Junaid wants to share his story with as many people as possible to inspire others to take the plunge and move to beautiful New Zealand.
Junaid moved here after 11 years in the Middle East and was one of the newest migrants in Aotearoa who came during the COVID pandemic in 2021. In the one and a half years that he's been here, he can say that it's somewhere Junaid wants to be for far longer than he ever anticipated.
Taranaki is a great place to raise his children, he has so much more time with his daughters after work, and on the weekends, they spend their time outside and explore beaches, parks, walking tracks and attending events.
Currently, the family are renting a 3-bedroom house in New Plymouth. Junaid explains, "The rental value in New Plymouth is reasonably lower compared to the other big cities. We plan to buy a section and build our dream house in Taranaki."
Junaid is a Senior Systems Engineer whose CV is nothing to be laughed at! He spent time working in Karachi, Pakistan, before getting his Masters in Sweden. He then worked for 11 years in Saudi Arabia, and now finds himself in his current role at Worley NZ as Senior I&C Engineer based in New Plymouth.
Junaid's Taranaki story actually dates back further than just the last year and a half of living here. He initially decided to move to New Zealand in 2016 and eventually got residency in 2018. He visited Aotearoa soon after and decided it was the perfect place to raise his family, but he spent a couple of years finishing a project in the Middle East before making the move.
A couple of friends working in Taranaki at the time told him about the businesses and lifestyle here, so he started looking for jobs, and the rest is history. Like other engineers, Junaid was initially focused on opportunities in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch – but found that Taranaki is a great place to grow your engineering career.
While New Zealand's famous work-life balance is what initially drew Junaid to move halfway across the world, he's found working in Taranaki great – he deals with both clients and contractors to execute his job, and enjoys working with his colleagues, he says, "Everyone here is so professional and experienced in their roles".
His company has a multicultural workplace with people from all different countries there. As a result, the working culture is relatively relaxed and flexible, plus, "It also only takes me 8 minutes to get to work!".
Junaid is also actively helping other Pakistani in New Zealand and is associated with the Pakistan Association of New Zealand where he works as the Regional Relationship Coordinator, alongside his role at Worley NZ.
Junaid and his family had always wanted to live close to nature, and they enjoy country life. "We're living a simple life here – in the best way possible - less population, less traffic, a beautiful landscape, and everything is accessible within a ten-minute drive," Junaid says.
"We love the spectacular and beautiful view of Mount Taranaki covered with pure snow – we're nature lovers, and this view is perfect."
Junaid's wife, who was also previously in the engineering industry, has also found a good job here in Taranaki, which is another plus.