2018 Offers (a student guide)

Here’s some tips to make sure you’re ready for offers day, when employers can start sending offers out to their top candidates for paid summer internships!Getting an internship is competitive, as you can tell from our 2017 report we have more candidates than we have roles available. Right now (21 Sept 2018) we have 1,679 live candidate profiles.... and 256 open roles.  (Actually, we think that's pretty good odds, compared to applying for grad programmes and other internship roles out there in the world beyond Summer of Tech!)In spite of what you might hear about the tech talent shortage, entry level IT jobs are hard to land. Most companies are focused on hiring seniors, and it's our MISSION to help them "grow their own talent" after all, where do seniors come from???Here's your guide to the offers process for our 2018 summer internship programmes (including Summer of Tech, Summer of Biz and Tupu Tek):

Offers Timeline

• Offers will OPEN at 10am on 3 October 2018.
• You could receive an offer for an internship anytime AFTER that.
• Usually, 90% of our roles offered and accepted on Offers Day. If a role has been filled, you will see that information on the jobs page.
• Usually, the 10% that are not filled on the day, either remain unfilled or are filled within 1 week. If a role has not been filled, you will see that it's still live.
• Before then, employers will be running their selection process, which will be different, depending on their preferences. Most will have interviews. Some will have technical tests, social catchups, assessment centres, psychometric tests... anything that you'd usually expect from a recruitment process.
• If you're being contacted by employers between Meet & Greet and Offers Day, then you will know that you're being considered for a role.
• Summer internship offers can happen anytime AFTER 3 October. We usually have late roles that are posted after Meet & Greet, and even after Offers Day. The latest summer internship placement we've ever made happened on 24 December!! That's unusual, as most internships will start mid November.
• The reason we have Offers Day in early October is because most students will be busy with exams in October, and we want you to confirm your internship before exam craziness, and be ready to start your internship as soon as possible after exams are finished!

Offers Process

• Employers can prepare offers from 28 September. In order to prepare an offer, they MUST put candidates on a shortlist, and this will be visible on your Job Search page, when you filter on "I'm being considered for the position":

• If you are the preferred candidate for a role, the offer will come to you by email a few minutes after 10am on 3 October 2018. It will also be visible on your profile page.
• You have 6 (business) hours to respond to the offer. If you know you want to accept it, please do that ASAP!!! If you know you want to decline it, please do that ASAP!! A quick reply will ensure that the offers process runs smoothly for everyone (employers AND other candidates are anxious to know!!)
• Your internship offer will include: the title of the job you're being offered, the name of your mentor/manager, an hourly rate (or pro rata salary), your start/finish dates (if they're known, you might need to discuss that later). And anything else the employer wants to say to you!
• You can assume that ALL summer internship offers are for a 400 hour (minimum) contract, between mid November 2018 and mid February 2019 (approximately). The details including your employment contract will be sent to you within 1 week of you accepting the offer on our website. Your job is not CONFIRMED until you have signed a contract, but we (and your employer) consider acceptance of the offer from our system to be an intention to agree to the contract, assuming the conditions are in line with what has been explained in our Terms & Conditions and throughout your recruitment process.
• If you need to consider the role, please do so! You can seek independent advice from your campus careers people, from our team, from your trusted mentors/advisors, and there are resources online, like Careers NZ here.
• If you have questions or concerns about the Offers process, please contact our team asap! We will run workshops in Auckland & Wellington the week before Offers Day, and we're available any time via Direct Message from our website, or email. Please ask for help!

What if...

no offers

• If you don't have an offer at 10:10am on Offers Day, don't despair, it's not over! If the role has been offered to someone else, then they have 6 hours to accept or decline. They may not accept, and you may be the next candidate! You may get an offer anytime AFTER 10am on Offers Day. If the role is still visible on our website, it hasn't been filled yet. If you're still "being considered" for the role, there's still a chance. Hang in there!!
• If all the jobs you want have been filled, and you haven't been successful, please don't take it personally - which is hard, we know. There ARE a lot of candidates out there, and maybe you just weren't a good match for this role at this time.
• Ask for feedback, especially if you had an interview that you thought went well. You may or may not get feedback (employers are busy people).
• Talk to your careers advisors or sign up with a recruitment agent who can give you tips on your CV, cover letter, and interview techniques.
• There's a bunch of online resources on our website and other places to help you learn and adjust your approach your next job application.
• Keep applying for jobs! There may be new ones on our jobs page, but there's also job boards for students, and public ones, and recruitment agents who specialise in your sector.
• Look after yourself - we know it's stressful. Here's some suggestions for managing the stress of job hunting.

multiple offers

• Believe it or not, this can also be stressful!!!!
• If you're facing multiple job offers, it can be hard to choose. You may feel like you're letting down the employers who you have to say "no" to. This can feel awkward!
• If you can see you're being considered for multiple roles the week before Offers Day, then please start thinking about your preferences, so that you're ready to decide when offers are presented.
• We set out some steps to consider when choosing the right role in this blog post. We also asked alumni from past programmes for tips to dealing with multiple offers, check out their advice in this blog post
• If you're lucky enough to be in the position of having to decline a role, remember to keep your communication professional. It's a "no thanks, this isn't right for me right now" type message, because you never know when your paths will cross with that person/employer in future. Be clear and professional in your communications throughout the recruitment process.
• We will run workshops in Auckland & Wellington the week before Offers Day that will include tips for dealing with multiple offers, and we're available for conversations on Offers Day if you're weighing things up. Please ask for help!

an offer I'm not sure about

• If you're not sure about an offer, you might need more information about the organisation or the role or the terms they're offering. The best time to ask questions is during job interviews, but you might have more when an offer is presented. Please ask us for help as soon as possible! We will share our insights into the company/role, and we can liaise with employers on your behalf.
• Remember you can always seek independent advice from your campus careers people, from your trusted mentors/advisors, and there are resources online, like Careers NZ here.
• If you can see you're being considered for a job the week before Offers Day, then please start thinking about what you'd do if you were offered it, so that you're ready to decide when offers are presented. We set out some steps to consider when choosing the right role in this blog post.

an offer outside of Summer of Tech

• In our Terms & Conditions for candidates, we ask that you keep your availability up to date on our website. If you're no longer available for a full time job this summer, you must opt out of our Summer Internship programmes immediately.
• If you attended Meet & Greet, or if you've been shortlisted or interviewed for a role in our programme, opting out will be very sad for the employer who has invested time & energy considering you for their role. We ask that (if possible) you REMAIN available between Meet & Greet and Offers day. (That's explained in item number 12 in our T&C's here)
• If that's not possible, i.e. you got an offer for your DREAM job and the deadline is before SoT offers day, then please communicate this with us, and with the employer who has shortlisted you. We can help with your communication, it's important to keep this professional for the sake of your reputation, and ours.

Good luck during recruitment season 2018!