The first thing they asked; “Do you have local experience?” When I said, “No.” that was it, it was done.
Many people come to New Zealand with experience and qualifications in IT, but instead of walking into a job as expected, they are shocked to discover they can’t even get an interview!
We have seen people with over 20 years experience, people with a Ph.D. and even people who have started their own software companies in their home countries come to New Zealand and have trouble finding a job.
The reason is simple; they lack local experience.
Fortunately that is something that Industry Connect can help with.
Kriska is the perfect example of success
Kriska’s story is a great example of how someone coming from overseas can flourish in New Zealand with a little help.
Back in India she had seven years of experience working in software development, but once she came to New Zealand, she couldn’t find a job.
“Let me tell you, local experience is really, really important.” She told us. “Just after I moved here, I applied for so many jobs. When I got that phone call, the first thing they asked, “Do you have the local experience?” Then I said, “No.” Then, it’s done. It was really painful.”
With no luck finding a job, Kriska started to look at other options.
“Just after that, I searched the Internet and I found Industry Connect.”
“After watching the videos and reading the blog, I thought, why shouldn’t I go for it?”
“So I joined the Industry Connect, and it was really good, and it’s really helped me to improve my front end experience as well, because previously I had mostly back end experience.”
“It was through Industry Connect I started to understand how the New Zealand industry works, and how the companies work here.”
We helped her secure a job as a software developer
It was the skills and knowledge that Kriska learnt through us that helped her land her new job.
“I think that local experience is really important, because we can go to the interviews without fear, and talk and tell them that we have this experience and explain what we have done, and that we know how New Zealand works, and all this stuff.”
So would Kriska recommend Industry Connect?
“Absolutely I would, yes. I am an example of how well they work because I had a really hard time finding a job, but after joining Industry Connect I got lots of experience and I was able to talk to the people outside of my own country. Industry Connect helped me a lot.
Gain invaluable local experience with our help
No matter how much experience you have back in your native country, Kiwi employers only want people with local experience. But don’t worry, we can help you get it!
Here is her video interivew
To find out how, join us for our next online information session.
Juanita Strydom, the General Manager of Industry Connect, will be online on Wednesday evenings, 7:00 pm NZ time, 5.00pm Australia Eastern Standard time and 8:00am UK time.
Joining her will be the Industry Connect team members, as well as the owners of successful software companies, all of whom are ready to answer any questions you may have.
The gang will explain who we are, what our programmes are, and how you can join us.
To secure your seat in the info interview session, simply click here and fill out the form and we’ll be in touch to confirm your invitation!
Not having local experience shouldn’t stop you from a career in software development!
What is Industry Connect?
We have been helping career changers, recent IT graduates and people with career gap to start their IT/software careers.
Over the years, we have helped hundreds kick-start an IT/software career. (Verifiable evidences are available on this website)
OUR CORE
We are an innovative software training school backed by global/local software companies. Our ecosystem is an incubation process that supports our participants until they launch a tech career.
OUR PROGRAMMES
Our Job-Ready training programmes focus on,
- Software Development
- Business Intelligence (or Data Analyst)
- Test Analyst
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
- Six Weeks Training Classes (Practical Tech Skills)
- Three Months (or more) Structured Internship on Large Commercial-Scale Projects (Learning enhanced, flexible Hours)
- Employer Network (job analysis and internal referral if goals are met)
You can join us via Zoom (live face-to-face meeting) remotely from anywhere and "download" the valuable knowledge & experiences from our tech experts across different tech centres.
Watch 300+ Stories of Career Starters in IT/Software
Click the image to watch those who changed their careers to IT, had gap years and recent IT graduates.
