Who we are
Careers New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Education Act 1989, and governed by a board that reports to the Minister of Education, Hon Hekia Parata. Our funding comes from Vote Education.
Careers New Zealand’s vision, strategic goal and values
Our vision
Mana rapuara Aotearoa – leading careers in New Zealand.
Our strategic goal
An excellent careers system effectively connecting education and training with employment.
Our values
- Manaaki ki te tangata (Looking after our people) – We’re respectful, generous, kind and understanding, valuing people, relationships and diversity. This is demonstrated through our integrity and reciprocity. We encourage and support people to achieve their career aspirations. We’re sincere without being too earnest. We learn from each other and we share best practice. We’re really good hosts and we like paying it forward.
- Mana rangatiratanga (Leadership and accountability) – We’re strong, confident and resilient, valuing personal self-determination that gives us choice and autonomy. We help people determine who they want to be, career-wise. Walking tall and having the freedom to choose is important to us. We think, act and do, providing good leadership to those who want and need it. We are accountable to individuals, families, communities and employers of New Zealand.
- Whanaungatanga (Relationships) – We are the Careers New Zealand whānau, one team that values loyalty to each other. We connect people to suitable education and employment pathways and networks. We’re inherently curious and inclusive, learning from each other. We value sharing, bonding and listening. We respect diversity and old-fashioned principles of give and take. We’re pretty sharp at finding links to connect with others and we’re anything but transactional. We’ll never treat people like numbers.
What we do
At Careers New Zealand we define a career as being ‘the sequence and variety of work roles – paid and unpaid – that someone has over a lifetime’. Everyone has a career.
Our role is to improve connections between education and employment, by using our expertise to support organisations and New Zealanders so they are making informed choices about their future employment.
We develop the capability of people in organisations who influence others, using our information and tools to provide careers support to their children, learners, clients and staff. Organisations we work with include career professionals, schools and tertiary organisations, community groups, businesses and local government, welfare and support agencies who influence the career choices of others.
Who we work with
We work in partnership with central and local government agencies, schools, tertiary providers, community-based organisations, industry and businesses, influencer groups, Māori organisations and iwi.
Government
We operate across the education, labour market and social development sectors, and work closely with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Ministry of Social Development, Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, and other government agencies on actions and policies where a career component is important.
A key strength is our ability to translate data from across government into user-friendly, relevant tools that help New Zealanders plan their careers.
Community
As experts in the careers field, much of our work is in the community, where we develop the expertise of schools, tertiary educators and other organisations in their careers work with learners, graduates and job seekers.
We work with industry and the business sector to ensure the supply of skilled workers is closely matched to labour market needs. Our online resources for employers help them to retain and develop their workforce through career development.
Direct services to New Zealanders
All New Zealanders can access the free information, resources and support we offer through our website, and by contacting the team of professional career advisers in our contact centre.
Our web team designs and develops information and self-help resources to help young New Zealanders make smart choices, and create successful futures for themselves. What you see on the website has been fully tested by a range of people who are representative of the users of our website.
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