Health's where the jobs are

Northland's unemployment rate may be the country's highest but there's hope for northern job hunters yet, with the number of jobs advertised online increasing 38 per cent.
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand show Northland had an unemployment rate of 9.8 per cent in the March quarter, the highest regional rate in New Zealand and well above the national rate of 6.6 per cent.
Northland's unemployment rate is at its highest point since 2003 but things could be about to get better.
Information received from Trade Me Jobs show the number of Northland jobs listed on the site during the June quarter has risen a whopping 38 per cent since the same period last year.
This compares to a national increase of 27 per cent.
Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford said much of Northland's growth can be attributed to the healthcare sector and a number of large infrastructure projects.
"The majority of jobs advertised in the Northland region sit in the healthcare, trades and services and engineering categories.
"There was an increase in advertised jobs in each category by 1 per cent, 63 per cent and 80 per cent respectively," Mr Ford said.
The overall the outlook is pretty rosy for job hunters, he said.
"We expect unemployment to drop and demand to increase for roles where it's proving harder to attract candidates, ie, IT specialists, environmental and building services engineers and senior marketing and communications managers.
"This will mean employers will be forced to offer higher wages to keep their best and brightest."
Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tony Collins said: "Within the labour market there's demand within certain areas but not others.
"Some areas, there's a real shortage of supply, particularly at upper level management but, in the wider workforce, there probably isn't the same demand."
Bronwyn Ronayne, of People Potential, said people had to really want a job and to put themselves out there.
"Definitely, I think it's tougher but you must put your mind and be willing to do anything; do something that stands out from the pack."
She said people should even work for free for a specified period.
Without a formal qualification, Northlander Josie Cook secured work as a relief administrator - her third job in nearly a decade.
The 29-year-old from Moerewa admits the job market, particularly in Northland, is tough, but says people must believe in themselves and there's always someone waiting to offer help.
After working on a part-time, casual basis at Bank of New Zealand for six and a half years, she is filling in as maternity cover at Bay of Islands Hospital for a year.
Three months into her role as relief administrator, where she performs mostly clerical duties, Ms Cook wants to stay beyond her contracted term and possibly pursue health-related studies.
Her mother worked as a nurse in the same hospital so she thought she'd give it a go.
"I was very lucky but, in saying that, I work hard, I put 110 per cent in whatever I do," she said.
Her message to job hunters is to go and find one and to never give up.
She spent six months looking for one after leaving the bank.
Northland District Health Board director of Nursing and Midwifery, Margareth Brood-koorn, said Ms Cook had a "can do" attitude that would help her in the long run.
She said frequent vacancies in nursing and midwifery were averaging between 50 and 60 applications.
Twenty five positions are advertised monthly and the yearly turnover of staff is 10 per cent.
"In the longer term," Ms Brood-koorn said, "we'll need more people and the demand for health professionals now and in future will get greater."
 
TRADE ME JOBS
As of yesterday, Trade Me had 173 jobs listed for the Northland region, 124 of which were in Whangarei.
Forty-one jobs were listed in the Far North, with seven in Kaipara and one in Maungatapere.
Healthcare was the category showing the highest number of jobs (41), with retail (20), trades and services (17), and sales (17) also showing high numbers of jobs.