Chicken & Egg
Contrary to the image, this isn’t a post about poultry - instead it is about the very real conundrum that potential migrants face when trying to secure a job in New Zealand - you need a job to secure a Work Visa, but many employers want you to have the Work Visa before giving you the job - you can decide which of those is the chicken or the egg.
This circular problem has been around for as long as we have labour market tested Visas and it creates more headaches for would-be migrants than potentially any other part of the process. The problem most commonly surfaces online, when employer advertise vacancies and almost by default the job search platform they are using, will add in questions that refer to the potential applicants right to work in New Zealand. In my view, that was a bit short-sighted on behalf of the advertising platforms, given how critical offshore talent is to New Zealand right now.
So why do employers not understand this conundrum and do something about it? That is a very good question, particularly at the moment when those same employers are often shouting the loudest in regard to the lack of good talent in the local market. There are in fact many reasons and most of them have nothing to do with employers not wanting to consider migrants in the recruitment process.
For some employers it is simply a lack of knowledge - if you dont deal with the Visa process everyday, it's not hard to get a bit lost in how this all works. I have spoken to several employers over the years who would happily take on a migrant, but are under the impression that the Work Visa comes first - it doesn’t. For the vast majority of migrant job-seekers a job is required to even lodge the Work Visa application.