How to find a job in three weeks

Rommel and Anna Gancenia, ex-Dubai residents, got a soft landing in New Zealand, because within three weeks of arriving here, both of them found good jobs in their line of work.

They lacked the obligatory New Zealand experience but the good advice of friends and their steely pursuit of goals paid off.

"We have to admit that our international work experience really helped us to land very good jobs in Auckland in a short period of time," says Anna Gancenia.

After three weeks of job search, we found jobs in our line of work. My husband who is an accountant by profession, got contractual work with a multinational company as finance assistant. In my case, I received excellent job offers from two big companies and ended up choosing the one offering a permanent fulltime position as Executive Assistant to the CEO. The other job offer was also permanent full time but fixed for one year only.

Our Filipino friends who were Ex-Dubai residents as well, were the greatest help on our arrival. They were the ones who informed us what to do first, where to get the right information, and how to access the appropriate government services. Without their assistance, we would be at a loss during our first two weeks in Auckland.

One of our friends not only provided us with temporary accommodation during our first week in Auckland, but also gave us moral support and practical tips on how to cope with the transition.

Another friend provided us with a list of job search websites and gave us tips on job hunting.

They also introduced us to other Filipinos in the community which eventually helped us build our network of friends and acquaintances.

During our first two weeks, most of those whom we met told us not to expect to get the same jobs that we used to have in Dubai.

They told us that almost all companies in New Zealand look for Kiwi experience when they hire, especially for office positions.

For us, it was not really a problem as we had already conditioned our minds to accept whatever jobs we could land in first.

We have one friend though who also came from Dubai who kept encouraging us that we can make it here even without Kiwi experience because she herself went through the same process last year and ended up getting a good-paying job in a multinational company.

So we just kept on applying to recruitment agencies and sent our CVs directly to companies who advertised in newspapers and websites.

"In the process, we also enrolled for a MYOB and NZ Taxation Course for new migrants to keep us abreast of the job market."

{ see link for this course on the home page }