Charlotte Pinchin has an ink-wet degree, work experience and hope that her BA in criminology and psychology will get her the job she’s looking for in a related field. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” she says. “The job market’s pretty hard at the moment, but I’ve learnt to keep checking the job adverts.”
Still, she hasn’t been looking long, and she’s done all the right things: emailing employers in fields related to her studies, sending out CVs, talking to her supervisor.
“It’s having patience and you may not always get the reply you want, but you keep on trying.”
We produce thousands of graduates every year, and time was that you could pick a job, train for it and do it. That’s becoming rarer and rarer.
For a start, it’s a tough job climate, with unemployment at nearly 5% and rising, under-employment nearly 12% and a shrinking public sector. The career landscape is also experiencing a lightning pace of change, affected by fluctuating economic conditions, rampant technological innovation and altered workplace expectations post-Covid.
As a result, we’re predicting and trying to prepare people for careers that don’t exist while many of those that do currently exist will soon be done by machines. A statistic regularly quoted by official sources, including the World Economic Forum, notes that 65% of kids currently in primary school will do a job that is yet to be invented.
The forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report, meanwhile, claims that 42% of business tasks will be automated by 2027.
Spare a thought, then, for people entering the workforce or thinking of a career change. They could use help but careers advice is poorly supported by the education system. The Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC) excellent Gateway scheme helps young people still at school with workplace learning but not all schools choose to participate. Meanwhile, there are too few school and tertiary careers advisers for too many students.
The Listener spoke to careers and employment professionals, employers, students and jobseekers to get some clarity about what jobseekers need to succeed, how adults can help, and what employers can do to bridge the gap between education and work.
Know Yourself
Cherie Perrow, president of the Career Development Association of New Zealand, works in Auckland as a careers adviser at a private school, and also has her own advisory practice. She wants people to move away from what she calls a “job mindset”.
“We ask young people a work question: what do you want to do when you leave school?” she says. “Essentially, you’re asking someone what they want to do with the rest of their life. But [a young person] doesn’t know what the world of work looks like. So people are still choosing traditional jobs – doctor, lawyer, nurse, teacher – because they choose what they know about or what their parents tell them.”
As a result, research by the OECD in 2018 showed that, internationally, half of teenagers aspire to go into one of 10 careers. There are variations for boys and girls but the lists are similar. For girls, the choices from one to 10 are doctor, teacher, business manager, lawyer, nurse/midwife, psychologist, designer, vet, police officer and architect. Boys choose engineer, business manager, doctor, ICT professional, sportsman, teacher, police officer, mechanic, lawyer and architect.
“Kids need to work out who they are before they can work out what they become,” says Perrow. “If that sounds esoteric, there are tools to help people understand what they enjoy and are good at, what’s important to them at work, what they will and won’t compromise [government advice organisation Careers NZ has some excellent free ones].” These are great starting points, but Perrow cautions against doing personality tests in isolation.
“The tool is only as good as the understanding. It needs to be unpacked with a career practitioner or someone who understands what it means.”
She is wary of matching engines, too, in which you punch in your skills and it spits out the perfect career – another example of the job mindset. “I know one person who got funeral director, and they thought, oh my goodness, this is going to be my life – but I don’t want to be a funeral director!”
Perrow believes it’s more useful to think in terms of career clusters – groups of jobs that require similar skills. For the TEC’s 2018 “Hidden Links, New Opportunities” report, researchers analysed more than a million job adverts and identified six career clusters in Aotearoa:
■ Inventors – who have technology and business skills, alongside creativity and problem solving.
■ Organisers – those with service-oriented and administrative skills.
■ Healers – who have caregiving expertise and some administrative and corporate skills.
■ Operators – people with manual skills, good communication skills and a positive attitude.
■ Engagers – who have sales skills combined with deep interpersonal skills.
■ Crafters – people with sophisticated industrial skills and organisational skills.
At the time, the TEC predicted particular growth in the Inventors and Healers clusters, meaning skills relating to information, creativity and caregiving would be valuable, and Perrow still agrees.
The individual clusters seem broad and that’s intentional. The same report notes that the skills learnt on one job train someone for 12 other roles, so linking them into these groups is a way of escaping the job mindset and thinking more widely about the sorts of careers that suit us.
The report also recommended that employers should use this approach to fill vacancies. What are often called “skills shortages” can be overcome with a broader approach – appropriately skilled people are out there but it may not be obvious because they work in different jobs.
For students looking at their senior school subjects, Perrow is keen on STEM (science, tech, engineering and maths) and not just because these subjects can lead to a broad range of solid career options.
“I think [STEM] shows that it’s not about one subject. These things are interdisciplinary, which is where we should be in education, but it should be STEAM [A for arts]. That’s a good, holistic education.”
Similarly, companies are learning to value a breadth of experiences among employees. Food maker Mars New Zealand, for example, is currently offering three graduate programme internships, one for marketing and sales students, another for business and commerce graduates, and the third for someone with an arts and humanities degree.
In the near future, artificial intelligence will be part of the mix. Perrow is generally positive about AI’s inevitability.
“We need to learn to work with AI,” she says. “There’s a fear it will take jobs. I don’t agree, but it might affect lower-skilled jobs, which is why people need to upskill and be lifelong learners.”
Growing skills
Leah Gates, general manager, employment, at the Auckland Business Chamber, says the push is for micro-credentials – short courses that build skills while on the job. It’s been part of the tech sector for years, but Gates sees it spreading throughout the workforce.
“It’s not just tech, it’s everything. I think that is very much the way of the future and how we’re going to address skill gaps. And that’s also part of retraining as people’s jobs change, to add that set of skills to their portfolio.”
Now she has graduated, Pinchin recommends that before entering tertiary study, people research the qualification they will need when they come out the other side. It’s how she ended up with a double major.
“My school careers adviser is one of the reasons I studied psychology as well as criminology. She told me opportunities were limited with criminology and encouraged me to add something on.”
Pinchin, who did her degree at Auckland’s AUT, also suggests drilling down to the sorts of courses tertiary providers offer, and whether they help secure the future you imagine for yourself.
“I didn’t fully look into the commitment side of psychology and how many years of postgraduate study you have to do. When I looked into it, I was going to transfer to Auckland uni, and there’s quite a difference between the types of papers they did there and the ones I did.”
Get to work
Perhaps the best thing young people can do to prepare themselves for work is to work. “Do work experience, job shadow, do voluntary work – get out there and see what it’s like,” says Perrow. “A part-time job is great if it doesn’t take away from studies.”
The Ministry of Education has identified seven essential skills that employers look for, also known as soft skills: positive attitude, communication, teamwork, self-management, willingness to learn, thinking skills (problem-solving and decision-making) and resilience. A part-time job will teach some of them and demonstrate to employers that you have them.
Gates says it doesn’t matter what the part-time job is. “It’s learning to go to work, show up on time, interact with your colleagues and customers. Whether you pick fruit, pump gas, whatever, it is invaluable to the person as a learning opportunity and it’s invaluable to an employer to be able to go, ‘Yep, I know this kid has been to work and shown up, and I can phone their supervisor and they say nice things about them.’ That’s gold.”
It’s difficult to understand what a job entails without having done it, so, echoing Pinchin’s advice, Gates recommends people do their research before leaping into the unknown. “Businesses are really happy to talk to young people; schools don’t believe that and young people don’t believe that, but it’s true,” she says.
“One of the big things we advocate for is that young people don’t make tertiary education decisions without really exploring the industry. A surprising number of people go to university without a clear understanding of what that job looks like and how it might fit with them. Try before you commit, and try before you land yourself on the labour market thinking ‘I want to do X.’”
Pinchin, as a fan of true crime documentaries and shows like CSI, was excited by the thought of criminology. However, she admits that when she entered her course, she had only a vague idea of what to expect.
“I think a lot of people sign up because of [CSI], but my criminology lecturer made it very clear that it won’t be like what you see on TV.”
Perrow is a believer in site visits. “If someone has heard about a job that interests them, arrange a day when they can gain some insight. I know of a young person who was studying to be a paramedic. On his first work experience in an ambulance, he discovered he suffered from claustrophobia.”
But work experience can be affirming, too. Eise Tijsen, a Year 12 student at Waimea College, near Nelson, has his sights set on becoming a lawyer, and last year emailed every law firm in the region to ask if he could intern. He received two replies, one of which was a yes, and his summer internship confirmed that law was the right fit.
“Everybody says it’s hard work but it’s easier to see when you’re there in person,” he says. “It’s very wordy, long documents, but I found that interesting and enjoyed it. I learnt a lot about the language and legal processes, as well as the office environment, which was something I wasn’t accustomed to. I thought, ‘Yeah, this is something I’d really like to end up doing’.”
Pinchin has had part-time jobs since she was old enough, and for her AUT course, she volunteered with Community Patrols of New Zealand, a non-governmental organisation that provides patrols in support of police and the community. She describes early-evening weekend patrols on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd as “interesting”.
“It was an eye-opener because of some of the people you’d deal with. But it was useful to have experience relevant to my degree, and I felt helpful going out and engaging with people in the community, and talking face to face about issues and concerns they had.”
Patrolling the streets also confirmed Pinchin’s preference for office work, where she ultimately hopes to look at what causes people to commit offences, and how crime can be prevented.
Parents are pivotal
Ines Roberts, who works with Gates at the Auckland Business Chamber, believes parents and caregivers need to acknowledge that having wide-ranging career discussions is part of their role. Asking “What do you want to be when you grow up?” doesn’t cut it.
“Parents are so important. They’re huge influencers,” says Roberts. “A lot of students who have the chance to go on work experience will get that connection through their own networks.”
Those networks can include social media groups, says Gates. “Put a message on your local Facebook page saying, ‘My son’s interested in X, is anybody happy to meet and have a chat with him about it?’”
This is more effective than you might imagine. I got in touch with Pinchin for this story because her dad – with whom I had worked 20 years ago and didn’t know that well even then – posted on LinkedIn that she had just graduated. Other LinkedIn contacts made helpful suggestions about possible employment avenues.
Don’t underestimate how well you know your child, either. “Parents know their [children’s] skills and character,” says Gates. “If you stop and think: ‘This young woman is really good at this, she’s analytical, or a real people person, I wonder what careers would be suitable.’”
With that understanding, parents and caregivers can help with getting some of the basics done, such as writing a good CV, developing a Seek profile that makes sense, perhaps a LinkedIn presence, and encouraging their young people to make decisions based on research.
Caregivers should also understand that just because they’re successful in their own job, it won’t necessarily fit their kids. Again, work experience is a good way to test that.
“Parents think, ‘I’m a lawyer, love law, done it all my life, you should do that,’” says Gates. “I know a young woman who did that last year and [after work experience] discovered she couldn’t think of anything more boring. That’s a good outcome for that young woman, and this year she’s studying something else.”
Start young
Perrow stresses that the modern career landscape is different for young people than for previous generations, and imposing a job mindset can be detrimental. “We all want the best for our children, but [suggesting a] direct pathway puts too much anxiety on people to have to choose and do the right thing, or creates the fear of doing the wrong thing. If you want them to become a doctor, consider why: How does that align with my child’s strengths and skills and interests and personality? Let them explore new horizons.”
And start having conversations early. “You’re never too young for career education,” says Perrow. “We can integrate career education into our day. Be intentional; don’t leave it up to the education system. Have career conversations around the dinner table.”
Tijsen says he found those discussions helpful. “I always had aspirations, and [my parents] were always supportive but in a constructive way. They’d make sure that if I said there was something I wanted to do, I knew why I wanted to do it and what that would take.”
At 10, he was insistent he’d one day work for Nasa. “Like most kids, I wasn’t particularly critical, so anything I found interesting became the next aspiration. My parents were good at drilling down and letting me work out what I actually wanted.”
Setting the bar too high
It’s not always framed this way, but work is mutually beneficial. Jobseekers want jobs; employers need workers to do jobs. We hear a lot about roles going unfilled, but employers can do plenty to help themselves. We’ve already mentioned that hiring managers can think about job clusters, but it can be as simple as writing a decent ad. Gates says employers are missing out on good candidates because of unrealistic classifieds.
“The UK has done research and it’s anecdotally true [in New Zealand] that a number of job ads that are described as entry level have the first criterion as ‘must have three years’ work experience’. Why do we do that? Either it’s entry level or it’s not.”
“Must be ready to hit the ground running” is another gotcha. Gates points out that when employers hire a young person or career changer, they are not hiring the finished article, they are investing in potential.
“A young person will not hit the ground running, so acknowledge that there is some learning.
“Some of that will be about workplace norms, some of it will be about skills, but what a phenomenal investment to make for your business if you can grow that person.”
Chris Yu, CEO of Hamilton technology company Torutek, says he accepts that the graduates he hires won’t know everything they need to work in his business. “It’s about attitude more than knowledge. We can teach them [knowledge]; you don’t expect them to come with it. We know they have the right attitude, probably have the same beliefs – they believe in our culture.
“It’s important that they believe in our product as well. It means they’re as passionate as we are about it and that gets translated to customers.”
Making connections
Another way employers can help themselves is to appear at career expos (which are very different from the evenings parents might remember from their school days). Auckland, in particular, has strong regional expos. One held in South Auckland in June attracted more than 80 exhibitors and 5000 students. “There are quality conversations at these expos, despite their scale,” says Gates. “It’s not a sales pitch, and employers aren’t there recruiting but because they’re looking at workforce development and going, ‘We’re not doing a good enough job telling the story about our industry.’”
If a company can’t make it to an expo, it can visit a school or tertiary provider directly. Torutek has developed a close connection with the University of Waikato. Yu and his business partners studied there, and Torutek sponsors a scholarship.
“We make sure we have talent coming through,” Yu says. “We give them internship opportunities, we offer them opportunities to stay full-time. All these things help us to grow in the long term.”
Gates simply advises businesses to get involved. “Put your hand up to the local high school careers adviser and say you’re happy to let someone do work experience or come for a site visit; you’re happy to be a guest speaker. It’ll be a little rough around the edges, because work is a different environment to school, but as long as you’ve got someone who wants to learn and grow with your organisation, you’ve got gold there.”
Richard Betts is a freelance writer. In a previous life, he worked for Career Services Rapuara, the forerunner of Careers NZ.
