New Zealand: the place where talent wants to live

This was the title of Sir Paul Callaghan’s talk for the Royal Society in 2011. It was an inspiring vision, a new way of thinking, and definitely worth the time to go deeper - links to the original, and a 2020 re-visit of the themes, are below.

At Summer of Tech, we work with Aotearoa’s emerging talent, and I can tell you, people studying and preparing for their first jobs want to live here. They want the opportunity to contribute to the tech sector, to apply their skills, to learn and grow.

We recently connected with Moananui, a cluster of “Blue Economy” businesses at the top of the South Island. Their driving force is “Tūpuna Pono” - to be good ancestors. Can you imagine the decisions we’d be making if all of Aotearoa had a 500 year intergenerational strategy?

Entry Level Tech Jobs in 2024

Enough with the big thinking, where are we today? In April 2024, Summer of Tech has more candidates than ever before. Our main focus is summer internships, but we have the biggest graduate candidate pool, ever. The talent is here. They want to live here. But where are the opportunities?

The job market is tough right now, at all levels. We’re hearing about public sector cuts, the economy is officially in recession (again), Australian corporates are still actively hiring NZ grads, and many larger organisations are cutting back staff (that one’s behind the NZ Herald paywall sorry, but you can get the gist from the headline).

It looks like 2024 is going to be another hard year for interns and graduates seeking their first job in Aotearoa.

Fact check

So, what is our data telling us about job prospects for the Summer of Tech Class of 2024?

More candidates in 2024

More graduates are seeking work

We’re seeing twice as many graduates as usual. Although we DO have some grad opportunities, we are best known for internships. Our assumption here is that they haven’t landed a grad role, and are considering internships as a foot in the door.

Fewer employers (so far)

A big caveat here, our programme is seasonal in nature, and April is very early to be thinking about summer interns. But if we compare year on year, we have the lowest number of employer registrations since 2018. Things can definitely change, and we are working hard to hustle more opportunities out of the woodwork. But the word from employers is that they’re not yet ready to commit to hiring with Summer of Tech in 2024.

Vibe check

Graphs are nice, but what are the people feeling? Are they showing up?

High candidate engagement

Apart from registrations and profile completion rates being sky high, we’re seeing excellent numbers at our free events. This does mean waiting lists with lots missing out on CV review as demand exceeds supply of volunteers willing to help out, but we’re working hard to engage our volunteers to help more - help is needed more than ever.

We are seeing 50-100 people at most of our technical bootcamps this year, and very fast turnaround times for candidates taking on feedback about CV and profile improvements.

Low employer engagement on campus (mostly)

Although we work with many different tertiary education providers, we’ve been doing the rounds of the large traditional university campus career fairs lately. The signals are not good.

At one campus, we were the only exhibitor willing to talk about internships, all the employers were there for grads, mostly promoting their 2025 intake.

At another, exhibitor numbers have decreased by 75%.

We hope that a lot of recruitment is happening under the radar, which is tough from an equity and inclusion perspective, but we know how overwhelming it can be to have hundreds of applications for a single position. We also know that there are more employers still getting ready for recruitment in 2024, and it’s early days.

So what?

Our goal in sharing this information is not to dishearten you or be pessimistic. We aim to be open and transparent with what we’re experiencing and expecting this year, to set expectations and let everyone know that Summer of Tech HAS tech talent, they want to live here… if you have the opportunities, we can find you some amazing, keen, motivated tech folks.

Call to action for industry!

So, we have the talent, they’re engaged and ready for work. The employment market is tough right now, especially for newbies. What can industry do to ensure we have a future?

If your team is facing shrinking headcount or worried about your own role, you have our sympathy. This sucks. Now is probably not the time to be hiring interns or grads, and we hope you’ll consider it when you’re in a more stable position, ready to invest in growth.

If you’re lucky enough to be setting up a new venture in this time of economic uncertainty - hooray! Startups are awesome, but most new entities need to get their product or service up and running before they have capacity to mentor and train interns and grads. If you do have an experienced team and lots of capital, hey, we can DEFINITELY help you hire a diverse team from day 1. Interns and grads bring new energy and ideas to startups, as long as they’re supported well you’ll get great value and grow together!

If your team has somehow dodged the recession/redundancy roller coaster, HOORAY! If you have empty seats or growth plans in 2024, please consider hiring at all levels. With any project, there are tasks suitable for newbies. The time it takes to mentor and train is usually paid back within a few weeks, and then you have a valuable team member ready to contribute and grow with you. We see successful teams with 10%-40% newbies. It’s all about how you structure the work and prioritise mentoring. Ready to register as an employer? Hooray!! Here’s the link to sign up.

If you aren’t hiring right now but have time to help out personally, we are always on the lookout for industry volunteers to help support our candidates. Maybe you can help review CV’s or conduct mock interviews? Maybe you have ideas to share in a blog or bootcamp? Get in touch about volunteering here.

Call to action for candidates!

If you’re a candidate seeking your first tech job, we aren’t trying to put you off, but we do want you to know what’s happening. Please know that it’s a tough market, and you’ll have to work hard to get a foot in the door. We meet so many talented, eager students and grads, and although it’s not much comfort, we can tell you that you DO have the skills, it’s not you, it’s the job market. We have free workshops and support to help you on the journey. Your toolkit to help you get a job includes:

• a compelling CV/profile/portfolio proving that you have the skills, knowledge and aptitude to succeed

• making connections with people working in industry

• researching and preparing

• practicing for conversations and job interviews

• having the time, energy and resources to keep applying, take feedback onboard and try try try again

When’s a good time to start preparing for your first job in tech? Now’s good. If you’re early in your study or nearing the end, the skills, evidence, connections and confidence you need to land that first job will take time to accumulate. We can help you put yourself in the best position to seize the opportunities when they appear. Our programme is free for candidates, including feedback, resources, online and in-person events, and connections to NZ’s most awesome, kind, generous and welcoming tech employers. More information for candidates is here.

Sources and extra reading:

• Here’s the full 49 minute video of Sir Paul Callaghan’s 2011 speech:

• Rowan Simpson revisited Callaghan’s data in 2020, and this essay makes compelling reading too.

• Moananui
  In 2019 local leaders in the Top of the South Island mapped an ambitious and visionary 500-year regional plan – the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy, which highlighted the importance of the ocean to regional wellbeing and prosperity. At its heart was Tūpuna Pono – To Be Good Ancestors.