[Scibby]

I am about to start looking for a job in New Zealand in earnest now. I understant from previous posts that the job market really slows down around the Christmas holiday season. When does it pick back up? January, February? Like many here I will be looking for a job in the IT field.

Scibby

[n2nz]

I've been in NZ since the end of October and have just accepted a permanent job as a business analyst with a government agency, starting the first week in December. All the recruitment agencies told me that recruitment almost stops between mid-December and mid-January for Christmas followed by the summer holidays.

Not sure if you are already in NZ yet and what your timescale is. There still seem to be a lot of IT jobs being advertised at the moment though. Have you tried looking on Seek (http://it.seek.co.nz/) or http://www.jobs.govt.nz/ (if you're looking for public sector jobs)?

Good luck with the search.

[Bergita]

I started looking for a job at the beginning of February this year (in IT), and the market was fine. I did notice that all businesses slowed down until mid January.

[Tia Maria]

A lot of IT companies don't start back till mid Jan and some not till the end of Jan.

There are also a couple of public holidays at that time of year, Waitangi Day is the 6th Feb and Auckland & Wellington have their Anniversary Days in the last half of Jan. This means that lots of people take long weekends.

http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/holidays_act_2003/dates/2006_9.html

Schools go back at the start of Feb:

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/EducationInNewZealand/SchoolTermsAndHolidays/2009SchoolTermsAndHolidays.aspx

So things tend to settle down after that.

The interview process can be fairly drawn out anyway so it may be even more so while you wait for people to get back from holiday.

My OH did a job search a few months ago (IT) and I would definitely suggest you register with at least 3/4 agents at least.

The reason for registering with several is that he found once they got you on the hook for one job, they tended to slow down any other opportunities they had previously told you about. With initial interviews, techie interview etc it can easily be a couple of weeks down the line before you know whether you got the job or whether they are paying what you want. Its very much in their interests to have all you energies focused on one job as it will be easier to negotiate you down.

Which is why it is important to have several job interviews going on at the same time, preferably with different agents, as it puts you in a stronger negotiating position.

My OH was continually put forward for jobs below his salary expectations by the agents. So if you want $90,000, tell your agent you want $100k and they will probably put you forward for 90k jobs anyway. The company will then offer you 80k and the negotiating will start. Remember its near impossible to negotiate up, if you tell your agent you'd like 90k, but 85k would be fine, you'll never get higher than 85k and they'll probably put you forward for jobs in the 70k range. So always start strong.

If they ask you how you came up with that amount tell them you have spoken to friends in IT and looked at what you will need to pay the mortgage.

Good Luck! :)

Cheers

Tia

[Leo]

:nice1 Fabulous tips there Tia! Thanks 1,000,000!

Do share more with us?

[Tia Maria]

Well seeing as you asked so nicely. :)

One of the common obstacles for new migrants is the 'no NZ experience' comment. They don't care you've got 10 years of IT experience on your CV in London and New York, you are still 'unproven'.

To a certain extent you have to take this on the chin and most people change jobs again 1 year down the line but a good tip is to ask for a pay review in 3 months time, written into the contract.

So if you were asking for 90k, and they offer 80k which is too low but you really want the job, say OK 85k with a pay review in 3 months by which time you should, hopefully, have proven yourself. If they give you excuses in 3 months time then you won't feel guilty when you leave them after 6 months for a better paying job.

Another negotiating tactic is distance. If you know your bottom line is 90k, you could say you are after a job for 100k, but if it was city centre, (assuming that is your preferred option), then you would take 97k, this makes you look flexible but it also gives you another reason to turn down anything you think is too low.

Be aware that some of the bigger IT firms have quite rigid pay structures, and it may not be possible to go above a certain level for certain roles. There was a big difference between what one company said my OH's skills were worth and what another one thought. So in your first round of interviews try to have a good mix of medium sized companies and big companies in there. As although the medium sized companies had smaller budgets, they seemed more willing to assess candidates on an individual basis. Unlike the bigger companies who sometimes say 'you're a junior developer, we pay between 70k and 80K for a junior developer.'.

Cheers

Tia

[Angelonthemove]

My Oh has just lost his IT contract after being there 2 years 6 months. He had just renewed for a further 6 months and then they got rid of all contractors globally.

The market is vvvv slow out there. He has dropped his salary expectations by 25% and will take permanent at half his rate.

There are a lot of job advertised but many of these are agency duplications written slightly differently.

Weird is, some roles his current agency have dismissed him, others have put him forward. They just do not understand IT CV's and all its jargon.

It's been 3 weeks now and still no sign of an interview. 3 possibles. Fingers crossed the market picks up here. One agency has told us they have downsized for the first time ever due to lack of job roles. They have got rid of candidate managers.

Write your own executive summary as it were a third person and bullet point what a job is asking for, where you have done it previously. That has helped one agent understand his skills better and wants to put him forward for 6 companies and he has a meeting tomorrow to discuss them.

Good luck

[Leo]

:) Please forgive me for my elementary question...

Is it a must for men don a suit when interviewing with recruiters?

[n2nz]

Well I didn't :)

I wore smart casual (shirt and trousers, no tie) to meet with several recruitment agencies. That was partly because most of my clothes were still in the container on the way to NZ!

I also went to an interview dressed the same way and got the job. I actually asked about their dress code and was told what I was wearing was fine. On the whole I think it is more relaxed here (than in UK), though it obviously depends on the type of job you're going for (mine was public sector IT/ebusiness).