Five Tauranga local school leavers will head off to tertiary study with a welcome financial boost, thanks to a suite of scholarships from local company Ryan+Alexander. The Tauranga recruitment agency launched the scholarships today to mark five years in business. Co-director Bernadette Ryan-Hopkins says the Tauranga community has supported Ryan+Alexander to thrive, and it’s gratifying to be able to pay forward that support to five hard-working, motivated school-leavers. “This is our way of saying thank you to Tauranga for all the support this city has shown our business across our first five ..read more

Covid-19 has shaken the world in almost every way possible – and the available employee pool in New Zealand is no exception. What was once a relatively standard select and fit process for employers looking for new people, has changed. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently announced our borders would remain closed to most of the world for 12 months, perhaps longer. The ripples will be felt for up to five years. Even then the world will likely need to adapt to a ‘new normal’. The drastic drop in backpackers and shortage of RSEs has hit orchards, vineyards and vegetable growers across New Zeala ..read more

I work fulltime, and yet I get to pick my kids up from school at least two days a week.  I work most of my week in the buzz of our Grey St office and the balance of it in the silence of home. My home days change according to what’s happening at work (client meetings) or with my family (school sports days).  This isn’t everyone’s idea of a dream scenario, but it works for me, our office, and my family. I work hard to make sure I’m exceeding all expectations at work because I’m grateful for this flexibility. It means my children have two afternoons a week when they’re not in childcare ..read more

This month, a survey came out which validated what many of us have known for some time: housing in Tauranga is crazy expensive. In fact, Tauranga is now the least affordable place to buy a home in New Zealand – and among the least affordable in the world. The latest instalment of the comprehensive Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey listed a sample of 293 cities worldwide in order of most affordable to least. Tauranga came in at 282; just 12 places from the bottom. There are two elements which combine to measure affordability: house price and income. The survey covered ..read more

  It’s Christmas Party season and we’ve noticed a difference in the soiree schedule this year. The old early knock-off and generous bar tab seems to be right out of vogue. More and more companies are planning active adventures to celebrate the end of a productive year. One Tauranga company took its whole team down near Taumarunui for two days, booked in to a catered lodge, and cycled the Pureora Timber Trail. The team had been training together and, thanks to the magic of electric bikes, every staff member was able to take part. A builder we know is taking a team of 20 on a fishing chart ..read more

We all know attracting talent to the regions should be a cinch, but often candidates in big cities can’t see past the sizeable drop in income they will likely have to wear. I spoke about this recently at a meeting of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Consultant Surveyors. This group, made up of the owners and directors of surveying companies in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, face the same struggles as many other industries in luring talent from a small nationwide pool. I’m not a specialist surveying or engineering recruiter. What I am however is a specialist regional recruiter. Recruiting in the regio ..read more

I know all about job-hunting in Tauranga – a couple of months ago, I was doing it myself. One of my first tasks was to send my CV to Ryan + Alexander in case they had any HR or recruitment positions around town – within a week, they’d offered me a fulltime job. I’m so grateful but I’m also well aware the stars don’t always so easily align. I’m learning very quickly about the peculiarities of the local job market and it seems, depending on your industry and level of experience, professional jobs in the Bay of Plenty can be scarce. The pay on offer is generally 15 percent less than the equivale ..read more

As a kid growing up on a dairy farm in the Waikato, the National Fieldays at Mystery Creek was a Seriously Big Deal. We talked about it for weeks and farmers would save up any big machinery purchases for the Fieldays sales. There was a giddy pleasure in traipsing through the mud towards the tractor racing, collecting plastic bags full of pamphlets and sniffing out the free sausage sizzles. I was always intrigued by the inventions, and that hasn’t changed. This year’s Fieldays starts June 14 and some of our clients will be going public with amazing creations aimed at making life easier and more ..read more

You’re a Marketing Manager in Auckland, and you’re applying for a Marketing Manager’s job in Tauranga. It’ll be exactly the same kind of job, right? Similar support, similar focus, similar outputs. Um, no. One of the most significant differences that I have observed between the regions and the main centres for Senior Executives and middle management is the requirement to do more operationally. Limits on headcount and budget are apparent and thus, those who are used to having a large team, find themselves doing more of their own analysis, report writing, or hands-on people management. This does ..read more

This week a year ago, Ryan + Alexander recruitment agency was born. We met potential corporate clients, worked our networks to track down top talent to place in great roles, ferreted away on our website copy – and held our breath. We knew we had the skills, a clear niche and, economically, the timing felt good. But you just never know, do you? In fact, Sydney’s University of Technology reports that one in three businesses fail in their first year. New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says roughly a quarter of all small businesses die within three years. Other reports h ..read more