Employment in New Zealand

We feel bad when recruiters don’t respond to us…..right? Especially when it’s no more a cold call. It’s a situation where you’ve already had the first interaction or a meeting or an email exchange or an introduction through a common contact and suddenly everything goes quiet!! There’s no response to your follow-ups and at times there’s no response even after committing that they will respond. We feel bad!! Come to think of it, aren’t we all culprits of a similar behaviour?? Knowingly or unknowingly, we all behave in the same way with others as we claim, recruiters behave with us. We don’t respond…. We just don’t respond!! Lack of time, lack of attention, lack of purpose or it could be as simple as lack of respect!! Reason can be anything or it’s just that we don’t know ‘how to say NO’. We opt for not responding. Is it good? Just some food for your thought!! I understand, no one is perfect and that includes me. I sometimes end up missing or delaying m...

As a job seeker in NZ, you would’ve heard and experienced this statement countless times. “It’s not important what you know. What is important is, WHO you know!!” And I can bet, you know or have heard about someone who got the job just because he/she knew someone in the company. Many times you see someone less capable or deserving walking into the role over you and you feel, how did that happen and why is it happening to me?! We all like to think and believe that factors like competence, education, knowledge and experience should be the ideal determinants for a job seeker to secure their dream role but who said we live in an ideal world. It is disturbing to see yourself slogging through your job search doing your best with no or minimum results and losing that chance that you wanted so badly to someone else and as a result, you often feel resentful, bitter and sour. I am new in New Zealand and I don’t have any references, I don’t know anyone. Where ever I apply, I am aske...

Discipline is the key to success - this saying hold true for all people of all age groups. But for international students who are new in the country, away from their friends and families, it holds a great value. Sorry I might sound like your parent but in our series of 'Top 5 tips for international students in NZ', here is Tip # 5 #5 Lead a disciplined life International students often find themselves in difficult waters while making that transition to the more independent learning schedules required at the tertiary institutes / universities here in NZ as compared to their previous study. Students are expected to take the responsibility of their own learning, to be more self-directed, to make decisions about what they will focus on and how much time will they spend on learning both inside and outside of a classroom. Coming from a study environment where they are used to more support and direction and even 'parent like' relationship with their teachers to a self...