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.