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Last week Student Job Search confirmed that its local on-campus branches will close in September. A new centralised system will provide services for the recruitment agency from a national call-centre in Wellington.
 
SJS Chief Executive Paul Kennedy said a review of the current system had revealed an alarming disconnect between students and the graduate market. Whilst SJS currently caters well to casual and part-time work, Kennedy believes more focus should be on developing student-employee relations, which will help students gain work once they graduate.
 
Under the new system, three sales-based positions have been established to proactively liase between businesses and the agency. These positions have been designed to ensure that any businesses seeking out student workers are appropriately profiled and advertised on the SJS database.
 
In doing this, Kennedy believes SJS could help address the gap in New Zealand's graduate market by promoting jobs to graduates that haven’t previously been adequately advertised to the graduate population. Kennedy also believes that advertising such positions to students while they are still studying will encourage young people to apply locally.
 
Kennedy outlines the importance of developing stronger relations with student associations, as they will be "essential in improving SJS advertising". He also believes the streamlined system will better assist students in building work experience portfolios suited to the graduate market.
 
However, SJS Otago Regional Office Team Leader Suzanne Te Au is concerned that students are unaware of the possible changes that the new structure will bring.
 
Speaking to Critic, Te Au pointed out that despite the availability of all SJS services online, many students still come into the on-campus kiosk. Due to the large number of students in the city, Te Au said an on-campus presence is essential in maintaining interactive relations between students, employers and SJS. As a local enterprise, the Otago SJS office has been able to establish relationships with many businesses in the Otago region, resulting in a reliable and continual source of employment for students. Unfortunately for students, Te Au believes this is unlikely to continue under the new structure.
 

The local University of Otago branch has one permanent employee and four staff on fixed-term contracts. They will remain with SJS until the end of September.