It's difficult enough for locals, and you will find that regionals like Air Nelson have quaint rules, such as the famous "you must have 50 hours recent NZ IFR experience".
Even returning Kiwis are treated like pariahs for committing the grave sin of leaving NZ and getting some overseas experience.
The only (possibly) good news is that all recruitment for the "link" carriers will be done via Air NZ, probably from the next hiring round.
Good luck with it though, if you can crack it you will have done very well.