Tag: Employers

Practical Advice

Owning Your Story, Owning Your Success: Why taking ownership of your CV and Cover Letter is so important

Tate

While CV writers and tools such as ChatGPT can provide valuable assistance, the candidate is ultimately responsible for the content of their profile.

Candidates must take ownership of the content of their CV and cover letter, as well as LinkedIn and any other profile materials given to employers..

While CV writers and tools such as ChatGPT can provide valuable assistance, the candidate is ultimately responsible for the content of their profile. Here’s why it’s important to take responsibility:

Authenticity: Employers value authenticity and want to know about the real candidate, their skills, experiences and achievements. Taking ownership ensures that the content accurately reflects the candidate’s background, allowing employers to make informed decisions based on real information.

Personalisation: Every candidate is unique, with different qualifications and achievements. Content ownership allows candidates to tailor their profiles and application materials to specific roles and companies. It allows them to showcase their strengths and align their experience with the employer’s requirements.

Language and tone: Language and tone play an important role in conveying personality and professionalism. Candidates who take ownership of their content can ensure that the language used in their CVs, cover letters and other materials is authentic and represents their own voice. This helps to create a consistent and engaging narrative that resonates with employers.

Confidence and ownership: By taking responsibility for the content of their application, candidates demonstrate confidence in their abilities and a sense of ownership of their career journey. Employers appreciate candidates who can articulate their experiences and achievements in their own words, highlighting their unique value proposition.

Interview preparation: When candidates take ownership of their application materials, they become intimately familiar with the content. This knowledge and understanding is crucial during interviews, as candidates are able to speak confidently about their experience and answer questions relating to their CV or cover letter.

The employer’s perspective: Employers may specifically ask candidates if they have written their own CV. This question serves as an indicator of a candidate’s authenticity and ownership. Answering ‘yes’ reinforces the candidate’s credibility and integrity and demonstrates their commitment to presenting themselves accurately.

In summary, taking ownership not only builds credibility, but also prepares candidates for interviews where their familiarity with the content can be an asset. Ultimately, candidates empower themselves and increase their chances to be hired when they take full responsibility for all of their profile materials.

Ultimately, candidates empower themselves and increase their chances to be hired when they take full responsibility for all of their profile materials.

Practical Advice

Bad job advice: “You have to be in New Zealand to find work”

Tate

Have you ever heard someone say: “You have to be in New Zealand to find work”? This is incomplete and potentially harmful advice because it is missing an effective strategy.

Why is this statement literally untrue?

Because many people are getting hired online. For those people, the flight into NZ includes a work visa in their hand. For example 80% of my clients are hired online today. Therefore, the above statement is not true.

Why is this statement potentially harmful?

I sometimes receive calls from migrant job-seekers who came to New Zealand because someone told them that they need to be in New Zealand to find work. Then when their arrive, they discover that making meetings is not automatically easier. Employers still need to be contacted, be interested, and be motivated enough to make an invitation. Only a few migrants realise how much can be achieved in the migrant’s home country.

What other bad advice is out there?:

1) You need to find an accredited employer to find work – not true
2) You need to hire an agent to get work – not true
3) You need to be on a shortage list, critical skills or green list to find work – not true
4) You need to be in New Zealand in order to find work – not true

The above statements often cause unnecessary delays and confusion but the truth offers a simple approach. It is all about the job offer. When you have a valid job offer, all of the other aspects of migration will unfold naturally from that point. The job offer is the most important part of a successful migration effort because the job enables the work visa, the income, residency compliance, professional opportunity, quality of lifestyle, people networks, etc…

How can good planning bring success to job finding efforts?

Let’s be honest, finding a job in a new country is a big challenge. Most people find it stressful just to change jobs within a home country, but foreign job seekers are changing not only their jobs, but also their country, their home, leaving behind friends and family to find a new life in a new culture with their partner and children forever. A project of this size and this importance surely deserves to have an excellent, well-considered plan.

Stepping into momentum without any initial risk

I have been giving migrants insights and advice about the NZ and Australian job markets for over 14-years. In that time, I have learned how to succeed with about every role, industry and region imaginable. I offer this to job seekers in support of a successful journey. If you want to have helpful feedback in support of your job finding efforts, just send your CV to my email at tate@employmentforimmigraiton.nz – I will help you map out your journey home, or at least provide initial direction at no cost.

Market Updates

This week in review

Tate

I had a good experience contacting employers this week. I talked with 50 employers so far and will continue today with a couple more sessions scheduled.

This week I had a client get a job offer within 24-hours of a calling session. When things happen this fast, you know it was a perfect-fit type of decision from the side of employers. It is really great when that happens. 🙂

I am finding that most of the employers are comfortable with the hiring process by now. The fear of INZ has gone way down but trust has still not returned, and I don’t think it will return completely because the hiring process for foreigners continues to shift and policies continue to be misunderstood. And yet, the hiring continues because uncertainty is down to acceptable levels. The time from a hiring decision to starting work is shrinking, which is good for everyone.

Australia is still pulling talent from New Zealand, adding pressure to our candidate-short market and that is across the board. Australia has always had a stronger economy; they pay more and have warmer weather. On the other hand, the Aussie immigration process is more complex and about twice more expensive than New Zealand from the point of view of most foreign job seekers.

Both New Zealand and Australia continue to require all the diverse skills that were in demand prior to the lockdowns, especially tradesmen, engineers, medical, teachers, and specialists of all disciplines and sectors.

If you have exceptional skills and the suitable qualifications, then it is worth spending the time to communicate your strengths clearly as part of your job finding process so that employers see you as a low-risk, high value addition to their team. Whether niche or traditional, almost any skilled background can be successful in both NZ and Australian job markets with the right preparation and approach.

With holidays coming up, we have 6-weeks of an active job market before hiring stops for about 4 weeks. Then comes the post-holiday hiring boom. It happens every year and it is always good to hit the post holiday hiring season with a good plan.

Good luck everyone! Things are slowly getting better over here.