Job seekers say it’s not uncommon to be faced with hundreds of applicants in today’s market, with some employers hunger gameStyle tactics to pick winners.
RNZ reported on Friday that there are almost three times as many applicants per job advert compared to 2019.
Applicant Natalie said there were between 150 and 300 applicants each time, even for jobs that may not be anyone’s “dream” job.
“I know this because Seek emailed me these stats after the ad expired and I was surprised there was so much interest in such a basic role with an average to low salary.
“It’s incredibly disheartening to think, ‘Out of 300 people, there’s always someone better qualified than me.'”
She said employers clearly have the right to choose their candidates.
“Never in recent years have employers had such a wide range of candidates, many of whom were desperate, overqualified and willing to compromise on salary and flexibility… Because of this, we found that employers were slow to get in touch, creating an atmosphere of ‘you need me, but I don’t need you.'”
She was like, hunger gameSo her employer asked her to participate in a “group recruiting event” for two hours during work hours.
“I replied that I am currently working and cannot take time off so suddenly, and the response was, ‘Well, then you’ll miss your holiday.’ No alternative was offered.”
Kate applied for an in-house position similar to the one she had before she had children, but didn’t even make the final selection.
“I accepted but it’s disappointing because the public organisation I work for has a history of being tapped on the shoulder – 80 per cent male senior management, around 35 per cent kaimahi men – and I’d been waiting for this position to come up where I could use my experience.”
“I am disappointed that my internal experience has led to me being excluded from recruitment and I am concerned that recent redundancies and a competitive job market will primarily affect primary carers.”
Daniel said he applied for a policy job in Wellington and was shortlisted among 18 candidates.
“I’ve heard there were around 100 applicants. The problem is that the market can’t absorb the surplus staff because there are also cuts happening at the same time.”
“I know friends who are going to Auckland, but also a few who are going to Europe and Australia. New Zealand is going to lose a lot of very talented people over the next year or so, so I think we’re going to have a skills shortage in three to five years’ time.”
Hayley Pickard, founder of recruitment firm Fortitude Group, said she had seen a “skyrocketing” in applications.
There have been 255 applications for the plant worker position, 260 for the construction supervisor position and 60 applications already for the office manager position that opened for applications on Thursday.