[deepthir]

Well, OH and I have been here since late Feb and things are just getting depressing... OH was a Training manager back home and managed the trainers and training for a state. I've come in as a student so have been focussing on getting used to studying again before I looked for a job...

OH has been applying for jobs every day... we knew it would be difficult to find training positions in Hamilton and have been applying to every job he was qualified to do from customer service (call centres and retail) to training but nothing has really worked out...Sitel seemed like it was working but some mess up with the references (his references did not receive the mail from Sitel) meant that he has been out on hold! The worst of it is that they just won't tell us what the status is... we only know its on hold and his application has not been rejected because the status on the website still says "processing" :uhoh He volunteers with Riding for the Disabled and so he has found some way to keep busy while searching for a job...

I finally got a hang of studying after a 5 year break and began job hunting last month.. I finally got a part-time job at an italian restaurant... it wasn't the greatest job but I still enjoyed it cos I was learning some authentic italian cooking and about how a restaurant was run... but as luck would have it, the with the road work and the recession, we had very few customers coming in and to keep the business going, they had to let me go. :wah

Now I'm getting desperate... any advice? we've tried seek and the papers... what else can we do? do any of you know of any roles that may suit us?

Help!!

[Mrs Pony]

I feel your pain... we arrived at the end of March and OH is still looking for work as well. I had applied for over 50 jobs... had 3 interviews (2 with temp agencies)... and i'm still receiving rejection emails... Thank God I got a job and we have some income now so we can at least pay the bills...

[juliusl]

You are not alone. I came here in the early March and am still seeking. Try to find yourself something to do while looking for a job, so that you won't feel bored and cheer up.

[ricky1981]

another one in the same boat here, fortunately my OH has got a job otherwise we would be at our wit's end as it's bad enough trying not to dig too much into our savings as it is.

I'm not above doing any kind of work just to get some money (and to fight off the boredom). I feel I have exhausted every company in the area who might need someone like me and have little to do but refreshing Seek, Trademe, etc every 10 minutes in the vain hope of something coming up.

I am waiting to hear back from an interview last week but they had over 300 applicants and this is for a job that I could do blindfolded and pays 80% less than I was earning in the UK.

I'm not at the point of thinking we made a mistake coming here but am thinking we might have been better to hold on for a bit longer as we have gone from saving £2k per month to barely treading water and we are spending next to nothing beyond essentials.

Has anyone had any luck with offering to work for free for a week or so in the hope of impressing an employer enough? I have steered away from offering so far but desperation is setting in, I hate sitting around feeling I am doing nothing but feel I shouldn't stray far from the internet in case something comes up :uhoh

I'm back off to look at Seek again!! :exit

[BkyMonster]

I don't know if you job hunters have come across this before http://www.careers.govt.nz/
I used the skill matcher http://www.careers.govt.nz/default.aspx?id0=202 and had a look at the company websites it recommended for assorted job titles, several of which were new to me (companies, not job titles). I've noticed a lot of jobs not really making it past the company website onto seek (well at least in my area). For instance the Universities and the DHB here (in Christchurch) don't use seek or TradeMe (though presumably they might when there are less applicants) to advertise openings. Those openings aren't just academic or medical either, they are looking for an assortment of positions.

For my job search I've built a folder of bookmarks that I have a look at every day and seek is only one of them because lately I haven't found it useful at all.

Hope that helps someone.