Kiwi lifestyle attracts talent and business
Digital and interactive media is the way of the future but finding staff to work in the space isn’t easy.
Wellington-based Resn, creative digital partner of leading brands and advertising agencies worldwide, has been forced to go offshore to recruit flash developers and designers.
“Most of what we do is around flash, interactive technology, but because of our small population we just don’t have the available talent here,” says managing director Rikki Campbell.
“I’ve got friends in Amsterdam for example, who pull freelance flash developers in-house if and when they’re needed, but within New Zealand it really is a struggle.”
So Resn has been proactively recruiting from overseas, successfully bringing in three migrants thus far.
One is from Holland, another from Poland and the third from the United Kingdom.
“They’re all very specialised. The guy from Poland, for example, is very good at 3D flash development, and the UK guy is technical director with great experience working with other companies in London in flash development.”
Resn sourced its new workers through advertisements on international job boards, through twitter, its newsletter and its own website. They underwent the usual job application process, with interviews conducted via Skype.
Luring them here was no obstacle, even though Resn was competing against agencies in cities like New York, Sydney, London and Amsterdam for staff.
“We just can’t compete with those big cities. We have the bands, the bars, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores on a smaller scale but where we beat all those places hands down is the outdoors.
“Joris Rotteveel was a surfer in Holland, it was obviously limited there, but here he’s just gone crazy. He’s moved to Lyall Bay, he gets up most mornings and if the surf’s good he’ll be out before he comes to work.
“He’s taken up deer hunting, he’s been going diving and is keen to go fishing. Everything is right on his doorstep.”
Support-wise Resn has also been proactive in helping its newcomers settle in – one is flatting with another employee, there are after-work drinks on a Friday and various other events, such as movie screenings and whisky tasting are held to help staff build up their social and professional networks.
As for the immigration process, Rikki expected red tape but he’s been pleasantly surprised.
“It hasn’t been daunting at all, it’s been very straightforward. We’re fortunate to be in a sector which New Zealand and Wellington see as being important, creative technology being in that space, and jobs related to that are on the long-term skills shortage list.”
One migrant is now a permanent resident, the other two are here on working visas, and overall Rikki is happy with the result, so much so he intends to continue recruiting offshore to further grow the company.
Resn itself was established by Rikki and business partner Steve Le Marquand almost seven years ago.
Today they have 16 staff in total, producing interactive experiences for mostly advertising agencies the world over, with projects created for companies including Toyota, Sprint, Dominos and Myspace.
“Eighty percent of our work is in the US, we work internationally, chasing the big projects in countries like the US because they’ve got more money to spend on interactive-type experiences, the New Zealand population is just too small to justify larger spends on detailed interactive campaigns.
“We do most of our work through email and Skype, sometimes telephone conferencing, but we haven’t even met half our clients.”
Resn has produced plenty of results though – it’s one of the most awarded in New Zealand, most recently taking out best digital and interactive agency in Australia’s CREATIVE magazine Hot Shop Awards for the third year running.
Its website lists a total of 74 awards, the most notable being the nine Favourite Website Awards and nine Webby Award placements.
