Job Mentoring Service

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The Job Mentoring Service has just entered its 9th year as a support service to migrant job seekers from non-English speaking backgrounds.

With ongoing government funding and the commitment of trained volunteers, it has established itself as a significant employment-support agency in Wellington and achieved an excellent record of supporting migrants into employment in Wellington.

Over the past year, 50 volunteer job mentors have been dedicated to offering expert advice and support to 60 or so job seekers.

Those seeking work come from a broad range of skill fields from IT to film photography, finance and banking to education and law.

Over half these job seekers have a Masters degree or Doctorate and many are fluent in two, three or four languages other than English. They have undisputed knowledge, skills and work experience. They are eager to make a useful and significant contribution to their new society.

It's encouraging to read in recent research by the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development that 91% of employers agree that new migrants make an important contribution to New Zealand and 80% of employers believe they add positively to social diversity here. Our challenge is to prepare these job seekers to enter a New Zealand work environment and present themselves in a way that maximizes their skills, experience and attributes to a potential employer. Our mentors commit themselves to this key support role with enthusiasm and expertise - and with a high rate of success. With their help, over 30 job seekers found meaningful employment in the past year.

A job seeker recently shared his success:

"I have good news about a 12-month position at ... I am so grateful for all you have done and especially my mentor to help me. I found the advice and ideas about applying for roles here very useful, especially a website that my mentor recommended with behavioural interview questions. I will keep in touch and possibly return to speak about my experience to a Network Night gathering in a month or so."