Rotorua job hunt: Hundreds queue for burger jobs

Rotorua's job hunters are proving they are dedicated to looking for work by lining up in the hope of securing one of the city's 45 new jobs.
Samantha Bettany-Taylor was among hundreds of people who lined up for an interview for a job at the city's new Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers.
The restaurant held an open recruitment day at Kingsgate Hotel yesterday to find 45 staff.
Construction of the restaurant on the corner of Maisey Place and Fairy Springs Rd began on February 28 and it is likely to open early next month.
Miss Bettany-Taylor said she had moved back to Rotorua about a month ago after doing seasonal work in Dannevirke.
Since the 21-year-old's return to Rotorua she had applied for about eight jobs and yesterday was the first time she had got an interview.
She said she was hoping to get a job at Wendy's.
Debra Pickett, 44, said she had been out of work for three years and she had lost count of the number of jobs she had applied for.
"I lost count at 36."
Miss Pickett said many of the positions she had applied for were shop assistant roles and she was hoping to get a job yesterday.
"It will be great. I will be able to put petrol in my car and take my child to school."
Miss Pickett said it had been a struggle and she had been living with family.
She said she did not receive a benefit as she did not qualify for any.
Trevor Sycamore, 53, had been out of work for 12 months and was doing volunteer work.
He had applied for three or four jobs and was hopeful of getting a job yesterday.
For 26-year-old Phillip Boulton, he was hoping to get a job as he had been out of work for "too long".
He said apart from the occasional casual work he had not had any work for about three years.
Rotorua's Lance Hooker had been out of work for about seven months and had applied for 15-20 jobs.
He said it was "absolutely horrible" being unemployed but he was trying to have a positive attitude.
"There just isn't that much work out there. You basically have got to take what you can get and never give up."
Wendy's human resources adviser Cathy Matthews said hundreds of people turned up for interviews yesterday. "It has been non-stop ... I didn't think there would have been this many."
When The Daily Post went to the hotel at 10am yesterday there were more than 100 people of all ages queuing for a job.
The Daily Post returned to the hotel about 2.30pm and there were at least 60 more people waiting to be interviewed.
Miss Matthews said those who were successful in getting jobs would be notified by the end of the weekend.