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Jobs Online shows that in the three months to the end of June 2010:

• The number of advertised skilled jobs increased by 10.0%. Total advertisements increased by 9.4%.
• Advertised skilled jobs increased across all industries, regions and occupational groups.
• Advertised skilled job growth was the strongest in the following regions:
  • Auckland vacancies (up 10.0%).
  • North Island vacancies outside Auckland and Wellington (up 10.1%).
• Advertised skilled job growth was the strongest in the following industries:
  • Construction and engineering (up 14.9%).
  • Sales, retail, marketing and advertising (up 10.5%).
  • IT vacancies (up 10.4%).
• Advertised skilled jobs increased by 8.3% in the health and medical industry, the last industry to show a recovery in advertised vacancies.

Vacancies have increased consistently from a year ago (June 2009), when they were at their lowest point due to the recession. Since then, the number of advertised vacancies for skilled jobs increased by 33.6% while total vacancies increased by 36.9%.

Alongside positive employment growth, falling unemployment, and strong hiring intentions, Jobs Online shows that employment prospects in the economy are improving. Despite the improvement, the number of skilled job advertisements in June 2010 remains 30.6% lower than in March 2008, when the index was at its peak.

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I am fed up with all the “doom and gloom” out there when I see so many good things happening, so I am going to make August a positive news only month and will publish any positive news submitted that relates to the NZ job scene – so keep me posted everyone!!

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This week’s BNZ Weekly Overview contained some worrying thoughts and, I guess for recruitment  companies, encouraging news…

 “Worsening shortages of skilled people”  “Record Net Immigration” were some of the comments relating to Australia, who were virtually alone in never going through a  technical recession

And where do the Aussies turn for labour – well I guess they do not have far to look!

So as BNZ say this is  “likely to become a key dynamic for our labour market very soon with more and more Kiwis likely to head across the ditch to earn 50% more than they can earn here” Now these shortages are not in all areas, but where skills are truly portable such as IT, Auditing, Building and Mining then the lure of the Aussie dollar comes into play and many people will be, at least, considering a move across the ditch –  even though some of  us feel that the propensity of biting insects, dangerous animals and eternal sunshine can work against the Lucky Country.

It would be useful to have some thoughts from recruiters and employers as to their take on what is happening in the market currently…

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A new post today from Andy McCormack – Counsellor and Career/Life Coach….

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Another blog from my guest contributor Amy Goldstein. Recruiters PLEASE take note!!

The only thing the young, unemployed, and penniless love more than money is to complain. During the past year in New Zealand, I’ve commiserated with many fellow job seekers over how tedious and stressful it is to find work. We particularly enjoy gossiping about recruitment agencies.

For the most part, the recruitment process is rather mundane and innocuous; but sometimes, you hear a good horror story. My favourite comes from my friend Jennifer. Apparently, one of her consultants keeps referring to her as Jessica, even over email, even though her name is included in her email address.

Lately, I’ve been thinking: during your professional career, you undergo annual reviews and complete exit interviews, giving you and your manager the chance to evaluate and constructively criticise each other. However, job candidates rarely get to give feedback to their HR consultants (which is why we talk about them behind their backs instead). That hardly seems fair or productive. Since I’ve yet to fill out a recruitment agency performance review, I’d like to take this opportunity to share my advice on how to be a better HR consultant.

Tip # 1: Be Honest About Available Opportunities

When I first arrived in Auckland, one agent seduced me with the promise of a well-paid, three-month contract as an Administrative Assistant with a telecommunications company. As soon as she received confirmation of the role, it would be mine. Excited about this particular position, I rejected less appealing roles offered by other agents.

It took over a week of unreturned calls and emails for me to realize that this job didn’t actually exist. The agent was just leading me on until a suitable opportunity became available. When the consultant finally contacted me, she sounded hurt and betrayed to discover I had already found work through a competing agency. Manage candidate expectations by being up front about their prospects, and giving them concrete and realistic deadlines for when they are likely to hear back from you and get a job.

Tip #2: Communicate Frequently With Your Candidates

Even though recruitment agencies don’t charge candidates directly for their services, in my experience there are many hidden fees. For example, money spent on phone credit and Internet so that you can harass your HR consultant. Job candidates tend to resemble patients awaiting the results of a medical exam. Ideally, agents would ring candidates periodically with a progress report, or tell them exactly how long they should wait before checking in. Otherwise, prepare yourself for stalkers.

Tip #3: Optimise Compatibility

Unhappy with his former employer, one of my flatmate’s recently quit his job. He has extensive experience in (and for some reason greatly enjoys) the insurance industry. However, because he is moving overseas in a few months and knows his next role will be temporary, he is willing to be flexible.

Imagine his delight when a recruitment agent announced that she had found him a potential opportunity in his field, as a Sales Manager. Unfortunately, his expertise is in Customer Service, and he’s never had a leadership position. “I can’t wait to see how they present my CV for that role,” he said. “They are going to have to do a serious sales pitch of their own.” He and I are still debating which is worse – being hired to do a job for which you have no training or experience or being hired to do a job for which you’re overqualified.

Tip #4: Consider Your Candidates’ Long-Term Career Goals

I’m not proud to admit some of the things I’ve done for money. Like don a one-dollar coin costume and walk down the streets of Wellington handing out chocolates and fliers to strangers (even if the pictures are amazing). Given the current economic climate, many job seekers feel guilty if they turn down an unattractive role; and those already employed feel greedy if they go for something better suited to their personal skills and passions. Desperate job seekers can feel as though recruitment agencies are doing them a favour by finding them work, and thus have no right to make demands.

A candidate’s short-term goal may be a steady income. But, whether we are in New Zealand on a temporary working-holiday visa or a native citizen, we all ultimately want a job that is interesting, challenging, and meaningful. Once a candidate has been placed, stay in touch with them, inquire after their job satisfaction, and keep them in mind when new positions arise.

Perhaps that’s the key to a positive job candidate-HR consultant relationship: the future. Treat all candidates as if you want them to be lifelong clients, and try to find them a role they would be happy to fill for the rest of their lives. If that’s not possible immediately or ever, at the very least, make an effort to remember their names.

Thanks for a great post Amy

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This is a guest blog from Amy Goldstein. Amy is the founder, principal contributor, and editor of Expat Essays. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Amy moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2005, where she lived for over three years before moving to New Zealand in 2009. She hopes that readers, especially other expats, benefit from her notes, stories, advice, and experiences.

I have published this, as I will more of her work, as sometimes we get so buried in recruitment that we can forget the candidate’s perspective.

“I hate to say this, as I’m not one to generalize, but all recruitment agencies look the same to me. That may sound awful, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. One of the benefits of applying for a job through an HR consultancy is that you know exactly what to expect.

A few years ago, a friend of mine responded to an advertisement for an Event Planner published directly by the employer. The person who phoned her to arrange an interview mentioned that he was impressed with her qualifications and experience. My friend arrived to the interview confident and prepared. Her interviewers, on the other hand, arrived unprepared and arrogant. With no HR Department, the company sent two twenty-something hotshot executives to conduct the interview. Neither brought a notepad, but both had a latte.

For the next thirty minutes, they drilled her on international media and business. She had come ready to talk about guest lists and seating charts. They were clearly more concerned with showing off for one another than with getting to know her. She was horrified and humiliated. Since then, she’s found all of her jobs through agencies.

No one ever got ambushed by an HR consultant. The process with agencies is always the same: email your CV everywhere, call after 1-2 business days to follow-up, go in for a skills test and interview, wait for the best offer. In the event that you do have to meet with a potential employer, there is comfort in knowing that the employer is predisposed to liking and hiring you. My current manager spent the better part of an hour asking me for South America travel tips.

Even at their worst, recruitment agencies are reassuringly predictable. You can expect to be strung along or ignored by at least one consultant. You can count on being told that the “the economy is slow right now, but we’re optimistic it will pick up soon.” And you can be sure that when you do accept a position, all the other consultants will ask you with a mixture of jealousy and resentment for the name of the agency that found your opportunity.

That’s not to say that there are never any surprises. Another friend was recently job hunting in Auckland. She is no stranger to office work, having temped in England, Australia, and New Zealand. She signed up with agencies, and for weeks, was glued to her phone like a prisoner awaiting a last-minute presidential pardon. Finally, after sufficiently harassing her consultants, she got a response: “The truth is,” began the consultant, “we don’t trust that anyone will hire you, because of your nose ring.” My friend now works at an eco-lodge in the Coromandel.

When I lived in Wellington, I registered with an agency that specializes in promotional work. Jobs were highly paid but infrequent, and delegated on a first come, first served basis. One day while on the way to the gym, one of the consultants called to offer me a three-day assignment. I was also working part-time at a bookstore and didn’t know my schedule for those days; so I asked her to give me an hour to confirm. Forget the treadmill, I literally ran across town to the store to check my hours. Still panting, I rang to say that I was in fact available. “Sorry,” she sang, “I just gave those shifts away to somebody else.” That’s when I decided it was time for a full-time job.

It was the height of the recession, and prospects were bleak. I submitted my CV to multiple agencies, hoping the law of large numbers would be on my side. It wasn’t. I was in the process of deleting a series of automated rejection emails when I received a phone call from a consultant who was, “really excited by my CV and would just love to have me come in.” Gushing: another thing you can expect from a recruitment agent.
“But your agency just sent me an email saying you weren’t interested.”
“Oh. Did we?” Eventually, we determined that my CV had landed on the desks of two different consultants (obviously, one more talented and intuitive than the other). By then, it was too late – I was already on my way to Auckland.

I fared much better in Auckland, signing up with and receiving offers from a number of agencies. As all of the opportunities were more or less the same, I went with the consultant I liked best. This consultant actually listened to me and to my story, taking into consideration my needs and aspirations. She treated me like a person that needed help finding a job, rather than a potential commission. Her honesty and reliability were refreshing: if she said she was going to call, she did. When it came to selling me on the job, she confessed that it was neither challenging nor exciting. However, she convinced me that the relaxed office environment and the security of a steady paycheck were what mattered most, given the current climate and my personal situation. Of course, she was right.

Before the holidays, my consultant dropped by my office unannounced to deliver me a present. We chatted for a few minutes about my plans to travel before my visa expires in February. Even though we had just finished discussing my imminent departure from the New Zealand job market, she invited me to meet her for a cup of coffee in January. As soon as she left, I forwarded her email address to my flatmate, who is currently in the market for an HR consultant. It just goes to show that when searching for a job, it’s the individual agent not the agency that defines the experience.”

Thanks for your blog Amy – I look forward to more

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As New Zealand slowly gets back to the workplace, may I wish all my readers a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year.

I thought I would kick off the New Year with a guest blog from Amy who has written a piece about agencies from a candidate perspective.

The blog will be published on Monday when more recruiters are back at their desks!

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Here at Elfland we have been inundated with CVs for the Father Xmas role. In fact so many CVs that we have had to close our applications early. A copy of the ad can be seen here

A worrying factor was that over 40 of the responses to our Trade me advertisement were “serious” ones.

However, the stand out winner by far was Allison Doody and I am repeating her job application in full. She wins the position on merit, sense of humour and her previous experience. Here is her covering letter and would other job seekers please note, how a good covering letter is your one, and only, chance to make a first impression… She read the advertisement and responded to all the relevant requirements brilliantly…now if only it was real (shhhh don’t tell the children)

“I am writing to apply for the above position.

As I have been working for a very long time as Tooth-Fairy Coordinator I have no CV as this advertisement has come out of the blue! So I thought I would just write you a quick letter so you can see I have what it takes to do this job.

Allison Doody
(AKA Freda Fairy, and previously Bronny-Bunny)

For her effort, Allison wins a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine (to keep up appearances) and free career counselling in the New Year.

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*Unlimited Global travel
*No need to worry about expense accounts
*Company Vehicle and smart red uniform provided
*Meals and drinks when on duty

Our client has been operating for hundreds of years and is very well respected in their market. They operate throughout the whole world for one night a year.

Although they have a complete monopoly over their market, they have no problems with the Commerce Commission. Technology has made their market harder but they have continued to operate in traditional ways using tried and tested methodology.

As Customer Service Team leader you will be responsible for managing a multi-cultural team, including many elves. Elves are notoriously difficult to manage due to their playful way of approaching their work.

You will listen carefully to customer requisition requests and you will have to read many letters asking about company services, enquiring about products, and insisting on specific delivery dates. Your eyesight must be good as some of these requests can be composed in quite childlike writing, although many of our customers use capital letters for emphasis.

You will need to be of portly build, or be prepared to wear a cushion. You must not be claustrophobic as you often have to go down chimneys. In fact, some of our deliveries can be quite tricky!

The successful applicant will also be good at multi-tasking as you often have to be in many places at the same time. Sometimes you will be store based (normally in a nice little grotto) but often you will be flying around all over. To assist your role, we will provide a deluxe version of the basic Time-Turner as used by Hermione Grainger (Harry Potter).

Ideally you will look old, or be prepared to look old, as we need continuity of brand and all our previous incumbents have had white hair. A statue of our previous Team Leader has recently been placed on Queen Street in Auckland and this gives you an indication of the look we are trying to achieve. You will also need to be a happy jolly sort of person, of patient disposition, and get on well with children.

You need great attention to detail and previous major project management experience will be essential. Our reputation depends on complete accuracy and our company slogan is “Right People, Right Goods, Right Time” We cannot afford to deliver our products to naughty children.

If you have previous experience of sleigh driving (preferably at night) that will be of distinct advantage.

Closing date for applications 24th December at 11.59pm exactly – NO EXCEPTIONS

CVs to James Cozens, Leading Chief Elf Advisor by e-mail to

james@job.co.nz

Please only send fun CVs and letters – NO SERIOUS APPLICATIONS – THIS IS NOT A REAL JOB.

The “short list” of the best 3 fun CVs will be published on my blog – www.jobblog.co.nz and you can also add any comments there.

It has been a hard year in the job market so this fun ad is especially for all those who have had a tough time.

A very Happy Xmas to all of you reading this and Happy Xmas to my friends (both of them)

Best of luck with your job, and job searching, in the New Year

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