CDES to Help More Māori and Pasifika Students Enter the Workforce
To help Māori and Pasifika students kickstart their careers, the Career Development Employability Services (CDES) team will be hosting career workshops as part of their Get Recruitment Ready Series inviting professionals from various industries to network and talk about their respective lines of work with Māori and Pasifika students
Job hunting can be hard. But the task can be even more difficult for Māori and Pasifika students and graduates who are expected to prove themselves more in order to stand out among other job candidates.
This has led to the underrepresentation of Maori and Pasifika in skilled professions
However, the landscape of careers is significantly changing as employers are recognising the importance of diversity, and are increasingly looking to grow their workforce by recruiting more Māori and Pasifika graduates.
“What we are hearing is that the demand [for Māori and Pasifika graduates] is there, but student feedback suggests there are challenges with the current Westernised recruitment models taking a ‘transactional approach’…which are not necessarily tailored with Māori and Pacific in mind”, Pepe Afeaki, CDES Team Lead Māori and Pacific, told Taumata Rau.
CDES’s Get Recruitment Ready programme aims to create a culturally safe space for Māori and Pasifika students to connect and kōrero with employers. It comprises a number of workshops, 1:1 career consultations, and employer networking opportunities in an effort to equip Māori and Pasifika students with the CV, cover letter, and interview skills to help them secure graduate roles. Afeaki says the programme aims to “bridge the gap between Māori and Pasifika students and employers.”
Over the next couple of months, CDES will be hosting workshops with organisations across the corporate and public sectors. The line-up includes some big names with the likes of the ‘Big 4’, also known as Deloitte, KPMG, PWC, and EY, as well as the Ministry of Education.
Afeaki encourages Māori and Pasifika students to get involved and attend the sessions, “[…] we believe it’s important for Māori and Pasifika to utilise our services to ensure we can support them to confidently navigate their journey from their time here at the University of Auckland into their future career.”
For more information about CDES’s Get Recruitment Ready sessions, visit this link: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/student-support/career-development-and-employability-services/cdes-events1/maori-pacific.html.