What is Tahatū?

Tahatū is the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC’s) new interactive careers website, which will be piloted in schools from April 2024.

Tahatū provides an interactive experience to help people figure out what kind of job they might like to do, and how they can get there. It connects information such as NCEA subjects, qualifications and career ideas in one place to help people make informed decisions.

Tahatū is the next generation of the careers.govt.nz website, refreshing the best of its content tools and functions. Careers.govt.nz will continue alongside Tahatū until it is no longer needed.

You may have heard about Tahatū at careers and education conferences and be as keen as we are for the pilot to get under way in schools.

For more information, see Tahatū.

What does Tahatū mean?

The name Tahatū means “horizon”, especially in relation to the sea, and reflects our focus on a lifelong learning journey, heading towards the future.

The Tahatū logo depicts Ngā hau e whā, the four winds. The changing winds were the tohu (signs) our ancestors read to guide them, and Tahatū will help users read the signs around them as they navigate their career journey.

Who is Tahatū for?

Tahatū is for: 

• anyone who wants help finding out what career they might like to do in the future, and the steps they can take to get there
• anyone currently not in work
• people returning to the workforce after an absence
• people wanting a career change
• whānau, friends, school career advisors, and career practitioners in the community or agencies.

Our priority audiences are Māori, Pacific people, disabled people and women, as these groups have traditionally been disadvantaged in the workforce. 

When will Tahatū be available?

The first release of Tahatū is a pilot in 10 secondary schools with 13–19-year-old students. The first phase of the pilot runs from 2 April 2024 to 30 June 2024, with more schools gradually added in over subsequent months.

Why are we releasing Tahatū as a pilot?

We are starting the pilot with a small number of schools because:

• we want to continue testing Tahatū in a live environment so we can gather feedback and make further enhancements
• this enables us to add in more features before we provide Tahatū to all schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We have tested Tahatū with users throughout its development and we are keen to keep gathering feedback from teachers, careers advisors and students.

How are we selecting schools for the pilot?

For the first phase of the pilot, we wanted schools:

• from a diverse range of socio-economic communities
• of different sizes
• from a range of rural or urban areas and from both the North and South Islands
• with significant numbers of our priority audiences, which are Māori, Pacific peoples and disabled people.

Is it free to take part?

Yes.

What are the expectations of schools who take part in the pilot?

We expect you to:

• champion and use Tahatū with your students as a tool to engage in conversations about careers, career paths and study and training options
• provide feedback about how you and your students are using Tahatū and what you think about it. You’ll be able to do this via a feedback button when you are using Tahatū. We will also hold monthly group calls during the 3-month pilot to get more general feedback on how you are using it, how it is resonating with your students, etc.

When did expressions of interest close?

Expressions of interest closed on 16 February 2024.

When do I find out whether our school has been chosen or not?

We will let all schools who have applied know by late February or early March 2024.

Is there any training on how to use Tahatū?

Training on how to use Tahatū is available via the Careers and Transition Education (CATE) professional development national roadshow events in February and March 2024. We will also provide around 5 to 10 hours of onboarding training to schools during the 3-month pilot.

What happens to careers.govt.nz?

While careers.govt.nz has served millions of New Zealanders over the last 20 years, technology has evolved, and an updated platform was needed to support the new, interactive technology used with Tahatū.

Careers.govt.nz will be decommissioned once Tahatū is fully operational.

I have another question not included here, who do I contact?

If you have any questions about the pilot or anything else to do with Tahatū please email us at customerservice@tec.govt.nz with the subject header "Tahatū Pilot".

We’d prefer schools to collate their questions and filter them through a career advisor, to reduce the number of emails we receive. However, if there is a technical issue, please contact us immediately.

How do I provide feedback on Tahatū?

If you have any feedback about the pilot or anything else to do with Tahatū please email us at customerservice@tec.govt.nz. Again, we’d prefer you to collate feedback and send it via your school’s career advisor to reduce the volume of emails we receive.

Can parents access Tahatū?

Immediate family of students from a pilot school are welcome to experience Tahatū. However, we ask that you do not share the website link outside of the pilot school and immediate family.

Can I send the website link to another school to show them Tahatū?

We ask that you do not share the website link with any other school or organisation while Tahatū is being piloted.

Can we talk about Tahatū in our school newsletter?

You can talk about Tahatū in your school newsletter, but we ask that you do not share the website link with any other school or organisation while Tahatū is being piloted.