Fancy a free trip to New Zealand to find a job?

Wellington is flying tech professionals south to interview them for jobs in its capital

If you have ever harboured a desire to work in New Zealand, this might be your chance. The city of Wellington is inviting 100 IT professionals from around the world to take an all-expenses paid trip to the country’s capital.

There they will be interviewed by potential employers in its growing tech industry who are struggling to fill tech roles in this beautiful city on the South Pacific.

The trip, which includes flights and accommodation, will be run during TechWeek’17 from May 8th to 11th.

Wellington's tech scene includes Weta Digital, which won an Oscar for its digital special effects on Avatar, cloud-based accounting software giant Xero, IT system builder Datacom and virtual reality pioneer 8i, as well as about 900 start-ups.

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Xero chief executive Rod Drury says it is doing world-class work in Wellington alongside its shift to the Amazon web services platform, which allows developers to really delve into rewarding and challenging work in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“There are huge opportunities for talented tech professionals to enhance their careers doing work that’s right up there globally, while also enjoying an awesome lifestyle at the same time,” he says.

“Wellington is a great place for anyone who’s into outdoor pursuits – it has incredible mountain biking, windsurfing, and paddle boarding – and also has a thriving arts scene and more cafés and restaurants per head of population than almost anywhere else. It’s a compact city with a collaborative spirit, and is a really creative and energising place to live and work."

If you don't work in tech but still fancy New Zealand as a place to work, check out the Irish Times Abroad Destination New Zealand guide for more details on how and where to find a job.

How the process works

Go to the LookSee Wellington campaign site to register by March 20th.

Workhere New Zealand will screen candidates in collaboration with employers who nominate their preferred candidates for a place on the programme.

The 100 selected candidates spend four days in Wellington doing interviews with prospective employers and getting out "to see what makes the capital a great place to live, work and play".

Employers make job offers.