In one of the viewing boxes overlooking Forsyth Barr Stadium a group of about 50 people - many now unemployed - sit and wonder what they should do now.
Only half the seats are taken and the attendees nervously stay towards the back, not wanting to stand out.
The impact of Covid-19 has swept through the South, leaving thousands unemployed - many of whom have never known unemployment.
Many of them are in the room at Forsyth Barr listening to advice from speakers about how to get employment in the current climate.
One of them is 50-year-old Dunedin man Matt Rawling.
He had his own lawn mowing and gardening business before Covid-19 but an injury ended that and he’s been unemployed since about March.
Some deep thinking in lockdown led him to try to find a new career.
"[I] just wanted to experience a different thing in life."
He said his two daughters had left home and were "on their own way in life".
"But it’s time for Dad now, in a way."
He was inspired by a speaker who spoke of her own drastic career change later in life.
"Her story connected with me.
"I’ve got all this life experience. Thirty-plus years working I can ... apply now."
As well as running his gardening business, he had experience in account management and customer service.
"I enjoy being with people ... it’s probably the biggest skillset I’ve got."
Mr Rawling had no idea what career he would go into now.
"I’m just feeling my way."
Not everyone was as chipper as Mr Rawling, who had somewhat enjoyed his time in unemployment.
One man said he was too mad to talk about how he had lost his job and another attendee was on the brink of tears while listening to the various speakers.
Two students there had had to return from studies abroad and were stuck, unsure of when they could return to their courses.
They were both looking for work in the meantime but did not know if there would be anything for them.
The seminar was organised by Otago Polytechnic alongside the Otago Chamber of Commerce and some of the major recruitment companies.
Chamber chief executive Dougal McGowan sent out a rallying cry to the jobless in the room.
"This is just part of an economic cycle and system that we are in. It does not mean that you are not good at what you have done and will do into the future."
It was now crucial to keep in contact with people and businesses as they were doors that could open to a new job.
"It’s those things that could lead to your next role, or your next opportunity."
Mr McGowan also said it was a great time to volunteer.
"At volunteer positions you never know what is going to come next.
"If you get invited to a networking event, go. Why? You never know what is going to come up next."
He said that despite economic models showing the South being one of the worst hit parts of the country from Covid-19, it had a "hugely diversified" economy and that put it in good stead to handle the ups and downs.
"Yes, Queenstown is going to be very tough. Yes, Wanaka is going to be very tough.
"But do you know what? In some of those places already those businesses are trying to get their staff back."
He also pointed to the fact that North Otago and South Otago had both had almost two-thirds of their working population continue through the Alert Level 4 lockdown; those people had money to spend in the economy.
That was compared with about 50% in Dunedin and as low as 30% in Queenstown.
"Right now it’s hurting. We know that. It’s hurting bad. And we acknowledge that."
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) regional labour market adviser Deb Sutton presented a slideshow on how and where to look for a job.
The majority of jobs were not advertised, she said.
"It could be that an employer has just had a resignation and if you’re in the mix somewhere ... you might be in the right place at the right time."
She said networking events were crucial — and that could just mean telling a family member you were job hunting and what your skills were.
Social media was important but it had its downfalls.
Facebook pages should be "sanitised" — with no disorderly pictures or extreme comments.
"Employers do check it," she said.
"We had a case in Southland — a jobseeker was going on to a dairy farm. The dairy farmer went on to that person’s Facebook page and saw swastikas and all sorts of bits and pieces on it and came back to us and said ‘I don’t want a bar of that person’."
There were community pages on Facebook such as ‘Dunedin Jobs’, ‘Jobs in Dunedin’, ‘Jobs New Zealand’.
"There’s a whole bunch of them — make sure you join those groups."
Employers would see when someone had spent time not working and volunteering was a good way of filling gaps in a CV.
Work experience would do that as well as give the worker a chance to try out an industry they were curious about.
"All that will add to your skill base and make you more employable."
She said jobseekers should not be afraid to agree to "temp" work, as employers often used it as a "try before you buy" technique before making someone permanent.
She did admit employers were not allowed to do this, as they had to give a genuine reason as to why someone was given a temporary contract.
Ms Sutton said Work and Income had created a new website called ‘Keep New Zealand Working’.
"We’re getting a lot more employers listing vacancies with us because they can’t get international workers at the moment ... there’s a lot more opportunities on this website now."
Other popular job boards included the "work the seasons" website advertising seasonal jobs; Seek, TradeMe, LinkedIn’s job listings, Student Job Search, jobs.govt.nz and the careers.govt.nz website.
There were a lot of farm jobs going at the moment, she said.
A free three-week training and jobs programme for working in the dairy industry had been initiated by DairyNZ.
Tree planting industry silviculture also had a lot of vacancies.
"I know you’d probably rather sit in your nice warm house than go out and plant trees in the middle of winter, but there’s a huge pull for that, particularly in our region at the moment.
A lot of those jobs were on the "work the seasons" website.
MSD is hosting a free CV workshop next Friday for two hours at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Hall in Moray Pl.
Top tips
- Volunteer or do work experience to get a foot in the door in a new industry
- Keep engaged with friends and family about your situation, as they may know someone hiring
- Keep social media pages clean of any disturbing photos or extreme comments as employers will check
- As well as the usual job board websites (Seek and TradeMe) use the Government’s "work the seasons" website.
