7 Things that I’ve done to find job in New Zealand

Kia Ora. Welcome to Aotearoa.

The burning question that I've been asked by heaps of people from various background:

How do I secure a job in NZ quickly?

I've been asked this question by Malaysian, migrants currently reside in NZ and even Kiwi themselves! Hence this blog entry was written in English to cater for the various demographic of the target audience. I hope that more people can benefits from my experience sharing this time around.

Here's a quick fact, New Zealand job market is not massive in comparison with most of Asian country, Europe, United States or even Australia. With the population around 5 million (Kuala Lumpur populations are 7 Million) including migrants, looking a job can be very frustrating to some people.

These are 7 Things that I've done while looking for job in New Zealand:

1) Pray to God.

Pray to god aye? Yup this is the first thing I did and perhaps what you can do if you're a believer. Non-believer? No problem, skip to next point.

Fully submit yourself to God. Seek his blessing and pray to him to ease any challenge you're facing. I've never lived in a foreign country before and did not know anyone in NZ. I believe this strategy lets me prepare myself mentally and keeps me going regardless of any challenge that I face.

Mentally, you need to be prepared, and having a correct mindset is the 1st step in any migration. At least that's what I believe.

2) Valid Visa.

Should I have a visa first or a job offer first before migrating to NZ? It's still a topic that is being debated among migrant and people that hope to migrate in future. It's the "chicken or egg first?" kind of question.

It's undeniable that there are number of people who got a job before they even set foot in NZ. If your talent is Essential and in High Demands to NZ Job Market, you could land a job then apply for Visa. But they are the minority in my experience. So, let’s not put our focus on this group of people. If you're one of the Einstein, you wouldn't be interested in this entry anyway...hahaha.

In a normal situation, many hiring companies in NZ doesn’t want to be in charge or related in any way regarding your Visa Application. Once they find out that you don’t have a valid visa, they will just skip your CV or job application straight away. You may refer to my earlier blog entries about Visa resident - Skilled Migrant category if you're interested to know the process in detail.

https://routetokiwi.blogspot.com/2017/11/dari-malaysia-ke-new-zealand-skilled.html

Aside from Visa resident - Skilled Migrant category, there are a few other ways to gain entry into NZ.

                               I.          Visitor Visa (Vary depending on your nationality, for Malaysian its 3 months)

You may enter NZ as a tourist via visitor visa. As tourist, you are not permitted to work at all. Your entry may be denied if they found any suspicion or evidence of your intention to work using visitor visa.

                             II.          Business / Investor (If you have what’s needed)

A millionaire? Yes, you're welcomed in NZ. You may gain entry to NZ by depositing a NZD$3millions sum of money into NZ financial body (please refer www.immigration.gov.nz for further detail).

Business people with lots of money are welcome too. Bring your money and business proposals during your application, and you may gain and entry. Let's move on since having a lot of money and business is boring...duh

                            III.          Worker Visa

This is where most of us will fit into. Most of us will pay our bills by working right? There are many type of work visa offered by NZ government:

·        Visa Resident - Skilled Migrant Category

·        Job Search Visa

·        Essential Skill Visa           

·        Temporary working visa

·        Working Holiday Visa       

                           IV.          Student Visa -

                              This may be the easiest visa application, but you need to find ways on paying                                                             course fee as international student.

                             V.          Refugee -

                   NZ is one of the country that granted Resident Visa to refugee where you are allowed to Work, studies and live  permanently in New Zealand.

3) CV/Resume in NZ format

Your CV represent you! Hence, it's very important. Below are a few cultures in NZ that I noticed in relation to CV:

1. There is no 1 CV that fits all in NZ.  Do not use a generic CV and throw it around to prospect employers. NZ employers are looking for a candidate who are the closest fit to the job vacancy. Any ambiguity in your CV will cause it to be pushed aside. We've experience this firsthand.

2. Tailor you CV to the role and job requirement that you want to apply

Make sure all experiences, qualifications and qualities in your CV are related to the job requirement. Quick tip, there are a few jobs seeking website advising you to put in any NZ experience, regardless of industries. Since it shows that you have worked with Kiwis before.

Contrary to that advise, I found out that employers in professional fields / executive level and above does not want to see any non-related experience in your CV. i.e. don't put fruit picking experience in your CV if you're applying as a software engineer. In fact, those experience will be detrimental to your chances of landing the job. One interviewers told me that these shows that your skills are outdated since you haven’t practice it for some time (because you've been fruit picking instead!)

Another tip on job experience, You don’t need to put All of your employments history. Just specifically put RELATED experience and skills.

3. Short, simple and concise CV. Aren’t nobody got time for your grandmother's story

In NZ, you CV is only 1-page length. Yup... ONE Page, or probably max 2-3 pages. No picture, No race, No lengthy Job history. Another quick tips, In your CV, you may want to have you Name, Email, NZ Address, NZ Phone number, LinkedIn profile, skills, professional certificate (globally recognized), attributes and job reference, related experiences (again, no grandma story here please)

4. Check out NZ CV templates online

Tons of it available online. Google it and study it. It might be very different from the place you come from.

5. Cover letter is a must!

For Malaysian, we normally never submit our cover letter. Employers normally dont want this. Guess what? Time to create it! Employers here will not entertain your CV without a cover letter. It is like a personal introduction telling briefly who you are, you visa status, the reason you applying the job and your availability for interview.

4) Make yourself visible in the job Market

Another strategy that you may want to try is be visible in the job market. Being visible here means putting your resume in various job seeking websites. You may check out some of useful job website below:

-              www.lookseebuildnewzealand.co.nz (website for global talent outside of New Zealand )

-              www.seek.co.nz (similar to jobstreet in Malaysia)

-              www.trademe.co.nz\jobs ( A rojak portal that selling items like mudah.my)

-              LinkedIn account – (You have FB and Instagram but you don’t have Linkedln?)

-              www.newkiwi.co.nz (website for new migrant that have a resident visa)

-              www.workconnect.co.nz ( Free 10h training that preparing new migrant ready in NZ job market)

You may also do some research on type of jobs needed in NZ and skills that they are looking for. 30% of the job market coming from this channel. Normally people puts their effort via this channel. Its 30% only mate. Where’s 70% goes?       

5) Build your network

This is essential for job searching. NETWORKING. So, we're:

a)      In a whoop whoop (NZ slang for middle of nowhere)

b)     Not a related to any influential/political person

c)      Is Currently jobless.

Perfect, right? A kiwi will say 'Aweeesome".

A lot of new migrants says that this strategy/advice can't be done due to factors above. But hold your horses mate, is it true that you can't build network as a new migrant? Because I don't think so.

The key here is don't be shy. Don't hesitate to strike a conversation. Nobody's judging you. Kiwis are a nice bunch of people, trust me.

You can just speak up your mind. For a start you may talk about the weather or any general topics. Once you open up, people will open up to you too.

You will never know, perhaps the new people you meet is the owner of company and could offer you a job. In fact, 70% of job market are coming from the founder or owner of company itself. This is because, majority of NZ business is a small and medium company. Unless its government and big corporate company, the number of staff of each company is less than 500.

I’ll share with you How do I build Networking in Foreign Country in my next Article. (because this point is long)

6) Certified Yourself

Your experience is important. No one denies that. But .... your experience is in your country. You may have work experience for more than 10 years in your field. However, Kiwi employers does not know any Malaysian project or companies. This situation somehow will deny your credibility in front of a Kiwi employer. If you possess any certification that is globally recognized i.e ISO, PMP or coming from a well-known University, your skill and experience might be recognized.

Same goes to well know multinational company/brands. kiwi employers will be more open with you if you are coming from a multinational company. This is because you already have experience working in multinational and multicultural company. Don’t be sad if you are not, international certification will still help you though.

7) Track jobs that you've applied.

Since the job market here is small, it’s a good strategy to track any jobs you've applied. If you want to be a programmer for example, do not apply variety of job post like tester, IT helpdesk, or IT support within the same company. It will confuse the hiring manager as they don’t know what's your passion is and you look desperate to find a job. Even though you are. :)

Applying a job is a job itself and it’s not fun. It doesn’t work by click and submit on every job vacancies you see. Each word you are putting in your CV is portraying some meaning to the hiring manager. You got to be precise. If I may give you an example. if you are applying a sales or marketing job. Some of the key point you may want to put are Great Communication skills, or margin % of your sales achievements, your revenue and hobbies that related to working with people. Try to discipline yourself to apply at least 1 vacancy a day for a start. As I mentioned, finding a job is a job itself.

All above are amongst the key strategies I use in job search. I hope this can be a heads up and good sharing to all job searcher. I wish all of you All the best. If you have more questions about this specific topic or other topic, please email me at routetokiwi@gmail.com and don’t forget to subscribe.

Kite koe I ! See you!