From international student to New Zealand professional.

Breaking into the New Zealand employment market as an international student or graduate brings challenges that traditional career support does not always address: a new market, different workplace expectations, limited professional networks, work-right considerations, and employers who may not immediately recognise the value of your international experience.

This is not a CV-writing service or a self-paced course. It is a high-touch programme for international students and graduates who are serious about building their professional careers in New Zealand. Rather than applying for everything and hoping something lands, you finish knowing what you are looking for and why.

Your career strategy. Your qualifications, experience, strengths and current work rights, considered alongside the realities of the New Zealand market. Your CRE8 Snapshot helps you articulate how you work, communicate and contribute.

Your NZ professional brand. Your CV, LinkedIn profile and career story, translating international qualifications and transferable skills into language New Zealand employers can quickly understand and value.

Your target employment market. A tailored target-employer strategy based on your profession, skills, aspirations and work rights, including relevant Accredited Employers and businesses open to international talent. It stays live throughout the programme.

Beyond the job advertisement. Build a professional network in New Zealand, identify recruiters, hiring managers and business leaders, and approach them with confidence through LinkedIn, direct approaches and networking conversations.

Live job search and application support. We work on real opportunities as they arise. See a role and unsure whether to apply? Send it through. An employer contacts you unexpectedly? We help craft the response.

Interview and employer readiness. Preparation for New Zealand interview expectations, tailored to the organisation and role. No scripted answers: we help you understand yourself and the employer, and connect the two.

Understanding the NZ workplace. Workplace culture, communication, feedback, professional relationships and the unwritten rules that are hard to spot in a new market. Not just interview-ready, employment-ready.

Work rights and Accredited Employers. How your current work rights affect your strategy, how to communicate them clearly, and where Accredited Employers fit in your target market.

Offer and salary support. Understand the offer, prepare for salary discussions, identify the right questions to ask, and approach the decision professionally.

International Career Launch is for people who hold or are completing a New Zealand qualification, have work rights that allow a professional role, and are serious about building a career here rather than filling a gap with any job. Most people who come to us have been applying for months and hearing nothing, or getting interviews that go nowhere, and want to understand why.

It is not the right starting point if you need visa or immigration advice first (we are not licensed to give it, and will point you to someone who is), if you are still deciding whether to stay in New Zealand (a career direction session is the better first step), or if you only need a CV (our stand-alone application documents service does that on its own).

The first conversation is a free twenty-minute call with Kate. We ask about your qualification, your work rights and the roles you want, and give you a straight answer on whether the programme fits. If it does not, we say so.

Alongside your structured one-to-one sessions, you have direct access to your dedicated CRE8 coach Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, for the full eight weeks. A role has appeared, an employer has replied, an interview is tomorrow: message your coach and work it through the same day.

Many services can write a CV or teach you how to answer interview questions. Through CRE8 Emerging Talent, we understand the challenges people face at the start of their careers. Through CRE8 Talent, we understand recruitment and what employers are looking for. And through our relationships across business, education and industry, we understand the gap between being qualified and being employment-ready. International Career Launch sits in that gap.

We know what gets noticed, what can create hesitation among employers, and how important positioning, communication, confidence and connection are when establishing yourself in a new employment market.

Success is not sending 100 applications. Over eight weeks, we make sure you are significantly better equipped to build your career than you were when you started: you understand where you fit, what you bring and which employers to target; you know how to approach employers, build professional relationships, perform when an opportunity arises and keep creating opportunities after the programme; and you leave with a strong professional profile, a targeted employment strategy, a deeper understanding of the New Zealand market, a growing network and a clear roadmap.

CRE8 does not provide immigration advice. If your circumstances require specific advice, we connect you with a suitably qualified immigration professional. Our role is to ensure your career and employment strategy is informed, targeted and realistic.