I've been working here for three months having moved here from the UK.  Not long enough for some profound observations but I have noticed lots of immediate positive differences and only one or two minor negative ones.

The positives are:

- The working culture is just so much better. Everyone is taken at face value for what they say and do, not any built up reputation or image, and people say what they mean in a straightforward way.  Even when people fall out it blows over quickly and is forgotten.

- Everybody seems to know their stuff - I haven't met a fake yet.  Everyone tells me I will but by now in the UK I would have met some real whoppers.

- You are not considered unusual if you are a senior manager that also has technical skills.  In the UK being technically competent (i.e. can write code or read an RFC) is a disadvantage to senior career progression.

- People are far more pragmatic and far less gullible when it comes to relying on bleeding edge products from manufacturers, preferring simpler solutions that just work.

- Finding things is easy - mailing lists, forums, user groups etc.

- The overwhelming attitude in IT is one of co-operation and mutual enrichment, not under-mining competition.

- The balance of people who want to learn more compared to those that have found their level is very different from what I'm used to as so many more people here are still learning and enjoy the learning.  I've been able to talk to more people about exotic things like map-reduce databases or group communications than I ever could in the UK.

The only two negatives are:

- Occasionally things can be a bit Kiwi-centric with a focus on a local solution/product that is easily eclipsed by something produced internationally but it is either not known about (the more common problem) or sometimes the local solution is viewed with rose-tinted spectacles.

- Getting computer books is a bit of pain.  In the UK I was used to visiting a website to order the latest book on Scala and have it delivered the next day.  Here it can take a couple of weeks.

Altogether, I love working in IT here and prefer it to working in IT in the UK by a country mile.

all the best

Jay

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Jay Daley

Chief Executive

NZ Registry Services Ltd

desk: +64 4 931 6977

mobile: +64 21 678840