It's all about what students can do, not what they'd like to do, Steve Hart finds
Students applying for jobs need to keep a good eye on what the role requires and rewrite their CVs accordingly, says Martin Chamberlain of Student Job Search.
"Students need to customise their CV for each job they are going for."
Chamberlain, chief executive of the non-profit organisation, says students also need to be proactive when it comes to job hunting, consider all available jobs and be flexible about the types of job they will do.
"It could be that their first choice of job is not available - so students should be looking for things they can do as opposed to what they would like to do - it is a very tough job market right now," he says.
Student Job Search runs an internet job board specifically for tertiary students which lists vacancies free of charge for employers.
Chamberlain says the types of jobs students are employed to do have changed over the years.
"When we first started the service in the 1980s, we mainly helped students find work in people's homes - they did household jobs," he says. "But today, business placements make up around two-thirds of all the vacancies we list."
Student Job Search is owned and governed by students' associations and contracted to the Ministry of Social Development. It has been helping people studying at universities to find work since 1982. The service is free for most students to use - although an annual fee of $20 is charged for those who want to use it outside term time and those whose students' associations are not members of the organisation.
In the past 27 years, Student Job Search has helped more than 800,000 students find paid employment. "We are a niche player within the recruitment market because we only cater for tertiary students," says Chamberlain.
"Not only do we have the website, but we have an on-campus presence at some universities - so we have this mix of online and office job promotion.
"On average, 25,000 students will find 30,000 jobs from our job board during the course a year, with some students doing two or more jobs during that time."
Chamberlain says job-seeking students must be open-minded. "People at university looking for long-term jobs should not dismiss short-term contracts that may last just a few weeks," he says.
"Every job will provide you with work experience and doing a job is as much about gaining work experience as it is financial gain.
"Many students will be young and so adding value to their CV is very important. But for others the work helps them fund their studies - so they take whatever they can get."
But Chamberlain says right now students seeking course-related work experience might need to be a bit more "lateral" about what they apply for.
"If there are limited opportunities for a student to work in their chosen profession - such as accountancy, for example - then they may opt to work in hospitality or retail and at least then they will be able to see how business works."
Students can often get course-related work experience, even if the job has a tenuous link to their chosen career.
"In a Colmar Brunton survey carried out for us last year, we found that 14 per cent of employers took a student on for one job and then used them in other parts of their business.
"The classic scenario is that a student may start in retail sales and then end up in the payroll office. There are many incidences of students thinking they are not going to get worthwhile job experience only to find that they get exactly what they hoped for."
For employers, Chamberlain says students can deliver extra skills to their businesses.
"Employers are looking for students to work for them because they are a cost-effective option and a good way to add value to their business."
And it appears employers rate the organisation highly, too. Chamberlain says 83 per cent of surveyed employers that listed jobs on the service's website were satisfied. He says 83 per cent of students who used the service were satisfied.
"Being a not-for-profit means our staff work pretty hard and stretch the resources we have to improve the services we offer.
"We have definitely become more sophisticated over the years - in particular moving our service online in the late 1990s, as opposed to just a physical job board at university campuses."
Chamberlain says 20 per cent fewer vacancies are listed on the job search website today compared with the same time last year, with roles in hospitality, the retail industry and domestic positions showing the biggest decline.
Meanwhile, job hunters joining the Student Job Search website are up 27 per cent on this time last year.
"That is a reflection of how hard it is to find jobs during this tough economic situation and as other work avenues such as tips from friends and family dry up," he says. "The number of vacancies on our site is down, but in our industry we don't think that is too bad - we are pretty busy."
Chamberlain says students looking for career advice can ask Student Job Search staff for help, as well as their local campus career services staff. He also recommends students see the Government website www.careers.govt.nz.
Steve Hart, a freelance writer, can be contacted via www.SteveHart.co.nz
