By MARIE WILSON
Q. I've been actively looking for work and my next step in my career, which will hopefully involve leadership of a small team.
The problem I seem to be encountering is that although I have team leadership experience, I haven't had direct reports before. Can a short course or qualification compensate for this or do I have to step back and grow into a management role within a company?
A. Moving into a supervisory position is a bit of a catch-22; previous supervisory experience is preferred, but how do you get that experience?
The path you have identified, team and project leadership, is the way that most people make the transition into supervision and management. Make sure that you capture your team leadership activities in your CV, by identifying the projects involved, the number of people in the team, and the results.
While generally you would "grow into" supervision, some professional development can certainly improve, and possibly accelerate, this process. I would recommend short courses that develop your communication and project management skills, as well as those that introduce you to the legal requirements of managing people in New Zealand.
Another key skill to develop is effective feedback and coaching. All of these will also improve your team leadership in the interim, while you seek your first supervisory position.
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Q. I am keen to return to New Zealand after working overseas for some time, having gained a broader experience and also a higher qualification (gained at another country's expense). I applied for a position with a New Zealand local authority from my post in Australia. Its recent response baffled me: "We have a number of potentially suitable local candidates who we will be interviewing first and only if no one suitable emerges will we be interviewing overseas applicants."
The [employer] is interested in choosing someone who lives in New Zealand first because of the cost of airfares. Of course, if no one from New Zealand is available they will look further.
A brain drain is well-established, but what about those wishing to return and contribute their qualifications and skills?
A. The Government policy statements certainly suggest that skilled New Zealanders are encouraged to return. The reality, however, is that distance is a barrier in a job search, unless the search is specifically designed to be international in scope.
From the employers' perspective, there is considerable expense in airfares and accommodation in interviewing someone who may not be suitable, or even if suitable, may decline the position when it is offered.
However, with transtasman airfares at present levels, the comparison of a national search with flying someone in from the South Island doesn't seem to justify such an across-the-board no-international-applicants approach.
There is an even deeper-rooted problem here, however. Given the level of position you have outlined in your letter (only part of which appears above) and where you are employed, the cost of flying you over for an interview would be equivalent to about a week's salary, which seems a small investment in getting a highly qualified person for the post. If you are otherwise a top-ranked candidate, I would see this as short-sighted.
At a practical level, I have seen a number of approaches in practice. Some candidates offer to initially pay their own interview expenses, but expect reimbursement if they are hired.
Some applicants offer to share the cost of transport and accommodation for the interview as a type of shared risk in the interview process.
A few returning New Zealanders establish local addresses, through friends, and appear as if they are local applicants, and shoulder the expense of the interview, hoping to recoup the cost by being tougher in salary negotiations if they are offered the post.
In all of these cases, the applicants spend time on the phone with potential employers in advance, trying to assess their chances of getting the job, before investing time and money in the interview.
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