The new Job Club Bay of Islands Mid Northland is helping residents of all walks of life find work. Photo / Jenny Ling
The new Job Club Bay of Islands Mid Northland is helping residents of all walks of life find work. Photo / Jenny Ling
A new job club has started in Kerikeri to help the unemployed find purposeful work. Reporter Jenny Ling went along to a session to see what it's all about.
If there's anyone who understands the kind of despair that goes with losing your job and the battle to find work,it's Nikki Simmonds.
The 55-year-old Kerikeri resident and her partner Greg Spark have lost a handful of jobs over the past few years, most recently in February when the company they were working for underwent a restructure.
The couple have started a job club to help other residents going through the same thing, along with a recruitment agency, a social enterprise that helps Northland businesses find and retain good workers.
Job Club Bay of Islands Mid Northland launched a month ago, initially in a shed at a friend's property, and now at Kingston House in Kerikeri every Friday.
Spark has been an operations manager for various industries including security and plumbing while Simmonds has a background in pastoral care, and facilitating business and literacy courses in the workplace.
For a small koha, they help people brush up on their interviewing skills, write their CVs, and discuss references, goal setting, and what jobs are available.
The couple will also act as referees for the right job seekers, and for those wanting to start their own business, will point them in the right direction.
Simmonds and Spark will also put job seekers in touch with employers they know.
"It's a safe space for people to come and they're all in the same boat," Simmonds said. "They're all looking for work and need support in some way.
"If you get support and get people who care it makes it easier to apply for things you usually wouldn't apply for.
"People think they can only work as a checkout person or in the orchards, but they can do so much more.
"But the longer you've been out of work for one reason or another you start to lose that."
Friends Adrian Mooney and Karle Mason are stoked to have found new jobs thanks to the job club. Photo / Jenny Ling
So far, the job club has proved successful for two friends from the Far North.
Karle Mason, from Wainui Bay, was working at an avocado farm from January to March until work dried up.
Before that, the 26-year-old was "on and off" at a kiwifruit orchard for a year, and has also been employed as a security guard.
Each time the seasonal work ends he has to go on the benefit to survive.
He is stoked to have found a stable job through the club; a permanent full-time role weed spraying around the region.
His friend Adrian Mooney, from Matauri Bay, who began attending the club at the same time, landed a job with the same company.
Mooney was a caretaker at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Whangaroa for several years part-time, and a bus driver for nearly a decade before that.
He wanted more hours and something different. Both men are grateful for the opportunity.
"The programme works, it's a really positive thing for those looking for employment," Mooney said.
"Coming here it's good because it's a more relaxed environment.
"If anyone is looking for a job, this programme is the one. But you have to have a good attitude."
Nikki Simmonds is passionate about helping people with interviewing techniques, CV writing, and goal setting to find the right job. Photo / Jenny Ling
The average unemployment rate in Northland is sitting at 5 per cent in the year to March, according to Infometrics.
That's compared to the rest of New Zealand which has an annual average unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.
Frank Yukich from Moerewa is searching for a stable job after three decades working at Affco followed by several years of contracting work fencing, concreting and building.
The 57-year-old has applied for several jobs lately and hopes the job club can help him start a new chapter in his life.
He has lots of experience and skills to offer.
"It's hard at the moment, it's been a long time without a job," Yukich said.
"I just want to go out and do something, I've been doing some fencing but that's not a stable job."
Job club attendees have been a real mixture, Simmonds said.
Some have been out of work several years, there are young people looking for their first job, women returning to the workforce, and people with criminal histories.
One of Simmonds' passions is finding work for inmates trying to make their way on the outside.
She became interested in this after a four-year stint teaching living skills, small business and team leadership at Northland Region Corrections Facility in Ngāwhā.
Greg Spark and Nikki Simmonds know what it's like to lose your job and the struggle to find a new one. Photo / supplied
"I know that once you get out of prison not many employers look at the great stuff you learned inside.
"I want to offer support for people coming out of prison and also people who want to realise their potential.
"We have had to apply for the benefit ourselves, albeit temporarily, and we know how hard and frustrating it is to be unemployed, especially the older you get or if you have gaps in your CV or a criminal history.
"This is about getting people together once a week to feel better about themselves and hopefully see them get jobs."
In the future, the couple want to offer budgeting advice, ask employers to the club to talk about different types of jobs, and hold drama workshops to help with role-playing and interview techniques.
Simmonds said having a vision is important while job hunting.
Her message is "don't give up".
"Take a good hard look at yourself and see what you have to offer. It's getting back that self-worth.
"When the going gets tough, you have to have something to look towards, and if you don't have it, we'll help you find it."
• Kerikeri Job Club every Friday at Kingston House, Hone Heke Rd, Kerikeri 10am-noon.
