This information is for potential Marine Job Candidates.
On the 'Jobs' tab (linked below), you will find details of roles which we are working on right now, and further details will be added in due course to help you determine if a particular job brief looks like your next challenge.
We aim for any job listed to be current - if it is not for any reason, then we will tell you so, but it will be listed for good reason. Please remember, though, that companies have the option to utilise many different sources and paths to find the right people; although we try hard to keep this information valid, a vacancy can be filled very quickly, especially in the challenging trading conditions which prevail.
Also, it is helpful to illustrate to sorts of roles that have already been filled, in order that you can see the range of jobs potentially available to you, maybe not right now but in the near future.
A surprisingly high percentage of jobs are filled with no advertising at all. Many clients leave us with standing instructions to keep our eyes open for talent to join their team, but for various reasons they may prefer not to advertise, so your time is not wasted by sending in your CV for us to take a closer look.
Times continue to be tough in the industry but we will work through them and be tempered by the experience.
Therefore, if a role looks interesting, don't delay - submit your CV and we can have a chat about you, your career objectives and your potential suitability as a candidate for current or future positions.
You'll see that most of our jobs are in New Zealand but we have had success placing staff into senior roles in Asia, the UAE and the Caribbean, depending on demand, and the internet will ensure that the global market continues to grow.
As a candidate, please make sure that you have 'refreshed' your CV before sending it in, so that it reflects your latest work and experience.
It should also be comprehensive, so please don't leave anything out, as it will be subject to a rigorous 'discovery' process to validate that we have all the pertinent facts about you - and it's not a good look when we find that there are substantive 'holes' or missing roles in your work history.
Also ensure that you have included your latest contact information (you would be amazed at how many CV's omit e-mail addresses, for instance).
Do use a spell checker and read over your finished profile one final time before you send it, to ensure it makes sense.
Remember to indicate your preferred means of contact; if that is e-mail, then please remember to check your inbox on a regular basis for replies. Stop and think carefully before using your work email address.
We may not get back to you same day, but we do guarantee a reply to every bona fide enquiry within a few days.
Should I send a covering letter?
A cover letter is always helpful - it demonstrates that you have invested a little time to present yourself professionally, and indicates that you are motivated and care about the impression you create.
Therefore, you should ensure that your cover letter is addressed specifically to the target company or recruiter! You can imagine what a turn-off it is to open a letter which has clearly been written to someone else for an entirely different job - the impression created is diametrically opposed to the one you were trying for.
Nowadays, it is quite acceptable to use the email text itself as the cover letter, with your CV appended. This will also ensure that you have the opportunity to make an impact with the reader as soon as the mail is opened.
It is said that when you send a CV to someone, you have about thirty seconds of 'opportunity time' to hook some interest - make sure that you make the most of your opportunity.
The rules are simple: keep it short, relevant and focused on the target job. It is simply a positioning statement and a short introduction to the main event, which is your CV.
You should consider that anything you send in to us at Marinejobs is tantamount to sending a direct enquiry to many potential employers in one hit - and you only get ONE chance to make a good first impression.
Finally, we still encounter candidates who have never had to prepare a CV before - job markets have been historically strong and word-of-mouth has seen them right, until now....
If you find yourself in this situation, give us a call: we can send you our Application Form, which will gather all the important information, and our own processes will ensure that you have a professional profile presented to potential employers.
We guarantee complete confidentiality Your Application will fall under the Protection of the NZ Privacy Act, which creates guidelines and working practices to safeguard your privacy. This also means that, in order to progress your application, you will be asked to complete and sign a formal Application Form as a complete record of your candidature.
Your personal information will be stored in our private database, and this is not released to any other parties, so you will not start receiving a lot of unwanted junk mail!
There are more than 220 million people living and working in countries other than where they were born. Every year, about 50,000 new potential migrants arrive in New Zealand as part of this mobile global workforce, in search of rewarding careers and new opportunities.
New Zealand is a very young country, a melting pot of Pacific and European cultures which is still evolving. The economy benefits hugely from migrants bringing in their qualifications and work experience to enrich the professional skills base with new ideas, different approaches and fresh thinking.
Migrants are also highly-motivated to succeed, with a positive attitude and strong work ethic. Of course, settling in any new country is a two-way process: you will work hard to integrate but the society you are entering also has to make efforts to welcome you and to help you settle.
The notes below offer some orientation to the challenges that new migrants and their employers will face.
Your prospects through the eyes of a New Zealand Employer.
When you are planning a move to live and work in a new country, maybe to create new opportunities for yourself and a new future for your children, you face a huge change in your life. It is exciting and challenging - and sometimes quite daunting.
The pressure is really on you to try and make the best decisions for everyone, often in a relatively short time- frame, and so access to good information, thorough preparation and an initial orientation to the society you are thinking of moving into is critical. We should know - we did it ourselves.
We spend a lot of time talking with ‘offshore’ candidates trying to explain what it is like to live and work in New Zealand. Many things will be quite different to your old home; some, depending on where you come from, will be very familiar.
We have set out below some thoughts and insights, based on our direct experience, about how New Zealand employers view Immigrant candidates, to try and help you see yourself through their eyes – this should help you to anticipate their needs and concerns and so be better prepared to rise to the challenge of securing the job you really want as the foundation for a new life 'down under' in New Zealand.
New Zealand is the youngest country on Earth, geologically-speaking, and has a relatively small but enterprising and diverse population that combines a Pacific and European heritage. Kiwi ingenuity and the ‘can do’ attitude is renowned the world over, but in spite of this there continues to be a skills shortage for key skills, especially as technology evolves at an ever-quickening pace. This creates a vacuum in the employment market and a fertile ground for those from outside New Zealand to exploit their skills and experience whilst making the most of a very special environment.
Immigrants naturally have high expectations of their future employers, but you must remember that it is a commercial and competitive job market which is carefully managed by the government and the immigration authorities. New Zealand employers are obliged to demonstrate that they have already made extensive (but unsuccessful) efforts to employ a native New Zealander for the advertised vacancy before they can consider bringing people in from overseas. This is only natural and exactly what you’d expect in your own country.
So what will a Kiwi employer look for in you?
There’s a saying that people are hired for aptitude but fired for attitude. That is probably true no matter where in the world you work. People who look great on paper may simply not have the right approach to the way they actually perform their work to fit in, and this may not be quickly apparent. Here are some simple pointers about what to expect and to consider in your own approach.
Employers understand that people come from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and there is already a rich mix of people in New Zealand society. Someone who arrives with the attitude that they are the so-called “great white hope” come to save the company will probably be left knocking at the door.
Arrogance and conceit do not get much mileage in Aoteroa; people would rather be impressed by what they can actually see you doing, without making a big song and dance about it, and this will soon win you their respect.
Employers need your skills and experience, but may well have been stung in the past by those who were trusted on the basis of what they said they could do in order to secure a job quickly. They naturally expect that you will be anxious to start work, but your motivation must be to secure the right job, not just any job. Jump in too quickly and the inevitable result will be that you are unhappy and looking to move on all-too-soon: this will damage the company, who now have to replace you at further cost and retrain someone new; it will also damage your future job prospects as well. Some employers refer to these sorts of CV’s as belonging to ‘hoppers’ – those who cannot settle and hop from job to job.
No one wants a hopper on their team.
Therefore, please be honest with employers about what you can – and cannot – do.
Your honesty will certainly be respected, and if they sense that you have the right attitude, then this may well overcome any reservations they have, because they can always teach someone who is willing to learn and build on the basics they already have.
Remember too that settling in may not just be about getting the right job. You and your family will have a whole raft of things to accomplish - a new home, bank accounts, tax and health systems, transport, schools, to name but a few. Most new migrants go through an emotional roller-coaster cycle: it start with the euphoric honeymoon, and then dips as adjustments are made and challenges arise. It can be tough to push on through the hard times, especially if things happen in your homeland to family members which tug at your heart, and many succumb to homesickness. It will come right, but you should allow anything up to two years or more to make the transition emotionally, maybe longer, and you should be prepared for the times when you ask yourself 'did we do the right thing?'
With this going on, be prepared to seek support from your employer, and there are also migrant agencies who are dedicated to helping you settle in to your new home.
CAN-DO CULTURE
There is a long tradition of no-nonsense practicality down here – you may already have heard of the famed ‘Number 8 fence wire’, a miraculous device which can solve nearly every engineering problem known to mankind.
If it is broken, a length of No.8 will normally see you right!
This pragmatic insistence about mending and making do (rather than simply buying a new one) has been born out of necessity in NZ, sitting as it does in one of the furthest-flung corners of the world, and has become one of the defining national characteristics. There is an expectation of frugality, modesty and humility, of quietly getting on with the job and sticking at it until it is done, which has grown out of the deep agricultural heritage.
There is also an expectation that people will have a broad base of skills, be adaptable and be willing to turn their hands to new challenges, applying their initiative (otherwise known as good old-fashioned ‘nous’) to nut out a problem when they run into it.
“Getting Employment – Helping us to help you”
Someone who arrives and expects to secure a job offer and then see it held open for a long period whilst they set their lives in order elsewhere is likely to be disappointed, and we do run into unrealistic expectations on occasion. A vacancy will normally exist because the company has an urgent need for someone TODAY and so the more you can do to facilitate your availability (allowing of course for the requisite work permits) the better.
This requires thorough planning and preparation, and there is no one better placed to help yourself than YOU.
We work hard on behalf of candidates, but we do not have a magic wand to wave. Think about it from an agency point of view: in a small private business, when you have a finite resource and the option to assist the motivated candidate who is well prepared, versus the one who has a badly organised resume and poor supporting information, who would you give priority to? It's a 'no brainer'.
Many candidates will have worked hard to earn their qualifications, but there are often different levels of expectation in other countries. You can really assist your potential employer by establishing the New Zealand equivalency of your specific training and qualifications in a NZ context, and there are links on our web site to this particular authority. You should not expect anyone to automatically understand the full worth and implications of what you have done before. Remember also that what might be quite a high level of qualification in one country may be relatively commonplace in another, so be sensitive to this.
Furthermore, if a New Zealand employer wishes to be sure that you really do have the necessary skills and knowledge, it would not be unexpected for them to ask you to perform a work sample (that is, a short trial to demonstrate your skills) for them. Sometimes candidates are affronted by such a request – why should I have to prove myself to them?
Once again, put yourself in the employer’s position: recruiting people is expensive, a real investment of time and cost, with the return on that investment being your long-term contribution to that business. Employing the wrong people is even more expensive, especially in a developed country such as New Zealand, where there are robust labour laws to protect employer and employee alike. Those companies who seek a work sample may well have had some bad experiences in the past, so please do not think ill of them if their trust has been damaged by those who went before you.
Remember that you are not legally entitled to work without a work Visa, but you are allowed to demonstrate your skills and suitability for a role in a short assignment or trade test, which may be a few hours in length. This is a small price to pay for verify that you are in the right role, and your commitment will not be taken advantage of unfairly.
If you are in a “tools" type profession, there may well be the expectation that you will have your own equipment, so think about this before you start selling off everything before you move. Allowance will normally be made for you to ship your tools to New Zealand and loan you sufficient equipment until the container arrives, or it may prove more economic to buy new tools over here – that will be for you to determine.
Once you have a job offer, then you will need to apply for your NZ work Visa – and remember that it is an application which can be refused at the discretion of the Immigration authorities. NZ employers work hard to maintain effective working relationships with Immigration staff, but sometimes delays can arise, especially at busy times. This can be frustrating for employer and employee alike, so the key thing is to maintain regular feedback on progress, and respond quickly to any requests for additional information. Remember that these people are working hard to help develop New Zealand’s capabilities, as well as to preserve those characteristics which make the country special, which is probably why you want to come here in the first place!
The Bottom Line: New Zealanders are proud and independent people, but they also embrace those who are prepared to get off their backsides, show some initiative and get stuck in to a challenge, no matter where they've come from.
Your reward will be a warm welcome and a rich and rewarding life-style in a truly-beautiful and unique country.
State-of-the-art bush communications, photographed on Stewart Island.
The recreational marine industry has taken a hammering from the recession, and sometimes it is good to look above and beyond the gloom and despondency and learn from those who have gone ahead.
Dudley Dawson is a renowned Naval Architect who I have liaised with on occasion to take up candidate references, and he was recently in print* offering a few 'Life Lessons' about careers.
I thought they might be relevant to us all at some point, and so have extracted the five key points he makes:
1. Patience, sometimes a lot, is a necessary part of life and your career.
2. Keep sight of your dream, but don't be too choosy along the way.
3. Whatever the job, expect the unexpected and be ready to make the most of it.
4. If you're prepared for the opportunities and willing to take a little risk, the rewards can be far greater than you imagined.
5. If you do what you love and love what you do, you'll be able to look back over your life with great satisfaction and contentment.
[* see 'Professional Boatbuilder' magazine, Number 124 April/May 2010]
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ - the only definitive point of reference to use for Immigration into New Zealand. Here you will also find the latest Listings for Immediate and Long Term Skills Shortages, as well as all the forms and reference material you will require to construct your Application. There are also lists of licenced Immigration consultants who may be able to support you through the process.
http://www.workingin-visa.com/new-zealand/index.aspx - a licensed Migration Consultancy with offices in central Auckland and the UK. Plenty of good common-sense advice on their website and they will assess their chances of helping you before they charge a fee.
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ - New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) - the agency who will evaluate the equivalency of your foreign educational and work qualifications to those operant in New Zealand
