Graduate employment: The ultimate game of cat and mouse

PHOTO: By Caftos on Unsplash

Ah yes, the good ‘ol New Zealand job market.

Seems like it is all we hear about these days, and not in a good way. Everywhere you look are cries of unemployment, creative industries being condensed and fears of AI posing major threat to working roles in society.

Constant negative rhetoric can be daunting for us students, especially for those at the business end of their degrees, who have half a mind thinking ‘how the hell am I going to get a job?’

Unfortunately, there seems to be no simple answer.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all path into the workforce after university. Each graduate’s journey will depend on their goals, strengths, and experiences,” UC’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Catherine Moran said.

“There are several common pathways that graduates take into employment, and these depend on a student’s field of study, strengths, interests, and experience.”

In my personal experience, that couldn’t be truer. Watching friends and colleagues alike attain jobs (whether those fields be similar or not), the thing that stands out is the lack of a ‘standard’ or ‘tried-and-trusted’ roadmap.

A lot of it, however, boils down to 1.) having a high-level skill set in your chosen craft and 2.) knowing how to showcase it to the right people.

That’s where the dreaded terms ‘networking’ and ‘connections’ kick in.

Moran told Canta that working internships, volunteering and part-time/casual employment are a common path graduates take to gain full-time employment. Moreover, she said utilising those networks and connections is another potentially fruitful gateway.

Given Aotearoa’s population, or lack thereof, cementing those networks is important, especially in our hyper-technologically connected world.

You probably already have a pretty good idea of this, because I can’t be the only one who finds it almost shockingly easy to find mutuals with people my age up and down the country.

Leading New Zealand recruitment agency Robert Walters thinks as much. They stress on their website that small things can lead to employment in our inter-connected country. Whether it’s having a polished LinkedIn, keeping in touch with already established networks or leaning on personal connections, at the end of the day, it’s going to help.

Like the saying goes, there’s always two sides of a coin. If you feel like you’re falling behind or stressing you don’t have enough connections to play the silly little game of ‘it’s not what you know – it’s who you know’, remember this. It’s a quality thing, not quantity.

“While building relationships and networks within an industry can be valuable, it's just one part of the employment journey,” Moran said.

“To make those connections meaningful, graduates also need to demonstrate competence, reliability, and a strong professional reputation.”

Obviously, you have to put in the work to lock down a job post-uni – that’s just part and parcel of the deal. But you don’t have to be a LinkedIn warrior going on crazy missions quick adding everyone and their dog either.

Rather, back your skills, be confident that you’re the person for the job, and genuinely try to take every opportunity that comes your way, even if you don’t think you’ve got a shot (that’s how I got this job).

It only takes one door, so get your foot in as many as you can.