Squandering skills

January 31, 2010 by
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Jobs & Work 

The Herald on Sunday today had a small article in their Career10 section, about how the ‘in demand’ skills of migrants are being squandered – or rather being ignored in the first place.  [Sorry, no online copy that I can find]

It’s an all round in-offensive article that doesn’t really go anywhere.  However it does provide a couple of useful pointers;

1.  There is a mentoring scheme called OMEGA running for new migrants who don’t have a job yet.  Only it’s limited to Auckland.  Ho hum..

Still, OMEGA has the right idea, and it’s better than nothing.  They run a number of different scheme’s to help new emigrants link up with employers and get some experience, understanding and knowledge of the Kiwi workplace.

I’m not familiar with OMEGA, more reading to come, so I’m not in a position to endorse it as such.  They are there though, and in place to help new migrants.  Something that’s rare and very welcome.

2. Kiwi employers tend to give preference in jobs to people they know.  This is something we’ve mentioned previously, and the general thing is that most NZ cities are so small, anyone knows pretty much everyone else, or is related to them.  {For example, a German migrant friend of ours was appearing in a Terry Pratchett play being put on by a local amateur dramatic society.  We went.  It was good, I talk about this to a colleague at work the next day.  His aunt was playing one of the lead witches.  It just works like that.}

Since many Kiwi companies are (relatively) small, they are indeed interviewing someone as if to invite them to join their family.  They want to have confidence you will fit in with everyone else.  Rather than being particular on exactly which industry certifications you’ve got in the last few years.  Of course the down side is that if you’re new to the country, you wont know many people.  And many people wont know you.

While you first job may not be ideal, it gets you working, bring money in, and starts to get you connected with others in the industry.  This is when the whole ‘contacts’ and knowing people kicks in.

So my take? Don’t worry that much about not knowing people from the start, it’ll happen once you’re working and your next job can be that ideal one it would be great to land.

Which is exactly where OMEGA can fit in, helping people start even if it’s just a stepping stone to the job that really spins your wheels.

Related posts:

  1. NZIS takes a hatchet to the skills shortage list.
  2. Four Migrant stories in the paper today.
  3. Emigration myths & vitriol
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Comments

6 Comments on Squandering skills

  1. Juli Ryan on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 8:12 am

    2. I think this is right. Getting a job in NZ *is* like joining a family.

  2. Sophie on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 12:23 am

    3. Hubby screwed his face up when I said I would start volunteering when we get to NZ, until I get a job (and maybe even continue, depending on the job!).

    Cons: no pay except expenses (and that’s if you’re lucky!).

    Pros: keeps me busy, make a few friends, learn how things work in NZ and *get a local reference*.

    No brainer, if it gets me a paying job more quickly!

  3. Maria on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 1:06 am

    4. I think OMEGA is a very commendable approach.
    Do you know of any robust research or statistics on the effectiveness of volunteering as a stepping stone to paid employment? Of course there are lots of different positive aspects to unpaid volunteer work, including keeping oneself busy and socialising in a work environment to stay mentally well. But it would be interesting to get some figures about how many volunteers found jobs BECAUSE of useful contacts they had made while volunteering, referrals they got or word-of-mouth jobs they heard about that were never advertised. The devil’s advocate might claim it’s just a very convenient way for employers to get cheap, or rather free, labour.
    Maybe I should ask OMEGA this question.

  4. Hubby on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 10:01 am

    5. Hi Sophie,

    Absolutely the best thing to do. It gets you mixing with other people, in contact with people in the workplace and will pay huge dividends in terms of helping you settle. You get to meet new people who aren’t OH’s new work colleagues.

    I think volunteering has the added benefit that if you need to spend a couple of days unpacking when the container arrives – you can.. No having to ask for time off from paid employment in the first month.

    Good luck.
    H

  5. Hubby on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 10:09 am

    6. Hi Maria
    I’m not aware of any particular studies on the movement of people from voluntary sector to paid employment. I suspect there will be some, as it’s the kind of thing that DoL would look at.

    There are a lot of citations in the two new Migration reports, blog post on one of those due in the next day. So it’s worth having a look at the reports they cite.

    Have a look through the DoL publications list here;
    http://www.dol.govt.nz/publications-browse.asp?BrowseBy=Subject-List

  6. Hubby on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 10:16 am

    7. Sophie, Maria
    I did find this;

    http://www.dol.govt.nz/pdfs/work-insight-issue4-ch7.pdf

    &

    http://www.volunteerwellington.org.nz/

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