Career options in NZ

While NZ is doing well in terms of eliminating COVID19, we are in the midst of a massive structural change and that’s going to mean a lot of people will lose their jobs.

Right now, many of my clients are worried about job security. Their strategy is to do a good job, not make waves and hope for the best.

But for many, job loss is inevitable if it’s not already happened. I empathise. My family has a restaurant - zero income, bills to pay, and a fantastic and loyal team to look after.

Some of the questions I’m often asked include: What are my options? What are my skills and where could I use those elsewhere? And, what careers have good prospects?

13 ways to know your options

(Ideas and tools from a mix of unusual and usual sources)

1. Careers NZ website is an excellent place for advice and tools. Funding for this website was seriously cut and I thought it was to be disestablished completely, so I was happily surprised to see fresh and up-to-date content.
   Go here for general advice or here for advice about how to change careers, what jobs are in demand and how to make a career decision, and what skills employers are looking for, or here for ideas on jobs you could apply for.

2. Careers NZ also has a few tools/quizes to help you identify jobs to match your skills and interests. Go here to see the range.

3. MBIE’s Occupation Outlook is here. May not be up-to-date - not sure.

4. A simple worksheet identifying skills areas, with suggestions on career path matches. Go here to view PDF.

5. Create your CV - this is actually one of the best ways to identify your skills - and it helps build confidence quickly. Go here to use one of my free templates to help you get off to a quick start.

6. Considering studying? Go here for a comparision site (NZ) or use Careers NZ website.

7. Go to university and tertiary websites directly (some also have great career advice and information) for more information about their programmes, and don’t hesitate to phone them and ask to speak to someone in the faculty/department of interest.

8. For non-NZ info, here is a USA based (and huge) employment information site. My next move offers a range of information and career tests - all free and based on USA job market information. Go here to explore.

9. Job sites and ‘window shopping’ - one of the best ways to find options is by ‘window shopping’. This means browsing job sites like Seek, TradeMe or Government Jobs, but in a different or broader way to how you might usually. Look at jobs that you wouldn’t normally consider. Or, go to specific company websites - many have their own jobs/careers pages now. Think about organisations you are interested in.
   Then, of all those jobs, notice what interests you – what strikes a chord? Even if it’s jobs you couldn’t apply for straight away because you don’t have certain skills or qualifications or because it’s in a different location.

   Steps:

   • Make a list of jobs of interest.

   • Against each job you’ve listed, on a scale of 1-10 note down how interested you are (1 = not very and 10 = very).

   • And then again for each job, on a scale of 1 to 10, note down how well matched you are for the job in terms of your skills, experience and required qualifications. (1 = not at all and 10 = great match).

   • Then make a list of your top picks and either research study/training options if you have skills gaps, or use one of my CV templates to create a great CV and apply. (Also see my Job Search and CV and Cover Letter tips, Job Search Compass to help you).

10. Clarify what you want to do with this Quick Start activity.

11. Use your network - it’s not as scary as it sounds. Here is a real-life case study, with a template you can follow, from a client (thank you client) who lost his job and found a great new role through his own process. Read about it, with his process tools, here or check out other job search tools here.

12. Use LinkedIn. If you’re not there already you need to be. Employers and recruiters use LinkedIn to find talent.

    Check out other people’s profiles on LinkedIn for ideas on skills, headlines and other helpful words to use. No it’s not stalking - it’s researching and connecting. A basic profile is OK - your photo and headline are critical, plus your contact information.

13. Career interests ‘game’ by Richard Bolles. The theory is based on solid careers research that we tend to have consistent lifelong interest patterns that align with our best career paths (skills, talents, motivations). The official version of career interests (Holland codes) is not free but here’s a couple of good introductory free resources: Go here for an interactive, or here for a Party Game resource.

    Job Search is Crap

    If you’re feeling low, please know that’s normal. This is a really difficult time. Job and income loss is awful and nearly everyone hates job search. It is crap. Please reach out to a helpline or trained professional for support if you need to. It’s an important part of the process. Heaps of my clients appreciate seeing the ‘grief/change curve’ - go HERE to view. Where are you on this model right now and how could you move forward? What do you need to do and what support do you need to help you? Or check out my 4M’s of Mental Health Model for some quick tools.

    And, on a brighter note, quite honestly, many of the people I’ve worked with over the years, who lost their jobs, and after they’d found something new (even if it took awhile) would say to me something along the lines of: “I am relieved this happened because I would never have had the guts to leave. I was stuck/trapped and this forced me to re-evaluate and make a fresh start”.

There are hundreds and thousands of other resources and tools, but this is a start and I hope there is something here to help you kick-off your next chapter.

This is hard and it’s even harder doing it on your own. Tests might be interesting, but quite often they don’t offer the answers we need.

I am wishing you best of luck for your next steps. Or reach out if you want my help. Read here for more information about what that means.

Warmly

Jo