Hi there, my name is Anna Milne and I am delighted to join the Digital & Data team at Tribe Recruitment as a Digital Consultant.
If there is one thing that Covid has shown us, it is that remote working is not only possible but is in fact a viable employment alternative. I am one of a number of highly skilled Tribe professionals who also choose to live in the Regions. Here is my remote working journey…
Flexible/Remote working
In 2016 I accepted an opportunity to work flexibly for an Australian company that set up a subsidiary in New Zealand. With a young family, the opportunity to work from home and flexibly was a game changer. I was given a high level of autonomy to achieve outcomes and often worked in the early morning or evenings. My colleagues and I caught up regularly at coffee shops, talked over the phone, used email and our CRM system to keep on top of work priorities.
We eventually established an office in Auckland and while I enjoyed leaving home every day and heading into a corporate environment there were challenges.
Leaving Auckland
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to love about living in Auckland! I love the vibrancy, the cultural diversity, the events, and the opportunities that come with living in a big city and Auckland is still one of my favorite places; but.
We wanted more space but house prices were restrictive. The daily commute to and from work, via school and daycare accounted for ten hours per week. The children spent more time in day care because we needed extra time to get to/from the office.
We had friends who had moved away from the city for all of these reasons and so we started thinking about where we might go and how we could support ourselves.
Making the move!
Fast forward to 2019. We took the plunge and moved to Wanaka. My company was supportive of the move and I found myself working fully remote. By this time, the office had conference facilities and I was able to catch up with my team face to face over Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Lacking space at home, I chose to work from a shared office in Wanaka and found myself surrounded by a network of interesting and skilled people in many different fields. These conscientious and driven people worked hard to achieve a work life balance for themselves and their families. Many travelled once or twice a month to one of New Zealand’s main cities and everyone made use of video conferencing. Far from shirking their work, I noticed high levels of engagement and commitment.
Looking for remote work
Like many New Zealanders, the Covid pandemic has been a testing time for me. My role became untenable as the aviation industry was impacted by lockdown measures and I contemplated a career change, heading back to study for a time. When I did decide to seek a new position I worried that living in the Regions would void my experience as most vacancies were city based.
Luckily challenges often bring opportunities. In this case, Covid lockdowns have forced many employers to embrace remote working measures.
While some employers and employees will be relieved to head back to the office, many businesses have embraced the opportunity and are now open to hybrid or remote-working situations. In a tight recruitment market, flexible working, working from home or hybrid working are just some of the ways that employers are making their vacancies more attractive.
Tribe Recruitment are the leaders in finding the right people for your business and they live this mantra. When I joined Tribe, they already had a number of recruiters based around the country. With many industries embracing remote working and skilled in the latest technology, recruiting within the Digital space doesn’t require a desk in the Auckland CBD. In fact, I’m privileged to work with candidates for digital roles from all over New Zealand.
With remote work the world really is your oyster. Perhaps you might find me logging in from a beach in the Pacific Islands one of these days.
To have a chat about flexible working options or to find out about digital vacancies here at Tribe, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me anna@tribegroup.com (021 427 030).
