Securing and Starting the Role

Accepting an Offer and Understanding Your Contract

Receiving a job offer is an exciting moment. It’s also an important one. The employment agreement you sign governs your entire working relationship, so understanding what’s in it before you sign matters.

What to Review Before Signing

Clause	What to check
Job title and description	Ensure it reflects the role you were interviewed for and what was discussed in terms of responsibilities.
Salary and any variable components	Confirm the base salary, bonus structure (if any), and whether KiwiSaver employer contributions are on top of or included in the stated figure.
Hours of work	Standard NZ full-time is typically 37.5 to 40 hours per week. Some contracts specify expected availability beyond standard hours. Know what you’re agreeing to.
Leave entitlements	Twenty days annual leave is the statutory minimum. Note any additional leave provisions and whether discretionary leave can be accrued or cashed out.
Notice period	How much notice do you need to give, and how much are they required to give you? Senior roles often have longer notice periods on both sides.
Restraint of trade clauses	Many IT employment agreements include restrictions on working for competitors or contacting clients after you leave. Understand the scope and duration of these restrictions.
Intellectual property clauses	Check that work you create in your own time, on your own equipment, and unrelated to your employer’s business is clearly excluded from their IP claims.
Probationary period	Many NZ employment agreements include a 90-day trial period. Understand what this means for your rights during that period.

If You’re Unsure About Anything in the Contract

You do not have to accept a contract as-is. It is entirely reasonable to ask for clarification on specific clauses, and for more senior roles, to have a lawyer review the agreement. The cost of a brief legal review is small compared to the potential implications of signing something you don’t fully understand.

Negotiating Contract Terms

Some contract terms are negotiable and some are not. Start dates, salary, and some benefits often have flexibility. Restraint of trade clauses and IP provisions sometimes do too, particularly if they seem overly broad. The key is to raise any concerns before you sign, not after. Once you’ve signed, the conversation is significantly harder.

Check what the contract says about restraint of trade and intellectual property carefully. These clauses can have real implications for what you do after you leave. If anything is unclear, get advice before you sign. Tony P, Younity

Reference Checks When Still Employed

Reference checks create a genuine tension for candidates who are still employed and want to keep their search private. Navigating this carefully matters.

The Core Tension

Many employers ask for references from your current manager. If your manager doesn’t know you’re looking, being asked to provide them as a reference creates a problem: you either spring the news on them, or you try to avoid providing them and risk disadvantaging your application.

How to Navigate It

Be transparent with your manager if you have a good relationship and the circumstances allow it. A manager who knows you’re exploring new opportunities is often a better referee than one who is blindsided, and maintaining that relationship has long-term value.
Use alternative referees where possible. Former managers, senior colleagues from previous organisations, and clients you’ve worked with are all typically accepted as references. Make sure they know they may be contacted and brief them on the role you’re applying for.
Flag the situation to your recruiter. Experienced IT recruiters deal with this regularly and can often manage the timing of reference checks or negotiate with the employer to accept alternative referees.
Most employers will wait until the end of the process before conducting reference checks. You typically have time to manage the situation before it becomes urgent.

Some prospective employers require your current manager as a referee, and then you’re caught in that bind of ‘he doesn’t know, and what if I don’t get the contract and now he does know?’ Talk to your recruiter early. There are usually ways to navigate it. Toni, Younity

Resigning Without Burning Bridges

New Zealand’s IT market is small. The same hiring managers, leads, and practitioners move between a relatively limited number of organisations, and how you leave a role follows you. Resigning well is worth doing thoughtfully.

Why It Matters Even If You’re Not Going Back

The most common reason people cite for wanting to resign cleanly is the possibility of returning to the same organisation in the future. That’s a real consideration, particularly in Wellington where banking, government, and central agencies form a small, interconnected community. But it’s not the only reason.

Your former manager is often your most credible reference. A good relationship going out means a stronger reference when you need it most.
The NZ IT community is a small world. Leaving badly can affect how you’re perceived in contexts you haven’t anticipated.
Your new employer will hear about it if you leave badly. Recruiters talk, and hiring managers often know each other.

Before You Resign: Have the Conversation First

If you have an honest relationship with your manager and you’re leaving for reasons that could potentially be addressed, consider raising those concerns before you formally look elsewhere. A pay review, a change in responsibilities, or a shift in working arrangements might be achievable. Many people discover that a direct conversation resolves issues they had assumed were fixed.

How to Resign Well

Request a private meeting with your manager. Don’t resign via email or in a group setting.
Be clear and direct. You are resigning. State when your last day will be based on your notice period.
Be positive about your time there. You don’t have to be dishonest, but focusing on what you’ve valued and learned sets the right tone.
Offer to support the transition. Documenting your work, assisting with handover, and helping to recruit your replacement (if appropriate) signals professionalism.
Avoid over-explaining your reasons for leaving. You don’t owe a detailed account of why the new role is better. Simple and professional is enough.
Continue to behave impeccably until your last day. Your final weeks create a lasting impression.

Transparency with your manager before you start looking has real advantages. Not only are they more likely to be a positive referee, but if they knew they might lose you, sometimes they actually make it right. And if they can’t, at least they’re not blindsided. Amanda, Younity

Making a Strong Start in Your First 90 Days

The first three months in a new role set the foundation for everything that follows. The most successful new starters approach them with genuine curiosity rather than a need to prove themselves immediately.

What the First 90 Days Are Actually For

There is a persistent pressure to ‘hit the ground running’. In reality, the first 90 days are most valuable when they are used for deep listening and learning. You will be more effective at six months if you’ve spent the first three months genuinely understanding the environment than if you’ve rushed to deliver things without that foundation.

Period	Focus
First two weeks	Learn names. Understand the team structure. Read everything you can about the organisation’s systems, processes, and context. Ask basic questions freely.
Weeks three to eight	Start contributing to work as appropriate. Continue to ask questions, but make sure you’re writing things down so you don’t have to ask the same question twice.
Weeks nine to twelve	Begin to form considered views on how things work and where improvements might be possible. Share these with your manager, but frame them as observations, not criticisms.

Those 90 days are for what they’re for. Ask the dumb questions. You can go, ‘What does SME stand for?’ because in every industry it means something different. If you’re asking that question at twelve months, people are going, what have you been doing? Take advantage of the window. Sian Clements, Younity

The Most Common First 90-Day Mistakes

Trying to change things before you understand them. Even if something looks obviously wrong, understanding why it is the way it is before suggesting alternatives is essential.
Working unsustainable hours to impress. Burning yourself out in the first month creates a pace you can’t sustain and may signal poor self-management.
Not asking for help when you need it. People expect new starters to ask questions. Struggling silently is less impressive than asking for clarity.
Failing to build relationships. Your technical performance matters, but so does being known as someone who is easy to work with and engaged with the team.

The Role of Your Recruiter Through Onboarding

If you found your role through Younity or another IT recruiter, that relationship doesn’t end when you start. Good recruiters check in during your first week, at the one-month mark, and again at three to six months. Use those conversations. If something isn’t working well, your recruiter can often help navigate it from a position of knowledge about both sides.

Settling In and the Support You Should Expect

Your employer has an obligation to set you up for success. Understanding what reasonable onboarding support looks like helps you ask for what you need if it’s not being provided.

What Good Onboarding Looks Like

Day one readiness. Your equipment should work. Your system access should be arranged in advance. Someone should be expecting you and prepared to welcome you.
A clear first-week plan. You shouldn’t have to figure out what to do with yourself for the first few days. A well-organised employer will have a structured orientation planned.
A point of contact. You should know who to go to with questions. A buddy or mentor system is a positive sign.
Context about the organisation’s goals and your team’s priorities. Understanding where you fit into the bigger picture from the start makes your contribution more purposeful.
Regular check-ins with your manager. Particularly in the first month, regular short conversations with your manager about how things are going prevents small problems from becoming bigger ones.

If Support Is Missing

Not all employers deliver good onboarding. If you find yourself lacking access, context, or support in your first weeks, it’s appropriate to raise it directly with your manager: ‘I want to make sure I’m getting up to speed as quickly as possible. Could we set up a brief weekly check-in for the first couple of months?’ This is a professional request, not a complaint.

If you’re going into a role where you feel like you’re not getting the support you need, say something early. The recruiter can help bridge that gap too. You’re not alone in the first few months. Pam, Younity

Why Avoiding Early Job Hopping Matters for Career Momentum

The temptation to leave a new role quickly when something better appears, or when the honeymoon period ends, is understandable. But frequent short tenures have real consequences in the NZ IT market.

What Short Tenures Signal

In permanent roles, a pattern of leaving before the twelve-month mark raises questions for hiring managers. It can suggest poor fit assessment, difficulty adapting to new environments, or a lack of resilience when things get hard. None of those impressions are helpful.

The Case for Staying

Most of the genuinely valuable experiences in a role come after the first three months. The complex problems, the leadership opportunities, the deep relationships, and the significant deliverables tend to emerge once you’ve properly settled in. Leaving before you’ve had the chance to deliver something meaningful means starting again from scratch, and doing it with a shorter tenure on your CV.

It’s important to avoid leaving a new role too quickly. Most of the value of any role comes after you’ve been there long enough to actually deliver something. Giving it at least twelve months, even if it’s not perfect, is almost always better for your long-term career than adding another short tenure to your CV. Joel, Younity

The Exception

There are genuine circumstances where leaving a role quickly is the right decision: a significantly misrepresented role, an unsafe working environment, or personal circumstances that require it. In these cases, be honest in your explanation for the short tenure. Most experienced hiring managers understand that exceptions exist.

Starting Strong in Your New Role

Key takeaways