Applications to join Western Bay police have tripled on the back of the economic downturn as workers, many of whom have been made redundant, turn to retrain in recession-proof jobs.
The clamour to join the police has occurred without advertising and is being seen as a reflection of "hard times".
The surge of interest has resulted in the waiting time for new recruits to work in the Western Bay rising from 18 months to three years.
And while joining the police is proving an appealing option for some unsure of their future, careers advisers and industry leaders have identified jobs people should focus on for employment security.
Teachers, particularly those in the early childhood sector, plus nurses, midwives, doctors, and IT engineers are being suggested as the jobs to go for in the current employment climate.
One Tauranga Hospital nurse told the Bay of Plenty Times his profession was "untouchable".
And a technology and graphics teacher at Otumoetai College said his job was "very recession proof".
In contrast one plumber said his working week had slowed from about 45 hours a week to 30 hours.
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic careers adviser Nick Ball said more people, many of whom had been made redundant in their 40s, were looking to retrain.
Mr Ball has had 13 years' experience working as a careers adviser in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
He said the number of students asking him to foresee the upcoming job market was growing.
More people were looking to retrain and wanted something "with the best guarantee".
Mr Ball said his advice was, the longer students could study, the better, as qualifications spoke volumes.
He cautioned, however, that it would be idealistic to say some jobs were safe from the recession.
Despite a surge in the number of Bay of Plenty nursing graduates, and a continued 100 per cent employment rate, there was nothing to say the Government wasn't going to take an axe to DHBs.
"It [careers advice] is about trying to make an educated guess and minimising risk," Mr Ball said.
Chief operating officer of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Graham Dyer, believed it was unlikely a recession would cause unemployment among nurses, midwives or doctors working in the public health sector.
"Historical evidence suggests that demand for free health care increases during tough times.
"And the government is committed to providing this to New Zealanders," he said.
Police recruitment officer for the Western Bay of Plenty, Senior Constable Loyd Buckley, said the surge in police applications had come from people who had lost their jobs and were looking for an alternative.
The applicants were highly qualified and skilled, Mr Buckley said.
However, while waiting lists were growing, the result was a double-edged sword, he believed.
"The belts have tightened within the Government and there are far fewer placements. They have now got to sit and wait for positions."
He said there was virtually no waiting time to work in Auckland and the influx of interest in policing had swamped him in paperwork.
Seventeen Bay people were waiting to go to Royal New Zealand Police College and 12 would be ready to go by August.
Up to 60 were going through the process.
Acting director for the centre for teacher education at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, Bev Cooper, said teaching was recession proof but by no means a job you could just "drift into".
Wannabe teachers were carefully selected, and had to prove they were passionate about the job.
The recession had been good for tertiary institutes in that it had probably pushed some people who had always wanted to study, into actually doing it, she said.
Ms Cooper said teaching jobs were readily available if teachers were prepared to move around the country.
According to the Ministry of Education, there are 2000 untrained teachers in New Zealand on limited teaching licences.
The biggest shortage of teachers was in the early childhood sector.
Ms Cooper said with a lot of teachers currently reaching retirement age in New Zealand more jobs were also likely to become available.
When it comes to roading engineers, jobs are plentiful for the well qualified and well experienced.
Taurang a City Council transportation operations manager Martin Parkes, said in the past it had proved difficult to find the right people with the right level of experience.
The last time council recruited was two years ago, and it had had to look overseas to fill one of two available positions.
Many New Zealand engineers were heading to Australia or the United Kingdom where salaries were higher, Mr Parkes said.
However, the Government's investment in the Tauranga Central Corridor and Eastern Motorway projects had provided even more security.
Co-owner of IT business CodeBlue Bay of Plenty David Hodge, said IT engineers were in demand to keep old gear going.
"Even during hard times [people] are looking at improving their current systems so they are more efficient."
Businesses were more reliant these days on IT and maintaining their equipment was crucial, he said.
Mr Hodge said when the economy improved, there would undoubtedly be a rush to upgrade hardware, software and networks - so the demand for engineers was likely to get even bigger.
Bay of Plenty chairman of Federated Farmers dairy section, John Scrimgeour, said dairy farming was recession proof in the sense that no matter what cows still had to be milked and farm work still had to go on.
Tough times meant some farm maintenance jobs might be delayed but generally, things just went in productive order.
President of the Bay of Plenty/ Coromandel Master Plumbers and owner of Bay Gas Limited Peter Warren, said plumbing was relatively recession proof, but there had been a definite drop in work.
He had had to drop one staff member down from fulltime, to part-time work.
Work was also getting more competitive.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Tim Burgess, said an increase in domestic visitors and a record cruise ship season had resulted in a bumper summer for the local tourism industry, but the "unfortunate nature of the industry" meant it was uncertain what winter would bring.
"It is a largely seasonal industry [in the Bay] and a lot of local companies will be contracting and not employing the casual staff," he said.
Associate Professor Dr Stuart Locke of the University of Waikato's management school advised that anyone who had a relatively secure job should stick with it instead of changing careers.
"It's not the time to do anything drastic in terms of career ... unless you've won Lotto, or own your own home and are mortgage free."
Dr Locke said until there was a clearer indication of just "how deep" the recession would go in New Zealand, it paid to be cautious.
"I see no positive turnaround in the next 12 months," he said.
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