A Career in the New Zealand Public Service

Did you know that the Public Service employs more graduates than any other organisation in New Zealand? Each year well over 400 graduates choose to work in one of the 34 departments which constitute the Service. In addition, more than 200 complete degrees under Public Service Study Awards or by part-time study whilst working for a department.

Arts and science graduates normally comprise slightly less than half the annual intake-large numbers of architects, accountants, economists, lawyers, engineers, foresters, doctors dentists, agricultural scientists, veterinarians, surveyors and other specialists are also needed. In fact, almost every kind of career can be found within the Public Service—as well as some which are not available elsewhere. These range from international trade and diplomacy to wildlife research; social welfare work to taxation inspection; economic planning and investigation to meteorology; to give but a few examples.

Arts, commerce and administration, law and science graduates have a wide range of career opportunities in the Public Service. University courses in economics, geography, law, mathematics, psychology and other disciplines can be of direct relevance to many different positions in the Service.

For example, economics is of special relevance to the following areas of Government activity; Treasury (experience in the whole range of government economic and financial policy in the Economic Investigating and Planning Divisions); Department of Statistics (national income and balance of payments inter-industry studies and econometric work); Ministry of Transport (cost-benefit studies and original research in the field of transport economics); Labour Department (Manpower planning, labour demand and supply, wages and working conditions); Department of Industries and Commerce (various divisions concerned with internal and external trade and development); and N.Z. Forest Service (i.e. the role of forestry and its products in the national economy). There are also economic divisions in Agriculture, Social Security, State Services Commission, Tourist and Publicity, Ministry of Works and other departments. And this is to illustrate the relevance of just one discipline! Numerous examples could be given to show the usefulness of many other disciplines to careers in the Public Service.

Whatever the career a graduate will be expected to make full use of these attributes of a disciplined mind, clarity of thought and logical presentation of facts and ideas which should be associated with the possession of any university degree, irrespective of the disciplines studied. Most importantly, each graduate's contribution to research and development will be significant to New Zealand's social, economic and scientific growth.

If you are completing a degree at bachelor's or honours level you should consider the range of positions offered in the Public Service.

Advice and information, including details of bursaries offered, may be obtained from:

A journalist with the Publicity Department.

A scientist at work with the Wallaceville Animal Research Centre.