I find it quite remarkable that overseas companies are much more willing to pay a premium for quality staff than NZ based companies are. I guess their business model is based around a much higher pay rate.
Still, embarrassing for the local companies.
I hire about 10 seasonal staff each summer for about 5 months. they are just casual labour but we still offer the living wage to unskilled people just out of school ($28.95, so I guess this is what Ikia are offering).
I had maybe 200 applicants:
- over 50% were from oversease
- of the next 50 odd % couldn’t bother to write a cover letter of not have a generic CV (often still with some default form stuff in it)
- about 50% of the rest were at the other end of the country and couldn’t make it on site for an interview
That leaves bugger all to choose from.
I think over $29 for staff that you are planning to sink training $ on and have stick around is probably a fair call
Shit, I think I’m under paid for the hours I put in on salary and the shit I have to do
I mean, expecting a customized cover letter for a seasonal summer position seems a little much… At least without more context.
It sounds insane, especially for what they refer to as “casual labor”.
Not to mention expecting an in-person interview for that job, for someone across the country. Maybe they’re looking at moving and trying to get work setup before making that move? A guaranteed 5 month seasonal job is enough to plan around.
It comes off as very out of touch when you know people are fatigued by having to send hundreds, if not thousands, of copies of their CV because the job market is absolutely broken. This doesn’t help anyone.
Why the hell do you want a cover letter from seasonal staff? That just sounds like a pointless power play on your part.
Maybe there are a lot of out of work PhD’s applying. That’s why a curriculum vitae instead of a simple online application. /s
I like it when cv:s are in default form. They are fast to look trough. If you want to stand out and show your character, show it in your message or better yet in the portfolio.
