#1. YA Professional Development Series
YA x Score the job is our third instalment in our Professional Development Series, coming up on the 14th of September!
You will have seen our previous two sessions; Financials Made Easy and Network Like A Pro, in which we covered financial statements and the NZ tax system, and the ins-and-outs of networking and presenting. Now we’re helping you become a recruitment professional, with advice on scoring a job!
Gearing up for recruitment season in early 2022, we want to offer you the tools and tips to be prepared to nail those job interviews.
Are you on the hunt for a job? Got questions about what the job market looks like, or how to be prepared and stand out from other candidates? Do you have industry specific questions, or are curious as to what you can do to improve your chances? Even if you’re more of a seasoned interviewee, you could still be looking to learn more about whether a job is the right fit for you, or which career progression path makes the most sense. Come along to our online webinar and find out!
Join Poncho Rivera-Pavon, the Graduate Professional and General Manager at NxtStep, New Zealand’s leading early talent career’s platform. Poncho has exposure to a wide range of industries and best practices in the market, and will be providing helpful tips and advice to set you up on your job hunting journey.
Whether you’re in first, second, third or heading into your sixth(!) year of University, our next webinar will get you prepared ahead of the coming year’s recruitment season, giving you the best tips and answering the questions you’ve always wanted to ask a recruiter.
Keep an eye out on our website to register for this FREE webinar on the 14th of September!
#2. Culture Desk: Good News Stories for Asian Communities
The aftermath of COVID-19 has not been kind to our Asian communities, in New Zealand, and around the world. This has been reflected by increases in racist remarks and attacks against the community. But in light of this, when I stumbled upon an uplifting news story from Humans of New York (HONY) about doing good for the community, I knew I had to share it.
Brandon, HONY’s creator, made a post on the 23rd of August, just days after we went back into Level 4 lockdown. It was a post about the two above-pictured Asian women who had begun helping a service organisation called Heart of Dinner, which is focused on providing the Asian elderly with food. The two women had starting using their own homes’ kitchens to cook for the service. They also wrote 'We are thinking of you' and 'We love you' in Mandarin on the boxes of food they delivered.
This story warmed our hearts because it showed that amidst this pandemic, there are still kind people going above and beyond to help their community. This is a reminder that while the pandemic is still ongoing, there are ways for us to help our communities to get through it. Anything goes a long way - even small gestures like saying hello, or giving a helping hand to organisations in need of extra support in any way.
You can read more about the HONY post here.
#3. Business Desk: The Chinese Market Live From Our Fingertips
It's no surprise that staying indoors due to lockdowns has resulted in many people getting their retail fix via e-commerce and online shopping. In China’s case, the e-commerce world sat at 397 million people in 2018, or roughly 43% of internet users in the country. Since then, the industry has ballooned by over 20% to 560 million users, or 62% of Chinese netizens.
Live streaming in China is expected to reach a value of over $1 Trillion USD, with over 700 million users! The top 3 categories making the making the online user base are split below:
- E-commerce and live streaming: 29.3%
- Gaming: 28.7%
- Live Sports: 23.5%
This represents an immense sea of untapped potential for New Zealand businesses, whose brands and products have great opportunities to reach a large and growing market. In 2019, Viya Huang (薇娅), one of China's top influencers, or KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders), visited New Zealand and hosted a live-stream in which she promoted NZ and Australian products to over 10 million of her followers. Throughout the stream, products were sold out to the tune of over $30m NZD, with the majority of purchases coming in the form of high-end consumer goods. Read more here.
A strong influencer strategy mixed with the right sales channels is an opportunity many NZ businesses should consider for market expansion. More recently, Zuru Edge has expanded its reach of Dose&Co into China through Alibaba's Tmall platform. Read more here.
For those who work in the NZ-China space or are looking at branching out their e-commerce potential, here are the top 5 trends to focus on while planning a livestreaming campaign targeted at the Chinese market.
#4. Opportunity: Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono - Internships and Leadership Network
Are you a recent graduate or a tertiary student finishing your studies soon? The Asia New Zealand Foundation's internships for the 2021-2022 summer period have opened the call for applications!
These are paid programmes, and are excellent opportunities for young people to gain hands-on work experience early in their career journeys. Followers of YA may be particularly interested in the Foundation’s China-related internships at United Media Solution, Eat the Kiwi, HK International Arbitration Centre, and NZ China Council. Please note that the majority of them will be virtual due to the global pandemic. Applications close September 6th - more info can be found here!
Additionally, the Asia New Zealand Foundation have recently begun calling for applicants for the 2022 intake of their Leadership Network. Fitting its name, the Leadership Network connects Aotearoa New Zealand's next generation of leaders and supports them in helping New Zealand's relationship with Asia thrive. We encourage our YA whānau to check this out and apply here by October 15th.