Students cautioned to be realistic about pursuing dream job amid pandemic turmoil

August 7, 2020

Thousands of students will be attending careers expos across New Zealand over the next few weeks.

Thousands of students will be attending careers expos over the next few weeks as they try to determine their plans after high school.

But with the job market worsening in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown and a number of popular industries struggling, students have been cautioned to be realistic about pursuing their dream job.

"For a lot of them it's about reassuring them that it's not all over - the time frames have changed, a lot of their short term goals might have to spread out to medium term - it's about being a bit more transferrable with the skillsets that they're building," New Zealand Careers Expo director Mark Gillard said.

Two of the industries upended by the pandemic have been tourism and aviation, with both sectors working to manage expectations.

"We can't go out there and say everything is like really, really going well for the tourism industry because there are a lot of things, you know, are not going well for us. We are struggling, and there are a lot of operators hurting. However we gotta make sure we don't stop feeding the pipeline of workers," Go With Tourism's Matt Stenton said.

L3Harris Airline Academy's Chantelle Pettigrew said the aviation industry will bounce back following the pandemic, calling it "a matter of when".

"There was such a massive pilot shortage when Covid hit and we feel like once the industry starts picking up that pilot shortage is going to be just as bad, if not probably worse," she said.

With the wage subsidy ending next month, the Government has warned looking for work could get tougher.

"We often hear that they should pursue their dreams but that doesn't neccessarily match what's out there in the workforce so it's about putting a reality check in place," Mr Gillard said.

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