How We Hire

Applying for our vacancies

We advertise all our roles through our careers website: ministrycareers.education.govt.nz 

To apply, you simply need to click ‘apply’ on the role you are interested in. There will be an online application form for you to complete. If you can't find a position suited to you among the vacancies, you can register your details, including your preferences, and you will receive notifications when suitable roles are advertised.

CV and Cover letter tips

We know applying for jobs can be daunting so we thought we’d give you some helpful tips on how to structure your CV:

  • Try and stick to a two- to three-page CV summary. It may be longer if you have been in management roles or have extensive work experience.
  • Show what you’re passionate about and why.
  • Be specific about your work experience as it relates to the role you have applied for.
  • Examine the job description for the role you want to apply for and tailor your CV accordingly.
  • Ensure to highlight any skills and experience that is relevant to the role that you’re applying for.
  • Use reverse chronological order for your work experience: highlight the most recent position relevant to the role.
  • Name your CV document appropriately (no nicknames or vague abbreviations) as this can be seen by the hiring team.

Here are some helpful tips for writing your cover letter

Don’t repeat in your cover letter what is already in your CV, however, referring to your CV is fine.

We’re interested in understanding much more than just your professional experience and skills. We encourage you to include your values, community activities, volunteer work or special achievements. It helps us to build a picture of you as a person, not just your work-related skillset and experience for the role.

For more useful information on how to write your cover letter, CV and templates, please visit Careers.govt.nz.

Our hiring process

Step 1: Advertise

Our vacancies are advertised for a minimum of 5 working days but more often 2 weeks,  depending on the availability of the skills required. Please feel free to give us a call before you submit your application to ask any questions you may have.

Step 2: Application review by hiring manager and interview panel

Once the job advert has closed, it can be up to two weeks before we contact you as we complete the screening and shortlisting process. Timing will depend on the number of applications we receive.

Step 3: Telephone screening

You may be contacted for a short screening conversation. These conversations help us to get to know you a little more – both personally and professionally – to better understand your aspirations and motivations for applying.

Step 4: Interview

The interview is all about | getting to know you and having a two-way conversation.  It is based around the , behavioural, cultural  and key technical competencies, as listed in the job description. We’re keen to get a sense of your skills, experience and competencies.

View more about our interview process here

Step 5: Pre-employment checks and references

If you're the preferred candidate, we’ll complete reference and background checks after the interview. We will contact you to confirm your referee details and to complete the pre-employment documents.

Step 6: Offer stage

We will contact you to make a verbal offer before the offer letter and onboarding documents are sent to you. This is your opportunity to discuss the offer and indicate your intent to accept the written offer, subject to any negotiated adjustments.

Step 7: Employment Documents

We will aim to get your employment documents to you within 5 working days of making the verbal offer. To view these offer documents, you will receive an email asking you to log into your profile on MoEcareers.education.govt.nz

Step 8:  Appointment Review

All permanent and fixed-term appointments of six months or more are published on our intranet, where employees can request a review of the appointment. The appointment is confirmed after 10 working days if no reviews were raised during this time.

Non-Ministry employees are entitled to information about the selection and appointment under the Official Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Employment Relations Act.

After viewing this information, you believe the selection process was discriminatory or unfair, external applicants can contact the hiring manager to request a review.

How to prepare for the interview

To prepare for the interview you can:

- Read and familiarise yourself with the job description. We recommend looking at the ngā haepapa | accountabilities, wheako | experience, ngā āheinga | capabilities, and Tātai Pou | our cultural competency, to understand the essential parts of the job and what is needed to be successful in the role.

-  Think about specific past examples that demonstrate how you meet the key requirements/criteria. Make sure to describe the specific situation or task, the action you took, the result or outcomes and any learnings you had.

- You can take prompt notes with you – keep them simple. Take your time to think about your answers – a short amount of silence is ok. You can also ask to come back to that question if you need more time.

- Check out our corporate website www.education.govt.nz to find out more about Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga.

- If you know someone working at Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga talk to them to find out a bit more about us.

- If the interview is kanohi ki te kanohi | face-to-face, make sure you know the time and place of the interview and arrive early. Should your interview be online via Teams, make sure you find a quiet place and you’ve got good internet connection.

For more information on what our interview process looks like Click here to download an overview PDF. 

Pre-employment checks

As Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga has a lead role in keeping all tamariki | children safe, we require all new employees to undergo a New Zealand Police safety check once a position is offered.

If you've travelled or lived away from New Zealand during the last five years for a period of six months or more, we will require further information. In some cases, we may require a Police Certificate from those countries, this will be requested during the pre-employment and reference checking stage.

It is also a requirement of all public sector departments and statutory Crown entities to conduct a serious misconduct pre-employment check under the Workforce Assurance Model Standards (issued under s19 of the Public Service Act 2020). This applies to you if you were previously or are currently employed in the NZ Public Sector.

The type of checks required (see below) depends on the nature of the job you have applied for.

  • Credit checks
  • Qualification checks
  • NZ SIS Security clearance