# social work in new zealand



## solitaire (Dec 19, 2011)

Last year I joined new zealand social work recruitment which was taken over by Amicus Recruit. After several months of not even getting an interview I have now started applying direct to employers. Amicus have now gone out of business citing a downturn in the industry. Various sources on the internet seem to state that social workers are still highly in demand in New Zealand. Is anyone working out there at the moment as a social worker know a bit more about the current job situation? We were thinking about coming over to NZ around May time. One of us works in adult services and the other in childrens. We have 3 years and 1.5 years experience respectively.

Thanks,

Solitaire.


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## mackenzie (Dec 23, 2011)

Hi Solitaire,
Sorry I can't give you up to date information, I used to work as a SW in NZ but now working in Oz. If you are contacting health boards and CYFS then that's your best bet. There is definitely a demand there so I'm sure something will turn up although the economic situation has clearly reduced the number of advertised vacancies. Just a word of advice, try to find out what the pay scale is (NZ is not good at being transparent about salaries) and be prepared to negotiate as the cost of living is high compared to salaries. North Island pays more typically than South Island. 





solitaire said:


> Last year I joined new zealand social work recruitment which was taken over by Amicus Recruit. After several months of not even getting an interview I have now started applying direct to employers. Amicus have now gone out of business citing a downturn in the industry. Various sources on the internet seem to state that social workers are still highly in demand in New Zealand. Is anyone working out there at the moment as a social worker know a bit more about the current job situation? We were thinking about coming over to NZ around May time. One of us works in adult services and the other in childrens. We have 3 years and 1.5 years experience respectively.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Solitaire.


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