Student Help NZ

Kia Ora!
Welcome to Student Help NZ: SHELP
Our Vision:

Moving to a new country for study and work is a very serious commitment, and we know from personal experience that it can be a long, tiring and complicated process. Our research and analysis on a dataset of students between the age of 16-34 pointed out that more than half the international students moving to New Zealand are unsure about where they will be living permanently when they arrive.

We tried to make a list of the main problems being faced by students while planning the move. The most common concerns were

* Accommodation
*Work: The first job
*Travel
*Social Life
*Communication

Frankly, it wasn't a surprise to us that students are facing difficulties in these areas, but it was quite a puzzle why, as there are numerous MNC's providing these services in New Zealand. When we looked closely, we observed another trend between all migrant students. Most of them would change their service providers, banks and accommodation within three months of moving to the country.

The explanation to these trends is quite simple: Most students don't know all their options before coming to New Zealand, and since the nature of some of these services is quite urgent (A bank account, phone contract, travel from airport, accommodation etc) a lot of students end up paying for them even though it isn't what they really need. In several cases, they even commit to some of these services while still preparing to come to the country.

This simple analysis inspired us to make an easy platform that will help international students with basic requirements like a part-time job, housing etc. Students will be able look at all the options they have, and make recommendations to each other as well. The start of any academic year is also the end for some other students, and a platform like SHELP will help students communicate with each other to find the perfect balance. Starting from finding cheaper accommodation, this will have several other massive advantages. We are working hard currently to analyse what services can be provided by us on the platform, apart from our personal recommendations on a range of things.

Our aim is make this platform a database for any information that is known to an average Kiwi student. We sincerely believe that it is every international students right to be informed about all the options they have before they arrive to New Zealand, so they don't have to pay more than an average student in the country for everyday services like rent, phone etc. If each student who ever received help or information from another student on our platform vows to return the favour at least once, then we can have a massive snowball affect where students can form a close community to share things, services and ideas.

We are working hard to get the platform live as soon as possible, but it is proving to be a massive task due to the scope of scalability here. We are currently in talks with several leading banks and telecom companies to get some discounted packages for the international students. Another area we are majorly focussing, is helping students finding jobs as Auckland can be a fairly expensive city and finding the first job as an international students can be quite a task as the students have no work experience in New Zealand and no referees. This will be another major dimension of our platform, as a job is the ultimate help that we can provide to our students.

This idea is being worked upon by a team of professionals, who have one thing in common: We were all international students who came to the country to pursue higher education, and have struggled through the initial grind to get our work visa and residency. Looking back, we realise that things could have been so much easier if we had someone to give us tips based on their firsthand experience. Our sole aim with this project, is to give equal opportunities and options to all students irrelevant of the country they belong to or the language they speak.

In the meanwhile, if you have any suggestions or recommendations, feel free to join the team and send them over to fb@SHELP.NZ or just mention it on our wall. You support is very important for us, as it gives our vision the confidence it needs to move ahead.

Stay tuned..