March 14, 2015

Why New Zealand is awesome and a great place to find your dream IT job

3 min read

New Zealand really is awesome. We’re the first country in the world to see the sun, we don’t have any snakes and we live amongst the filming landscape for the Lord of Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit. While these are all great reasons to live here, the even better news for tech professionals is New Zealand is a great place to find your dream IT job.

New Zealand offers tech professionals a great lifestyle

Tech professionals in New Zealand are some of the happiest in the world, according to our latest Job Seeker Insight report, with 85% believing their current workplace is a good place to be and 91% considering their work / life balance to be either average or above.

Absolute IT Director, Grant Burley, says,

“New Zealand is known as a lifestyle destination, but this really reflects the great reality of working in the New Zealand tech sector.”

Our latest Employer Insight Report also shows most tech employers have liberated their staff from the restraints of traditional working routines, with 86% currently supporting flexible working hours or remote access and 51% supporting both.

“Employers know that giving their staff the flexibility to work around things like childcare and sports commitments results in happier staff, a more positive work environment and increased productivity”, says Burley.

We have also seen a significant decrease in the number of tech professionals considering heading overseas for a better lifestyle and / or to develop their tech career. Down 10% on last year’s figures, only 24% are considering leaving New Zealand.

These figures are reflected in recent Statistics New Zealand reports that show New Zealand recently had its second-highest net gain of migrants since 2003 (more arrivals than departures). This figure is primarily due to a decrease in kiwi’s choosing to live in Australia.

IT Career Opportunities Galore in New Zealand

With our current tech skill shortage in New Zealand, it’s no surprise that 70% of New Zealand tech employer’s state access to suitably qualified staff as the top business challenge for their region and 29% are finding it harder to attract the tech talent they need, compared with this time last year.

Burley says,

“While this isn’t great news for employers, it highlights the number of job opportunities New Zealand can offer tech professionals.”

Employers in the New Zealand tech sector also have plans for growth in 2015, with 80% planning to recruit additional staff / contractors this year, 41% due to new projects.

Private sector employers are planning to recruit the most staff / contractors this year, with 91% planning to recruit, compared with a smaller 78% of public sector employers.

If you’re thinking of moving into contracting, there has been a 3% increase in employers planning to recruit contractors this year, up to 40%. Employers in the public sector are planning to recruit the highest number of contractors at 56%, compared with 39% in the private sector.

For those career planning, the top 10 skills employers plan to recruit, in order of popularity are; Business Analyst, Project Manager, Software Development, Network and Infrastructure, Architect, Helpdesk / Support, Data / Database, Business Intelligence, Web Design / Development and Production and Operations.

Money, Money, Money – Kiwi IT workers earning more

New Zealand tech professionals are earning record highs (when compared with national figures). The median base salary for tech professionals increased by 3% last year to $82,500 and 66% (up 16% on last years figures) now receive additional benefits such as additional annual leave, health care and mobile allowances as part of their salary package.

80% of tech professionals received a pay increase last year and only 6% of tech employers have ruled out giving their staff / contractors a pay increase in 2015, leaving 94% either planning to give a pay increase or currently undecided.

For those living outside New Zealand, it is important to understand the cost of living when comparing pay rates. If you’re interested to know more about what everyday items cost, the New Zealand government’s Statistics Department has a publication called New Zealand in Profile which lists the prices of some common purchase items in 2014.

Find your dream IT job today

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Absolute IT

January 14, 2015

New Year, New IT Job – How to write a CV

3 min read

After the festive celebrations and the inevitable hangover has been and gone, lots of professionals, young and old, will be heading back to the workplace.

Some will be content with their careers and some will not. If the latter sounds like you, you may be thinking “New year, New IT job”. The IT job experts at Absolute IT are here to help you kickstart your IT career.

If it’s been some time since you last updated your CV, take a look at our handy CV tips below to make sure you are presenting yourself as best as possible and place yourself in a position to nab your dream IT job. It can be a little strange selling yourself, but that’s exactly what a CV does – now is no time to be modest.

CV Template

Take a look at our IT Job CV Template if you are starting from scratch – everything down to formatting, font type and size is important. The layout of your CV says a lot about you. Our template is easy to follow and includes the following:

Contact details
Visa status
Availability
Short summary
Education
Key skills/technical skills
Detailed work history

Find out more information and tips for IT job hunting here.

Updating your CV

Your CV should be as up to date as possible, and any breaks in employment should be explained e.g time spent travelling etc. Make sure you are updating your CV with a potential job in mind. If have a job description in front of you for a role you are looking at applying for, base your CV off this. Make sure you are ticking all the boxes that the job description requires – without replicating the JD as a CV!

Cover Letter

Remember, you should always include a personalised cover letter for each individual IT job you apply for. You should outline what you can bring to the company and how your skills positively suit the vacant position. This demonstrates that you have spent some time researching about the advertised role and the company itself. If you can address your cover letter for someone specifically, even better!

The Importance of References

Nowadays it’s very rare that you will be offered a job without providing multiple references for your potential employer to cross check your CV and previous work history with. You don’t have to include these in your CV, you can note them as “available on request”. It’s worth however, starting to think about who you might use when you start your job hunt, as you might need them sooner than you anticipate. Think carefully before putting someone forward as a reference, you need to consider who will both back your personal and professional skills and will be considered a legitimate reference (i.e your mother doesn’t count!).

Get Personal

Don’t forget to add some personality(don’t fear, there’s no need for photo) to both your cover letter and CV – potential employers want to know more than just your professional ability and previous work history. Today, employers are looking for people that can assimilate into an existing work culture, and more often than not, they will make their decision based on personality first and skills second – The right person can be taught the necessary skills to do the job correctly, but character cannot be taught.

Upload your CV

Now that your CV is looking sharp, register with us and take a look at the latest IT jobs here.

IT Salary Information

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Absolute IT