BOOK NOW – RecruitTECH 2011 – National Press Club, Canberra – Thursday 8 September

Have you secured your ticket for RecruitTECH yet?  Don’t miss Australia’s leading Recruitment and Technology Conference at the National Press Club on 8 September 2011!  Book your seat right now…

It’s great to have HSG involved and demonstrates that we want people to not only see the day as a great professional development opportunity – but as also a way to have some fun and take a little time out from the standard day to day grind.  A bit more on HSG below …

Holistic Services Group is Australia’s number 1 provider of corporate wellness services. Since 2003, we have been a provider of health and wellbeing services for staff in companies amongst the top 500 in Australia.

We offer a full range of wellness services designed to keep your workplace healthy and productive. Research shows that Corporate Health and Wellbeing Programs reduce workplace absenteeism and saves you money. They help retain and attract quality talent, enhance work/life balance, boost morale, and increase job satisfaction and company pride.
Well-planned programs turn costly workplaces into profitable environments.Holistic Services Group operates in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Our programs are tailored to your environment, your people and your budget, offering effective and affordable solutions for workplace health.

Corporate Health and Wellbeing Benefits:

•             Return on investment through employee retention, decreased absenteeism and sick leave. Case studies show an average ROI of $3-$5 for every $1 spent (Harvard Business Review)

•             Increased trust, engagement, morale and motivation

•             Improved productivity and performance

•             Better focus, concentration and management of workload pressures

•             Sustained mind-body health and wellbeing

•             Foster a community feeling amongst employees

As we start the countdown to RecruitTECH 2011, we thought it would be great to learn a bit more about our presenters.  Today we’re asking some questions of Ben Kilsby from Holopoint Interactive (http://holopoint.com.au/) …

Great if you could give us a quick elevator pitch on you and your organisation.

Holopoint Interactive is a digital media company that uses video game technology to create interactive content for marketing and communications.

What are you working on at the moment?

We are working on a quite few things at the moment, some interactive music tuition for a music tuition publishing company, a facebook app for a mining exploration company, a couple of things in the defence space, some healthcare information systems as well as some internal projects… I can honestly say we’ve never been busier!

What innovations in the recruitment and HR space do you think will ‘disrupt’ the market in the next few years?

Hmmm, well that is a tough one.  For me, I think it would have to be the digital space, how companies go about their recruitment, and social networking.  There is the argument that the current system isn’t broken so why fix it, but I think disruption will come from both sides showing heightened levels of initiative to pursue the connection.  Candidates will become more innovative in their approach and I sincerely hope will begin to break the mould of a 2 page (no more, no less) CV, in 12 point font (Times New Roman), no pictures, no fun applications – and that recruiters will be more receptive to out-of-the-box applications, and more innovative in how they pursue their ideal employees.  Digital media and social networking could undoubtedly provide this ability.

What’s the best book you’ve read that’s helped you in your career?

Wow – tough question as I love to read!  Many, many years ago I read a fable called ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho and absolutely loved it; it’s philosophy on life and following your dream (I read it before Oprah!).  But ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell was probably the most positively reinforcing book for my current career path.  There’s definitely something to be said to sticking to your guns and weathering the storm.

Can you remember how you got your first job?  What was it?

Haha, yes – very clearly.  In year 10 I did work experience at a concert production company in Canberra.  As an aspiring rock musician I thought that would give me a better angle in the industry than taking the music retail path.  When there wasn’t anything for me to do in the first few days I volunteered to sweep floors, empty bins, do the dishes – anything that would keep me busy and demonstrate my enthusiasm for work.  This didn’t go unnoticed and I started to get included on maintenance of the audio and lighting gear.  By the end of the week, I had my first paid gig as a roadie, and within a couple of years I was a sound engineer, lighting designer and stage manager working freelance in my own right travelling the country with all sorts of acts.  Haha – the beginning of the end really!

What is the most important piece of advice you could give to someone just starting out their career?

It might be a bit clichéd’ but I have always found that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.

What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?

Preparing for married life!  My beautiful fiancé and I are right in the thick of wedding preparations which is great fun.  Aside from that, I really love my downtime and try as much as possible to get out and about, away from a screen and a chair.  Walking up a hill ‘just because it was there’ is one of my many pastimes…

What are you going to talk about at RecruitTECH and why is it important?

A couple of years ago at a Simulation conference I met an Australian Army Warrant Officer who is in charge of the day to day mechanical trades area inside Army, and he told me that every new recruit – without fail – can do 3 things.  They can read, they can write, and they can play video games.  Video game proficiency for the most part remains dormant in the recruiting process as I understand it, often shuffled by the candidate to the ‘Hobbies and Interests’ section of a CV.  I will be exploring the value of these skill sets to an organisation, where the virtual achievements of a candidate can match up with real world expectations, and how serious games can be used to test for aptitude through gameplay.

In the next post in our ‘Meet the Presenters’ series – we’ve asked David Smith, the General Manager in Canberra for Peoplebank to kindly answer some of questions …

Great if you could give us a quick elevator pitch on you and your organisation.

I have more than 20 years’ leadership and management experience in Professional Services having worked for SMS Consulting, Nasdaq-listed Sylvan Learning Systems (now Thompson Prometric) and GMT People. My earlier career was with the Royal Australian Navy, as a Seaman Officer on HMAS TOBRUK, HMAS TORRENS and HMAS BRUNEI. Peoplebank is Australia’s and Canberra’s largest IT recruitment company. We specialise in placing IT candidates into permanent and contract roles in the Government and Private Sector across all levels from graduates to CIOs. With Canberra’s largest team of recruitment specialists we can assist candidates in finding their next role. The Peoplebank group of companies also includes specialist Accounting, Banking & Finance; Sales & Marketing; Executive and Oil, Gas & Mining recruitment brands.

What are you working on at the moment?

Further developing a unique candidate sourcing and candidate care team in Canberra, so we can continue finding people for hard to fill roles.

What innovations in the recruitment and HR space do you think will ‘disrupt’ the market in the next few years?

Social networking will continue to shape HR/recruitment over the next few years and in particular how organisations use LinkedIn (and the various tools that plug in to it) as well as Facebook and Twitter to attract talent. The ever increasing awareness of Employer Branding and EVP will also see organisations becoming more savvy with how they leverage technology such as video, social media and career sites etc

What’s the best book you’ve read that’s helped you in your career?

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Can you remember how you got your first job?  What was it?

My first full time role was when I joined the Navy in January 1987 as a Midshipman attending ADFA. My first part time job was as a builders labourer standing frames for houses.

What is the most important piece of advice you could give to someone just starting out their career?

Develop a great can do attitude focused on delivering results for your team. Be passionate and disciplined at work, managers admire a great work ethic in their staff.

What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?

I am married with 3 kids, 10, 8 and 6. So they keep me busy with Rugby and Netball. I am also a Cub Scout Leader and enjoy outdoor activities.

What are you going to talk about at RecruitTECH and why is it important?

The IT Skills shortage in Canberra, how the market is going to change and what ideas employers can do to find talent in a tight market.

First up in our series of ‘Meet the Presenter’ blog articles is Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith from PageUp People ….

Great if you could give us a quick elevator pitch on you and your organisation.

PageUp People is a global talent management organisation, combining technology and the behavioural sciences to solve global talent challenges. Sylvia is head of global research.

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently developing the Centre for International Talent Management, a global portal of talent management research for use by business leaders to guide the talent challenges of international expansion.

What innovations in the recruitment and HR space do you think will ‘disrupt’ the market in the next few years?

Advanced technologies and neuroscience. Technology is unleashing the secrets of the brain, and science is entering the realm of business. The combined power and insights of science and technology is a future game-changer.

What’s the best book you’ve read that’s helped you in your career?

I love the books that challenge the status quo: Dan Pink’s “A Whole New Mind”, Charles Jacobs “Management Rewired” and Susan Cantrell’s “Workforce of One” are stimulating.

Can you remember how you got your first job?  What was it?

My first job was as a receptionist in a real estate agency. It was in the gap before I started uni. I replied to a tiny add in a local newspaper, lied and told them I wanted a permanent job knowing that I would leave in 3 months to start uni. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I felt sick when I had to resign and disappoint the team that had fully adopted me by then.

What is the most important piece of advice you could give to someone just starting out their career?

Find a space you love, then build skill depth in it, not breadth. Too many career starters are jumping from one thing to the next without building deep expertise in anything. Experts stand out a few years down the track.

What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?

My dog Boris, my husband Charles, and our boat Bling. And my Masters of Neuroscience.

What are you going to talk about at RecruitTECH and why is it important?

I’m going to talk about how science and technology are coming together in exciting ways that will change how we work, not just play.

This years Australian Recruitment and Technology Event - RecruitTECH 2011 – will feature Australia’s foremost thinkers and speakers at the cutting edge of  recruitment and talent acquisition. The day-long event is designed to challenge the way you think about your recruitment strategy.  RecruitTECH will provide you with great ideas and tools for innovating in your organisation, and you will have the opportunity to meet and share views with other leading Human Resource and Recruitment professionals.  What are your plans for recruiting Australia’s best talent in 2012 and beyond?

Take a look at our speaker list in our PDF program here…

And it’s not all work – we’ve also lined up some fun activities to do during the day, including massages, lucky door prizes and coffee and beer appreciation sessions in the breaks!

Make sure you’re there – book your ticket right now…

Are you at a Career Crossroad?

Our friends from the Six Figures online jobs board are dedicating July to Careers Month for Professionals & Executives.

The new financial year offers the perfect opportunity to clarify what’s missing in your work-life and to set about creating the career you want. In the month of July Six Figures has lots of great initiatives to support those looking to recharge their career or find a new direction.

Over the month, Six Figures will be:

• Featuring some great resources to help you change jobs or careers
• Profiling some of Australia’s leading career coaches and resume writers for professionals and executives
• Running discussions in the Six Figures Member Forums with our Career Coaches to answer your questions (you can be anonymous) and provide support
• Posting career related topics on the Six Figures Blog for discussion
• Continuing to feature great $100K+ job and careers opportunities

To find out more visit www.sixfigures.com.au or visit the Six Figures blog http://blog.sixfigures.com.au/2011/06/30/july-is-careers-month-for-professionals-executives/

You see, the organisation in question, a Big 4 consultancy, hasn’t actually told me that I was uncompetitive or that my application, submitted well over one month ago, has been unsuccessful.  In fact, I have received no communication from the organisation, apart from an instantaneous autoresponder sent by their online applicant tracking system at the time that  I submitted my application.

And to think that I spent over an hour carefully crafting and duly pasting my response into the organisation’s very prescriptive online application system.

Am I alone in thinking that this is poor form from an organisation that lists a raft of HR and recruitment awards and recognition on their website, and positions itself as a leader in the HR space?

Maybe the love is reserved for those who make it behind the wire?

In my experience, it’s not difficult to send a quick email to a candidate advising them that their application has been unsuccessful.  And the excuse that ‘we get hundreds of applications and can’t reply to them all’ doesn’t wash.  A quick email, like the following, can be sent individually to many, many candidates in less than an hour – providing the candidate with a level of finality and enabling them to move on to other opportunities:

Dear John,

Thank you for taking the time to submit a job application to Acme Pty Ltd.  We appreciate the time and effort that you have put into your application.

We have assessed numerous candidates for this role and have determined that other applicants have stronger claims against the selection criteria for the role.  Accordingly, your application has been unsuccessful.

I hope that you will consider responding to future vacancies at Acme Pty Ltd.

Yours sincerely,

Recruitment Manager

In the absence of such a notification, I feel pretty indifferent towards this organisation.  Notwithstanding my skills and experience situation, I think I would be very reluctant to apply for a job there down the track.  And I won’t be saying anything nice about their recruitment practices if I am asked by an inquiring colleague, many of whom are postgraduate-qualified ex-military officers working in medium-to-large consultancies.

The lesson:  communicate with your candidates, even if they’re not suitable.  It’s not hard to send a quick email.

Make sure that you secure your seat right now – we only have room for 140 delegates and the last conference sold out very quickly.  We have a special Early Bird rate available until 30 June 2011…

RecruitTECH 2011 will feature Australia’s foremost thinkers and speakers from the recruitment industry and related professions.  The conference provides an outstanding platform for the discussion of innovation and technology in the recruitment space.

The day-long event is education and professional development-focused – it has been designed to meet the needs of HR Specialists, Recruitment Professionals, and for entrepreneurs or innovators involved in the broader recruitment domain.  The conference will appeal to both the public and private sector.

We’re pleased to announce the following line up of speakers (please note that this is subject to change):

Doug Blue, Chief Technology Officer, Seek.com.au

Doug Blue is an online media professional with over 11 years experience leading product development programs for some of Australia’s largest online brands including SEEK, realestate.com.au, Trading Post and Yellow Pages. Currently he is the Product Director at SEEK.

Among Doug’s accomplishments, he has successfully led teams that:

- Designed, developed and launched SEEK Mobile

- Repositioned the advertiser products for an entire redesign of realestate.com.au

- Designed and launched a transformed tradingpost.com.au

- Designed, developed and launched a new yellowpages.com.au including Australia’s first map-based directory search

- Introduced value-based pricing across several leading brands

Bringing a unique twist to his already extensive experience in the online space, Doug has also worked in the IT sector at Unisys and is a qualified Nuclear Engineer where he worked for the United States Navy as a submarine officer.

TOPIC: TBC

Matthew Sigelman, Chief Executive Officer, Burning Glass

Matthew Sigelman is the Chief Executive Officer of Burning Glass. Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer of M4 Financial, a developer of financial analytics technologies for real time, automated business creditworthiness evaluation. Before M4 Financial, he was with Capital One, where he directed new consumer finance businesses in both domestic and foreign markets. Prior to Capital One, Matt led major transformation initiatives for Mesa Air Group as it sought to rationalize its operations and return to profitability. Earlier, he was a consultant with McKinsey and Company, where he helped clients in the financial services and telecommunications industries use data to tackle workforce effectiveness, marketing, and operations challenges. Matt holds an MBA from Harvard University where he focused his studies in operations management. He received a BA with Honors in Public Policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

TOPIC: TBC

Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith, Practice Leader, PageUp People

Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith  is General Manager, Integrated Talent Management at PageUp People. Sylvia holds degrees in business and psychology and is currently completing a Master of Science in NeuroLeadership. Sylvia has 25 years experience as a senior talent management and human resources practitioner  and  consultant. Her corporate career included roles in corporate finance and human resources at Citibank and Westpac. Sylvia established  talent management consulting firm, Talent Edge, which was acquired by PageUp People in 2007. Sylvia is committed to thought leadership in the field of talent management, and is a regular national and international speaker on neuroscience and talent management.

TOPIC: Neuroscience, Talent & Technology: Advances in neuroscience are informing and changing what we know and how we think about what drives human behaviour and motivates talent. Leading edge technologies are tapping in to this new understanding, and modeling technology interfaces to parallel how the brain operates. There are significant implications for how we source, develop and retain talent.

Sarah Nguyen, Talent Manager, Atlassian

Sarah Nguyen manages the Sydney Talent Team at Atlassian, a software development company that creates tools for developers and technical teams. Atlassian’s approach to recruitment and HR is as unconventional as its approach to business. Atlassian’s recruitment campaigns have caused much conversation (and controversy!) and have seen the company recognised with an HR Leader award for Innovation in Recruitment and Retention (2010). The team’s ’32′ recruitment campaign won a Fairfax FEMA award for Best On-Site HR team (2010).Sarah is an HR professional who has held a number of generalist HR roles within Atlassian’s Sydney head office, all incorporating recruitment management. Since joining Atlassian, Sarah has played a significant role in helping the company grow its head-office staff numbers by 400% over four years. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with majors in Human Resource Management (HRM) and Industrial Relations.

TOPIC: How to make your recruitment campaigns stand out: Recruitment has always been a strong focal point for the Atlassian Talent Team. Hear how the team uses innovative approaches to attract the best talent and take away a few tips to try yourself.

Michael Young, Managing Director, Transformed

Michael Young is an award winning project and program manager with over 15 years’ experience managing projects and programs in Australia, Asia and globally in the technology, logistics, government and facilities sectors. He has taught project management at vocational and university levels for over 10 years.  Michael was the lead author of the AIPM Competency Standards for Portfolio Managers and is a member of the PMI Portfolio Management Standard (3rd Edition) Sub-Committee.  Michael is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Project Management and Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, and is currently undertaking doctoral studies in strategy implementation using project portfolio techniques.  Michael is the Managing Director of Transformed, a specialist firm that works with individauls to develop their project management skills and with organisations to enhance their program delivery and strategic implementation capabilities. Transformed was recently recognised by BRW as one of Australia’s fastest growing companies.

TOPIC: “Big picture strategy and Recruitment: Taking your organisation to the next level”: Delve into the secrets of successful strategy implementation and learn how to take your organisaion to the next level

Elizabeth Gaunt, Practice Manager – Digital Media, Slade Partners

As Practice Manager of Digital Media, Elizabeth is actively involved in finding and connecting the best digital media professionals with the most innovative and progressive digital media companies, agencies, internal digital departments and publishers in Australia and globally. Key roles include Executive General Managers, General Managers, Heads of Digital, Heads of e-Commerce, Digital Marketers, Creative Directors, Digital Strategists and Planners, Media Managers and Directors, Media Sales, Sales Directors, User Experience Leads, Search Engine Marketing Specialists and Managing Directors.

TOPIC: Digital Natives and The New Phase of Social Recruiting - the digital media industry today - the insurgence of digital media jobs and the six figure salaries that now accompany roles that were typically considered graduate roles ie. Social Media Manager - the do’s and don’ts of social recruiting

David Smith, ACT Branch Manager, Peoplebank

David Smith joined the Peoplebank team in February this year after running GMT People, a Canberra based recruitment firm for the past 8 years. He previously was a Project Manager, Organisational Change Manager and Business Analyst on contract to the ATO, DFAT, ACMA and the AEC.  Prior to this he worked in Brisbane from 1999-2003 as a consultant for Energex, Ergon Energy and QLD Health.  David was also the National Manager for Sylvan Learning Systems in 1997-1999 in Australia and India, delivering IT and Academic Certification exams.  David’s early career was in the Royal Australian Navy as a Seaman Officer and Training Manager. He has a Masters Degree in Organisational Development and Training, a BSc and is an ITCRA Certified Recruitment Professional.

TOPIC: “2012: The Mayans and traditional recruitment”: The right talent is becoming even harder to find, but there are solutions. In this practical and informative session David Smith will share ten innovative, inexpensive and highly effective strategies you can implement to attract, select and retain the best talent in the market.

Ben Kilsby, Chief Executive Officer, Holopoint Interactive Pty. Ltd.

Ben Kilsby is the co-founder and CEO of Holopoint Interactive, a serious games company based in Adelaide Australia. Ben has worked extensively with Holopoint to create a number of simulations, serious games and game based marketing applications for a diverse range of industries including transport, security, music tuition, medical, defence and mining. He is a passionate advocate of serious game developments and has a strong interest in developing a future capability in the interactive space as demonstrated in the founding of The Indie Games Room in 2007, and his numerous appointments in state level round tables, steering committees and advisory boards.

TOPIC: “The Last Starfighter – a recruiters guide to the serious games galaxy”In 1984, a science fiction feature film entitled ‘The Last Starfighter’ demonstrated one of the world’s first serious game concepts for recruitment. In the decades that followed, there has been an exponential growth in the use of serious games for skills enhancement, personnel development and workforce recruitment. Be there – your galaxy needs you!

Secure your tickets now for this event…

Today, Linkedin reports more than 100 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, making it the world’s largest professional networking website, eclipsing competitors such as XING and Viadeo.

In Australia, Linkedin has established a strong foothold, particularly after it opened a dedicated regional office in Sydney in late 2009.  Many local recruitment firms and professional organisations now use Linkedin’s suite of paid services to assist with their talent acquisition and management programs.

I suspect that the vast majority of Australian white collar workers (being a professional network, the demographic is skewed towards white collar) have either heard of Linkedin or are existing members of the website.  If you’re not on Linkedin, then it’s a very good time to sign up, given its recent media coverage.  If you haven’t logged in for some time, then now’s a good time to refresh your profile and rediscover the benefits of this growing professional network.

Build your personal ‘brand’

At its core, Linkedin is an online resume for individuals – it enables you to post a detailed professional profile of yourself, complete with a photo, qualifications, capabilities, experience and work history.  Potential clients and employers can view your profile and learn about your skills and capabilities.  Be sure to fill in all the blanks and get a 100% score on the handy profile completion tool.

Create a deep network

Another core element of Linkedin is the ability to ‘connect’ with your professional contacts and to create an online network of colleagues, clients and business associates.  It’s difficult to keep in contact with hundreds of associates, but Linkedin provides you with a mechanism to stay connected to a large network of individuals that you wouldn’t otherwise maintain contact with.  Profiles are maintained by the individuals in your network which means that the contact details and personal information remain current – as opposed to the perpetually out-of-date information that resides in your manually-updated Outlook address book.

Receive updates about your connections

In my opinion, one of the best features of a Linkedin account is the weekly digest email containing updates about people in your network – you’ll be told each week who has scored a new job, who is speaking at a conference, who has published a new blog post, and who is travelling interstate or overseas.  It’s a great feature that will keep you up to date with network activity and will prompt you to make contact with your connections.

Join Groups of like-minded professionals

Linkedin connects like-minded people through its Group function.  There are groups for all types of professions, associations, interests and causes.  As a member of a group, you can connect with and share information with other professionals via discussion forums – a great way to keep up to date with the latest news and developments in your industry.  You can see all Linkedin Groups here.

Get jobs

Like online jobs boards, Linkedin has its own job search facility, although the volume of jobs is limited compared to Seek, MyCareer and CapitalJobs.com.au.  Whilst it may not be the best place for active job searching by individuals, Linkedin is regularly used by recruitment personnel and corporates to find passive candidates through referral and by using Linkedin’s Corporate Recruitment Solutions.  If you’re on Linkedin, you may be head-hunted for your unique talents.

Get answers to professional questions

Need to know the answer to an organisational problem?  Have a dilemma in the workplace and need professional advice?  Linkedin allows you to post a question to your network and, according to Linkedin, there are thousands of professionals available to give you an answer.  You, too, as a good Linkedin citizen can assist others by responding to their questions.  You can see the Linkedin Answers function here.

Get recommended and recommend others

Linkedin enables you to obtain recommendations from members of your network and for you to give recommendations to others.  In some ways, obtaining recommendations is similar to supplying referee details to employers when applying for a job – each recommendation from another person helps to build your credibility and demonstrate your expertise to a prospective client or employer.  Don’t forget to regularly ask clients for recommendations after you complete a project or deliver a piece of work.  Remember that giver’s gain – you’re more likely to get a recommendation from another person if you’re willing yourself to recommend others.  You can see the Linkedin Recommendations function here.

Promote your organisation

You can set up a company profile on Linkedin in a similar fashion to establishing a personal profile.  A company profile allows you to provide detailed information about your organisation’s products and services, to provide information for prospective employees, and to provide contact details for your company.  Here’s a useful article about how to create a company profile on Linkedin.

Add applications

Like most networking websites, Linkedin permits you to add special applications to your page which extend the functionality of your profile.  You can see the full list of Linkedin applications here.

Now that Linkedin has gone public, there’s renewed interest in this professional networking tool, so now’s a good time to become a member and create your profile, or if you are already a member, to log back in and revisit your profile.