[StuckInLA]

I am looking for civil engineering jobs in the water resources specialty area. To begin my job hunt, I logged onto the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) website, where many companies post their vacancies. The problem is that many of the postings are by recruitment agencies, not the companies themselves. Should I respond to these, and let the recruiter send my C.V. to the company? Or, should I sidestep the recruiter and apply directly at the company website? Sometimes I can determine the actual company the job is for- by matching the job description posted by the recruiter with a job description/location posted on a company's website, but often this is not possible.

How do NZ employers responds to C.V.s submitted by recuiters, versus C.V.s submitted directly on the company website?:confused:

[clg]

I have very little respect for recruiters here, while I have met some good ones I would say most are worthless. I personally always try and work directly with an organisation. I think if you are overseas you are better off working directly as well since recruiters tend to want to place someone right now.

[southparkers]

Hi there

My OH is an engineer but in the electricity industry, we made the mistake of firing off cv's to all the relevant companies before we arrived in NZ only to find out that none of them are interested until you are actually in the country or at least have you residency.Most off them use recruitment agencies and the agencies cant represent you for 12 months if the company as already got your details, this is due to them not having HR departments as we know them and the agencies doing all the vetting before they put you forward.
He ended up going through Rob Law who put him forward with a company in northland that we hadnt heard of who snapped him up.

Hope this helps

[Kim39]

Personally i would go direct to the company. I have used recruiters over here and i must admit that they haven't managed to get me into any jobs at all in the past 12 months. What clg is saying is true, that if you do manage to be successful with them they do seem to want you to be here so they can place you pronto.

Whichever way you decide, good luck.

Kim

[gil]

If an advert is placed via a recrutiment agency it's because the company has decided that is how they want to to recruit that particular position. It could be for reasons such as the company doesn't have an HR or recruitment function (and many don't here, tho' things are changing on that count), or they outsource senior or specialist positions.

Also bear in mind that NZ is small and that makes the engineering world (or marketing or anything else) small. Whilst many people don't have an especially high opinion of recruitment agencies, the guys in those places work hard to build a strong network in their chosen arena (engineering or whatever) and they will know who's where, what's coming up and who's up for it. Good recruiters will have a clear ethics policy in place for the amazing situations that can arise when they place people, so if their client contract specifies they can't touch people from the organisation's list of contacts, good recruiters wont'.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the recruitment agency's contract is to fill the client's vacancy not to place you. Again, a lot of agencies are beginning to realise that that is a bit of a short-sighted view which can cause bad vibes, so they are trying to work with the idea that both the clients and the candidates are "customers". Not a perfect world yet though!

OH has just been placed through an agency who were very professional and are the compnay he is going to work for's method of choice for senior appointments. I also got my role through an inital advertisement through an agency, didn't get that role because of my time frame for coming over here, but kept in touch with the agent on a personal basis (the odd chatty email). When we arrived, I tried to ring her, only to find she'd moved to another agency and they wouldn't tell me which one. In speaking to a number of other recruiters, one mentioned I should speak to this particular woman (see, small world!) and gave me her new details. I got in touch in December and she placed me by early March.

So I would say apply for the jobs as advertised (through the agency or direct with the company). Good luck.

Gil

PS I am not a recruitment agent!

[stu70]

PS I am not a recruitment agent!

Darn, I was just going to direct a whole bunch of wannabe kiwis from Canada to you for help with their placements(kidding) :D

[SarahEDH]

Everyone's experience is different; I submitted my CV to a Wellington recruiter while still in the U.S. and had a positive experience overall. I can provide details by PM to those who are interested.

[Twig]

I am looking for civil engineering jobs in the water resources specialty area. To begin my job hunt, I logged onto the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) website, where many companies post their vacancies. The problem is that many of the postings are by recruitment agencies, not the companies themselves. Should I respond to these, and let the recruiter send my C.V. to the company? Or, should I sidestep the recruiter and apply directly at the company website? Sometimes I can determine the actual company the job is for- by matching the job description posted by the recruiter with a job description/location posted on a company's website, but often this is not possible.

How do NZ employers responds to C.V.s submitted by recuiters, versus C.V.s submitted directly on the company website?:confused:

I would agree with the post above - applying for jobs as they are advertised. But if you want to get a general feel for how many vacancies there are in your field of work, I'd take a look at specialist recruitment company websites (Rob Law, BBT, CRS) perhaps even shooting your CV off to them to get some feedback and possibly advice.

So far we've been on contact with CRS and BBT and both have given very good feedback however because we are so far away from actually needing a job (Feb/March 08) I can't give comments on the actual process of obtaining a job! But we shall see come November :D

Anyway, good luck with it all!

P.s. DH is a mechanical design engineer

[sarahw]

I'd definitely go through the agency if that's how its advertised. If you're a civil engineer you should have no probs getting work. You'll probably be contacted quite quickly by the agency. Have you tried TRS (Technical Recruitment Services)? My hubby & 3 of his friends all got jobs on reccy trips over here (they're in building surveying and whilst its more of an engineering agency (they seem to have a lot in civil engineering too) they came up with really good jobs for all of them - and a choice at that!).

http://www.trs.co.nz/engineering-jobs-new-zealand.asp

From my experience the recruiter responds the same as a C.V. coming through from outside, although you probably get more feedback from an agency - the agent also may look at your C.V. and be able to match it to other companies & get you into places for a 'chat and a coffee' that can result in jobs which are not advertised (how hubby got his job) as well which would be difficult for you to do on your own - but with their contacts it can be easier to get a foot in the door.

Good luck!

[nippa&pippa]

We used an agency and they lined up four interviews for my OH to attend during reccie trip which he end up got offered a job with all four companies. The agency (ODG) we used were very helpful http://www.odgrecruitment.com/

[CuriousPTA]

In speaking to a number of other recruiters, one mentioned I should speak to this particular woman (see, small world!) and gave me her new details. I got in touch in December and she placed me by early March.


Hi Gil

Please can you send me the name of the "woman" on my hotmail address? I will be in NZ from November onwards and would need a suitable position (Marketing) and this sounds like an excellent reference.
Isabel_boniface@hotmail.com

[hoffenberg]

:raebanana i have been around the so called best recruiters like seek and others but all i ever get is a nice email that makes you happy then they forget about you. oh & agents like visa connection, immigration expert, ltd recruitments, workpermit.com, hays, national visas, workforcepartners.com - these agents have even forgot that i applied to them. so i am doing things on my own and now i am getting much more info by myself. if i am wrong then please correct me but agents are not 100% that you will get accepted or get the job offer.

[Annierobrigado]

hi all

just want to share my experience with nz recruiters... i submitted my cv online in response to an ad for medical typist/transcriptionist while still in the philippines but getting ready to fly out. two days before our flight a recruiter called overseas from nz and confirmed our date of arrival in welly; she asked if i could give her a ring the day after i land in nz, and then proceeded to ask prelim questions about my experience with typing and medical transcription.

we arrived on a sunday (supposed to be saturday but we got delayed in OZ due to foggy weather), and monday am i think i was still groggy with sleep from jet lag (nz time is 5 hours ahead of phils. which meant 9 am here is still 4 am in manila, and i was supposed to be still fast asleep! :laugh )
but i received a call from ms stacey woodcock of chandler macloed recruitment solutions, she asked after me and did i have a nice flight, and proceeded to make an appointment to see me the following wednesday at the chandler office. so i went down there, she interviewed me about my work, my attitude, general outlook, how do i manage time, etc, then did a typing test and psychological test. after everything she then said that she'd give me a call after she had set up an appointment with the manager of the typing pool for me to meet up with them. two days later she called and had a different offer - apparently the manager of the typing pool looked at my cv and said, why don't you let her try clinical coding because of her medical background? so she told me to meet with the team leader of clinical coding also at welly hospital and if i'd be interested i could go for that instead of typing, which gave a higher pay.

in short, i got the job, am now learning about coding, and generally enjoying it. so i think chandler macloed is a good agency. if you find a job through them, you might want to mention that one of the people they placed has high regard for them.

well not only because they got me a job, but stacey always keeps in touch and she even sent me a chocolate cake on my first day on the job! how cool is that!

annie

[tigerlily]

... immigration expert, ltd recruitments, workpermit.com, hays, national visas, workforcepartners.com...

I think you might be talking about a different sort of agency. The recruiters who I've seen posting jobs are really just trying to fill positions, and are in no way helping anyone get PR.