Job-seeking course to help migrants

Elena Spektor with husband Jack. Photo / George Novak

Multicultural Tauranga is launching a series of workshops to help migrants find jobs.

The 30-hour course, which starts October 12, will provide information on the New Zealand business environment, creating a CV, job identification strategies and interviewing skills.

There has been a significant increase in migrants setting their sights on the Bay of Plenty region. Latest Statistics New Zealand figures show 4693 migrants settled in the Bay in the year ended July, up 18.1 per cent on the previous year.

Multicultural Tauranga secretary Margarete Kraemer said the workshops were being put together as migrants realised the job application process was different in New Zealand compared with their homelands.

"They have to adapt, they don't know how it is different [the job market in New Zealand] and that is what we want to teach them," she said.

It was the first time the multicultural council had offered such a course but former Tauranga Settlement Support Services used to offer similar assistance, and former manager Carol Andersen has been chosen to lead the new workshops.

Recent migrant Elena Spektor said it was already difficult to find a job as a migrant and the service would give her and other migrants useful skills.

"I would love to know how to build my CV, how to write a cover letter because ... there are many differences compared with back home. In Ukraine we have never done a cover letter."

Mrs Spektor said she had already learned skills through the organisation such as basic job-seeking skills, which had been hugely beneficial. Additional reporting Simran Kainth

Job Search Preparation for Migrants

This series of workshops has been tailored to the specific needs of migrants who feel ready to go for a job but don't yet feel confident enough to present themselves in the best possible way. The course, which runs over four weeks, covers everything you need to know about finding jobs in New Zealand.