Congratulations to the Skilled Migrants, who attended their graduation ceremony last night! As The Johnson Group’s migrant co-ordinator, I felt extremely proud to attend. The hard work of the students has really paid off, and out of the eleven graduates, six have already received offers of either contract, fixed term or permanent employment.

The Skilled Migrant Programme is an intensive workplace communication skills development programme, run by Victoria University of Wellington, for underemployed or unemployed skilled migrants. It helps Migrants gain the skills necessary to succeed in New Zealand’s workforce. A central part of the programme is a six week unpaid internship with a local Wellington employer.

This Migrant intake included highly-qualified professionals in the fields of Accounting, Finance Administration, HR, Engineering, Mechatronics and IT Development and Testing.

Since the start of this intake, I have received some excellent feedback from the employers who took on Migrants for internships. Getting extra hands on board had really helped many of the organisations to catch up on work, and the Migrants themselves were easy to work with—highly skilled, thorough and detailed, and able to work unattended. One employer commented to me that their migrant intern was extremely proactive, and was always looking for more work to do!

The Johnson Group, together with Victoria University of Wellington, would like to publically recognise the employers who took on migrants for internships, and their amazing work:

• Department of Conservation
• Holiday Inn – Intercontinental Hotels Group
• Horowhenua District Council
• NZ Post
• Porirua City Council
• Royal NZ College of General Practitioners
• Standards NZ
• Statistics NZ
• Wellington Zoo Trust
• Whitereia Community Polytechnic

Thank you so much for your dedication and support of the programme!

Our next intake for the Workplace Communication Programme, fondly known as the Skilled Migrant Programme, begins in July. Organisations who take in a Skilled Migrant immediately benefit from having an unpaid intern for six weeks—a very obvious contribution to productivity.

If you are interested in getting an extra pair of hands on board for a project, or just need someone else around the office, please contact me directly – Pia Penaranda on 04 473 6699 or pia@thejohnsongroup.co.nz.

Warmest regards
Pia Penaranda