site document work.
Some call centre and market research work is also conducted from home, so that is another option for you. It may take some time to become re-established at home, as you are invisible to potential employers and opportunities.
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Q. I'm a public relations professional from Argentina, coming to New Zealand next June with a working holiday visa. I'm worried I won't be able to find a job in my field.
I'd like to have some advice from you so as to understand the working culture of New Zealanders in my field.
What do you consider important for a foreigner in New Zealand to know when looking for a job in a professional field?
A. If you want to get a job in a short amount of time allowed by a working holiday visa, you are going to need to network and identify opportunities before you arrive.
The first place to look for information is the professional association. For public relations, this would be the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ). You can join through their web-site www.prinz.org.nz and start contacting member organisations about short-term working opportunities in New Zealand. Some job opportunities are posted on their website, and others appear in their newsletters.
The most frequent opportunities to break in to a new country's professional structure are special short-term projects. Being available for project work, and lining up your first project before arriving, will allow you to network into the professional community and provide local experience and references for other work.
It is also helpful to see what professional development and networking meetings are available through the professional association, and to read newsletters and publications to try to establish what differences exist in the professional practices of a new country.
There are always legal and cultural differences in professional practices between national environments. You can often find short courses on the legal context, although the way of doing business, or culture, is usually a matter of observation rather than formal training.
Q. Having returned to NZ after 20 successful years in Australia in management and small business, my husband and I are astounded at the lack of opportunities here.
The motivation we had on returning has been beaten out of us by apathy and brick walls. It is mind-numbing after three years of investigating many ideas. There is no incentive for small business, and no incentive for anything even slightly innovative. Is this attitude throughout New Zealand?
A. Entrepreneurs don't just spot opportunities, they often create them. I'm sure that the New Zealand environment has changed a lot in 20 years that you've been away, and that it's also very different from what you are accustomed to in Australia.
Certainly there are a lot of compliance issues and legal awareness that is required to set up a new business in New Zealand, but there is no lack of opportunities judging by the thousands of businesses that are set up every year, many of them by new arrivals to the country.
If you've been very successful operating in a particular way in Australia for all those years, it's going to be frustrating to have to adapt to local conditions, but I would bet you went through a similar adjustment when you shifted to Australia.
There are a lot of resources for you in setting up a business in New Zealand. Have you tried the Industry NZ website www.industrynz.govt.nz for resources, or linked up with the local business associations?
These can be a tremendous resource for coming to grips with both opportunity and obstacles in the New Zealand business environment.
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