Tech capital of NZ recruiting talent

20 February 2017

Tech capital of NZ recruiting talent

LookSee Wellington, a new global talent search initiative that aims to address the city’s IT skills shortage and position the industry for further growth, is now accepting registrations from talented tech professionals from around the globe.

Since the LookSee Wellington portal went live last week, there have already been in excess of 26,000 unique visits to the site, and more than 5,000 registrations of interest from tech professionals worldwide, with a significant number of these from the US, UK and Singapore. A number of these candidates currently hold senior roles at major tech brands, including Facebook, Google and Amazon.

Interest is expected to escalate over coming days and weeks, as the campaign to promote the initiative to candidates gets fully underway.

LookSee Wellington will see 100 pre-screened IT professionals selected to come to Wellington, with their flights and accommodation paid for, for a series of pre-arranged job interviews with employers who have signed-up to be part of LookSee Wellington and have roles that match their skills.

David Jones, General Manager at Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA), says that given the fierce competition globally for talented tech professionals, we need to be creative in attracting attention.

“We know that once people have been here and seen what’s on offer, they are blown away. So LookSee Wellington is about giving IT professionals who might be open to moving to this side of the world a chance to come and have a ‘look-see’ before deciding to relocate, and without having to pay to get here to inform their decision-making.

“It’s also designed to make it easy for them to meet multiple employers – to make the best use of their time – and to get the chance to see and experience what else Wellington has to offer,” he says.

WREDA’s key partner in LookSee Wellington is Workhere New Zealand, which specialises in global talent attraction. They are supported by the New Zealand Immigration Service and NZTech, reflecting the urgent need to address Wellington’s IT shortage. Workhere New Zealand will help pre-screen candidates in collaboration with participating employers.

Open to all New Zealand businesses with tech operations in the Wellington region, there is no cost to employers to participate unless and until they make a hire as a result. The cost associated with a successful hire is a flat fee that is significantly lower than market rates for conventional recruitment agency selection for mid to senior-level IT professionals.

More than twenty five employers are already signed-up to participate in LookSee Wellington, including Xero, TradeMe and Weta Digital. Xero alone has more than 30 current vacancies, reflecting the skills shortage in Wellington. Other interested employers are encouraged to go to LookSee Wellington to register so that they can be part of this exciting initiative.

“Employers shouldn’t miss the opportunity LookSee Wellington presents to convince more of the world’s top tech talent to advance their careers here in Wellington,” said Mr Jones.

ENDS

Notes:

How LookSee Wellington works

·         LookSee Wellington is a collaborative talent attraction programme between WREDA and Workhere New Zealand, supported by Immigration New Zealand and NZTech.

·         Candidates simply go to the LookSee Wellington campaign site to register.

·         Candidates are pre-screened by Workhere New Zealand in collaboration with participating employers who nominate their preferred candidates for a place on the LookSee Wellington programme.

·         The 100 selected candidates travel to Wellington (with their flights and accommodation paid for) to spend four days doing interviews with prospective employers and getting out to see what makes the capital a great place to live, work and play.

·         Their visit will also coincide with TechWeek’17 in May, which showcases the thriving local tech industry.

·         Employers make job offers.

© Scoop Media