www-wowrecruitment-com-au-2024

From Acting to Recruitment: The Unique Career Journey of Lee Worswick

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:16:41 GMT

We’re excited to welcome Lee Worswick to the WOW Recruitment team!

With a unique background spanning professional acting, high‑performing sales roles and successful recruitment experience across multiple industries, Lee brings an energetic, relationship‑driven approach that perfectly aligns with WOW’s values.

I sat down with Lee to learn more about his journey, his passion for Sales & Business Development recruitment, and what he sees shaping the future of the industry.

What made WOW the right next step for you?

Lee’s connection to WOW isn’t new.

“Back in 2018, I shared an office with the WOW team, so I already knew the buzz and the culture. Emily and I built a great relationship, and she always said if I came back to Australia, she would love to potentially work together. When I returned in late 2025, joining WOW felt like the right next step. It offers so much room for progression, and the market is thriving.”

The timing aligned perfectly with Lee’s career goals, and he’s thrilled to continue his recruitment journey with a team he already knew and respected.

What has been a defining moment in your recruitment career?

With a decade of experience across people‑centric roles, Lee says the turning point came when he stepped into Business Development in recruitment.

“I’ve always loved being social. When I fell into sales 10 years ago, I loved the people element. I got the chance to move into recruitment in 2020 and soon realised it brought all my natural skills together, but with far more opportunity.

When I moved into business development, that was it for me. I loved identifying new clients, winning them, and maintaining long‑term relationships. I quickly realised this was the industry I wanted to build a career in.”

You specialise in Sales and Business Development roles. What challenges are sales professionals facing in today’s market?

The modern sales landscape is dynamic and demanding.

“Competition is fierce. There are so many strong candidates in Sales and BD, and you really have to stand out. A big shift is how niche clients have become. Even if you're a sales expert, industry‑specific experience can often be a deal‑breaker. Economic recruitment surveys show that industry knowledge and/or experience is cited by just under half (43%) of employers as an important quality to have. In my experience however, this number appears to be much higher!”

Lee sees increasing demand for sales professionals with specialised knowledge in sectors like Pharma, Medical, Energy, Construction, and more – an insight that shapes his approach to talent matching.

What can employers do to stand out and attract top sales talent?

Great salaries matter, but they’re not the only deciding factor.

“Since the pandemic, hybrid working has become integral for candidates. Second to this, clear progression pathways – they want to know where they can grow. And finally, culture!”

For employers wanting to stay competitive, Lee recommends showcasing flexibility, development opportunities, and a genuinely positive team culture.

You have a background in acting. How has this shaped your approach to recruitment?

Lee’s unique career path gives him an edge.

“Acting played a big part in shaping my style. I’m conversational, relaxed and definitely not salesy. I build trust by being myself and listening.”

This authenticity has become one of his biggest strengths in building lasting relationships with both clients and candidates.

What advice do you have for Sales professionals considering their next move?

“Those who are being sought after are those who can build relationships whilst using AI and data to work smarter and increase their productivity. The other advantage is being an industry expert and having the technical knowledge.”

Lee also emphasised “be consultative, understand long-term value for clients, be personable – people buy from people, and know your numbers inside out.”

What excites you most about joining WOW?

“I get to be part of a high-performing team working across industries I’m genuinely passionate about – Pharma, Medical, Healthcare, Energy, Renewables and Construction. Sales & BD is thriving right now, and Sydney is the best city in the world! It feels like there are endless opportunities ahead.”

We’re absolutely thrilled to have Lee on board as WOW continues to expand and partner with incredible organisations across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Whether you're looking to build a high‑performing sales team or explore your next Sales or BD opportunity, Lee is here to help.

lee.worswick@wowrecruitment.com.au

0402 627 401

Data-Driven Hiring in 2026: The WOW Strategy for Australian Recruitment

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:33:40 GMT

The Australian labour market in 2026 presents a unique challenge for hiring managers. According to data from Jobs and Skills Australia’s REOS, recruitment rates were hovering around the 50% mark in 2025, yet the difficulty in finding specialised talent remains high.

For leaders in Marketing, Sales, and Business Operations , the problem isn't a lack of candidates, it's the sheer volume of "noise." With applications per job ad on SEEK hitting record highs, the "post and pray" method is no longer viable. To win, your recruitment strategy must move from intuition to evidence.

Why Evidence Beats Intuition: The 32-Day Benchmark

In a competitive market, speed is your greatest currency. Current benchmarks show that high-performing Australian teams achieve a median time-to-hire of approximately 32 days.

While it’s better than global benchmarks, there is room for improvement. And data-driven hiring can help here.

When you’ve got data on hiring channels, candidate attributes for each role, and real-time hiring trends, you can run more targeted campaigns and reduce your time-to-hire.

At WOW, we utilise AI-assisted search and screening workflows to hit these targets. However, the data reveals that speed alone isn't enough. Recruitment difficulty varies significantly by region; while capital cities see high volume, regional hubs face acute shortages. Your process must be modular, adapting to "real-time" market mapping rather than relying on last year's assumptions.

Optimising Your Recruitment Spend

Reducing Cost-Per-Hire isn't about spending less; it’s about funding what works. By leveraging SEEK’s market dashboards and LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting 2025 insights, we identify which platforms are yielding the highest-quality applicants for your specific niche.

In Enterprise Sales: We prioritise intent signals and referral networks.
In Business Operations: We focus on efficiency and technical competency testing.
The AI Multiplier: By automating the "top of the funnel" tasks, our team can provide "high-touch" communication. This personalised engagement is why our offer acceptance rates remain significantly higher than the industry average.

The Cost of the “Wrong” Hire

In the Australian market, a bad hire in a senior Sales or Ops role can cost a business up to 2.5x the employee’s annual salary in lost productivity and re-hiring costs. Data-driven hiring acts as an insurance policy. It moves your recruitment from a reactive "need" to a proactive business advantage.

When you start collecting data on past employees, you can build a profile of what the ideal employee looks like for each role. You’ll understand what skills, experiences, and attributes drive long-term success in your organisation.

Evaluating each candidate against this data enables you to find the right fit for your roles. Pairing this up with skills-based hiring helps as you get clear data on whether the candidate can actually perform the job.

The WOW 5-Step Methodology: Blending Tech and Talent

Here at WOW, we understand how important data-driven recruitment is for businesses. Our comprehensive recruitment process relies on real-time and historical data to improve outcomes.

We’ve refined a process that satisfies both the algorithm and the human element. This 5-step framework ensures we find the top 5% of talent, not just the most active 5%.

Data-Rich Discovery & Market Mapping: We don't start with a job description; we start with a role success profile. We map the current market to see where your ideal candidates are currently working and what it will take to move them.
Strategic Candidate Attraction : Using SEEK’s Laws of Attraction (LoA) data, we tailor your EVP (Employee Value Proposition). In 2026, clarity on salary transparency and OTE is the #1 driver for conversion in Sales and Marketing roles.
Proactive Passive Sourcing: 70% of the best talent isn't looking at job boards. We leverage LinkedIn Recruiter AI and our internal talent communities to engage passive candidates who align with your brand values.
The Human Connection Filter: This is where the "WOW" happens. While AI handles the admin, our consultants spend their time on deep-dive behavioural interviewing. We screen for "cultural add", ensuring the candidate’s long-term goals align with your organisation’s strategy.
Evidence-Based Selection: We provide you with a shortlist backed by data points, not just resumes. This includes market salary benchmarking and role-fit scores to ensure your hiring decision is objective.

Ready to experience WOW?

Don’t let your growth be sidelined by outdated recruitment methods. Whether you are looking for permanent leadership or agile temporary support, WOW provides the data, the tech, and the human connection to deliver better talent, faster.

Jake Griffiths Joins WOW Recruitment as Principal Marketing Recruiter

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:52:58 GMT

With a proven track record in global marketing recruitment, Jake Griffiths brings a fresh perspective to WOW Recruitment’s mission of connecting top talent with leading brands.

We’re excited to welcome Jake Griffiths to WOW Recruitment as a Principal Recruitment Consultant specialising in Marketing.

With over five years’ experience recruiting marketing talent across Berlin’s tech start-up scene, London’s major media networks and Munich corporate landscape, Jake brings a global perspective to the Australian market and a deep understanding of what it takes to connect exceptional candidates with the right opportunities.

We sat down with Jake to hear more about his recruitment journey and his insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping the marketing talent landscape.

Welcome to WOW, Jake! What inspired you to join the team?

From my very first conversation with WOW, I knew I wanted to be part of the team – ask my girlfriend, it’s all I spoke about for weeks! Jamie and Emily’s passion for delivering a human-first approach to recruitment was infectious, and it really resonated with me.

Your first 18 months in recruitment were challenging. Tell us about the defining moment when things shifted for you?

I underperformed pretty heavily at the start. I was winning business and sharing great candidates, but placements just weren’t happening. After getting ‘under the bonnet’ with a previous manager, we realised I wasn’t prepping my candidates effectively. Once I became laser-focused on preparation, everything changed. I always reflect on that as the key to my success. If I put you forward for an interview, you’ll be prepped to the eyeballs!

What are the challenges facing marketing talent today?

Cutting through the noise is the biggest challenge. The market has been tough for the past two years, and more candidates are searching for roles than ever. It’s incredibly competitive, and marketing talent often struggles to get noticed by hiring managers.

What can employers do to attract top talent?

Candidate experience is everything. If your interview process is six stages long, includes a mammoth task, and leaves candidates waiting a week for feedback, you’ll lose top talent. People talk, and a poor experience can damage your brand. Keep it streamlined, keep it human.

What is unique about your approach?

Clients and candidates often comment on my transparent communication and speed of delivery. I act as the bridge between both sides, making sure everyone is aligned from CV submission to offer. Acting as that ‘middle-man’ results in a pain-free, quick process for everyone.

What’s your advice for marketers looking to make their next move?

Speak to a recruiter, honestly, even if it’s not me. Any good marketing recruiter will be speaking to 100+ companies every month, understanding who’s hiring and what they’re looking for. Instead of spending hours scrolling job boards and sending CVs into black holes, let us put your CV straight on the hiring manager’s desk.

Looking ahead, what are you most excited about?

The ever-evolving tech excites me most. Looking back at how we marketed 25 years ago compared to today is mind-blowing. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

How can people get in touch with you?

If you’re looking to hire exceptional talent, or explore your next move, I’d love to chat! You can get in touch with me at jake@wowrecruitment.com.au .

In-house vs. Recruitment Agency: Which is Right for You?

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 03:56:18 GMT

The Great Resignation put tremendous pressure on companies to attract and retain talent. And while that’s reduced to a great extent now, 55% of employers hired solely to replace departing employees in 2025.

Moreover, 38% of employers still report difficulty in recruitment.

Both these facts point to one thing: you need a robust recruitment strategy. It’s the key to ensuring business stability as it enables you to get the right talent when you need it.

A common dilemma organisations face when building a recruitment strategy is that of choosing between in-house recruitment vs. outsourcing to an agency.

Depending on your hiring volume, role complexity, and internal resources, either approach could work. But let’s take a look at them in detail to understand which one is right for you.

Cost-Effectiveness

Which method works out better for your finances? Lower recruitment costs can help you free up funds for growth and increase profitability. Let’s see how each method stacks up in this regard.

In-house Recruitment

The costs associated with in-house recruitment majorly comprise of:

Staff salaries and benefits
Recruitment tools and job board subscriptions
Advertising and marketing expenses
Onboarding and training costs

These are the more “visible” costs, but there are some hidden ones that can increase the impact on your bottom line, such as:

Time investment by hiring managers and interviewers
Opportunity cost of a vacancy
Cost of a bad hire
Overworked existing employees until a vacancy is filled

That said, in-house recruitment costs don’t come upfront, but add up over time. Also, certain costs like salaries are fixed annual expenses. They could quickly turn into financial drains during periods of low growth.

So, it makes sense to opt for this approach only if you have high-volume hiring needs.

Recruitment Agency

When you opt for a recruitment agency, the upfront costs could be slightly higher as an agency would typically charge a percentage fee of the candidate’s first-year annual salary.

Some agencies work on a fixed-fee model as well, where you pay the pre-decided amount on a successful hire.

Unlike an in-house setup, you don’t have any recurring costs here. You pay only for a successful outcome, effectively outsourcing the financial risk of the search.

Furthermore, recruitment specialists operate as well-oiled machines. Because they focus exclusively on talent acquisition, these firms often possess a deeper understanding of executive requirements and niche markets than a generalist HR team could maintain.

Verdict

The per-hire costs of in-house recruitment can be lower if you’ve got higher volumes. However, for specialised and one-off hires, agencies provide superior value.

The premium demanded by agencies often reflects their market expertise and faster placement outcomes, which result in invisible cost savings.

By opting for a fixed-fee or percentage model, you hand over the administrative burden to the agency, freeing you up to focus on other, more pressing matters.

Access to Talent - Active vs. Passive Candidate Pools

Talent that’s the right fit for your role is out there. But what’s the best way of reaching it? Which method does a better job?

In-house Recruitment

In-house recruitment teams heavily rely on job boards, ads, and inbound applications for finding the right candidates. These are active candidate pools that include individuals who are actively looking for jobs by searching and applying for them.

While effective for junior roles, this approach misses the passive market: high-performing professionals who aren't looking but are willing to move for the right opportunity.

That said, in-house teams do get the opportunity to form their own talent pools by connecting with candidates and building relationships with them even before they have new job openings.

Recruitment Agency

Here at WOW Recruitment, you gain access to both active and passive talent pools.

Since they’re solely focused on recruitment, agencies are able to tap into passive candidates through the strong networks they’ve built over the years.

This proactive approach comes in handy, especially when you’re looking for niche and senior hires. You gain access to pools that are otherwise out of your in-house team’s reach.

For mission-critical or confidential roles where public advertising is a risk, an agency provides the necessary layer of anonymity while still ensuring a robust shortlist.

Verdict

Recruitment agencies give you access to a much larger candidate pool. You can rely on their existing network to even hire for confidential roles. In-house teams don’t have that edge, but can build it over time.

Time-to-Hire and Business Continuity

Leaving a position vacant for too long is a risk. Case in point – delayed hiring cycles negatively impact 92% of businesses , often stalling projects and damaging team morale. Here’s how each method fares in this regard:

In-house Recruitment

In-house teams juggle a broad spectrum of responsibilities, from payroll and compensation to employee training. Recruitment is just one of the competing priorities here, inevitably leading to a longer time-to-hire.

Additionally, the in-house team needs to build talent pools from scratch and also has to spend a lot more time on internal alignment. They may sometimes lack the right set of tools to execute their hiring tasks efficiently too.

Learn More: 3 Ways to Speed Up Your Hiring Process | WOW Recruitment

Recruitment Agency

Unlike in-house teams, recruitment agencies are solely focused on finding the right candidate for your business. By using tried-and-tested processes, they can easily discover candidates, tapping into their existing talent pools.

They also possess the right tech stack for a smooth end-to-end management of the recruitment campaign. Finally, agencies are motivated by speed as they are only paid for each successful hire. It naturally accelerates the hiring timeline.

Verdict

A shorter hiring time means your vacancies can be filled quickly with minimal disruption to your business, ensuring continuity. Recruitment agencies can help you fill the vacancies faster than in-house teams, making them a better option.

That said, if you have a dedicated team for hiring and need to hire continuously, an in-house team should be your go-to strategy.

Improve Your Hiring Outcomes

Both in-house teams and recruitment agencies can help you power up your hiring campaigns. However, the right choice depends on your business context.

It’s best to assess your hiring urgency, complexity, and internal capability before making a decision. If you’re looking for a shorter time-to-hire, want to keep things confidential, or need to fill executive positions, agencies are the better option.

If you’re evaluating which method works better for your business, let’s talk. At WOW Recruitment, we make hiring talent (both permanent and temporary) seamless. Want to experience WOW? Contact us today.

Why Every Organisation Needs a Talent Strategy

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 05:13:59 GMT

Technology now evolves faster than job descriptions, and candidate expectations shift with every quarter. Amid that pace, one thing remains constant: organisations that invest in their people with intention outperform those that don’t.

At WOW Recruitment, we’ve seen firsthand how a well-crafted talent strategy isn’t just a HR initiative, it’s essential. It’s the difference between reacting to change and leading through it.

Talent as a Performance Driver

Talent is the engine behind innovation, productivity and customer satisfaction. Companies that invest strategically in their people are up to 4 × more likely to exceed performance benchmarks.

But here’s the thing, great hires alone aren’t enough. Success comes from enabling people to do great work and that takes structure, foresight and culture.

Purpose-Driven People, Purpose-Aligned Strategy

Today’s workforce wants more than a paycheque. They want purpose. When hiring, development, and retention align with your organisation’s mission and values, you build a workforce that’s both skilled and inspired.

We help clients articulate that connection. Through culture mapping and values-based hiring, WOW Recruitment ensures your people strategy reflects what your organisation stands for so your best people stay for the right reasons.

Future-Proofing in a Rapidly Changing Market

Technology, automation, and market volatility are reshaping roles faster than ever. Many businesses are caught responding to gaps rather than anticipating them.

Australia faces a projected shortfall of 250,000 skilled professionals by 2030, especially across finance, tech and business services. The organisations that plan now will own the advantage later.

Engagement and Retention: More Than Just Perks

Retention may be holding steady, but engagement is slipping. Only 16% of Australian employees report being fully engaged at work. That’s a signal that something deeper is missing. A thoughtful talent strategy creates clear pathways for growth and ensures employees feel their strengths are being recognised and leveraged. It’s not just about career ladders, it’s about meaningful development.

Embedding DEI with Intention

Diversity, equity and inclusion can’t be a side project. A robust talent strategy embeds DEI into recruitment, development and leadership pipelines. Yet only half of Australian HR leaders say their organisation prioritises DEI. Closing representation gaps across gender, disability, LGBTQIA+, and socio-economic backgrounds requires more than good intentions. It requires strategy.

Strategic Workforce Planning: Right People, Right Time

Workforce planning is no longer a once-a-year spreadsheet exercise. It’s a dynamic, data-informed process that helps leaders make smart decisions about hiring, upskilling and restructuring. A talent strategy gives you the clarity to invest in the right people, in the right roles, at the right time and pivot when needed.

So how do you move from concept to capability? Here are the key steps:

1. Audit Your Current State

Start with a clear-eyed view of your workforce. What skills do you have? Where are the gaps? Use both data (e.g. performance metrics, retention rates) and qualitative insights (e.g. employee feedback) to build a full picture.

2. Define Future State

Look ahead to the capabilities your business will need in 12-36 months. Consider market trends, tech disruption and evolving customer expectations. Tools like talent mapping and skills taxonomies can help forecast future needs and identify internal potential.

3. Align Talent with Business Strategy

Every business goal has a people implication. Whether you're expanding, innovating or restructuring, ask: What roles are essential? What leadership capabilities are required? Frameworks like the 6Bs of Talent Management: Build, Buy, Borrow, Bind, Boost, Bounce; offer a practical way to think about your workforce composition.

4. Embed DEI with Intention

Make inclusion part of the design not just the messaging. Use equitable evaluation tools, diverse sourcing channels and embed DEI metrics into leadership KPIs.

5. Create Clear Pathways for Growth

Growth isn’t just about promotions, it’s about purpose, stretch and recognition. Build internal mobility programs, offer upskilling aligned to future needs and ensure strengths are being leveraged, not just managed.

6. Measure What Matters

Track engagement, retention, time-to-fill, internal mobility and DEI representation. Use these metrics to refine your strategy and demonstrate ROI.

The Employer Brand Advantage

One of the most underrated benefits of a talent strategy is its impact on employer brand. Organisations known for developing and valuing their people attract top talent.

In a market where candidates research companies before applying, your reputation is built in the little moments – how you onboard, how you promote, how you listen. The companies that become destination employers are the ones that treat their talent strategy with care and consistency.

Final Thoughts

At WOW Recruitment, we believe that people are your greatest asset and your greatest opportunity. A talent strategy isn’t just about filling roles. It’s about building a workforce that’s aligned, engaged and ready for the future.

If you’re re-evaluating how your business attracts, develops, and retains talent, let’s start with a conversation.

Book a complimentary Consultation and discover how WOW can help your organisation lead in the changing world of work.

Because in a world of algorithms and automation, people still hire people. And that’s where WOW shines.

References

ADP Research: People at Work 2025 – Only 16% of Australian employees report being fully engaged.
ADP Australia Report [au.adp.com]

Bersin by Deloitte: Organisations with a clear talent strategy are 4x more likely to be in the top quartile of business outcomes.
Inside HR Australia [insidehr.com.au]

Future Skills Organisation: Australia will need 3.5 million skilled finance, tech, and business professionals by 2030, with a projected shortfall of 250,000.
FSO Workforce Plan 2025 [futureskil...ion.com.au]

Australian HR Institute: Only 50% of HR professionals say their organisation prioritises DEI.
AHRI DEI Report [ahri.com.au]

Adecco Australia: Employer branding is a strategic imperative in attracting and retaining talent.
Adecco Employer Branding

Inside HR: Only 30% of Australian organisations believe their current talent identification approach will meet future needs.
Inside HR Strategy Guide [insidehr.com.au]

AustCorp Executive: Talent mapping aligns workforce capabilities with long-term business goals.
Talent Mapping Guide

BDO Australia: Build, Buy, Borrow, Bind, Boost, Bounce – a practical framework for workforce planning.
BDO Talent Management

Defining ROI on Creativity

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 03:58:22 GMT

In every business conversation, there comes a moment when someone leans back in their chair and asks the question that can stop bold ideas in their tracks: “But what’s the ROI?”

Creativity, the spark that drives attention, emotion, and growth but too often finds itself on the defence. In a world obsessed with data and dashboards, it’s become the one line item that leaders struggle to quantify and, therefore, to protect.

At WOW Recruitment, we wanted to unpack that tension and explore why ROI remains the sticking point in creativity, and how marketers and business leaders can bridge the gap between commercial certainty and creative confidence.

Last week, we brought together an incredible panel of leaders to tackle the question head-on:

James Aris – Portfolio Marketing Manager, Lion
Mel Yee – Creative Director, Popology
Tora Brophy – Head of Scaled AUNZ, Uber

Each bringing a different lens to what creativity means, how it’s measured and where it’s headed.

Why Creativity Gets Stuck in the Boardroom

The panel opened with a shared truth: creativity drives undeniable value but defending it in the boardroom remains one of marketing’s hardest battles.

James put it bluntly: “Everyone has an opinion on marketing, but no one has an opinion on supply chain.” It’s a familiar reality. When too many stakeholders want their fingerprints on an idea, creativity can get watered down until what’s left is “grey” – safe, inoffensive and forgettable.

Yet, the evidence shows that safe creative isn’t safer at all. Studies from Kantar and WARC reveal that 47% of advertising success is directly attributable to creativity, making it the single largest driver of ROI, far above media spend. Interestingly, Eleven Agency’s research shows, “safe” creative requires 2.6 times more media spend to achieve the same impact as bold, distinctive work.

In short, the less brave we are creatively, the more we pay for it commercially.

From Talkability to Tangible ROI

Throughout the discussion, the panel shared examples of when creativity paid off and when it didn’t.

James reflected on the scaling of the Stone & Wood brand, which took a bold leap three years ago by moving onto television. “It was a brave call,” he admitted. “There was no message, no voiceover just an occasion, a feeling, a vibe.” The ad didn’t follow the rules of traditional beer marketing and in the short term, the active engagement scores looked poor.

But over time, brand awareness, price premium and equity scores all climbed. “The ad felt different,” said James. “And that’s exactly why it worked.”

Mel shared a different experience – a creative activation for Netflix that she loved but struggled to get across the line because ROI couldn’t be easily proven. “It’s not that the value wasn’t there,” she said. “It’s that we didn’t yet have the tools to measure it.”

That theme came up repeatedly. The panel agreed that creativity’s impact often shows up first as a feeling and only later as financials. As Mel noted, “Creativity sticks with you.” It creates moments of resonance that stay in people’s minds, moments that data alone cannot predict.

Measuring What Matters

One of the night’s key insights came from Tora, who reframed ROI as something far more nuanced than a single metric.

“ROI can be completely subjective,” he said. “It depends on which executive you’re talking to.” For Tora, measuring creative value means understanding the journey to profit, not just the outcome.

He outlined three steps: first, know the number one metric for the business; second, show how marketing’s actions ladder up to that; and third, identify the new value points creativity uncovers such as the likes, comments, shares and sentiment shifts that signal future behaviour.

His perspective reflects what we’re now seeing in industry research. WARC and Kantar’s data shows that when creativity, attention and investment align, the business effect can rise by up to 65%. Brands that balance performance marketing with long-term creative building see ROI increases of up to 90%, according to Analytic Partners’ Multiplier Effect study.

For agencies, these same frameworks are invaluable when selling brave ideas to clients. Showing how your creative ladders to a CEO’s or CFO’s top metrics. Bringing early indicators like engagement or share of search can help defend bold work in pitch rooms and ongoing client reviews.

So, while sales uplift will always matter, creativity’s true ROI extends beyond it into brand memory, emotion and mental availability.

Selling Creativity to the C-Suite

Another point of debate was how marketers can sell creativity to CFOs and CEOs who crave certainty.

The answer, as the panel discussed, isn’t to shy away from commercial language but rather translate creativity into it. “Know your stakeholder,” Tora said. “Know what they care about, how they measure value and bring them on the journey.”

Creativity that feels risky to a finance leader can feel revolutionary to a marketer and both perspectives are valid. Bridging that divide requires transparency, shared language and sometimes, small wins that build confidence. Start small, show impact and scale from there.

Mel described it as emotive marketing – “the experiences you create and the emotions you evoke.” Traditional ROI thinking treats marketing as input and output. Creativity, she argued, is more like planting a seed – something you nurture, water, and let grow.

The Future of Creative Measurement

The conversation inevitably turned to AI and what it means for creativity’s future.

The consensus? AI is reshaping how we produce, measure and optimise creative work but the human spark still determines what stands out.

As content creation becomes faster and cheaper, the gap between good and great creative will widen, dramatically. The ability to craft distinctive ideas grounded in strategy, empathy and emotion will be what defines market leaders. “Real-world experiences,” one panellist noted, “will become the new luxury.”

As AI becomes more embedded in our workflows, Mel put it beautifully on the night, “AI will teach us what it means to be human again.”

The Courage to be Commercial and Creative

If there was one message that resonated through every section of our discussion, from campaigns to measurement to future trends, it was that creativity and commerciality are not opposites. They are interdependent.

As James put it, “Traditional creatives sell the emotion, and the production team debates the budget. But commerciality now has to be part of every creative’s role.”

When brand strategy, storytelling and commercial understanding work together, creativity becomes unstoppable. It’s no longer something to defend, it’s something to invest in.

Creativity is the ROI

At the end of the night, we circled back to the question we started with: What’s the ROI on creativity?

The answer wasn’t a number. It was a mindset.

It’s the courage to back bold ideas. The discipline to measure what matters. And the belief that creativity doesn’t just sell products, it builds brands, shifts markets, and creates lasting human connection.

As research continues to prove, and as our panel made clear, creativity isn’t a cost centre. It’s the engine of growth.

So perhaps the next time someone in the boardroom asks, “What’s the ROI on creativity?”, the simplest answer might be the truest one:

Creativity is the ROI.

Meet the Panellists

James Aris – Portfolio Marketing Manager, Lion

James Aris is Marketing Manager at Stone & Wood (part of Lion), where he leads the brand strategy, positioning and go-to-market plans. He oversees long-term portfolio planning and innovation, supporting a talented team to deliver meaningful brand and customer initiatives grounded in insights and creativity.

James’ main role is helping steward the much-loved Pacific Ale and championing the brand’s vision of “making beer a force for good.” His career has also spanned senior roles with Matilda Bay Brewery, where he oversaw award-winning innovation and sustainability initiatives and a few global ad awards for their campaign ‘Rejected Ales'. Before that, he held leadership roles in management consulting, brand strategy, and digital marketing across Australia and Europe.

Across every chapter, James has been driven by a liking for psychology, brand, design and storytelling with an eye for balancing creativity and rigour to build products and experiences that people love and trust. Collaborative and purpose-led, he values culture, community and making an impact which is something he’s proud to bring to life every day in his current role at Lion.

Mel Yee – Creative Director, Popology

Mel Yee is Creative Director at Popology, where she leads the creation of immersive brand experiences that connect people and ideas in meaningful, lasting ways. She believes the best work isn’t just seen – it’s felt, and at best, remembered.

Before joining Popology in 2023, Mel spent 15 years in London honing her craft as a branding designer across lifestyle, fashion and hospitality. She worked with globally respected studios including Ragged Edge and Made Thought, as well as in-house at Selfridges and ASOS. This experience built her holistic approach to how people move through, feel and remember a space – a mindset that has translated seamlessly into experiential design.

Since joining Popology, Mel has led and won major pitches for clients including Netflix, Amazon, L’Oréal and Dua Lipa, creating immersive worlds where brands and audiences can truly connect. Across every project, she brings a thoughtful balance of strategy, storytelling and sensory design, championing creativity that inspires emotion, builds connection and leaves a lasting impression.

Tora Brophy – Head of Scaled AUNZ, Uber

Tora Brophy is Head of Scaled AUNZ at Uber, where he leads Uber Eats’ largest business segment across Australia and New Zealand, driving growth, profitability and execution through a high-performing team. He is responsible for scaling strategies that deliver sustainable P&L outcomes while creating long-term value for customers and partners.

Prior to Uber, Tora held senior leadership roles at some of the world’s most influential technology companies including Google, TikTok and Klaviyo. He built and scaled sales, marketing and partnership teams across APAC. At TikTok, he led SMB growth across ANZ; at Klaviyo, he accelerated international expansion through partner success; and during five years at Google, he delivered record-breaking revenue growth and launched world-first programs that transformed partnerships across the region. Earlier in his career, Tora was instrumental in building Under Armour’s direct-to-consumer business in Australia and NZ, launching its eCommerce channel and expanding its retail footprint with double-digit growth.

Across every role, Tora has been driven by a passion for helping businesses identify their biggest challenges, prioritise pathways, and deliver on execution all while bringing people on the journey.

About WOW Recruitment

At WOW Recruitment, we believe that creativity and commerciality go hand in hand, and that great marketing talent is what bridges the two. Our specialist marketing recruitment team connects businesses with the people who not only understand data, strategy and performance, but who also have the imagination and courage to drive genuine brand impact.

We stay closely attuned to the trends shaping the industry, from evolving consumer behaviours to the rise of AI and creative measurement, helping our clients build teams that are agile, inspired and ready for what’s next.

If you’re looking to strengthen your marketing capability or find talent that can balance creative thinking with commercial results, we’d love to connect. Together, we can help you build a team that turns bold ideas into growth.

WOW Recruitment expands into Brisbane

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 03:50:00 GMT

PRESS RELEASE

WOW Recruitment expands into Brisbane

1 October 2025

WOW Recruitment is heading north! After eight years of building high-performing teams in Sydney and Melbourne, we’re thrilled to bring our boutique, human-centred approach to Brisbane – a city filled with growth, opportunity, and ambition.

Founded in 2017, at a time when the recruitment industry was losing its personal touch, WOW Recruitment set out to reimagine what recruitment could be – personal, purposeful, and deeply aligned with the strategic direction of the organisations we partner with. Today, our mission is simple: to connect exceptional people with brands that are shaping the future. With this in mind, we’re excited to be expanding into Brisbane to meet the talent demand.

Brisbane’s momentum is building:

Since 2020, the Brisbane economy has grown by AUD $28 billion (a 16% increase), reaching AUD $201 billion in total.
Over the same period, employment in Brisbane has increased by 274,000 jobs, up about 22%.
Key sectors such as healthcare, logistics, construction, and tourism are experiencing strong demand.
Looking ahead, there is a projected shortage of 50,000+ workers for major infrastructure and building projects in Queensland, especially with the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon.

As specialists in Marketing, Digital, Events, Business Support, Customer Experience, Sales, and Executive Search, WOW has built a talent ecosystem that goes beyond job boards, tapping into passive, high-calibre candidates who align not just with role requirements, but with the culture and ambition of organisations. In a world where adaptability is as valuable as skills, we partner with you to future-proof teams. We take the time to understand a business’s long-term strategic vision, connecting them with talent that elevates the organisation and drives commercial outcomes.

Leading our Brisbane expansion is Principal Consultant, Lauren Hetaraka, a seasoned recruiter who has been instrumental to WOW’s success in Sydney. With over seven years of industry experience and known for her honesty, empathy and practical insight, Lauren will drive WOW’s Queensland growth, overseeing both temporary and permanent talent solutions.

“Brisbane presents huge opportunity, with few cities in the world matching its current momentum,” said Emily Angeloni (McLeod), Co-Founder & Director.

“With underlying workforce indicators showing strong growth, skills shortages, and rapidly rising demand in sectors like construction, healthcare and logistics, we’re thrilled to have Lauren lead our expansion. We believe WOW Recruitment can help bridge those gaps, delivering high-quality solutions for both temporary and permanent talent.”

Lauren adds, “I’m excited to bring WOW Recruitment’s value and approach to Brisbane. We know businesses here need access to reliable, high-quality talent fast, and I look forward to partnering with both organisations and candidates to navigate this dynamic market.”

With this move, WOW Recruitment reaffirms its commitment to serving businesses and job seekers across both Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, providing tailored, transparent, and effective recruitment and staffing solutions.

For more information about recruitment services in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney , visit www.wowrecruitment.com.au or connect with Lauren Hetaraka on LinkedIn .

Sources

Brisbane Economic Development Agency – 2025 State of the City Report
https://beda.brisbane.qld.au/news-and-events/2025-state-of-the-city-report-launch
Queensland Government – Budget 2025–26: Economic Performance and Outlook
https://budget.qld.gov.au/files/Budget-2025-26-BP2-Economic-performance-and-outlook.pdf
ABC News – Queensland Facing Infrastructure Workforce Shortfall Ahead of Brisbane Olympics
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-08/queensland-facing-infrastructure-shortfall-brisbane-olympics/105506284

From Head of Marketing to Recruitment: Orlaith’s Journey to WOW

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 11:46:29 GMT

We’re thrilled to welcome Orlaith McIvor as a Recruitment Consultant on our Marketing team here at WOW Recruitment!

With over 7 years of experience in marketing across Australia and Ireland, Orlaith brings deep expertise in paid ATL & BTL media, marketing strategy, and the ever-evolving digital space. She has held senior leadership roles including Head of Marketing and Brands at Barbeques Galore and Head of Media at Lidl , giving her invaluable insights into how leading organisations build and grow their brands.

Holding both a Marketing degree and a Postgraduate Degree in Advertising & Digital Communications from Technological University Dublin, she’s uniquely positioned to connect exceptional marketing talent with the right opportunities.

We sat down with Orlaith to hear more about her career journey and her insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping Australia’s marketing landscape today.

Welcome to WOW, Orlaith! What inspired you to join the team?

When I first moved to Sydney as a marketing professional, WOW Recruitment really stood out. As I explored moving into recruitment, WOW’s reputation as an industry leader – with a fresh, people-first approach – really spoke to me.

From my first conversation with Jamie and Emily, I could tell WOW was different. Their genuine, collaborative approach to recruitment made me feel instantly aligned. It was clear this was a place where I could grow as a recruiter while staying close to my passion for marketing.

You’ve built a successful career in marketing – why make the move into recruitment?

After seven years in marketing, I was ready for a new challenge. What excites me about recruitment is the chance to combine my industry knowledge with a passion for helping people. I know the impact the right hire can have – not just on a candidate’s career, but on a business’s growth. Recruitment gives me the opportunity to make that connection every day.

What do you see as the biggest challenges in marketing talent right now?

The biggest challenge is adaptability. Marketing is evolving at a rapid pace – it’s more data-driven, more tech-heavy, and new skills like AI, automation, and analytics are in high demand. The talent pool doesn’t always keep pace with innovation, and marketers need to continuously upskill to stay competitive.

Another challenge is balance. Employers want professionals who are both creative and analytical. They must be able to dream up impactful campaigns and measure their performance in real time. Striking that balance is key in today’s results-driven environment.

How can employers attract top marketing talent?

It’s not just about ticking every box on a job description. The best way to attract talent is by investing in professional growth. Offering training in areas like AI, automation, and analytics shows marketers that they can future-proof their careers with you.

Creating an environment where creativity and data-driven decision-making are equally valued is also crucial. Candidates are looking for companies that encourage innovation while supporting them to adapt and grow.

If a business partners with you, what can they expect from your process?

Having worked both in-house and agency side, I know firsthand how the right hire can do more than just fill a gap, it can elevate a candidate’s career while delivering tangible ROI for a business. That balance is at the heart of my process.

It starts with a conversation. I take the time to sit down with my clients, whether they’re looking to fill one key position or scale an entire team, and really dig into their business. This means understanding not just the role description, but the company’s culture, long-term goals, and the kind of people who thrive in their environment.

Because I’ve worked across media planning, buying, strategy, brand building and digital, I know the nuances of different marketing roles, from highly analytical to deeply creative. That insight allows me to translate a job spec into a clear picture of the type of candidate who will succeed, both technically and culturally.

Once that foundation is set, I use my network and market insights to actively seek out talent, not only those with the right skillset, but those who align with the client’s vision and values. I manage the full process end-to-end: sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates while keeping my clients closely involved and updated at every stage.

For me, recruitment should feel seamless and collaborative. My role is to take the stress out of hiring so businesses can focus on creating exceptional work, while I deliver the top-tier marketing talent that will help drive their success, now and in the future.

What kind of roles are you currently recruiting?

Marketing touches every sector, so the opportunities are broad but we’re seeing huge growth in areas like:

Retail Marketing
Data & Analytics
AI & MarTech Specialisations
MarTech Sales
Social Media & Community Management
Influencer Marketing
Digital Content Creation
Customer Experience & CRM Marketing

You can also check out our Events & Experiential Marketing page for a deeper dive into the roles I’m working on right now.

Finally, how can people connect with you?

Whether you’re looking to hire your next marketing superstar or you’re ready for a new role in the industry, I’d love to chat. You can reach me at orlaith@wowrecruitment.com.au .

8 Years of WOW Recruitment: the lessons, laughs & late nights that got us here

Fri, 23 May 2025 02:00:47 GMT

It has been eight whole years since I took the leap and launched WOW Recruitment.

Eight years since I left the comfort and security of full-time work to build something from scratch, with no blueprint or guarantees, and butterflies in my stomach.

And honestly? What a ride it’s been.

Starting WOW was never just about creating a recruitment agency, it was about doing recruitment differently. Led from the heart with people at the centre. No suits or stuffy boardrooms. Something built on genuine connection, real talk, and a commitment to doing right by our candidates, our clients, and our team.

And here we are, eight years later. We’ve grown, evolved, made mistakes, learned big lessons, had some massive wins, and created something I’m pretty damn proud of.

So, in the spirit of reflection (and because a glass of bubbles and a bit of nostalgia go hand in hand), here are 8 lessons from 8 years that I keep coming back to:

1. Mindset is everything

Running a business stretches you in ways you can’t prepare for. There’s strategy, structure and sales – but when it really counts, it comes down to mindset. The way you show up when cash flow is tight. When a key hire doesn’t work out. When life throws you a curveball. I’m naturally all-in when it comes to work. I care deeply, I obsess over the details, and I’ve absolutely lost sleep over results, challenges, and the endless “what ifs”. That intensity has fuelled WOW’s growth but it’s also taught me that mindset matters more than anything. Over the years, I’ve had to learn how to pause. To zoom out. To protect my energy and separate the personal from the professional. But what’s helped me the most is gratitude. Even in the chaos, I try to come back to this: I get to do this. I get to lead an amazing team, build a business I believe in, and grow something that makes a difference. And in the harder moments, that perspective is what steadies me.

2. Protect your culture like your life depends on it

Because in some ways, it does.

Culture isn’t something that magically happens – it’s something you build, nurture, and fiercely protect. It’s not just about Friday drinks or team lunches (although, I love those). It’s about how we show up for each other, the energy we bring to work, how we treat our clients and candidates, and how we handle the tough days.

Over the years, I’ve learned that when you let culture slide, even just a little, it impacts everything. So, we protect ours fiercely. We check in, we speak up, and we stay aligned to our values. It’s what makes WOW so special.

3. Have an “Always On” approach to hiring

Hiring is hard. Even as recruiters, we’re not immune to the same challenges our clients face. The market moves fast, top talent gets snapped up quickly, and sometimes the right person shows up when you least expect it.

That’s why we’ve adopted a mindset of always being open to meeting great people – even when we don’t have a role live. We leave a little wiggle room in the budget, we think creatively, and if someone exceptional crosses our path, we find a way to make it work.

4. Be you. Wholeheartedly and unapologetically

This one took me a while.

When you start a business, especially as a woman, there’s a temptation to fit into the mould – whatever that means. I tried to play the game at first. But the truth is, the more I showed up as me – straight-talking, heart on my sleeve, full of passion but always all-in – the more everything started to click.

That doesn’t mean I always get it right. I absolutely don’t. But I’ll always be the first to own it when I get something wrong. I believe in leading with honesty, learning out loud, and using every misstep as a chance to grow.

People want real. They want to connect with the person, not just the brand. And the more I leaned into authenticity, the more WOW became a magnet for the right people.

5. Learn to say no

I’m a people-pleaser by nature. I want to help everyone, say yes to everything, and make it work. But over the years, I’ve learned that every “yes” comes at a cost – and sometimes, that cost is too high.

We’ve turned down clients who didn’t treat candidates well. We’ve walked away from revenue because it didn’t align with our values. And while saying no can be scary, it’s also deeply empowering.

And now, as a new mum, this lesson hits even harder. My time, energy, and focus aren’t just mine anymore. Saying no has become a non-negotiable because saying yes to every opportunity outside of work means saying no to precious moments with my family. My priorities have shifted, and I’ve realised that boundaries aren’t barriers, they’re anchors that help keep what matters most in place.

Every time we say no to the wrong things, we make space for the right things.

6. Trust your gut

You know that little nudge you get when something just feels off? That voice is gold.

Over the years, I’ve ignored it a few times and regretted it every time. I’ve since learned to tune in, trust it, and let it lead me, especially in the grey areas where logic isn’t enough.

7. Good business beats just any business

We’ve had to get really clear on who we do and don’t want to work with.

Early on, I felt like I had to say yes to every client that came our way. But not all business is good business. Some clients drain your energy, stretch your team, and just aren’t aligned with how you operate.

Now, we work with clients who get it – who treat candidates with respect, value our partnership, and match our energy. It makes the work more meaningful, and the results better for everyone involved.

8. Profit isn’t a dirty word

I used to shy away from the numbers. I was focused on the team, the experience and the vision; and all of that matters, but so does profit.

Without profit, you can’t grow. You can’t reward your team. You can’t invest in better tools, new talent or new ideas. Profit gives you freedom.

I’ve learned to love the numbers. To own the commercial side of what we do, without apology. Because you can be values-driven and profitable. They’re not mutually exclusive, in fact, they feed each other.

To everyone who's been part of this...

Whether you’ve worked with us, cheered us on, sent a referral, shared our job ads, joined the team, or just liked a post; you’ve been part of this story.

Thank you.

Thank you for believing in us, for growing with us, and for reminding me why I took the leap all those years ago. Here’s to eight years of WOW and to whatever magic comes next…

How temporary talent gives you the commercial edge

Wed, 07 May 2025 03:19:27 GMT

What if your business could scale up or down instantly, access high-calibre talent on demand, and control workforce costs without the long-term commitment of permanent hires?

In Australia’s fast-moving job market, businesses are under constant pressure to remain competitive. From construction and healthcare to tech, retail and logistics, more industries are turning to temporary staffing as a smart, strategic workforce solution.

Why? Because it allows them to tap into skilled professionals at exactly the right moment – whether that’s to cover peak periods, fill skill gaps or bring in specialist expertise for short-term projects.

We’ve seen first-hand how the right people, in the right roles, at the right time can be a game changer for businesses. Here’s why temp staffing is more than just a quick fix – it’s a growth strategy.

1. Agility & scalability, on demand

Need to ramp up your workforce overnight? Temporary hires allow businesses to flex quickly in response to seasonal peaks, project deadlines or unexpected workload surges without the complications or impact on permanent headcount.

With temps, you avoid lengthy interview processes and notice periods. At WOW Recruitment, our <2-day time-to-fill means you’ll have compliant, work-ready candidates who can hit the ground running from day one.

2. Cost efficiency, without the overheads

Hiring temporary staff through an agency helps businesses control costs by shifting payroll, benefits and administrative expenses off their books. Since temp employees remain on the agency’s payroll, businesses only pay for the hours worked – keeping budgets lean and operations efficient.

Plus, because temps aren’t counted toward official headcount, businesses can maintain workforce flexibility without the additional overhead costs.

3. Reduced risk, higher retention

Ever hired someone, only to realise a few months later they weren’t the right fit? Temporary recruitment reduces that risk. It allows businesses to evaluate performance, skills, and culture fit before making a long-term commitment.

This 'try before you buy' approach not only helps reduce costly hiring mistakes but also improves overall retention. In fact, many temp workers transition seamlessly into permanent roles, having already proven their value within the business.

4. Access to top talent, instantly

The best candidates aren’t always actively job-hunting. But through temporary recruitment, businesses gain access to a broader talent pool, including highly skilled professionals open to short-term contracts.

Take one of our clients in the medical sector: they rely on us for high-volume call centre staffing, and one of their temp hires recently transitioned into a permanent team lead role.

The reality? Not tapping into the temp market means missing out on high-potential talent.

Temps also bring fresh skills, diverse experience and new perspectives, which can help drive innovation and process improvement within teams.

Ready to get started?

Companies leveraging temp talent enjoy greater agility, smarter workforce planning and reduced hiring risks. If your business is looking for a way to scale efficiently while maintaining cost control, temp staffing isn’t just an option – it’s a competitive advantage and can support unlocking your businesses growth potential.

“Shona was super responsive and had two very experienced people in front of me in less than 24 hours. I was spoilt for choice. We love Kate – she’s confident and ready to go.”

Kelly - Head of People & Culture, PR Agency

At WOW Recruitment, we make hiring temporary talent seamless. Whether you need short-term cover, project specialists or a scalable workforce solution, we’re here to help. For fast temp talent, let’s chat !

The power of an exceptional EA

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 07:04:48 GMT

The power of an exceptional EA

It's 7.43am on a Monday, and I'm staring at my calendar like it personally insulted me. Back-to-back meetings, a lunch I'll definitely forget to eat, and a pile of unread emails that could probably be classified as spam.

But here’s the thing – I used to be the one managing this chaos. Before stepping into a General Manager role, I was an Executive Assistant (EA), and I can say with absolute certainty that a great EA doesn’t just manage time – they create it.

Too often, the role of an EA is misunderstood. People think it’s about scheduling meetings and booking flights, but those of us who’ve been in the trenches know the truth: an exceptional EA is basically a behind-the-scenes COO. They’re part strategist, part therapist, part logistics genius, and more often than not, a personal caffeine supplier.

A Strategic Partner.

An EA, when truly empowered, transforms their executive from a stressed-out calendar hostage into a high-performing value creator. Here's how:

They filter out the noise. A great EA ensures that only the most relevant, high-impact information reaches their executive’s desk. This makes decision-making faster, sharper, and about 78% less painful.
They optimise time like a Tetris master. Back-to-back calls with no break? Not happening. Deep focus time? Scheduled. Energy levels at risk of crashing? Here’s a protein bar.
They act as the bridge between leadership and the rest of the company. EAs hear everything . They spot misalignment before it becomes a crisis and manage relationships like a diplomat.
They solve problems before they even exist. The best EAs are three steps ahead. They already have Plan B, C, and D in place before you even realise Plan A is falling apart.
The Value vs. Time Equation. Not all tasks are created equal. An EA ensures their executive is spending time where they add the most value.

Influencing without Authority.

One of the hardest parts of being an EA? You have to organise, delegate, and lead, all without an official leadership title. Some people (read: executives) get this and empower their EAs. Others, well… let’s just say they take a little longer to come around.

But here’s the secret: authority isn’t about job titles. It’s about relationships, commercial-thinking, and knowing your stuff. According to Harvard Business School , real influence comes from a mix of a strong network, deep business knowledge, and undeniable expertise – all of which, are coachable.

So, how do EAs level up their influence?

Build strong relationships. The bigger your internal network, the easier it is to get things done.
Know the business. Strategy, goals, risks – understand them, and people will start seeing you as a key player, not just an admin.
Communicate and do it well. Influence comes down to how you frame things. Learn the language of leadership and use it.
Own your expertise. Confidence is key. The more you demonstrate your value, the harder it is for anyone to overlook it.

For EAs: Impact Beyond the Office

Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend the impact you have on your executive until you receive a call from home; whether it’s a wife filled with immense gratitude or a child excited that their parent actually made it to their end-of-term band concert, don’t ever underestimate how far your ripple effect travels.

Work-life balance is not just a buzzword – it's a juggling act, and sooner or later, something's going to fall over. The best leaders know they can't do it alone. That's where an EA can play a massive role – not just keeping the balls in the air, but to make sure the right ones never hit the ground. How?

Reducing decision fatigue. The demands of the hundreds of things we juggle as leaders, parents, partners and/or friends can result in cognitive overload. EAs eliminate the noise so they can focus on what actually matters.
Safeguarding personal priorities. It's all about balance. That family dinner? Non-negotiable. That gym session? Locked in. Because we all know a burnt-out leader is no good to anyone.
Simply just being there. Leadership is lonely. A strong EA-executive relationship is built on trust, candour, and the occasional reality check.

Things to think about

To increase your impact both in the office and outside of it, ask yourself these questions:

Are you aware of your executive’s personal commitments outside of work, and are they in the diary?
Do you build in time buffers between work and personal events to prevent your executive from being late because something ran over?
Do you regularly talk about work-life balance and its importance? Is it a part of the culture?
Do you encourage your executive to practice healthy habits, daily?

For Executives: Shifting the Perception

Now, working in recruitment, I believe the biggest challenge for EAs is the outdated perception that their role is purely administrative.

If you're an executive reading this and still seeing your EA as just an 'assistant', you're leaving value on the table.

The reality is that a highly skilled EA is as much a strategist as they are an organiser. In my experience, organisations that understand this – and executives who embrace this mindset – see a tangible shift in their productivity and effectiveness.

Things to think about

It's time for leaders to rethink how you partner with EAs. Try this:

Include EAs in conversations. Context is key and the more they have, the better they can support you.
Invest in their growth. Give them access to training, mentorship, and development opportunities. It not only builds their capability but also their perspective.
Trust them to make decisions. The fewer bottlenecks you create, the smoother everything runs.

Put another way, the way an executive utilises their EA can be a defining factor in their success. The best executives don’t just delegate tasks; they empower their EA to act as a true partner in leadership.

If you’re an executive, I challenge you to ask yourself: Are you fully leveraging the power of your EA?

If you’re an EA, know this – your role is invaluable, and when positioned strategically, you become one of the most impactful players in your organisation. Right now, what stands in your way of success? How many of your challenges can you influence, and how many require greater partnership with your executive?

Every EA and executive relationship is different – but the best ones are built on trust, strategy, and mutual investment. What's one thing you'd change today to strengthen that partnership?

Looking for a strategic recruitment partner who speaks your language and understands what defines a successful EA/executive partnership? Or, are you an EA looking for a new role to push your career forwards? Get in touch .

12 tools that every business support team should know

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 02:20:47 GMT

In modern business, technology is a major competitive differentiator. It boosts efficiency, productivity and performance, and helps support teams juggle a much wider range of tasks. Given the potential gains, it seriously pays to be across the latest tech tools and software trends to ensure your team performs at its best.

But with so many software options out there, how do you know which ones are right for your organisation? To help you get started, we've put together a list that every business support team should be familiar with.

Top technology tools for business support teams

CRM software

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is designed to help businesses manage customer interactions, from first contact through to the purchasing and beyond. A good CRM tool can help teams build better relationships with customers, streamline communications and provide a 360-degree view of customer interactions.

We recommend:

Salesforce : This comprehensive CRM tool is popular among medium to large enterprises because it offers powerful analytics capabilities that provide deeper insights into customer behaviour, helping improve customer retention and satisfaction.
Hubspot : Known for its ease of use, HubSpot is a great platform for growing businesses. It includes automation features to streamline sales processes and customer engagement without the need for a complex setup.

Accounting and finance software

Accounting software is essential for managing a company’s financial health. From tracking revenue and expenses to managing payroll and inventory, the right accounting tool ensures that a business’s financial data is accurate and accessible.

We recommend:

Xero : Xero is a popular choice for accounting and bookkeeping. It offers simple automation features and provides detailed insights into a business’s financial performance, making it both powerful and easy to use.
MYOB : MYOB simplifies the sales process, including creating quotes and managing invoices. It also tracks expenses and automates payment notifications, making it easier to manage cash flow.

Project management software

With many business support teams managing multiple projects at the same time, project management tools are key to success. These systems help teams stay organised and on track, simplifying collaboration and the managing of complex tasks.

We recommend:

ClickUp : This all-in-one project management tool offers a customisable experience, allowing teams to tailor it to their specific needs. It features Gantt charts, sprint planning and resource management, making it a favourite for anyone who needs a wide range of project management features.
Asana : Asana is known for its user-friendly interface and is ideal for collaborating on tasks or managing workflows. Smaller teams often prefer it as a straightforward tool for task management.

Team communication software

In a hybrid work environment, communication tools are vital for business support teams. These apps allow people to communicate in real-time, share files and collaborate on projects, regardless of their location.

We recommend:

Slack : Slack is a popular communication platform that allows teams to create channels for specific topics, set notifications and search conversations easily. It’s great for groups that want something very flexible.
Microsoft Teams : In addition to chat and messaging features, Microsoft Teams also hosts video conferences and shared documents. It’s a great choice for organisations that are already using Microsoft 365.

Human resources software

Human resources management (HRM) software streamlines employee-related tasks such as payroll, benefits and performance management. These tools make it easier for business support people providing HR support to manage data and improve employee experiences.

We recommend:

Zoho People : Zoho People is a cloud-based HRM that manages employee records, performance reviews and payroll. It’s highly customisable and focuses on the employee experience.
BambooHR : Known for its comprehensive but simple feature set, BambooHR provides tools for managing employee data - including payroll, time tracking and benefits management.

Business intelligence (BI) software

Business intelligence (BI) software is all about driving valuable data insights, helping businesses make better decisions. BI tools are essential for business support teams that rely on data to optimise their processes, understand customer behaviour and improve business outcomes.

We recommend:

Tableau : Tableau is a powerful tool known for its data visualisations. It can create insightful dashboards with minimal effort, helping teams analyse complex data.
SAP BusinessObjects : SAP BusinessObjects is designed for large-scale enterprises and offers a comprehensive suite of analytics tools on a highly scalable platform.

What to look for when choosing business support software

When looking at the different business support tools available, here are a few factors to consider:

Ease of use

Make sure the software is user-friendly – the easier it is to use, the quicker your team can get on board and start seeing results.

Integration

Look for software that integrates seamlessly with your other tools. For example, if you have a specific accounting platform, check that it integrates with your CRM or project management software to enable better data sharing and increased efficiency.

Customisation

Finding customisable software means you can tailor it to your needs. Look for tools that offer the flexibility to change features, add or remove modules, customise dashboards and implement custom workflows.

Support and training

Customer support, onboarding and training resources help to maximise the value of your software investment by ensuring no feature is left untouched due to uncertainty or confusion. But, keep an eye on pricing – customer support is often tied to product tiers.

When your support people need support, we’re here to help

Here at WOW, we understand how important business support technology is to the modern workplace – and the skills and experience it takes to succeed in a modern, digital environment.

If you need help supporting your support people, we’re here for you. Give us a call and let’s talk about your business.

Tips to help calm your nerves on the first day of a new job

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 01:15:27 GMT

Starting a new role is exciting but also daunting. It’s totally normal to feel first-day anxieties, nervousness about meeting new people and feelings of imposter syndrome – they're all common on the first day of a job.

We understand how important it is to feel confident going into a new role. That’s why we’ve put together some practical advice for overcoming first-day nerves, including how to prepare and strategies to overcome your nerves.

How to prepare for your first day

By taking a few steps ahead of time, you'll help to reduce your anxiety and give your confidence a much-needed boost.

1. Plan your commute

Fear of being late is one of the most common first-day anxieties.

If you’re unsure how long your commute will take, do a practice run one or two days before. This will give you a realistic sense of what the journey looks like, helping you to plan for traffic, parking or public transport.

For those who work remote, of course, do not have a commute to contend with. Still, you can prepare instead by checking your tech and making sure you can log in without any issues.

2. Know the dress code

Though it may seem trivial to some, dressing appropriately is a simple yet effective way to feel more comfortable and confident when starting a new job. For some companies, it’s also mandatory.

Double-check the company’s dress code in advance so you can plan your outfit. Even if there is no policy, consider dressing more formally until you learn what everyone else is doing – you can always adjust later.

3. Bring the essentials

Pack everything you’ll need the night before. This could include ID or tax documents, a notebook, pen and any paperwork the company may have requested.

Having your essentials ready will ensure that you're not rushing around at the last minute.

Adopting the right mindset

Mindset makes up a significant proportion of what causes anxiety – so, thinking positively is surprisingly effective at calming nerves.

1. Remind yourself it’s OK to be new

Everyone was new once. It’s completely natural to feel out of your depth on day one.

Give yourself permission to be in learning mode – after all, your new colleagues won’t expect you to know everything from the start, and there’ll be plenty of time to get up to speed. Your employer will help with this, it’s what onboarding is for.

2. Think positively

If your anxiety stems from self-doubt or imposter syndrome, remind yourself that you were chosen for this role for a reason. Keep telling yourself that you’re capable and competent – because you are.

3. Think of it as an opportunity, not a test

It’s easy to feel like the first day is all about proving yourself, but it’s really an opportunity to learn, meet new people and start fresh.

Shift your mindset from performance pressure to curiosity; you’re there to learn and explore a new environment, not to be perfect.

Tips for calming first-day-of-work nerves

Even with good preparation and a positive mindset, some nerves may still slip through – again, this is OK. Try these techniques to calm yourself down and get on top of the nerves.

1. Acknowledge your feelings

Rather than trying to fight or ignore your nerves, acknowledge them.

Remember, it’s completely normal to feel nervous about something new. Recognising your emotions can make them feel less overwhelming. Acknowledge how you feel, seek to understand why you feel that way, then let it flow through you. Let it pass.

2. Practice deep breathing

Deep breathing exercises have been known to help with anxiety and panic.

Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, then exhale for four seconds. This should slow your heart rate, and a slower heart rate will help to calm your mind. Repeat this breathing exercise multiple times if necessary.

3. Take small breaks

If the nerves become overwhelming, give yourself permission to step away for a few minutes. Whether it’s taking a quick walk to the bathroom or grabbing a coffee, small breaks give you space to reset and refocus.

4. Visualise success

Before starting work, take a moment to visualise yourself having a successful day.

Picture navigating conversations with ease, settling into your workspace and feeling positive at the end of the day. Visualisation can set a positive tone and ease nervous energy.

5. Focus on connecting, not impressing

Whilst first impressions matter, your first day is about building relationships within the organisation.

Focus on being approachable, friendly and engaged. Enthusiasm will leave a great impression without adding unnecessary pressure to ‘wow’ everyone.

Learn more: Interpersonal skills in the workplace

Strategies for a successful first day

To make your first day a positive experience, focus on small, manageable goals that help you to feel more at ease.

1. Arrive early

Getting to the office (or logging into your remote workspace) 10-15 minutes early gives you time to settle in and collect your thoughts. It also shows that you’re eager and ready to begin.

2. Introduce yourself

Take the initiative to introduce yourself to colleagues. Again, this shows enthusiasm, and it will help you to learn who your 'friendly faces' are in the workplace.

Don’t worry about remembering everyone’s name just yet, they won’t expect you to.

3. Be open to learning

Don’t put pressure on yourself to know everything immediately. Ask questions, take notes and absorb as much information as you can. Your first day is about getting settled, so give yourself permission to observe and learn.

4. Ask for feedback

If appropriate, ask your manager or colleagues for feedback at the end of the day. This shows that you’re eager to improve and helps you to identify any areas to work on moving forward.

5. Celebrate the small wins

During your day, take a moment to reflect on the small wins. Having the courage to introduce yourself to strangers, remembering important pieces of information and rapidly picking up new tools are all worth noting.

Celebrating these moments, however small, helps to shift your focus to the positives, not the mistakes, of your first day.

Learn more: How to improve communication skills

Need help? We’re here for you

If you’re feeling particularly nervous about an upcoming job placement, get in touch with us . We’ve guided thousands of candidates through their first days, and we’re always happy to share tips or offer reassurance.

We can also act as your go-between. From clarifying expectations to ensuring you have all the necessary paperwork, it’s our job to make your transition to this new role seamless - don’t be afraid to reach out.

How to prepare for a job interview

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:20:37 GMT

Effective preparation is key to success in any job interview. Preparing examples and answers, planning your commute and testing any technology will help to ensure that nothing goes wrong – and even if it does, that you’re prepared to adapt.

To help you get ready for your next interview, we’ve prepared a series of common tips that are widely applicable to most job sectors. If you require advice specific to your specialty, get in touch with our team instead.

Preparing for your job interview

1. Do your research

Re-read the job description and go online to learn more about the company – their USPs, their values, their customers.

From here, you should be able to tailor your responses to suit this information, for example telling stories about your work history that involve similar skills, attributes, values or mutual personal contacts.

2. Prepare for common job interview questions

It’s highly likely that, regardless of your sector, you will be asked a range of common questions during your job interview. Preparing for these can help you to deliver a range of answers in a clear and concise manner, and to commit your CV to memory.

Common job interview questions

Why do you want to work here?
Tell me about your strengths and development areas/weaknesses.
Tell me about a time where you encountered a challenging work situation, and what you did about it.
Tell me about what KPIs you had in your previous role. What steps did you take to achieve these?
Why did you leave your previous job?
What are your salary expectations?

Learn more: How to negotiate pay in a job interview

3. Learn the STAR method of answering questions

The STAR method can further help you to answer questions in a succinct manner, teaching you to efficiently cover relevant points while telling a story.

The STAR method is:

Situation: Describe the situation or challenge that you faced.
Task: Talk about your role within that situation.
Action: Explain what action steps you took to address the issue.
Result: Finish on what happened next, how it resolved.

4. Prepare your own questions

Asking your own questions helps to show that you are eager and interested in the role, and that you take it seriously. You can ask these at any point where relevant, though you’ll typically be asked if you have any questions at the end of the interview.

Example questions

How does this role contribute to realising the company’s vision?
What skills gaps exist within the team that you’re looking to fill with this role?
What are the most important qualities for succeeding here?
What development and growth opportunities do you offer?
What is the biggest challenge facing this company right now, and how will this role help with that?

5. Arrive prepared with documentation and references

While the hiring manager will already have a copy of your CV, other members of the company who have been invited to the interview may wish to see it as well. Bring one or two extra copies so that you can hand them out where required.

Additionally, ensure that you bring any other documentation you feel may be applicable to the role, such as a portfolio, certifications, passport, your covering letter and any references or letters of recommendation.

6. Plan your day

Planning the day itself will cut down on the things you need to think about in advance of your interview.

Pick your outfit the day before , ensuring it’s clean and ironed. Dress professionally until you learn the company’s dress code.

Then plan the commute . Familiarise yourself with the steps it will take for you to arrive on time. Consider planning a backup route and parking/transport alternatives in case something goes wrong on the day.

7. For video interviews, test everything the day before

If your interview will be conducted over video, take a moment the day prior to test your technology and plan backups in case something doesn’t work.

A practice run can help , as this will give you a chance to test everything in a real call. Test alternate devices too, just in case you need them.

Find somewhere quiet and out of the way , so there are no distractions during your call. Opt for a plain background or, if not possible, remove any clutter from behind you.

During the interview

8. Job interview etiquette

Plan to arrive 10 minutes early to show your reliability.

As you arrive, ensure you shake your interviewer’s hand and make good eye contact. Try to remember their name – repeating it may help, for example by responding to their introduction with, “It’s nice to meet you, Kelly.”

9. Body language tips for your job interview

Throughout the interview, maintain natural eye contact and try to look at the person who you're speaking to. If multiple people are in the room, include everyone.

Sit upright and don’t fidget or shake your leg, as this may seem unprofessional. Smile occasionally, to show that you feel confident and relaxed.

Learn more: How to Stand Out: Behavioural Interview Strategies

10. Etiquette and body language for a video interview

You cannot shake hands over video conference, but you can still make good eye contact. Try to position your camera close to the screen where possible, so your eyes aren’t looking off-camera while you talk.

Don’t read anything or browse any other pages unless asked to by the hiring manager, as it will look like you’re not paying attention.

Finally, speak clearly, project your voice and slow down – it may be hard to understand your responses if there’s any microphone or internet delay. Talking clearly and calmly will help.

11. Don’t talk negatively about your current employer

Even if you were seriously unhappy with your previous role, try not to talk negatively about your past employer. Remember, the hiring manager is looking to see how you act and maintain yourself, and they may worry that if you’re overly-negative you won’t fit into their culture.

Keep things positive by focusing on what you gained from the experience, and what you’d like to do next with your career.

12. Tell yourself it’s OK not to know an answer

There may come a moment during your interview where you don’t have an immediate answer. First, know that this is OK – whether it’s nerves or you just don’t know, it happens to everyone.

The first thing to do is to slow down and think about the question a moment longer. Resist the urge to say “umm” or fill the silence, just ask for a moment to think. It will show the hiring manager you are taking the question seriously, and giving it good consideration.

If you still can’t think of a response, be honest. Use this as an opportunity to show your problem-solving skills, for example:

“I'm not sure about that right now, but I can find out and get back to you after the interview if you’d like.”
“I'm not sure how I would respond to that situation, as I haven’t been in it before. But, in any context where I’m uncertain, the first thing I would do is seek out someone who does know and ask for assistance.”

Following up after the interview

13. Ask about next steps

When the interview ends, ask about what the follow-up steps will look like, or their expected timeframe for making a decision. Not only will this give you an insight into how long the process will take, it further shows your interest in the role.

14. Send a follow-up email

Sending a follow-up email after your job interview will help you to stay in the front of the hiring manager’s mind. Again, it also shows your eagerness for the position.

We recommend sending it through either later the same day, or the next morning, so that your interview is fresh.

Example follow-up email template

Restate your interest in the role. Note any areas of particular interest that stuck out to you during the interview.

Reiterate a few short points about your suitability for the position, based on the job description, and what you learned by asking questions to the hiring manager.

End by offering to provide further information if required, and that you hope to hear from them soon.

Learn more: Turning Setbacks into Stepping Stones: How to Handle Job Rejection Positively

Need support? We can help

We understand that job interviews can seem daunting. If you require extra support, or would like advice tailored to your specific interview, we’re here to help.

Learn how we assist job seekers here , or reach out to our team directly .

How to negotiate pay in a job interview

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 03:00:40 GMT

As you grow in your career, salary will likely become increasingly important to you. Your skills will diversify, your experience will evolve, and you’re going to want to see that reflected in what new employers pay you.

But how do you ask for more money in a job interview? It doesn’t have to be daunting. These negotiating tips should help.

How much money should I ask for in a job interview?

Every job is worth a certain amount, based on the average of what other employers are paying for those same skills in that area. Change city or region, and the pay typically also changes.

You can research these median salary bands by looking online – try searching for “ <your job title> median salary in <your city> ”. Our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report contains many recent salary benchmarks, and a lot of job board websites have similar data.

How to know if you’re worth the upper or lower salary in a range

This is where you would take into account three other factors:

Your experience in this type of role.
Any unique or desirable skills you have which are directly related to, or transferable to, this role.
Any expenses which you’ll incur to take the job, such as travel costs or relocation.

Next set a minimum salary

When you know what to ask for, set yourself a salary floor – this is the minimum salary you’ll accept for the role. Any lower and you can’t say yes.

Later, you will ask for more money than this. Knowing the minimum gives you space to negotiate down.

Finally, consider your desired perks

Pay isn’t everything – perks and benefits can also significantly add to your job satisfaction. Think about what you want in your role beyond pay, considering factors like car allowance, more annual leave, insurance or wellness programs, etc.

Sort all of these perks into your ‘wants’ and ‘needs’.

Needs: Your needs are the things you can’t do without, like your salary floor or certain perks (i.e. working from home). Needs are non-negotiable sticking points. Without them, you can’t say yes.
Wants: Your wants are things you’d prefer, but could compromise on for the right offer. Wants can be negotiated.

When to ask about pay in an interview

In most job interviews it is the hiring manager who will bring up salary, usually by asking about your salary expectations. You’ll respond, they might make a counteroffer, and that’s it. It’s uncommon to have to haggle extensively, and you’ll rarely be the one to bring it up first.

But what if you do want to bring it up?

Every so often, you’ll attend an interview where your instincts tell you the salary won't be high enough. In these cases, you may feel the need to bring it up yourself before making too much further progress.

What to do: Be polite and professional. Wait for a natural opening in the conversation (so you’re not interrupting), then state your question. Don’t ask too early on, or it may look like you’re only interested in the money.
What not to do: Don’t dance around the issue – there's no need to. It's normal, and socially acceptable, to bring up salary directly during a job interview.

Examples of what to say

“ Before we move on, I’d love to quickly talk about salary .”

“ You mentioned the perks of the job earlier, on that note I’d like to bring up salary and benefits. ”

How to negotiate for pay

While it's not common to haggle for salary, it is important to be prepared for all outcomes to ensure you find a role which pays what you're worth.

These are some things to think about:

1. Clearly state your case

Always clearly state your case and articulate why you expect the salary that you expect. There are two parts to this, both of which are important:

Give a salary range – not a specific figure . Set this range higher than your salary floor, in case the hiring manager wants to haggle down. This gives you room to negotiate.
Be ready to defend it. If you’re asked why, offer a concise, well-reasoned answer explaining how you came to your salary range. Keep this simple and confident.

Examples of what to say

“ Based on my past experience and research into the market value of the role, I’m ideally looking for something between 80 to 90K .”

“ I have a lot of unique skills in this area and bring a lot of past experience to the job. With that in mind, and after doing some research into the going rate of this role in this city, I believe 70 to 80 is a competitive salary range .”

2. Be polite, professional and confident

Be polite and concise as you discuss your salary. Don't feel bad for asking for an amount which seems above what this job is willing to offer – it may mean that the role isn’t right for you. You’re worth what you’re worth.

3. Understand the other person may have limitations

Try not to get frustrated if the hiring manager won’t negotiate – or seems to have very little bargaining room. There’s a good chance they’re working to a set budget and don’t have the authority to go outside of a preset range. This is especially true for larger companies.

4. Negotiate for other benefits if you can’t get movement on pay

Some jobs can offer a range of perks on top of pay, and here the hiring manager may be able to get more flexible.

If it looks like the company won’t move on salary, see if you can get something else. Go back to your list of needs and wants and add more to your counteroffer.

Remember, a job is a whole deal – not just a salary. You can push for a better deal in lots of ways, not just financially.

5. Don't feel rushed to accept an offer

If you’re made an offer in the interview (or anytime afterwards), you don’t have to accept it straight away. In fact, it’s often best to ask for 24-48 hours to think about it.

In the event that you decide it’s too low, that extra thinking time will help you construct a well-reasoned counteroffer.

6. Focus on priorities when making a counteroffer

You can counteroffer in many ways, not just pay. For example, you may wish to negotiate job title, flexible working or any range of other issues.

Before making your counteroffer, take a moment to dwell on the reasons you can’t accept the offer right now and prioritise this list into the things which matter most.

Be prepared to let a few things go. Getting stuck on every small detail could stall the application process, making the hiring manager walk away. Knowing your priorities will let you add or subtract items to your counteroffer based on how willing the company looks to negotiate with you.

7. Negotiate for everything at once

During a counteroffer, put all your cards on the table together. That is, don’t negotiate one thing, reach an agreement, then bring up the next thing. If it matters to you, bring it all up at the same time – that way the hiring manager can also sort their priorities.

Need help? Get someone fighting in your corner

At WOW, we specialise in connecting great talent with great roles. You don’t have to manage this process alone – we can help you structure your CV and figure out your salary expectations, and we can offer personalised job interview coaching to build your confidence.

Let’s find you a great role which pays what you’re worth – chat with us today, or submit your CV here .

The CX Evolution

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 08:58:17 GMT

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, customer experience has become more critical than ever. As digital platforms continue to transform the way we interact with brands, businesses must adapt to meet the evolving expectations of their customers.

We recently hosted a panel event with industry leaders sharing lessons from their lived experience. We were joined by:

Mareile Osthus – Co-Founder & CEO, Humii
Blair Redfern – Head of Customer Support, Spaceship
Heather Robinson – Customer Care Director, Lyka

The Rise of Digital Platforms

Traditional customer satisfaction metrics, like Net Promoter Score (NPS), often fall short in providing a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey. Digital platforms, however, offer a wealth of data that can be harnessed to gain deeper insights. This data and feedback on the customer journey should be shared during stakeholder meetings to illuminate pain points and identifying solutions.

Companies like Humii are at the forefront of this revolution, using cutting-edge technology to analyse online customer behaviour and identify areas for improvement across the customer’s journey. By combining human analysis with data-driven insights, these platforms provide retailers with actionable recommendations to enhance their customer experience.

“You can’t fix what you don’t know or measure.” – Mariele Osthus

The Importance of Human-Centricity

While technology plays a crucial role in understanding customer behaviour, it's equally important to maintain a human-centric approach. Empathy, personalisation, and a genuine understanding of customer needs are essential for building strong relationships and maintaining brand loyalty.

Lyka, a dog food company founded by Anna Podolsky, exemplifies human centricity. By offering customisable plans and using high-quality, human-grade ingredients, Lyka demonstrates a deep commitment to the wellbeing of its customers and their furry friends.

Navigating Economic Challenges

It’s no surprise the current economic climate presents unique challenges for businesses and their customers. As consumers tighten their belts, it's more important than ever to provide exceptional value and support.

Spaceship, a financial services company, is actively addressing these challenges by reducing fees and offering transparent pricing. By prioritising customer needs, providing clear communication and meeting them we’re they’re at financially, Spaceship is building trust and loyalty in a difficult economic environment.

“It’s important to get your wider team on the tools to help evolve the CX experience. ” – Blair Redfern

The Balancing Act of Technology with Human Touch

The successful integration of technology and human touch is essential for delivering an exceptional customer experience. Automation can streamline processes and improve efficiency, but it will never replace human connection.

Heather from Lyka emphasises the importance of strategic thinking when it comes to automation. By identifying areas where human touch is most valuable and empathy is needed, businesses can ensure that technology enhances rather than replaces the customer experience.

“Define where human touch is needed and automate the other parts.” – Heather Robinson

Talent and Culture

Attracting and retaining top talent is crucial for delivering exceptional customer experiences. Creating a positive and inclusive work culture is essential for employee engagement and satisfaction.

Spaceship has achieved a remarkably low staff turnover by investing in employee wellbeing, offering competitive benefits, and providing opportunities for growth and development. Mariele from Humii emphasises the importance of trust, autonomy, and flexibility in creating a supportive work environment.

Emerging Trends and Predictions

As the customer experience landscape continues to evolve, businesses must stay ahead of emerging trends. Automation, personalisation, and data-driven insights will play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of customer service.

However, it's essential to remember that the human element remains indispensable. By combining technology with empathy and understanding, businesses can build lasting relationships and thrive in the competitive marketplace. Prioritising customer experience and service must be a company-wide mindset.

Work-life balance is now the primary driver for employees, closely followed by salary and compensation concerns.
Career Development and Job Security remain important factors, while the current unemployment rate stands at 4.2%, reflecting a still-tight job market.
Although salaries have seen a slight 4% increase over the past year, growth appears to be slowing.

Meet the Speakers

Mareile Osthus – Co-Founder & CEO, Humii

Humii is a startup that makes retailers’ online customer experience tangible, measurable, and trackable. Mareile, with over 20 years of retail experience and 15 years in e-commerce, has successfully scaled giants like Zalando and THE ICONIC. Her insights on optimising the customer journey were invaluable.

Blair Redfern – Head of Customer Support, Spaceship

Spaceship is an Australian financial services company dedicated to empowering people to invest in their futures. Prior to joining Spaceship, he gained valuable experience in operations and strategy roles at Plenti and Uber.

Heather Robinson – Customer Care Director, Lyka

Heather Robinson is the Customer Care Director at Lyka, where she champions the importance of personalised service and human connection in an increasingly tech-driven world. With experience from Menulog and ANZ, she brought a unique blend of expertise in customer care, making her insights particularly impactful.

If you're looking to recruit top talent in CX or are a candidate seeking a role in this field, reach out to us! WOW Recruitment specialises in customer experience roles across call centres, operations, business support, and more.

How to win better talent with passive recruitment strategies

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 03:24:37 GMT

The best talent in your industry might not be actively searching for a job, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be interested in an opening at your organisation. After all, an opportunity’s an opportunity.

This type of candidate search is called ‘passive recruitment’, and it differs pretty heavily from the more well-known ‘active recruitment’. Let’s talk about how they differ, and strategies to attract the best passive talent.

Recruiting active vs. passive job candidates

Who are active candidates?

Active candidates are your classic job seekers. They already know they’re interested in another role, and are actively searching for a new employer.

An active recruitment strategy is the common approach: writing job ads, posting them online and vetting candidates who apply.

Who are passive candidates?

Passive job seekers are candidates who don’t know that they’re candidates. They aren’t actively searching for a new role, and could be quite happy at their current employer. Still, for the right offer they might consider hopping over to your team.

A passive recruitment strategy is proactive and slightly more challenging. It’s more of a head-hunting approach, identifying right-fit candidates from across the industry and building relationships with them over time. Many recruiters nurture these relationships even when there are no active job openings, just to stay in people's minds. Then, when a role eventually opens up, half the work is already done.

The benefits of recruiting passive candidates

Pitching your open role to a passive candidate might seem like a tricky sell, but there are a lot of benefits to finding these talented professionals – often outweighing the extra effort.

Gain access to the best talent. Sticking to active recruitment can mean recruiting with blinders on, seeing only the people who are on the hunt. Broadening your search allows you to more accurately target right-fit professionals who you know are highly employable – after all, they are already employed!
Reduce time-to-hire. When passive recruitment is done proactively, it may be quicker to fill openings with this strategy; by the time you need someone, you already have a number of prospective candidates sourced and nurtured.
Less worker misrepresentation. Taking time to source ideal people ensures you already know a lot about them by the time they come to apply. This can lead to less worker misrepresentation, where people aren’t what their CV says they are.
Lower competition. Active job seekers usually apply for multiple jobs at once. Meanwhile, passive job seekers aren’t on the market at all, so you may be the only one talking to them – reducing competition for their skills.

Simple strategies to win passive talent

1. Brainstorm your perfect candidate

Before starting the passive recruitment process, brainstorm who you actually want to find. This is a goal-setting exercise, giving you a ‘persona’ to target and an objective to measure success against.

Some steps to consider:

Identify current and future needs within the organisation, to better understand what skills gaps you'll be filling.
Ensure you have a complete understanding of the job description, and all the necessary skills and qualifications.
Build a persona which outlines the likely demographics, qualifications and other key features of the most likely candidates for any applicable roles. Who they are, where they work, what they know, their preferred salary, industry pain points... all of this may be relevant later.
Gain buy-in (and sign-off) from relevant stakeholders within your business, especially whichever team leader is likely to manage this new hire. This will help ensure you’ve got all your details correct.

2. Strengthen your employer brand

Your employer brand is your culture, values and mission, value proposition, and reputation. A strong employer brand is instantly recognisable, where professionals in your sector know your business to be a great place to work. The stronger the brand, the wider this reputation spreads.

Having a strong employer brand is essential in passive recruitment, as right-fit candidates may engage with your brand long before you ever reach out to them – through your content, social media presence, events presence or word of mouth. If this contact has been positive, they may already have a high opinion of your organisation when you engage them for the first time.

Learn more: How to Build an Authentic and Appealing Employer Image

3. Conduct a thorough candidate discovery process

Finding right-fit passive candidates goes well beyond job boards. You’re looking for the perfect match, someone to engage and build a relationship with over time, and they might be hanging out in one of a few different places.

These are some examples of common sources successful passive recruiters have used in the past to find and engage with the best passive talent. How many are already on your mind?

Social media platforms (LinkedIn especially)
Industry networking events
Relevant online communities (i.e. forums, chat groups and other relevant websites)
Industry magazines, blogs and publications, looking for interesting guest writers
Company alumni (who can you win back?)
Referrals from current employees, industry peers or company alumni
Talent from previous hiring initiatives who are still in your database
Universities and other relevant colleges, if appropriate for the role

The persona(s) you created in step one should help you narrow down your search, and give you a benchmark to measure potential talent against.

4. Reach out and make contact

It's most common to reach out to passive candidates via email or social media DM. Of course, if you’re on a mutual online community you might spark up conversation there or introduce yourself at an industry event.

Tips to consider when reaching out to passive candidates:

Always get to the point. Long-winded introductions are often ignored by busy professionals.
Offer a clear value proposition. Focus on value during your pitch. You need to offer something that they don’t have in their current employment, otherwise they won’t see a benefit in jumping ship. We’ll come back to this in point five below.
Try to build a rapport. This isn’t a job ad, it’s a blind date. Spark up conversation, keep things moving. This is an ideal opportunity to learn more about the candidate – we'll talk about that below too.
Tailor every message. Always tailor your outreach to the platform and person. Mass emails might look like spam.
Ask them for a response, even if they aren’t interested. We know they aren’t actively looking for a job, but we can still get a conversation flowing to learn more about them. Alternatively, they might be able to refer you to a trusted colleague who is ready, and who may make a similarly great candidate.

5. Build a relationship with each candidate

A good relationship with passive candidates is crucial to earning their trust and, in future, winning their application. This isn't a transactional thing, it’s two people dating, vibing each other out, seeing what the other person is about. Is your opportunity as good as their current one? Is it better? Can they trust you? These are the questions going through their mind.

Keep things simple at first, and work your way up

You might not pitch an opportunity straight away, instead focusing on dialogue and building the relationship for the relationship’s sake – that’s the proactive part of this we mentioned earlier.

Act fast if they show interest

Passive candidates can get second thoughts, or waiver and lose interest. Ensure you get them an interview with the right stakeholders as promptly as possible if they show interest, putting some faces to names and offering more of your value proposition to the candidate.

Remember, the more you can learn about them the better

If you get more information, you might learn more about what they dislike in their current role, or what they’re looking for in a possible new one. This will help you position your company as having the thing that they don’t have, but want.

Finally, always respect their time

People are busy, and their time is precious. We can empathise with that by keeping things concise, being clear and never pushing someone beyond their comfort level. Even if a candidate is interested, they might not be available yet, and we have to recognise that in order to win them over time.

Empathy is never a bad strategy in recruitment!

Need help? Call us

Passive recruitment can yield excellent results, but it isn’t as simple as active recruitment. That's where you need a dedicated recruitment professional in your corner, helping you with the tricky stuff so you can focus on interviews and choosing the best from the best.

To learn more about how we might be able to help with your hiring needs, contact us today .

Attracting People & Culture Talent: What Top Candidates Want

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 01:53:07 GMT

People and culture attracts an extraordinary range of talented professionals who are dedicated to improving their workplaces, and making people’s lives easier. As a people-orientated role core to the business, finding the right candidate pays dividends.

But, in such a competitive recruitment market, how do you stand out above the competition and lure the best people and culture talent for yourself? Here’s where to start.

Understand what people and culture professionals love about the job

To promote your workplace as a great opportunity for the best HR talent, we should first understand what they are looking for in their position. Designing a right-fit role and writing exciting job descriptions should be fairly easy from there.

These are some of the top things that people and culture pros love about their work:

1. It creates genuine impact

People get into this kind of human-centric work because it has a very real impact on other people’s lives. Whether they’re helping someone grow their career, mediating disputes, organising new workplace culture and wellness initiatives, or any one of a thousand other tasks, people do it because it makes a difference. And, as we all know, when happy people do good work, it helps achieve very real commercial outcomes for the organisation.

As speaker and HR director Gemma Dale told Sage.com, “[I love] the opportunity to make people’s working lives better, even in a small way.”

Learn more: E nhancing Employee Wellbeing: A Key Driver of Job Satisfaction

2. They love building relationships

People who love people generally enjoy building relationships with their colleagues and industry peers. One of the big perks of the job is getting to know everyone in the company, something that no other person (especially in larger organisations) usually gets to do.

This gives them a chance to build friendships and interact with tons of new people, and to use those relationships to help shape their workplace culture for the better.

3. It’s always changing

HR is an evolving industry, with new processes, business philosophies, research papers and tools coming out each year that affect how things are done. Just one of these many developments can overhaul how a company looks at its people and culture, meaning the job stays variable and interesting over time.

4. There are continuous learning opportunities

People and culture is an entire career track. Professionals who enter this industry can start as relatively inexperienced administrators and work all the way up to senior managerial roles, in any size of business.

That plus the constant change means that there are enormous learning opportunities to be found in people and culture, a fantastic chance for growth for ambitious professionals.

Putting it altogether...

This is a workforce which loves change and seeks out meaningful interactions with people, trying to make a difference in their lives and improve commercial outcomes for the business as a result. It’s a purposeful role available at any level, and in almost any size of organisation, ensuring there’s a lot of opportunities for work. They can usually afford to be picky.

Aspects of your company to promote to attract great HR talent

When finding great people and culture talent, try to lean into what makes the job special. This may require the redesigning of existing HR roles, to emphasise the most important key points. Don’t shy away from change! It could help you get better-quality people.

Consider: Does your business offer any of the following?

1. Highlight great company culture and initiatives

People and culture candidates are on the hunt for companies that adhere to their own values of building great cultures and making people’s lives better. They might look to see if you already have in place a few team culture initiatives, so they’re well worth promoting on your candidate search.

Some common initiatives you might highlight include:

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) policies.
Employee wellness programmes.
Team building activities.
Workplace culture initiatives.
Your team culture generally, i.e. any activities you do together.

Bonus tip: If you don’t have any such initiatives or policies in place right now, you might highlight in your job description that you’re looking for someone to start them.

2. Focus on learning and development opportunities

This is not an industry which will stand still, so it can’t be a role that stands still.

Consider what learning and development pathways you offer to your team, and how this might apply to someone in people and culture. Some policies to think about are:

Upskilling programmes.
Discounts for self-learning.
Peer-to-peer training.
Policies for introducing new tools to the workplace.

3. Embrace flexibility

HR is not a job that requires someone to be on-site all the time, or at least that’s what people and culture professionals are starting to learn. Flexible work (including remote work or flexi-hours) is increasingly desirable – and may be a large factor in determining whether someone is interested in a role or not.

In our previous Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report , we noted that 49% of respondents (which included HR professionals) who had no remote days saw no opportunities at their current place of work, and those who disliked their job worked less remotely than those who did.

Bottom line – offering flexible working (to at least some degree) is probably essential for this group of professionals, and could be a competitive advantage over any competitors not offering the same.

4. Focus on purpose

When you’re describing the role online, or to your people and culture recruitment consultant , make sure to focus not just on its key responsibilities (i.e. daily tasks) but the purpose and meaning of the role too. Remember, this is a job that can have real impact, and attracts people for whom meaning is a significant factor.

Some things to think about include:

Promote your company mission, and be proud of it.
Emphasise the impact this role will have on others at the company. You can literally write, “As a People & Culture Advisor at XYZ Co., you will make a real difference to people’s lives.”
Weave in all the aspects we’ve mentioned above as benefits of the role, and indicators that your company lives up to its stated mission. Use these as competitive differentiators.
If you get stuck, focus on outcomes instead of tasks – things that someone will achieve, not just things they will do each day.

Example job ad template for attracting great people and culture talent

The Impact of AI on Marketing, Communications & Digital Jobs

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 03:48:16 GMT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword but a powerful force reshaping industries across the board. From healthcare to finance, and particularly in marketing and communications, AI has emerged as a transformative technology with important implications for professionals in these fields. To help you understand the impact of AI on marketing jobs, let’s dive deeper into the benefits, challenges, and the evolving roles that AI has introduced.

How AI is Reshaping Marketing and Communications

AI's integration into marketing and communications strategies has been revolutionary. It empowers organisations to analyse large amounts of data quickly and accurately for more informed decision-making. For example, AI-driven analytics can recognise consumer behaviour patterns from social media interactions, website visits, and purchase histories, providing valuable insights for targeted marketing campaigns.

AI can also enhance personalisation capabilities. Through machine learning algorithms, businesses can tailor content and recommendations based on individual preferences and behaviours. This level of customisation not only boosts engagement but also enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.

In communications, AI-powered tools can automate routine tasks such as email marketing, customer support inquiries, and content creation. Chatbots, for example, can provide instant responses to customer queries, freeing up human agents for more complex support. This not only improves response times but also ensures round-the-clock availability for a better customer experience.

Benefits of AI in Marketing

There are many advantages to using AI in marketing. Firstly, AI optimises marketing spend by identifying the most effective channels and messages for specific audiences, maximising return on investment. Secondly, AI allows for predictive analytics, forecasting future trends and consumer behaviours with greater accuracy. This allows marketers to adjust strategies and stay ahead of their competitors.

AI also enhances creativity in marketing campaigns—by analysing past campaign performance and audience reactions, AI suggests innovative ideas and content strategies that resonate with target demographics. This data-driven approach minimises guesswork and increases the likelihood of campaign success.

Challenges Posed by AI

As you can imagine, however, the integration of AI in marketing and communications is not without its challenges. One primary concern is data privacy and security. As AI relies heavily on data collection and analysis, ensuring compliance with regulations is crucial to maintaining consumer trust and avoiding legal issues.

Another challenge is the potential displacement of jobs. While AI streamlines processes and enhances productivity, it may also automate tasks traditionally performed by humans. This shift requires training and updating skills to ensure that professionals have the digital abilities they need to succeed in an AI-focused workplace.

There’s also a risk of relying too much on AI-generated insights. While AI can process large amounts of data, human intuition and creativity remain invaluable in interpreting results and making strategic decisions. Finding the right balance between AI-driven automation and human expertise is essential for sustainable growth and innovation.

Impact on Marketing Jobs

The impact of AI on marketing jobs includes automation and augmentation. Routine tasks such as data entry, scheduling, and reporting are increasingly automated, allowing marketers to focus on strategic initiatives and more creative projects. This shift towards automation boosts productivity and efficiency within marketing teams, enabling faster decision-making and campaign execution.

AI augments human capabilities by providing real-time insights and predictive analytics that inform strategic decision-making. Marketing professionals equipped with AI tools can anticipate market trends, personalise customer interactions, and optimise campaign performance with greater precision.

AI Marketing Roles of the Future

As AI continues to evolve, so too will the roles within marketing and communications. New job titles such as AI Marketing Strategist, Data Analyst, and Chief Marketing Technologist are emerging as organisations look for professionals who are able to harness AI for a competitive advantage.

AI Marketing Strategists leverage machine learning algorithms to develop data-driven marketing strategies that resonate with target audiences. Data Analysts interpret AI-generated insights to optimise campaign performance and customer engagement, while Chief Marketing Technologists oversee the integration of AI tools and technologies into existing marketing strategies.

Creativity remains at the heart of marketing roles, with Content Creators and Brand Managers collaborating with AI to craft compelling narratives and memorable brand experiences that connect with consumers on a deeper level.

Upskilling for Business Success

Upskilling involves equipping your team with the digital competencies necessary to harness AI effectively. For business owners and executives, this means ensuring that your marketing professionals are proficient in areas like data analytics, machine learning, and AI-driven tools. These skills empower your team to extract valuable insights from data, optimise campaigns, and enhance customer engagement.

By investing in upskilling, businesses can future-proof their workforce against automation. Employees equipped with AI knowledge can take on strategic roles that require human creativity and decision-making, driving innovation and staying ahead of competitors.

Reskilling for New Opportunities

Reskilling is about preparing your team for emerging roles in AI-driven marketing. For example, positions such as AI Marketing Strategist or Data Scientist require specialised skills in interpreting AI insights and implementing data-driven strategies. By facilitating reskilling programs through workshops, certifications, or partnerships with educational institutions, businesses can pivot their workforce toward roles that align with AI advancements.

This proactive approach not only enhances employee satisfaction and retention but also positions your business as a leader in leveraging AI for marketing excellence.

The Role of Continuous Learning

In the AI era, continuous learning is indispensable for business success. Encourage your team to stay updated on AI trends, technologies, and ethical considerations through ongoing education and professional development initiatives. Provide access to resources such as online courses, industry conferences, and networking opportunities within AI communities.

By fostering a culture of continuous learning, businesses foster a dynamic workforce capable of adapting to technological advancements and driving innovation in marketing and communications.

Recruitment in the Age of AI

As a recruitment agency navigating the digital landscape, WOW recognises the evolving nature of marketing and communications roles in an AI-centric world. Our commitment is to connect forward-thinking organisations with top talent equipped to harness the power of AI for business growth and innovation.

At WOW, we’re committed to supporting employers in navigating this digital transformation. Contact us today to discover how we can help you leverage AI to achieve your business goals. Together, let's embrace the future of AI in marketing and communications with optimism.

How to Stand Out: Behavioural Interview Strategies

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:13:36 GMT

When applying for your dream role, securing that coveted job interview is a fantastic first step but it’s essential to be prepared. Behavioural interview questions are a powerful tool employers use to assess your skills and fit for the role, but with plenty of fierce competition out there, how do you make sure you stand out in the interview room?

To help you ace your next job interview, our team of WOWzers has put together some questions and answers so you can recognise what an example behavioural interview question looks like and prepare a strong response that’ll be sure to impress.

What are Behavioural Interview Questions?

Unlike traditional interview questions that focus on your resume ("What are your strengths?"), behavioural interview questions delve deeper. They ask you to describe past experiences and how you handled specific situations. This allows employers to see what you've actually accomplished, not just what you say you can do.

How to Answer Behavioural Interview Questions

You might have heard of the STAR Method, a framework that helps you structure your answers. This framework is particularly helpful when it comes to answering behavioural interview questions so it’s important to understand this method and how it works.

STAR stands for:

Situation: Briefly describe the context of the situation you faced.
Task: Explain what your specific role or responsibility was in that situation.
Action: Detail the steps you took to address the situation.
Result: Describe the outcome of your actions and what you learned from the experience.

Let’s take a look at some sample behavioural interview questions and how using the STAR method can help you answer them well.

Examples of Behavioural Interview Questions

Example Question: Tell me about a time you faced a challenge and how you overcame it.

Example Answer:

Situation and Task: "During my internship at a marketing agency, we were tasked with launching a social media campaign for a new client on a tight deadline. However, halfway through, we discovered the target audience data we received was inaccurate. This could have significantly impacted the campaign's success."

Action: "I immediately called a team meeting to discuss the issue. We brainstormed solutions and decided to conduct additional market research. We then presented our findings to the client and adjusted the campaign strategy accordingly."

Result: "By taking proactive steps, we were able to launch a successful campaign that exceeded the client's expectations. This experience also highlighted the importance of clear communication and adaptability in fast-paced environments."

Example Question: Describe a situation where you had to work effectively under pressure.

Example Answer:

Situation/Task: "As a customer service representative, I once received a call from a very angry client who was experiencing technical difficulties with our product. I knew it was crucial to de-escalate the situation and find a solution quickly."

Action: "I actively listened to the client's concerns and empathised with their frustration. Then, I calmly explained troubleshooting steps and offered potential solutions. I also ensured clear communication by repeating key information to avoid misunderstandings."

Result: "Through patience and effective communication, I was able to resolve the client's issue and even turn their experience into a positive one. This situation reinforced the importance of staying calm under pressure and prioritising customer satisfaction."

Example Question: Give me an example of a time you had to work collaboratively as part of a team.

Example Answer:

Situation/Task: "In my previous role, I was part of a team developing a new software application. While everyone had strong individual skills, there were initial communication gaps that hindered progress."

Action: "I suggested organising regular team meetings to discuss ideas and ensure everyone was on the same page. Additionally, I volunteered to create a shared document to track progress and assign tasks clearly."

Result: "These initiatives fostered better collaboration and communication within the team. We were able to successfully launch the application on time and within budget, demonstrating the power of teamwork and effective communication strategies."

Example Question: Describe a situation where you had to make a difficult decision.

Example Answer:

Situation/Task: "As a project manager, I had to decide between allocating resources to two equally important projects with conflicting deadlines. Both projects were crucial for the company's success."

Action: "I assessed the potential impact of delays on each project. I then consulted with team members and stakeholders to gather their perspectives. Based on the gathered information, I prioritised the project with the more immediate deadline and devised a plan to minimise delays for the second project."

Result: "By taking a data-driven approach and involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, we were able to meet both deadlines successfully. This experience underscored the importance of careful analysis and collaborative decision-making."

Example Question: Tell me about a time you had to go above and beyond for a client or colleague.

Example Answer:

Situation/Task: "While working on a client presentation, I noticed a critical piece of information was missing. The deadline was tight, but I knew this omission could potentially affect the client's decision."

Action: "Without informing my team initially, I took the initiative to research and find the missing information during my off-hours. I then incorporated the information into the presentation and informed my colleagues the next morning."

Result: "The client was very impressed with the thoroughness of the presentation and ultimately awarded us the project. This experience highlighted my commitment to exceeding expectations and going the extra mile for the team's success."

Beyond the STAR Method: Mastering the Behavioural Interview

While the STAR Method provides a strong foundation, here are some additional tips to conquer behavioural interview questions:

Tailor your responses: Research the company and the specific role. Connect your past experiences and skills to the requirements of the position.
Be specific: Provide concrete examples and quantifiable results whenever possible.
Focus on your actions and impact: Use strong action verbs and emphasise how your actions contributed to the outcome.
Show enthusiasm and passion: Express your genuine interest in the role and the company.
Practice makes perfect: Rehearse your answers using the STAR Method with a friend or family member.

Ready to Ace Your Job Interview?

By understanding behavioural interview questions and preparing effective responses using the STAR Method, you'll be well-equipped to impress potential employers and secure your dream job.

Still need some help navigating the interview process? At WOW Recruitment, we specialise in connecting talented individuals with exciting opportunities. The friendly and experienced team at our Sydney recruitment agency can provide personalised interview coaching and guidance to help you shine in your next interview. Get in touch with us today and let's unlock your career potential!

Building Bridges, Not Walls: How to Successfully Onboard Remote Workers

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:29:13 GMT

More and more businesses in Australia and around the world are embracing the flexibility of remote work. This shift means that employers need to take a more refined approach to their onboarding processes to ensure remote workers feel integrated, supported, and productive from day one.

As a leading recruitment agency in Sydney, WOW understands the unique challenges and opportunities that come with onboarding remote employees. That’s why we’re here to help with some essential tips and best practices to help you onboard remote workers successfully.

The Importance of a Structured Onboarding Process

A well-structured employee onboarding process is so important for setting the tone of your new hires' experience. It impacts their engagement, performance, and retention. When it comes to remote employees, the absence of physical interaction makes this process even more important. Employers need to make sure that new hires feel connected, valued, and equipped to perform their roles effectively, despite the physical distance.

The Challenge of Onboarding Remotely

Unfortunately, traditional onboarding procedures, designed for in-office introductions and face-to-face interactions, don't always translate seamlessly to the remote world. New remote employees can feel isolated and struggle to grasp company culture without the usual watercooler moments and casual chats. This can lead to decreased engagement, lower productivity, and ultimately, higher turnover.

Onboarding Remote Employees - Best Practices

The good news is that with careful planning and execution, you can create a welcoming and informative onboarding experience for your remote hires. Here’s our list of best practices to guide you through the process:

Laying the Groundwork

Communicate and Prepare Early

To make sure you and your new hire can hit the ground running, it’s a good idea to begin the onboarding process well before their start date. Send them a welcome email detailing what they can expect in their first week, along with any necessary paperwork, access to tools, and resources they’ll need.

Pro tip: Providing a clear schedule and agenda for their first week can alleviate anxiety and set clear expectations.

Get the Tech Setup Right

All of the equipment, software, and access credentials your new hire will need should be prepared in advance to avoid any delays or technical mishaps. This includes laptops, VPN access, communication tools (like Slack or Teams), and any other relevant software.

Pro tip: Providing clear instructions or a step-by-step guide for setup can help new employees get started without frustration.

Making a Positive First Impression

Arrange a Virtual Welcome

Arrange a virtual meet-and-greet session on the first day. This could be one-on-one with their direct manager or a group call with the team. Personal introductions and a warm welcome can make remote employees feel part of the team from the start.

Give a Clear Orientation

Conduct a detailed orientation session to familiarise your new hire with the company’s mission, values, culture, and structure. Use engaging formats such as interactive presentations or virtual tours to help remote employees understand how they fit into the broader organisation.

Building Connections

Create a Buddy System

Pair new remote employees with a buddy or mentor within the company to provide guidance, answer questions, and offer support during the initial weeks. Having a go-to person can significantly reduce feelings of isolation and uncertainty when onboarding remote workers.

Schedule Regular Check-ins

Schedule frequent check-ins during the first few weeks and months—these can be daily or weekly depending on the role and the individual’s needs. Regular check-ins provide opportunities for feedback, address any concerns, and ensure that the new hire is adapting well.

Organise Team Building Activities

Encourage participation in virtual team-building activities. These can include informal coffee chats or more structured online games or workshops. Such activities help remote employees build relationships and foster a sense of community within the team.

Ensuring Competence and Confidence

Develop Comprehensive Training Programs

Develop a structured training plan that includes both job-specific training and general onboarding modules. It’s a good idea to use a mix of live training sessions, pre-recorded videos, and interactive e-learning tools to cater to different learning styles.

Provide Access to Resources

Provide easy access to a centralised library of resources, such as a company wiki, knowledge base, or learning management system. This ensures that new hires can find the information they need whenever they need it.

Create Ongoing Learning Opportunities

Promote a culture of continuous learning by offering ongoing training opportunities, such as webinars, workshops, and access to online courses. Encouraging professional development not only enhances skills but also demonstrates your investment in the employee’s growth.

Guiding Success

Set Clear Goals and Expectations

Setting clear, achievable goals and expectations from the outset helps remote employees stay focused and understand what is expected of them. Provide a detailed outline of job responsibilities, key performance indicators (KPIs), and timelines for them to reference.

Give Regular Feedback

Regular performance reviews and feedback sessions help remote employees understand their progress, identify areas for improvement, and feel valued. That’s why it’s important to create a robust feedback mechanism to provide constructive and timely feedback.

Celebrate Achievements

Acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of your remote employees. Whether through formal recognition programs or informal shout-outs, recognising their contributions fosters motivation and engagement.

Creating a Supportive Remote Work Environment

Promote Work-Life Balance

Encourage remote employees to establish a healthy work-life balance by providing guidelines on setting boundaries, taking breaks, and managing workloads to prevent burnout. Flexibility should not come at the cost of employee well-being.

Foster Open Communication

Maintain open lines of communication through regular team meetings, one-on-one sessions, and open-door policies (virtually). Use a variety of communication tools to accommodate different preferences and ensure everyone feels heard.

Ask for Feedback

Regularly ask for feedback from remote employees about the onboarding process and their overall experience. You can then use this feedback to make continuous improvements and demonstrate that you value their input.

Onboarding remote employees effectively requires a deliberate and thoughtful approach. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your new hires feel welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed in their roles. A successful employee onboarding procedure not only enhances individual performance but also contributes to the overall health and productivity of your organisation.

At WOW Recruitment, we specialise in helping companies in Sydney and beyond navigate the complexities of remote work. Our expertise in recruitment and onboarding ensures that your remote employees are set up for success from the very beginning. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can support your remote onboarding needs.

Building a Winning Sales Culture: How to Retain and Motivate your Sales Team

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 06:10:51 GMT

A high-performing sales team is crucial for any organisation’s success. However, creating a culture that effectively motivates and retains the people in your sales team can be challenging.

It’s not just about sales figures; it's about creating an environment where your team feels valued, supported, and excited to come to work every day. Here are some key strategies to build a winning sales culture that both retains top talent and motivates them to achieve outstanding results.

Understanding What Motivates Your Sales Team

Every salesperson is unique, with their own individual drivers. Some may thrive on competition and hitting ambitious targets, while others may be more intrinsically motivated by helping customers and building long-term relationships.

Take the time to understand your team's motivations—conduct surveys, hold one-on-one meetings, and encourage open communication. When you understand what makes your team tick, you can tailor your approach to keep them engaged.

Here are some key motivators to consider:

Compensation and Recognition: Competitive salaries, commissions, and bonuses are essential, but don't underestimate the power of public recognition and celebrating achievements; a simple compliment can go a long way.

Growth and Development: Top performers crave opportunities to learn and grow. That’s why you should be investing in ongoing sales training, coaching programs, and mentorship opportunities. This not only helps to hone their skills but also demonstrates your commitment to their professional development.

Purpose and Meaning: Particularly in today’s workplace culture, people want to feel like their work has a greater purpose. Help your team connect with the bigger picture—how are their sales efforts impacting the company, and most importantly, how are they helping customers?

Building a Strong Sales Culture

Once you understand your team's key drivers, you can start working on how to motivate your sales team and build a strong sales culture. Try a few of these strategies for success:

Collaboration over Competition

While healthy competition can spur performance and drive results, fostering a collaborative environment can lead to sustained success and a more cohesive team.

Create platforms where team members can share their insights, strategies, and experiences. This could be through regular knowledge-sharing sessions, internal workshops, or even a shared digital library where useful information and best practices are documented.

You could also encourage senior sales members to mentor junior colleagues. This not only helps with skill development but also strengthens the relationships within the team. Pairing up less experienced salespeople with seasoned veterans can facilitate learning and growth.

Don’t just celebrate individual achievements, celebrate wins as a team too. Whether it’s closing a big deal, reaching a team sales target, or completing a successful project, acknowledge the collective effort and celebrate together through team lunches, shout-outs in meetings, or company-wide announcements.

Open Communication

It’s essential to foster an environment where your sales team feels comfortable voicing their concerns, ideas, and feedback without fear of judgement. This can be achieved by promoting an open-door policy where employees know they can approach leadership with any issue.

Hold regular sales meetings that encourage open dialogue. Use these meetings not only to discuss targets and performance but also to brainstorm solutions to challenges and share innovative ideas.

You could even conduct regular anonymous surveys to gauge the team’s pulse—these surveys can reveal issues that might not be brought up in person and provide honest feedback on areas needing improvement.

Transparency and Trust

Be transparent about company goals, performance metrics, and any changes within the organisation. Share how individual and team performances contribute to the bigger picture to help team members understand the importance of their roles.

One of the most important things you can do to ensure sales team retention is to empower your team to make decisions and show that you trust them to do their jobs effectively. Give them autonomy to approach their tasks in their own way, while offering guidance and support as needed.

It’s also a good idea to keep your team informed about any significant changes or developments within the organisation. Regular updates from leadership can help manage expectations and reduce uncertainty, fostering a stable and trusting environment.

Fun and Camaraderie

Where possible, schedule regular team-building activities that encourage collaboration and bonding. These could be offsite retreats, problem-solving challenges, or creative workshops. Such activities can help team members connect on a personal level, improving teamwork and cooperation.

You could also organise social events like after-work gatherings, holiday parties, or themed office days to provide a break from work and allow team members to interact in a relaxed setting, building friendships and a sense of community.

Whether it’s a birthday, work anniversary, or the achievement of a personal goal, regularly celebrating personal and professional milestones can boost morale and strengthen the sense of camaraderie within the team.

Leveraging a Recruitment Agency to Build a Strong Sales Team

Partnering with a recruitment agency can significantly enhance your efforts to build a winning sales culture. Here’s how:

1. Access to Top Talent

Recruitment agencies have extensive networks and can source top-tier sales talent that might not be accessible through traditional recruitment methods. They often engage with passive candidates who are not actively seeking new jobs but could be persuaded by the right opportunity. Additionally, their industry expertise and strategic connections enable them to identify and attract highly skilled professionals who can drive your business forward.

2. Expertise in Talent Matching

A good recruitment agency in Australia understands the nuances of different roles and can match candidates with the right skills and cultural fit for your organisation. They’re trained to evaluate not just the technical competencies of candidates but also their alignment with your company’s values and work environment.

3. Time and Cost Efficiency

Outsourcing the recruitment process saves time and resources, allowing you to focus on other critical aspects of your business. Recruitment agencies handle the time-consuming tasks of sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates, significantly reducing your time-to-hire.

4. Talent Retention Support

At WOW Recruitment, we also offer post-placement support, helping new hires integrate smoothly into your team, thus improving talent retention rates. This support can include structured onboarding programs tailored to your business needs, regular follow-ups to ensure both employer and employee satisfaction, and providing additional training resources if needed.

The team at our renowned recruitment agency in Sydney understands the challenges of building and maintaining a high-performing sales team. Our expertise in recruitment and talent management can help you attract, retain, and motivate the best sales professionals in the industry.

Ready to build a winning sales culture? Partner with WOW Recruitment to attract and retain top talent and ensure your sales team is motivated and committed. Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve your business goals.

Turning Setbacks into Stepping Stones: How to Handle Job Rejection Positively

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Tue, 21 May 2024 03:08:00 GMT

Rejection is a universal experience, especially in the competitive Australian job market. Rejection can absolutely be discouraging, but here at WOW, we want to assure you that a rejection doesn't define you, and it can actually be a valuable learning experience.

While it's natural to feel disappointed when you don't land a job, the way you respond to this setback can shape your future success. Here’s how to deal with job rejection constructively and set the stage for future opportunities.

Understanding Rejection

It’s important to first understand that rejection, particularly in a job search, is rarely personal. Often, it simply reflects a mismatch between the role and the candidate rather than a flaw in the candidate themselves. Employers look for a very specific set of skills, experiences, and even personality traits that fit their organisational culture and business needs. Not being selected may mean that there was a better-suited candidate, but it doesn't imply that you are less capable or unworthy.

It’s entirely natural to feel let down or upset, but you don’t have to keep these feelings to yourself. Open up to a friend, family member, or career counsellor—they can provide a sympathetic ear and the valuable perspective you might need. Sharing your thoughts can also lighten the emotional load and may lead to useful insights or strategies for moving forward.

How to Respond to a Job Rejection Email

Whether you receive a job rejection via email or phone call, it’s crucial not to take it personally or respond impulsively. If possible, give yourself some time to cool off and compose yourself before responding.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to respond professionally and maintain a positive relationship with the potential employer:

Acknowledge and Thank Them
Start your reply by thanking the interviewer for the opportunity and their time. Expressing gratitude is not only polite but also keeps the door open for future interactions and demonstrates your professionalism. It can leave a lasting impression, potentially positioning you favourably for any upcoming opportunities that may arise.
Ask for Feedback
Politely ask if they can provide any feedback on your interview or application. This shows your commitment to improvement and can provide valuable insights for your future applications. Receiving and acting on this feedback can be a crucial step in refining your approach and increasing your competitiveness in the job market.
Express Continued Interest
Let them know that you are still interested in working with their company and would appreciate being considered for future roles that align with your skills and experiences. By expressing a continued interest, you establish yourself as a proactive and dedicated candidate who is genuinely invested in becoming part of their team.
Keep It Brief and Professional
While it's okay to express disappointment, keep your tone positive and professional. This leaves a good impression and fosters ongoing professional relationships. A constructive and courteous response also underscores your maturity and adaptability—traits that are highly valued by employers.

How to Deal with Job Rejection

After responding to a rejection email, the next step is to manage your emotions and use the experience as a growth opportunity. Here are some strategies to try:

Reflect on the Experience

Take an honest and thorough look at your interview performance. Are there areas where you could improve? Reflect on any weaknesses or gaps that may have been apparent during the interview process. For example, if you struggled to answer any of the questions, that might be something you need to brush up on for future interviews.

Maintain Perspective

Remember that many successful people have faced numerous rejections before achieving success. Each rejection is simply a step closer to your next opportunity. By reframing rejection as a necessary part of the path to achievement, you can maintain a positive mindset and perseverance in your pursuit of your career goals.

Stay Positive and Resilient

Keep a positive outlook, and don’t let rejection dampen your enthusiasm for your job search. Resilience is a key trait that employers value highly. Your ability to bounce back from setbacks demonstrates not only your determination but also your adaptability and strength of character.

Expand Your Skills

Consider whether additional training or experience could improve your job prospects. Sometimes, a rejection can direct you towards areas where you might need growth. Are there certifications, courses, or workshops that could enhance your expertise? By building on your skills, you’ll make yourself a more competitive candidate going forward.

Network Actively

Continue to build and engage with your professional network. Sometimes, the right job comes through a referral or an unexpected connection. Attend industry events, join professional associations, and participate in online forums or LinkedIn groups relevant to your field to increase your visibility and open doors to potential opportunities.

How Do You Handle Rejection in a Sales Interview?

Sales roles, in particular, often involve facing rejection directly, whether it's in securing deals or in the interview process itself. Here are some tailored tips for sales professionals:

Stay Solution-Focused: In sales, every rejection can teach you something about your approach or pitch. Analyse what might have gone wrong and how you can adjust your strategy.

Show Your Resilience: When responding to a rejection from a sales interview, emphasise your resilience and ability to handle rejection positively. This is a valuable trait in sales, and demonstrating that you can manage it professionally is compelling to potential employers.

Practice and Prepare: Use each interview as a practice session to hone your sales techniques and responses. The more you practise, the more confident you’ll become.

Remember, job hunting is a journey of self-discovery and growth. By embracing rejection as a learning opportunity and staying positive, you'll be well on your way to landing your dream job.

Here at WOW Recruitment, we're here to support you every step of the way. The friendly team at our recruitment agency in Sydney offer personalised guidance and access to a network of top employers.

So, the next time you receive a rejection email, don't despair. Consider it a stepping stone. Use the experience to learn, grow, and become a stronger candidate. And when you’re ready to get back out there, we’re here to help you land your dream role.

Welcoming Events Industry Expert Jamie Rogers

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 11:31:05 GMT

We're excited to welcome Jamie Rogers to the WOW team as Team Lead for our new Events and Experiential Marketing specialisation.

With over 5 years of experience in recruitment, Jamie has specialised in marketing, events, and creative sectors. Holding a degree in Law and Politics from Cardiff University, Jamie brings a unique perspective to the recruitment industry.

We sat down with Jamie to talk about his recruitment journey through the events and brand experience sectors in both the US and the UK, gaining insights into the challenges and opportunities that also define the current landscape of events in Australia.

Welcome Jamie! We’re so happy to have you on board. Let’s start off with the big question first: what inspired you to join WOW Recruitment?

When I met with Dan and Emily for the interview process, I just really liked the way they approached business and recruitment and felt that they would be good influences if I were to join the business.

There’s a lot of potential at this particular recruitment agency, and that was also quite exciting as a drawcard for me. WOW already has a really solid foundation in events and marketing, but it still feels like there’s a lot of scope to grow this particular part of the team.

You’ve had over 5 years of success recruiting in the events industry in the US and the UK—what skills have helped you find that success?

Definitely adaptability for the most part. Generally, in the events industry, you find a really wide variety of personalities, people, and skills, and so each recruitment process for that sort of role or that sort of person has different challenges and requires a different approach.

Your role and your focus can change pretty quickly from day to day. In a typical week, I might be recruiting a creative one day, an event manager the next, and then by the end of the week I'm recruiting a salesperson, so I need to stay adaptable and flexible.

What do you see as some of the biggest challenges in the event recruitment space today?

There’s definitely been a shortage of people post-pandemic. Although we’re a few years past the worst of it now, we’re still seeing the effects of it.

The industry really suffered as people, particularly in the production and creative side of things, went to work in other sectors where they could apply their transferable skills. Unfortunately, a lot of those skilled people haven't come back.

Another challenge that I’ve seen in the events space relates to diversity and inclusion. Particularly in senior roles, it tends to be pretty heavily male-dominated, and it tends to lack cultural diversity. In the UK, people have been pushing for change, with many organisations being set up to try and tackle that issue.

In Australia, there has been some headway with examining gender diversity in the business events community specifically, with the ‘ Advancing Women in Business Events ’ study conducted by Business Events Sydney (BESydney) and PCMA, so that’s definitely something that’s front of mind here too.

Given these challenges, how can employers entice talent back to the industry? What do you think they can do to attract the right people?

Because working in the events industry often requires long hours and weekend work, a lot of the time people are looking for ways to get some kind of work-life balance back. I think that will be a big thing for employers to consider in terms of how they attract people.

Salary is nice, of course, but I think it’s more about the other things that they can offer—like time off in lieu and hybrid working. And flexibility is especially enticing in terms of hours, especially if you've just come off the back of a big event.

If an event agency wants to work with you, what can they expect? What’s your process?

One thing I always like to do is actually go and visit their office and see them in person. You can do a video call, and you can sort of get a feel for the place, but to really pick up on the culture and what the office environment is like, it's so much easier to do that in person.

The biggest frustration I’ve seen people have with recruiters in general is that a lot of them come into a role and have been doing it for six months and then they move on, so they don’t really get the chance to learn the ins and outs of the industry.

Someone who's new might look at the CV of a project manager and think that's a really good CV, but they often don’t dig deeper into getting to understand a little bit more about the person. My experience allows me to take a different, more thorough and nuanced, approach.

Can you tell us more about this approach?

If an events agency comes to me with a role, be that a project manager or a 3D designer or whatever it is, I can generally consult with them on previous experiences because I've recruited that role for a similar business before.

With me, an employer gets more of an actual consultative approach. I can understand what they're looking for, and if there's something that doesn't sound quite right or maybe an area that they might be able to slightly tweak in their search, I’ll work on that for the benefit of all parties.

When hiring events employees, what are some of the key skills you look for?

I think the biggest one would be a real love of the industry, because it’s not for the faint-hearted! Potential candidates need to understand that it can be pretty hard work, and if they don't love the industry, they're probably going to find it really challenging to stay motivated.

Something else I look for is whether a candidate is sociable, personable, and easy to talk to. The events industry is generally set up for people who are quite sociable—it's really not an industry for those who shy away from meeting new people.

What kind of roles are you recruiting for at the moment?

Anything you might find across the events sector, really. I would break it down into a few categories, including Event Production, Event Delivery, Creative and Design, Client Services, New Business and Sales, and then Strategy and Digital.

The Events & Experiential Marketing page on WOW’s website will give you a full overview of the kinds of roles I’m actively recruiting for for our events agency clients.

How can people get in touch with you?

If you’re looking to hire talent for your next event, or you’re after a role in the events industry in Australia, I’d love to chat! You can get in touch with me at jamie.rogers@wowrecruitment.com.au .

Stop the Revolving Door: Practical Strategies for Retaining Your Best People

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 00:50:50 GMT

Retaining top talent is more crucial than ever for Australian businesses. With the evolving expectations of the workforce and the constant threat of competitors poaching your best employees, you might be wondering how to increase employee retention. That’s where a strategic approach to employee retention is essential.

Fortunately, there are plenty of proven strategies that you can implement to create a work environment that fosters loyalty and minimises turnover. These include building a positive work environment, offering competitive benefits packages, actively engaging employees in meaningful ways, and demonstrating strong leadership.

Why Are Your Employees Leaving?

Employees can exit a business for any number of reasons, but often a desire for better compensation, clearer paths for career progression, and a healthy work-life balance come out on top. Dissatisfaction with leadership or a negative company culture can also be significant drivers of employee turnover.

Given that Australian job seekers in particular are highly mobile, with research from SEEK indicating that 37% were considering a move within the last 6 months of 2023, it’s important to create a work environment that prioritises competitive remuneration, professional development opportunities, well-being initiatives, and strong leadership.

Quiet Quitting

A common result of dissatisfaction in the workplace is a phenomenon that’s emerged over the last couple of years called ‘quiet quitting.’ Quiet quitting refers to employees who stick to their core job duties but withdraw from going above and beyond. They limit their efforts at work, consciously avoiding extra tasks that exceed their defined responsibilities.

This shift often stems from feelings of being underappreciated, undercompensated, or burnt out. As workers seek better work-life balance and mental health, many are opting to ‘quietly quit’ rather than overextend themselves or leave their positions outright. This trend underscores the importance for employers to foster supportive and engaging workplaces.

How Do You Retain Employees? Talent Retention Strategies that Work

According to our recent Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report , what matters most to employees are their salary and benefits, their ability to make a positive impact, and achieving a good work-life balance.

We also discovered that employee retention is closely linked to job satisfaction—those who express their love for their job are overwhelmingly more likely to have been in their role for three to five years, while those ready to quit usually want to leave sooner than that.

To significantly reduce employee turnover and retain top talent in your business, here are some of the most successful retention strategies to try.

Create a Positive Work Culture

The foundation of employee retention is undoubtedly a positive work environment. This encompasses not just the physical space but also the culture, the values, and the way people interact within an organisation. A positive work environment is characterised by mutual respect, open communication, and a sense of belonging.

You can create a positive work culture by:

Encouraging Open Communication

Create channels for open dialogue to ensure employees feel heard and valued. This could be through regular town halls, anonymous feedback systems, or open-door policies with management.

Promoting Work-Life Balance

Show understanding and flexibility towards employees’ needs outside of work. A recent report from the University of Melbourne found that 75% of employees under the age of 54 reported that they would leave a job that didn’t allow for flexibility. Flexible working hours, the option to work remotely, and mental health days are examples of practices that contribute to a supportive work environment.

Recognising and Rewarding Contributions

Make sure employees feel appreciated for their hard work and achievements. Recognition programs, whether through awards, bonuses, or simple shout-outs in team meetings, can boost morale and loyalty.

Offer Competitive Benefits

To attract and retain top talent, offering competitive benefits is key. However, competitive does not only refer to salary. While fair and attractive compensation is essential, today's employees look for benefits that enhance their quality of life and offer security for their future.

Consider offering some of the below to increase talent retention:

Tailored Benefits Packages

Employees have diverse needs, and that’s why you should be tailoring your benefits packages to suit different life stages and priorities—from health insurance and superannuation to childcare support and education allowances.

Professional Development Opportunities

Investing in your employees’ growth not only benefits them, but it also benefits your organisation. Consider offering access to training, courses, certifications, and pathways for career progression within your company.

Wellbeing Programs

Employee wellbeing directly impacts productivity and satisfaction. Initiatives like fitness memberships, wellness apps, or even in-office health and wellness activities can make a significant difference to the productivity and longevity of your employees.

Engage Employees in Meaningful Ways

Engagement is the emotional commitment an employee has to their organisation and its goals. Engaged employees are not just there for the paycheck; they believe in what they are doing and are committed to the organisation's success.

Engaging your workforce in meaningful ways involves:

Empowering Employees

Empowerment can boost your employees’ investment in their work and the company. Be sure to give them a sense of ownership and responsibility, encourage innovation, and allow them to bring their ideas to the table.

Building a Strong Team Culture

Team-building activities, social events, and collaborative projects can help strengthen bonds between employees, making them feel part of something bigger and fostering a sense of community within your organisation.

Communicating a Clear Vision

Sharing successes and challenges openly can help employees see the impact of their work, increasing their engagement and loyalty. It’s also important to ensure that every employee understands how their work contributes to the company’s objectives.

Demonstrate Strong Leadership

Leaders play a pivotal role in employee retention. Leaders who are approachable, empathetic, and supportive can inspire loyalty and dedication and can identify and address issues before they lead to dissatisfaction.

Here’s how strong leadership plays a crucial role in talent retention:

Inspiring Trust and Confidence

Leaders who are transparent, ethical, and consistent in their actions inspire trust among their team members. When employees have confidence in their leaders, they’re more likely to feel secure and committed to the organisation.

Providing Support and Development

Exceptional leaders are committed to the growth and development of their employees. By offering mentorship, feedback, and opportunities for professional development, leaders can help employees advance in their careers without looking elsewhere.

Creating a Vision and Purpose

Strong leaders articulate a clear vision for the company. By aligning individual goals with the company’s purpose, leaders can foster a deep sense of belonging and dedication among employees.

A Happy Employee is a Loyal Employee

Now that you know how to keep employees happy, you can create a dynamic workplace that attracts and retains top talent. Remember, happy, engaged employees are more productive, creative, and less likely to leave for greener pastures.

A successful retention strategy is an ongoing process. By actively listening to your employees, adapting your approach, and creating a truly positive work environment, you can turn your company into the ultimate dance partner, attracting and retaining top talent for the long haul.

Let's not forget, a strong employer brand also goes a long way. Positive employee experiences translate into positive online reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations, making it easier to attract new talent in the future.

WOW Recruitment is a recruitment agency that’s passionate about helping Australian businesses build successful teams. We offer a range of services, from talent acquisition to employer branding, to help you create a workplace environment where top talent thrives. Contact us today to find out more.

Bridging the Renewable Energy Talent Gap: Why Recruitment Partners Are Essential

daniel@wowrecruitment.com.au (Daniel Tonkin) — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 06:15:15 GMT

Australia's renewable energy sector is experiencing phenomenal growth, driven by ambitious national targets, a supportive regulatory environment, and increasing investor confidence. Of course, this surge means there’s a critical need for skilled personnel with niche experience, from engineers and technicians to project managers and specialists.

While finding the right talent is crucial for any industry, the specific challenges within the renewable energy sector require a strategic approach to recruitment. That’s why partnering with a specialist recruitment agency can be the key to propelling your company towards a successful future.

The Evolving Landscape of Renewable Energy Recruitment

Across the globe, renewable energy initiatives have been gaining momentum, with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reporting 11.5 million hires in the sector in 2019 alone.

As you can imagine, the renewable energy sector in Australia is also experiencing rapid growth. New technologies are emerging, project life cycles are becoming shorter, and the demand for niche skill sets is constantly growing.

Candidates with these particular skills are in the enviable position of being selective about the jobs they take, resulting in fierce competition among businesses hiring in the renewable energy sector.

So how can your renewable energy company stand out to top talent?

The Missing Piece: The Role of a Recruitment Agency

Partnering with a specialised recruitment agency that has experience sourcing candidates for renewable energy jobs in Australia helps you unlock a multitude of benefits that can put your business front and centre.

Targeted Sourcing

Recruitment agencies understand the unique skills and competencies required for jobs in many different sectors. They can tap into their extensive networks to find candidates who not only possess the necessary technical expertise for a job in the renewable energy sector, but are also aligned with the industry's mission-driven ethos.

Enhanced Industry Knowledge

It’s part of a recruiter’s job to stay informed about any trends, technologies, and regulatory changes in a given industry. This deep understanding allows them to effectively communicate the sector's potential to prospective candidates, highlighting opportunities for innovation, impact, and career growth.

Streamlined Hiring Process

As you’re likely aware, hiring in the renewable energy sector can be a complex and time-consuming process. A recruitment partner can streamline this process, reducing the time-to-hire and ensuring that companies can swiftly onboard talent to keep up with your project timelines.

Full-Service Recruitment

Recruitment agencies do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to finding the perfect candidate. By managing job postings, screening candidates, and conducting preliminary interviews, recruitment partners free up companies to focus on their core mission—advancing Australia's renewable energy capabilities.

Access to Passive Candidates

One of the most significant advantages of partnering with a recruitment specialist is access to passive candidates. These are professionals who are not actively seeking new opportunities but are open to making a move for the right role. According to a LinkedIn survey , 90% of professionals around the world are open to hearing from a recruiter about available jobs in their field—even if they’re already in a full time role.

Mitigate Hiring Risks

Hiring the wrong candidate can sometimes be a very costly mistake. Recruitment partners mitigate this risk through rigorous vetting processes, including background checks and tailored assessment methods. By ensuring a high degree of fit between the candidate and the role, recruitment partners help renewable energy companies build resilient and high-performing teams.

Choosing the Right Recruitment Partner

A good recruitment partner goes beyond simply filling open positions. They become a valuable strategic partner in building a sustainable and future-proof workforce for your renewable energy company. When looking for the most suitable recruitment partner, there are several important factors you’ll want to consider.

Industry Expertise: Look for a partner with a proven track record of success in the renewable energy sector and a deep understanding of the specific skill sets required.

Network and Reach: The agency should have a broad network of contacts within the renewable energy industry in Australia and utilise various sourcing strategies to identify top talent.

Cultural Fit: Choose a partner who aligns with your company culture and values. This will help to ensure a collaborative and successful working relationship.

Here at WOW Recruitment, we recruit for the future. That means understanding the long-term goals of our candidates and clients so that we can inspire everyone to achieve lasting success.

With the world of employment in the renewable energy sector constantly changing, we know it can be a challenge for businesses to keep up. That’s why our candidates and clients rely on us to put our expertise to the test—and deliver!

Our high-level research, in-depth process and instinct for recruitment means we’re equipped to take on even the toughest of briefs. Take a look below at how the team at our Sydney recruitment agency helped prominent solar energy company, Think Renewable , build their fantastic team.

Real Life Recruitment: Think Renewable

Think Renewable approached us when it became clear they were having trouble hiring the right people for the roles they had available. Because of the ever-increasing growth of the renewable energy sector, they needed urgent support to keep up with demand.

Think’s priority was to find people who had the skills and expertise but also the passion for the industry. They needed people who were innovative and efficient, customer-focused, knowledgeable, and committed to a sustainable future.

Because we're a specialist recruitment agency that doesn’t shy away from a challenge, we made quick work of finding the perfect candidates for Think Renewable. We leveraged our industry network to source candidates with specialised skills and experience.

Aside from just assessing someone’s skills on paper, our expert recruitment team also made sure that the candidates we put forward for consideration were genuinely excited about the company and the role. We selected candidates who were invested in the company’s mission of a greener future and assessed them on their willingness to go the extra mile to see Think’s vision come to life.

We placed candidates in each and every role that Think had available, building on their existing team of passionate and skilled employees. From customer service officers to sales associates, we were able to help Think expand faster than they ever thought possible.

“Partnering with WOW Recruitment has been one of the best things we’ve done to ensure our customers get the service and expertise they deserve. Through working with WOW, we’ve been able to scale our operations and position our passionate team as leaders in the renewable energy sector.”

If you’d like to know more about how WOW can help you on your hunt for your next renewable energy superstar, get in touch with us today.

Present with Power: 8 Essential Public Speaking Skills

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 06:14:10 GMT

Public speaking: two words that can evoke a sense of dread in even the most seasoned of professionals. But whether you're pitching an idea to your team, presenting at an event, or delivering a keynote speech, your ability to speak well in public can significantly impact your career and overall personal growth.

The good news? Effective public speaking is a skill that can be honed with practice and by making use of some of the best tried and tested techniques. Let’s take a look at some essential public speaking tips that can transform your presentations from nerve-wracking to powerful and engaging.

1. Know Your Audience

Before you even start crafting your presentation, it’s important to understand just who it is that you’re speaking to. Tailor your message to your audience’s interests, knowledge level, and expectations to make sure your presentation is relatable and engaging.

Imagine explaining astrophysics to a group of kindergarten children versus presenting the same topic to a room full of astronomers—it would be quite different! Take the time to research your audience, and if possible, interact with them beforehand to gauge their interests and questions.

Pro tip: Be prepared to adjust your presentation based on the audience's reactions. If a particular point sparks interest or confusion, be ready to dive deeper or clarify.

2. Master Your Material

Familiarity breeds confidence, and the more confident you are in your material, the more comfortable you'll be delivering it. Know your material inside and out—not just what’s on your slides, but the underlying ideas and data that support your points. This deep knowledge allows you to speak more freely and adapt your presentation to the audience’s reactions without losing your train of thought.

Pro tip: Think of yourself as the ultimate authority on the subject—like a walking, talking guidebook!

3. Start Strong

The first few minutes of your presentation are crucial to capturing your audience’s attention. Hook your audience from the very beginning with a captivating anecdote, a surprising statistic, or even a question that prompts reflection.

Pro tip: Introducing something personal or humorous at the start of your presentation will help you break the ice and feel more comfortable with your audience.

4. Simplify Your Slides

Your slides and notes are there to support your message, not to be the message, so avoid overcrowding them with too much text or data. This is one of the best presentation tips because it’s easy to simply read from your notes instead of engaging with your audience. You should only use your slides to highlight key points, display impactful images, or illustrate concepts with simple graphs.

As much as you want the focus of the audience to be on you, it’s still important to present slides that are clear and consistent with a professional design. Less is definitely more so pay attention to font styles, colour palettes, and the overall layout.

Pro tip: If you’re pretty tech-savvy, feel free to use tools and apps like live polls or Q&A sessions to engage your audience.

5. Practise, Then Practise Some More

Although it might seem obvious, this is one of the most essential public speaking tips for a reason. Rehearsing your presentation multiple times helps you refine your delivery and timing. It’s a good idea to practise your speech out loud, in front of a mirror, or record yourself to evaluate your pacing, tone, and body language. Don’t just memorise your script—get comfortable with the material so you can deliver it naturally.

Pro tip: Nerves can make you speak faster, so try to consciously slow down your breathing and enunciate clearly to ensure your audience can follow along.

6. Embrace Pauses

Pauses are powerful. They give you a moment to collect your thoughts and give your audience time to absorb the information. Don’t be afraid of short silences as they can actually help you to emphasise key points and add a sense of gravitas to your delivery.

Pro tip: Try to end sections with a thought-provoking question or impactful statement so that a pause won’t seem out of place as you focus on the next point you want to make.

7. Become a Storyteller

Stories resonate with people on a personal level. Weaving a story into your presentation helps capture your audience's attention and keep them engaged. Think of your presentation as a journey, with your audience as the hero. What challenges will they face? How will your information help them overcome those challenges and emerge victorious?

Pro tip: It’ll make it a lot easier for you to present comfortably if the story is one of your own—pretend you’re telling it to a friend for maximum relatability.

8. Use Body Language Wisely

Being aware of your body language is one of the top tips for public speaking because your body language speaks volumes. Stand confidently, make eye contact, and use gestures that reinforce your message. Be mindful of nervous habits that can distract your audience, like fidgeting or swaying. Positive, open body language can enhance your connection with the audience and make your message more impactful.

Don’t forget eye contact; connecting with your audience through eye contact shows you're engaged and in control. Scan the room and make brief eye contact with individuals throughout your presentation.

Pro tip: Before your presentation, take a few minutes to stand tall with a strong posture and take some deep breaths. This simple act can significantly boost your confidence levels.

Public speaking may never leave you entirely free of nerves, but with these skills in your arsenal, you can present with confidence and power. Remember, every presentation is an opportunity to improve, learn, and connect with your audience on a meaningful level—and conquer your fear of public speaking!

How to Build an Authentic and Appealing Employer Image: A Guide for Attracting Top Talent

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 01:01:48 GMT

In Australia’s competitive job market, it can be difficult for companies to stand out when it comes to hiring top talent. You can offer high salaries and enticing benefits, but to make sure you attract the very best candidates for your team, you need to cultivate a strong employer image that resonates with potential applicants.

At WOW Recruitment, we understand the role a compelling employer brand plays in attracting and retaining top talent. Through our experience connecting exceptional people with phenomenal businesses, we've witnessed firsthand the power of an authentic and well-defined employer image.

That’s why we’ve put together a guide to help you build an employer image that captures the hearts and minds of the future stars of your organisation.

Why Employer Branding Matters

In the digital age, where information is at everyone’s fingertips, authenticity has become more important than ever. Candidates are looking for more than just a job; they're seeking an employer whose values align with their own and where they can continue to build their career.

Authenticity in employer branding means being transparent about what it's really like to work at your company, including both the highs and the lows. This honesty not only attracts candidates but also helps ensure that those who join are a good fit for the company culture.

An authentic and appealing employer image offers several key benefits:

Increased Talent Pool

You’ll attract a wider range of skilled candidates, increasing your reach beyond those who are searching for new positions. Even those who might not have been actively looking for a new role will jump at the chance to work with a company with a fantastic employer image and reputation.

Reduced Recruitment Costs

A strong employer image reduces the time and resources needed to attract top talent, translating to cost savings in the long run. Instead of spending valuable time and money pushing out campaigns to attract potential candidates, you can let your employer image speak for itself to more passively attract top talent.

Improved Employee Retention

Employees who feel valued and connected to their company are more likely to stay engaged and committed, reducing the costs and logistics that come with high employee turnover. This helps you build a team of loyal and productive employees who are happy in their roles.

Enhanced Employee Advocacy

A positive and authentic employer image turns your existing employees into brand ambassadors who can organically promote your company and recommend similarly passionate candidates. As long as you’re walking the talk, there’ll be no shortage of advocates for your company.

How to Build an Authentic Employer Brand

Crafting an authentic employer brand is all about showcasing the values and essence of your company. To create your unique employer image, follow the key steps below.

1. Define Your Core Values

Start by clearly defining the core values of your company. These values should be more than just words on a website—they need to be reflected in every aspect of your business operations, from your products or services to the way you treat your employees.

Pro Tip: Once you’ve decided on your values, communicate them consistently across all of your brand and social platforms so they’ll be sure to reach the right people.

2. Showcase Your Company Culture

Showcase what makes your company unique through stories and testimonials from current employees. Use social media, your website, and any other platforms you might have to give potential candidates a real sense of what it’s like to work at your company.

Pro Tip: Video content works well here to provide a sense of authenticity and a behind-the-scenes look at life at your company.

3. Leverage Employee Advocacy

Your current employees are your best brand ambassadors, so encourage them to share their experiences and what they love about working for your company on their social media platforms.

Pro Tip: Employee advocacy not only helps in portraying an authentic image of your company culture but also allows you to tap into the networks of your employees to reach potential candidates.

4. Highlight Opportunities for Growth

Skilled individuals are often looking for more than just a job; they're looking for a place where they can grow both personally and professionally. That’s why highlighting opportunities for growth within your company is essential.

Pro Tip: If you offer any professional development programs, mentorship opportunities, or clear paths for advancement, be sure to showcase these across your platforms too.

5. Practice Transparency

Transparency is absolutely key to building trust with potential employees. Be honest about the challenges your company faces and how you're working to overcome them. This level of openness not only builds authenticity but also helps in managing expectations for potential candidates.

Pro Tip: It’s not about letting them in on all of the struggles your company faces; it’s about demonstrating your commitment to improving your company.

6. Foster Inclusivity

A workplace that’s inclusive and encourages diversity is becoming increasingly important for job seekers. Demonstrate your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by showcasing your policies, programs, and employee stories that reflect these values.

Pro Tip: Inclusivity enhances your employer brand and reputation, but it also helps your company appeal to a broader range of candidates from all walks of life.

7. Measure and Adapt

Employer branding is not a set-and-forget strategy—it requires ongoing attention and adaptation. Regularly measuring your brand's effectiveness through surveys and employee feedback will give you invaluable data you can use to make adjustments.

Pro Tip: Keep reviewing and updating your brand strategy to make sure that your company resonates with your target audience and attracts the kind of people you want on your team.

Attract Top Talent with WOW Recruitment

Attracting and retaining top talent requires a commitment beyond just employer branding. At WOW Recruitment, we believe in holistic solutions that address all aspects of the talent acquisition process.

The team at our Sydney recruitment agency works with you to understand your specific needs and develop a comprehensive recruitment strategy that attracts, engages, and retains the best talent for your organisation.

With us, you can build an employer image that resonates with the right people, fostering a culture of engagement, growth, and success for your organisation.

Contact our Sydney office today to discover how we can help you unlock the power of an employer brand that attracts and retains top talent in Australia.

Leveraging the Expertise of Contract Marketing Managers

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 05:12:37 GMT

For many businesses in Australia and around the world, adapting to changing consumer behaviours in a technology-driven world has become the number one priority. Companies are investing more and more into their marketing efforts, and there’s been a noticeable increase in demand for specialised marketing expertise.

Employing full-time marketing professionals seems to be the perfect solution, but this process can take time, and you may end up lacking the flexibility and specialised skills required to navigate evolving market trends. This is where marketing contractors might just be your secret weapon.

Here’s why we think hiring contract marketing managers can be a game-changer for your brand.

1. Richer Talent Pool

When you hire contract marketing managers, you open the doors to a world of expertise that might otherwise remain untapped within your own organisation.

These professionals often come armed with a rich tapestry of experiences; they've seen it all, from the big wins to the tough lessons, and they're quick to adapt, bringing fresh energy and new ideas to the table.

Plus, if you’re open to remote work, your talent pool can significantly increase, allowing you to connect with incredible marketing minds from all over the country. You can dip into a much wider well of knowledge and skills to enrich your current team.

2. Specialised Expertise

Hiring a contract marketing manager allows you to reap the rewards of having specialist expertise on tap, ensuring your marketing efforts are on-trend and results-driven.

The infusion of expertise and perspective that contract marketing managers bring to your projects is invaluable, not just for driving immediate results but also for laying the groundwork for long-term business growth.

Their agility and creative problem-solving capabilities mean they're well-equipped to handle anything from launching innovative marketing campaigns that capture the public's imagination to revamping your digital strategies to better engage your audience.

Their unique insights and strategic approaches can help your company stand out in a crowded market, ensuring your marketing efforts are not just seen and heard but are also highly effective and impactful.

3. Cost-Effectiveness and Flexibility

Hiring marketing contractors gives you the chance to tap into the kind of high-level expertise you'd expect from a director-level position, but without the substantial financial commitment that comes with hiring someone full-time.

This cost-effective approach also allows for scalability and flexibility; you can adapt the size and skillset of your marketing team as your business fluctuates. If you’ve got a big project or marketing campaign coming up, you can easily hire contract marketers to scale up your team for that period. Once it’s complete, scaling back down is simple.

This level of scalability and flexibility isn't just convenient; it's also a smart financial strategy. It means you're not locked into a fixed overhead, giving you the agility to direct funds elsewhere to support your business's growth. This way, you can make sure you're always allocating your resources in the most efficient way possible, whatever stage your business is at.

4. Quick Access to Short-Term Specialists

In today's fast-paced business environment, speed is often of the essence. Contract marketing managers offer a quick solution to pressing skill gaps and are often available to start at short notice.

Their ability to hit the ground running means your business doesn't have to miss out on fleeting opportunities or lag behind trends. Instead, you can swiftly pivot and adapt to market changes, securing a vital competitive advantage.

If you’re looking for a top-tier contract marketer who can start immediately, partnering with a marketing recruitment agency like WOW Recruitment is your best bet, as we can help you source and place qualified candidates in a matter of days.

5. Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity

Contract marketing managers operate with a keen awareness that their professional reputation and the prospect of future job opportunities depend on the success of the projects they complete. This fuels their motivation to perform at an exceptionally high level, ensuring that they approach each task with a blend of productivity and efficiency that sets them apart.

Their commitment to excellence means they are not just participants in your projects; they are dedicated to delivering outstanding results that directly contribute to the growth and success of your business.

Unaffected by the often restrictive nature of traditional corporate settings, contract marketing managers are able to dedicate their full attention and resources towards meeting your marketing goals. This allows them to navigate projects with a level of speed and agility that is rare under more conventional employment terms.

By harnessing their expertise and dedication, you can ensure that your marketing initiatives are not just completed but are carried out in a way that maximises efficiency, effectiveness, and ultimately profitability.

6. Fresh and Diverse Perspectives

By bringing in marketing contractors with varied backgrounds from different sectors and communities, you can infuse new life into your marketing strategies. An outsider's fresh and unbiased viewpoint can be exactly what you need to set your brand apart, offering innovative solutions to challenges that may have stumped your internal team.

Embracing both diversity and innovation enables companies to explore uncharted territories, connect with a wider spectrum of consumers, and create an environment that values inclusivity and creative thinking. This approach not only enriches the company's culture but also paves the way for accessing untapped markets and creating messages that resonate on a broader scale.

How to find your next contract marketing manager

When looking to fill a contract marketing role, it can be tough to know where to find the right people at the right time. With a variety of roles and projects to choose from, marketing contractors are able to be selective about the work they do; they may have already found their next role before they’ve even seen that you’re advertising.

To make sure you don’t miss out on your ideal contract marketing candidate, you need the help of an experienced Sydney & Melbourne based recruitment agency.

WOW Recruitment goes beyond simply connecting you with top-tier contractors—we act as your trusted recruitment partner to understand your company culture, marketing goals, and project requirements. We then leverage our extensive network and rigorous vetting process to find the perfect match for your business requirements.

At WOW, we know exactly what contract marketing managers are looking for, and we know how to present your role so that contractors are lining up to join the team.

Ready to create a winning marketing formula for your brand? Get in touch with us today and unlock the hidden potential of contract marketing managers.

5 Ways Business Support Roles Drive Organisational Success

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 05:15:18 GMT

When it comes to the success of your business, it's easy to focus on those on the front line—the sales team closing deals, the marketing gurus crafting viral campaigns, the tech wizards conjuring digital innovations. But underneath all of that, quietly running the engine, are those people in business support roles.

People like administrators, receptionists, and office managers ensure the smooth flow of information, the efficient allocation of resources, and the seamless day-to-day operations that allow every other department to focus on their specific goals.

What makes a good business support candidate?

Attention to Detail

While everyone in your company should have good attention to detail, this particular skill is absolutely essential for your office managers, receptionists, and administrators. That’s because they’ll need to ensure that the information entered into any documentation is accurate and up-to-date, especially when it comes to legal documents.

Reliability

Because so much responsibility is placed on their shoulders, from customer communications to data management, your business support candidate should demonstrate a strong sense of reliability. You should know that you can trust them to get the job done, no matter what, so that your business can continue to run smoothly and efficiently.

Approachable

Office managers and receptionists, in particular, deal with people on a regular basis. In order for them to be successful in their roles, they need to have a friendly, approachable nature. Customers should be left with a smile after interacting with them, and the rest of your team should know they can seek help from their go-to office guru at any time.

Flexible

As anyone who has owned or worked in a business knows, nothing ever stands still. The way you do things is always evolving, so a good business support person needs to be able to adapt to the changing needs of the business. They may need to play more than one part in the wider business, and you’ll want to hire someone who’ll take on that challenge with pride and efficiency.

As a leading recruitment agency in Sydney, we know firsthand the power of a strong business support team. That’s why we’ve put together some compelling reasons why investing in top-notch business support talent is the smartest move you can make for your organisation's success.

1. They’re Masters of Efficiency

Scheduling meetings, managing calendars, tracking expenses, and navigating complex workflows can be time-consuming, energy-sapping tasks for anyone. But a skilled administrator can automate processes, streamline procedures, and anticipate needs before they arise. They free up your high-performers to do what they do best—innovate, create, and drive revenue.

Someone in a business administrator role ensures that every aspect of your business operates with precision. Their meticulous attention to detail and organisational expertise creates an environment where efficiency thrives, and so does your business.

2. They’re Frontline Brand Ambassadors

As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. As the face of your company, a receptionist is often the first point of contact for clients, partners, and potential hires.

A skilled receptionist goes beyond simply answering phones; they create a positive and welcoming atmosphere, leaving a lasting impression on anyone who walks through the door. By ensuring seamless communication and providing excellent customer service, receptionists contribute significantly to building a positive brand image.

3. They Maximise Productivity

Imagine an office without an office manager. Supplies run low, equipment malfunctions, and communication channels clog up. The wheels fall off, and the team grinds to a halt. A competent office manager is the glue that holds the organisation together. From overseeing budgets to implementing efficient processes, they play a vital role in creating a conducive work environment.

A strategic office manager understands the pulse of the organisation, fostering a culture of collaboration and productivity. They are the backbone of a happy, productive work environment, and their ability to align administrative functions with overarching business goals is instrumental in achieving long-term success.

4. They’re Valuable Knowledge Hubs

Don't underestimate the power of information. Administrators are often the data entry wizards and the record-keepers of an organisation. They collect, analyse, and organise crucial data—everything from customer information to operational metrics.

But a truly exceptional administrator goes beyond data crunching. They extract insights, identify trends, and provide valuable information to decision-makers. They give you the ammunition you need to make informed strategic choices, keeping your business ahead of the curve.

5. They’re Vital Gatekeepers

If you didn’t have a reliable team of business support staff, who would direct traffic for your business? It would likely end up being you. From customer phone calls to printer emergencies, every query or problem would be yours to answer and solve.

Receptionists, office managers, and administration staff give you the opportunity to put your focus where it needs to be: on growing your business. They’re your trusty gatekeepers, managing day-to-day operations and customer queries so that only the most urgent and important tasks filter through to you.

Find Your Hidden Business Support Gem

Finding the right people to fill these vital business support roles isn’t always easy. You need more than just technical skills; you need individuals with the right attitude, emotional intelligence, and genuine passion for supporting others. That's where a competent recruitment agency comes in.

Here at WOW Recruitment, we understand the critical role business support plays in organisational success. We have the expertise and network to identify those hidden gems—the individuals who possess the right blend of skills, personality, and cultural fit to become invaluable assets to your team. We don't just fill positions; we help you build a foundation for long-term growth and success.

Whether you’re looking for a charismatic receptionist, a dedicated administrator, or a stellar office manager in Sydney, we can help you find your hidden business support gem. Get in touch with us today to get the ball rolling.

Navigating Career Change: Tips and Strategies for Successfully Making a Pivot

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 01:17:39 GMT

Changing careers can seem daunting, but it might just be the best move you ever make. Whether you're transitioning to a new industry or making a switch within your current field, we’re here to provide you with practical guidance on how to make a career change with confidence.

Do your research

When you’re thinking about making a career change, a good place to start is to look at your options and where you might want to go. What’s the next exciting career move for you?

Identify potential industries

The first step is to take a look at the different industries out there. There are many, so to narrow it down, ask yourself a few questions: is there an industry you’ve always wanted to work in? Did you have a dream job as a child? Choose three industries you’re interested in and go from there.

Research different roles

Do a bit of research on the different roles in one of your chosen industries and see which ones speak to you. If one of the industries you’re interested in is marketing, for example, there’ll be roles for copywriters, social media ad experts, designers, strategic planners, and many more.

Ask about a ‘day in the life’

Once you’ve got a few different roles pinned down, it’s time to do just a little bit more digging. Do you know someone who has a role like that? Is there a job ad for this role you can examine? Find out what tasks are required of someone in this role and what kind of skills are necessary to succeed.

Take stock of your inventory

Now that you’ve got an idea of what industry you’d like to move into, let’s focus on you. What are your strengths? What are your current skills? What motivates you?

Your strengths

Think about what positive feedback you tend to receive from others, including family, friends, colleagues, and employers. What do people say about you? It doesn’t need to be related to a professional setting—after all, many interpersonal skills like empathy and kindness are great traits to have in a workplace!

Your motivation

What makes you jump out of bed in the morning? Is it sharing your thoughts and opinions? Is it engaging in physical activity? Is it cooking a hearty breakfast? Again, it doesn’t need to be work-related; it’s about getting to know yourself better.

Your productivity

Think about a typical day for you. What tasks do you love doing? What times of the day are you most productive? Is there a work or home project you’ve been excited about recently? When you write down the answers to these kinds of questions, you’ll soon see a bigger picture start to form.

Your skills

The skills you currently have might turn out to be useful in many different industries. Think about what you’re great at in your career and in your personal life. For example, if you’re an Excel expert or a grammar guru, you’ll find these skills extremely transferable between different roles.

Craft your credentials

You know your skills and you’ve got a role in mind, so how do you go about making your dream a reality? It’s time to stand out.

Build new skills

If there’s a specific skill set required for your dream role, now’s the time to learn all about it. Do some research for online courses you can take, or check out some helpful YouTube tutorials. Even if you’re not an expert, demonstrating that you’re ready to learn will put you in good stead with a potential employer.

Revamp your CV

You’ll likely need to make a few tweaks to your CV to align it with your chosen role. Focus on your skills instead of your previous work experience, and include any relevant certifications. Take a look at some CV examples online or check out our CV writing guide to help you get started.

Tailor your cover letter

Your CV is your credentials document, but your cover letter is your pitch. It’s time to show your personality, demonstrate how you can add value to your prospective employer’s business and, ultimately, set yourself apart from the competition. We’ve got some great tips for how to write a cover letter here .

Talk to the professionals

Although changing careers can feel overwhelming, you don’t have to go it alone.

If you’re looking for great career change advice, WOW Recruitment is here to help. We take the time to get to know you so we can truly understand your motivations and aspirations.

We help you refresh your CV, tailor your applications, and develop your elevator pitch so you can put your best foot forward when applying for new roles—think of us as your trusty career ally.

The team at our recruitment agency in Sydney can also provide valuable insights into the current job market, plus we can give you access to job opportunities that haven’t even been advertised yet!

We’re in this together. If you’d like to have a chat about changing careers, get in touch with our team today.

An inspiring success story

One of our very own WOWzers, Ashley, made a successful career pivot from the health and fitness industry to the recruitment space. Here’s how she did it.

After having a baby, Ashley decided that it was time for a change. Working in the health and fitness industry meant that she was often starting early in the morning and finishing late into the evening—something she knew wouldn’t work long-term for the lifestyle she wanted to create for herself and her family.

Ashley made sure to do her research before making a decision. She reached out to people in her network who worked in recruitment to gain valuable insights into the industry, and then she took the leap.

Adapting to the role of working mother while learning the ropes of a new corporate environment wasn’t easy—it demanded resilience and effective time management. Juggling networking events in the evening, returning home late, and ensuring a fresh start the next morning for her son required careful balancing, but Ashley’s experience in her previous role helped her to get it right.

The ability to passionately approach challenges and maintain resilience in dynamic and fast-paced environments enabled her to really hit the ground running. Ashley’s people-oriented mindset was also perfect for her new career; she was already familiar with maintaining a sense of curiosity and asking the right questions to seek clarity.

For Ashley, the most rewarding aspect of changing careers has been the opportunity to contribute to the success of a business. Working collaboratively within a team environment has really brought her a sense of fulfilment.

“The growth I've experienced, both individually and as part of a team, has been awesome.”

Ashley is now a successful sales and operations manager at WOW Recruitment.

How to Tell if a Creative Portfolio Has the WOW Factor

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:54:08 GMT

In today's competitive marketplace choosing the right candidate to join your team can be fraught with challenges. The astute business leaders and hiring managers among you will seek to build your creative team with the industry’s powerhouses. Those who demonstrate an unwavering passion for their work, a commitment to quality and show they are hardwired to push the envelope and deliver concepts that pack a punch and deliver beyond expectations.

But how do you find these people, and what’s more, how can you tell when they’re sitting right in front of you? Here at WOW, we believe the proof is in the pudding. Or, in this case, the creative portfolio.

Yep! When assessing candidates, we advise that you train your eye(s) to spot those portfolios that deliver the WOW factor. And what we mean here is that you must look beyond the visually captivating and find the sauce. Don’t be seduced by good looks alone. Look for signs that a depth of experience and an even deeper understanding of what it takes to be a stand-out creative professional worthy of your attention underpins the candidate’s work.

Let’s delve into the components of what to look in a creative portfolio and what this can tell you about the candidate behind it.

A Consistent Visual Style

A portfolio exhibits a consistent theme throughout. The choice of colours, typography, layout and overall aesthetic is evidence of this. A clear visual identity creates a sense of professionalism and helps people to connect with the designer's unique vision.

Visual style can reveal several qualities about a candidate. Aside from demonstrating their ability to maintain a cohesive look and feel across different projects, a consistent visual style reflects:

Professionalism and expertise in design principles
An understanding of branding and identity and an ability to create a distinct visual language that aligns with a brand's values.
A candidate's creative range and ability to innovate while maintaining consistency.
An aptitude for strategic thinking and an ability to make deliberate design choices to communicate visually.

A consistent visual style in a design portfolio speaks volumes about a candidate's creativity and suitability for design-related roles.

Unique and Original Work

A stand-out portfolio should boast originality, innovative thinking and a fresh perspective, including unique projects, unconventional approaches to familiar subjects or anything that leaves a lasting impression on you.

Unique and original work provides valuable insight into a candidate's ability to think outside the box. It indicates a distinct artistic vision and proves the candidate is not afraid to take risks in their work.

Originality also reflects an ability to solve design challenges in unconventional ways. It suggests that a designer is less interested in replicating existing trends or styles but is inspired by pushing boundaries and creating something new. Perhaps most excitingly, it demonstrates a commitment to personal growth and a hunger to stay ahead in a competitive industry and make a real impact through their work.

Skilful Execution and Impactful Presentation

While creativity and uniqueness are vital, a portfolio should also provide evidence of impeccable technical skills. The candidate’s work should exhibit craftsmanship and mastery of their chosen medium. Whether it's precision in graphics, website or product design, the level of skill and execution in a portfolio can elevate it from good to extraordinary.

Beyond the content itself, the presentation of a creative portfolio plays a significant role. Pay attention to the layout, navigation and user experience. A well-organised, intuitive and visually appealing presentation will enhance the overall impression and professionalism of the portfolio.

Skilful execution and impactful presentation indicate that the designer understands what it takes to engage an audience and signifies their potential to create impressive and memorable experiences for clients and stakeholders.

Attention to Detail

A portfolio with a WOW factor is meticulous in every aspect – from how it’s organised and presented to the accuracy of the information provided. Grammatical errors, broken links, or outdated content can detract from the overall impression and diminish its impact.

Attention to detail speaks volumes about a candidate's commitment to excellence. It showcases their ability to consider every element of their design work, from composition to alignment, indicating a keen eye for aesthetics and the importance of creating visually harmonious designs.

A portfolio with respect for detail suggests the creator is a disciplined, reliable and trustworthy professional – a reassuring sign when assessing candidates for their capacity to deliver consistent and precise results.

Variety and Range

A creative portfolio should showcase the designer's proficiency in different styles, techniques, and mediums and the designer’s ability to tackle diverse projects.

A portfolio rich in variety and range illustrates a breadth of skill. It proves that a candidate can cater to various client needs and work across multiple industries or design disciplines. It showcases their ability to approach each project anew and adapt their style to suit different contexts.

Equally, it proves they aren't limited to a specific niche but are open to experimenting with new techniques and continuously evolving their craft. A designer with this mindset will thrive in this dynamic and ever-evolving industry.

Compelling Storytelling

An exceptional portfolio tells a story. It goes beyond showcasing individual pieces and creates a narrative that connects the projects. A candidate’s portfolio should reflect their journey, inspirations and creative process. By presenting work in the context of a compelling narrative, the portfolio becomes more engaging and memorable.

Good storytelling demonstrates an understanding of the power of creating an emotional connection and the candidate’s ability to articulate the concept and message behind their work.

How to Find the Creative for Your Team!

Hiring someone new can be an overwhelming experience, especially if you’re up against time pressures or other constraints. But here at WOW, we believe, with a bit of planning, it can be a straightforward process that delivers exceptional results.

We’re a Sydney based marketing and digital recruitment specialits that loves us some WOW. Contact our team today. Let us connect you with your next creative superstar.

Unlocking Employee Potential: The Power of Pay Increase and Incentives

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:48:05 GMT

In today's competitive job market, attracting and retaining top talent is more crucial than ever for employers. As we delve into our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report , it becomes evident that pay rises and incentives play a significant role in boosting employee morale and retaining valuable contributors. In this article, we'll explore the key insights from the report and provide recommendations on how employers can leverage pay rises and incentives to enhance employee satisfaction and drive business success.

The Importance of Pay Rises:

According to a survey of over 5,000 professionals, a significant number of Australian employees received a pay increase within the past 12 months. This indicates that employees value recognition for their hard work and contributions. By offering regular pay rises, employers not only meet the expectations of their workforce but also show their commitment to rewarding performance and creating a positive work environment.

However, it's not just about the size of the pay rise. The report reveals that the amount of increase does not significantly impact job satisfaction. Instead, it's the mere act of receiving a pay rise that contributes to employee morale. Therefore, employers should focus on implementing fair and transparent systems for determining pay rises, ensuring that their employees feel valued and fairly compensated for their efforts.

The Power of Incentives:

Incentives are a powerful tool to motivate employees and drive performance. Our report highlights that employees who qualify for bonuses, incentives, and commissions experience higher job satisfaction levels. Offering incentives encourages employees to go the extra mile and achieve outstanding results.

To maximise the impact of incentives, employers should align them with individual and organisational goals. By setting clear and measurable targets, employees have a tangible benchmark to strive for, increasing their motivation and commitment to achieving the desired outcomes. Additionally, employers should communicate the criteria for earning incentives effectively and provide regular feedback to keep employees engaged and aware of their progress.

Beyond Monetary Rewards:

While pay rises and financial incentives undoubtedly have their place, employers should also consider non-monetary rewards and recognition programs. Our survey results emphasises that factors such as flexible work arrangements and well-being initiatives contribute significantly to job satisfaction.

Employers can explore options like offering flexible work policies that allow employees to strike a work-life balance. Whether it's remote work options or flexible working hours, these initiatives show employees that their employers understand their individual needs and empower them to fulfill personal responsibilities while excelling professionally.

Another non-monetary approach is investing in employee development and career growth opportunities. Training programs, mentorship initiatives, and internal advancement pathways demonstrate a commitment to the growth and success of employees. By investing in their professional development, employers establish a sense of loyalty and create a pipeline of skilled and motivated individuals.

Summary:

As our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trend report suggests, pay rises and incentives are critical components in enhancing employee satisfaction and retention. By offering fair and transparent pay rises, aligning incentives with individual and organisational goals, and investing in non-monetary rewards, employers can foster a positive work environment that drives employee engagement and productivity.

Interested in reading the full report?

If you'd like to gain further insights or discuss practical strategies for employee retention and satisfaction, as your Sydney based recruitment specialists, we at WOW Recruitment are here to help. Contact us today, and let's discuss how we can align your company's goals with an innovative recruitment strategy that attracts and retains top talent.

Factors Affecting Employee Retention and Strategies to Keep Your Best People

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:48:02 GMT

In a talent-short market, retaining top-notch employees has become more crucial than ever. As you navigate the challenges of a dynamic business environment, it's essential to understand the factors that influence employee retention. Luckily, our recently released Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report offers valuable insights that can help you optimise your talent management strategies. Our insights are based on a survey of 5,000+ professionals in our specialist sectors.

The Link Between Job Satisfaction and Employee Retention

As the saying goes, happy employees are the key to a successful business. Our survey confirms the age-old wisdom, revealing a strong connection between job satisfaction and employee retention. With the cost of living on the rise and competition for talent fierce, ensuring your workforce is satisfied in their roles has become paramount.

The Power of Job Flexibility

One standout finding from the report is the significant impact of job flexibility on employee satisfaction and retention. Australian workers, particularly in the post-pandemic era, highly value the opportunity to have flexibility in their work arrangements. Employees with the freedom to balance work and personal life are often more engaged and committed to their roles.

Well-Being Offerings and Benefit Packages

Another key factor influencing employee satisfaction and retention is well-being programs and benefit packages. Organisations that offer robust well-being initiatives retained an impressive 39% of their employees for 3-5 years. This showcases the importance of prioritising the physical and mental well-being of your workforce.

The report also highlights the desirability of coveted employee benefits. From flexible working hours to extra opportunities for professional and personal development, these perks contribute significantly to employee satisfaction. Today's workforce places a strong emphasis on work-life balance and values employers who prioritise their growth and overall well-being.

The Digital-First Paradigm and Its Impact on Employee Retention

The digital-first revolution has not only transformed operational strategies but also reshaped employee expectations and preferences. The increased acceptance of remote work as the new normal has led to a paradigm shift. What was once considered a luxury has now become an expectation. Employers must adapt to this reality by offering flexible working arrangements and creating a supportive remote work environment.

Recommendations for Employers

To enhance employee retention, employers should refocus their efforts on understanding and addressing the multiple factors that contribute to high job satisfaction. Additionally, engaging with employees, understanding their motivations, and providing opportunities for professional and personal development can help create a satisfied workforce that is more likely to stay with the company for the long term.

Here are some recommendations to enhance employee retention:

1. Prioritise job flexibility: Embrace flexible work arrangements and empower your employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance.

2. Invest in well-being initiatives: Establish comprehensive well-being programs that address the physical, mental, and emotional needs of your workforce.

3. Enhance employee benefits: Consider offering a range of benefits, such as additional time off, professional development opportunities, and fringe benefits, to attract and retain top talent.

4. Embrace the digital-first mindset: Embrace remote work and provide the necessary tools and support for employees to thrive in a remote work environment.

Summary

In today's competitive job market, employee retention has become a critical challenge for employers. By understanding the factors that influence job satisfaction and retention, you can strategically align your talent management practices for success. The insights provided by our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report can guide you in creating a workplace environment that fosters satisfaction, engagement, and long-term commitment.

Find more insights in our report.

Here at WOW Recruitment, we recruit for the future. But as your award winning Marketing, Digital, Contact Centre, Sales and Business Services recruitment experts we know the world of employment is constantly changing and we know it can be challenging to keep pace with the evolving expectations of the modern workforce. Don’t stumble through the process alone. Give us a call today , and let a WOWzer walk you through it.

Enhancing Employee Wellbeing: A Key Driver of Job Satisfaction

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:47:59 GMT

In today's fast-paced and competitive business landscape, employers face a significant challenge - attracting and retaining top talent. While offering competitive remuneration remains crucial, there's a growing realisation that employee wellbeing is a vital factor in driving job satisfaction and retaining valuable team members. As highlighted in our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report , prioritising employee wellbeing can yield remarkable benefits for both employees and employers alike.

The Link Between Wellbeing and Job Satisfaction

It's no surprise that job satisfaction is strongly linked to employee wellbeing. A staggering 91% of the 5,000 employees surveyed who love their jobs are in companies that offer well-being programs, according to our report. Conversely, only 57% of employees who are unhappy with their roles have access to such programs. These statistics highlight the strong correlation between implementing well-being initiatives and creating a satisfied and motivated workforce.

The Impact of Wellbeing Initiatives

Wellbeing initiatives encompass various elements that contribute to employee satisfaction beyond financial compensation. One of the key aspects is offering flexible working hours. This allows employees to have a better work-life balance, resulting in increased happiness and productivity. The report also emphasises the significance of providing professional development opportunities. By investing in their growth and skill enhancement, employers foster a sense of fulfillment and personal growth, further nurturing job satisfaction.

Untapped Benefits: Additional Paid Leave and Fringe Benefits

In addition to flexibility and professional development, employees greatly value additional paid leave opportunities and fringe benefits. Our report reveals that access to extra paid leave, such as birthday leave, is highly sought after and favours job satisfaction. Moreover, fringe benefits like health and wellness programs, employee discounts, or childcare assistance contribute significantly to employee wellbeing and overall job satisfaction. These benefits create a supportive environment that helps employees manage various aspects of their lives effectively.

Taking Action: Prioritising Employee Wellbeing

The Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report highlights the significance of prioritising employee wellbeing to attract and retain top talent. Employers need to go beyond just offering competitive salaries and focus on creating a positive work environment that fosters employee wellbeing.

Investing in employee wellbeing can be a game-changer for your organisation. Consider implementing the following strategies:

Wellbeing Programs: Develop comprehensive wellbeing programs that address physical, mental, and emotional health. Offer resources like counselling services, fitness programs, and stress management workshops.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Enable flexible working hours and remote work options, allowing employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Professional Development: Provide opportunities for employees to enhance their skills and knowledge through training programs, workshops, and mentorship initiatives.
Additional Benefits: Consider offering additional paid leave, fringe benefits, and perks that align with the needs and preferences of your employees.

Summary

As the business landscape continues to evolve rapidly, employers must adapt and prioritise employee wellbeing to stay competitive. Our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report illuminates how employee wellbeing serves as a key driver of job satisfaction.

By investing in comprehensive well-being programs, offering flexible work arrangements, and providing professional development opportunities, employers can create a supportive and thriving work environment. Embracing employee wellbeing not only attracts and retains top talent but also leads to higher productivity, engagement, and overall organisational success.

Interested in reading the full report?

Here at WOW Recruitment, we recruit for the future. As your Sydney based recruitment experts we know the world of employment constantly changing and we know it can be challenging to keep pace with the evolving expectations of the modern workforce. Don’t stumble through the process alone. Give us a call today , and let a WOWzer walk you through it.

Unveiling the Key to Career Success: Insights from our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 00:47:54 GMT

Job satisfaction and wage trends are more than just numbers on a report - they hold the key to unlocking your career potential. In our recently published Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report , we delved deep into the evolving landscape of work, shedding light on the factors that drive satisfaction and the trends shaping the world of employment. Here are some of the key career insights found in our report.

The Correlation between Job Satisfaction and Productivity:

In today's fast-paced and demanding work environment, the correlation between job satisfaction and productivity has never been stronger. Our report reveals that employees who experience higher job satisfaction levels are more motivated, engaged, and committed to their work. Satisfaction stems from various factors, including workplace culture, work-life balance, and financial rewards.

The Rise of Remote Work and its Impact on Job Satisfaction:

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a monumental shift in workplace dynamics, with remote work becoming the new normal. Our report highlights the tremendous impact of remote work on job satisfaction. With the flexibility to work from the comfort of your own home, remote work offers a better work-life balance, reduced commuting time, and increased autonomy. These benefits contribute to higher satisfaction levels among professionals, ultimately translating to improved productivity and engagement.

The Importance of Competitive Compensation:

While job satisfaction goes beyond monetary rewards, competitive compensation remains a crucial factor in overall job satisfaction. Our report reveals the importance of fair and equitable compensation packages in attracting and retaining top talent. It also emphasises the significance of staying informed about industry benchmarks and salary trends to ensure you receive the recognition and financial rewards that match your expertise and contributions.

The Value of Continuous Learning and Development:

In the ever-evolving world of work, continuous learning and development have become imperative for career growth and job satisfaction. Our report highlights the increasing focus on professional development opportunities and the role they play in fostering job satisfaction. From skills training to mentorship programs, investing in your own growth not only enhances job satisfaction but also equips you with the skills needed in a competitive job market.

Summary:

The insights gleaned from our Job Satisfaction and Wage Trends Report paint a clear picture of the factors influencing job satisfaction and success in the modern workplace. By understanding these trends, you can proactively shape your career trajectory, seeking out opportunities that align with your values and goals.

If you think a career change might be in order, or just want a second opinion, get in touch with sour Sydney based recruitment team. WOW Recruitment is an award winning recruitment agency known for it's candidate care.

How to Handle a Counter Offer

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 05:20:25 GMT

As you confidently submit your resignation, a wave of relief washes over you. You stand poised to embark on the next phase of your career with anticipation and enthusiasm. However, your employer unexpectedly presents you with a counteroffer, catching you off guard.

How should you navigate this situation? We can provide you with a systematic approach to managing counteroffers. This process will enable you to thoroughly evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of accepting or declining the counteroffer, empowering you to decide based on your best interests, rather than succumbing to your managers influence.

What Is A Counteroffer?

Following your resignation from a job, a counteroffer arises when your employer presents you with an alternative proposal in an attempt to persuade you to remain. This offer may involve a higher salary, enhanced benefits, a promotion, a different position, or even a compelling combination of these incentives.

Getting a counteroffer can be flattering! On the surface, it’s an in-your-face nod to the value of your skillset and work ethic. But going a little deeper, it is also your employers way of saving time and money. It’s far easier and cheaper for them to do what they can to retain you, rather than recruit and train a new hire.

Carefully and Critically Review the Counteroffer

Begin by expressing gratitude to your Manager for the counteroffer and kindly request some time to thoroughly evaluate it. It is advisable to allocate at least a day or more to allow for a comprehensive consideration.

During this period, diligently examine the terms of the counteroffer and impartially compare it to any other offers you may have received. Consider factors such as salary, bonuses or incentives, working conditions (including flexibility and commute), additional benefits such as increased leave, and opportunities for professional growth.

Next, focus on the underlying reasons for your decision to leave. Is it solely related to monetary concerns, or does it stem from issues with company culture, an unfavourable work-life balance, or a lack of long-term career prospects? Crucially, evaluate whether the counteroffer effectively addresses these concerns and whether you have confidence in the likelihood of meaningful change.

The answers to these pivotal questions will play a vital role in effectively managing counteroffers and will ultimately guide your decision-making process regarding whether to accept or reject them.

Meet With Your Manager

Once you’ve gone through your counteroffer review process, schedule a meeting with your manager to discuss it. You should have a pretty firm idea of your decision by now, but it’s still good to head into the meeting with an open mind. When speaking to your manager, be honest about the things that made you want to leave in the first place, as well as what you need to stay and be happy in your current role.

As you move through this discussion, try to gauge whether your employer is really receptive to making the changes presented in the counteroffer. For instance, if you’re resigning because of a lack of career advancement opportunities, do they offer to develop an individual progression pathway with short and long-term goals?

The answers you get will help you make that final decision, and it’s best to aim to give them that by the meeting’s end. Whatever decision you make, you can keep your reputation intact by letting your employer know you appreciate the counteroffer, as well as them being open to doing what it takes to get you to stay.

Make Your Choice

If you’re still on the fence about your decision, we have some additional advice as recruitment specialists who’ve helped various candidates manage counteroffers. Generally, if your employer counters with a pay bump and you’re leaving purely for financial reasons (i.e. you still love the company, the work and the people), stay. Just be aware of the fact that in resigning from a job, a semblance of trust breaks with your employer and it may take some time to mend it.

If the counteroffer is only about the dollars and cents and you need a change in culture, work-life balance etc., it’s probably better to decline it. The same goes if your employer offers to implement such changes but you don’t trust they’ll happen, or they’ll likely only last for the short-term.

Further Support

By following these steps, you can deal with a counteroffer in a positive and proactive way, make a well-informed decision and hopefully maintain a good relationship with your employer. Remember that ultimately the decision must be based on what’s best for your career and personal and professional growth.

If you need some further assistance in reviewing a counteroffer, or finding your next great opportunity, be sure to connect with one of our Wowzer recruitment specialists.

How to Make the Recruitment Process More Inclusive

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Mon, 15 May 2023 06:53:06 GMT

Your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy is now one of your company’s most compelling selling points when looking to pique the interest of the modern workforce. And as such, every touch point must demonstrate your commitment to it, starting with your recruitment process.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings.

Diversity refers to the acknowledgement and representation of people with distinct characteristics. In Australia, you are prohibited by law to discriminate based on protected attributes such as age, disability, race, sex, intersex status, gender identity, and sexual orientation in certain public areas, including education and employment.

Equity ensures that individuals have equal opportunities, irrespective of their identity, background, or experience.

Inclusion goes beyond representation and recognition to appreciate these differences and provide a workplace where everyone can excel. An inclusive work environment is where individuals feel they can perform at their best and belong to the organisation without needing to conform or hide their identity.

If you are looking to diversify your workforce and create a more inclusive working environment, then this article is for you!

A Diverse Hiring Team Speaks Volumes

Building a diverse hiring team is, undoubtedly, one of your first priorities when seeking to be inclusive in your recruitment efforts. Invite people from different departments or levels of your company to be part of this group. This will help you harness a range of perspectives and insights that will ultimately enhance your candidate selection process and help reduce bias.

However, building a diverse team alone is not enough; to ensure their success, you must train them to recognise unconscious biases and equip them with the tools to eliminate them. Additionally, consider establishing a feedback system within your recruitment process. By providing constructive feedback to candidates, your hiring team can be sure their decisions are based on objective criteria and not influenced by subjective biases. This will help build trust and promote a positive employer brand, which will help you attract diverse candidates in the future.

Get Creative When Sourcing Your Candidate Pool

Hiring Managers can support a more inclusive recruitment process by exploring new avenues and searching for candidates beyond conventional sources.

Try adding the following strategies to your recruitment campaign.

Partnering with universities or affinity organisations.
Participating in diversity-focused job fairs and events to source candidates from various backgrounds.
Networking with non-profit organisations or diversity-focused job sites.

Extending your reach beyond the traditional channels will help you develop a diverse talent pipeline for immediate and future recruitment needs. Furthermore, this approach will result in better representation across your workforce and foster a more inclusive work environment. An environment that, ultimately, will attract diverse candidates organically.

Optimise Your Job Descriptions

Job descriptions are home to much unconscious bias. Therefore, one of the first places to ensure you're on track to execute an inclusive recruitment strategy is to carefully examine your job descriptions and remove red flags. You must be objective in your review, as some phrases may appear exclusive to some groups.

Terms like strong and competitive can be viewed as male-oriented and may discourage female candidates. To ensure a more inclusive description, recruiters should replace such terms with neutral language like proven and hardworking.

Another aspect to consider while reviewing your job descriptions is to include a comprehensive list of required skills. Of course, attracting candidates well-suited for the job is your primary objective, but front footing with a strict list of skills can sometimes hinder your inclusive hiring goals.

Consider Blind Screening Resumes

Blind screening resumes is an effective strategy to ensure an inclusive recruitment process. By removing any identifiable information that could reveal a candidate's gender or ethnicity, such as name, address, email, etc., your hiring managers can focus on the qualifications and experience presented in resumes rather than any preconceptions about the candidate's background. Blind screening ensures all applicants are given equal consideration regardless of personal details.

These days, using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), you can automate the screening process and filter out qualified candidates based on job requirements.

Employ the Power of AI

During the hiring process, unconscious biases can unfortunately and unwittingly influence a Hiring Manager’s decision-making. However, using AI, your team can immediately identify and remove unconscious biases and objectively evaluate a candidate's suitability for a role.

AI tools are becoming more and more sophisticated in their capabilities. Nowadays, they provide invaluable support for companies looking to assess the fairness of their current hiring practices. By utilising such tools, recruiters can prioritise hiring the most qualified candidates based on their skills and qualifications rather than other factors. Making them crucial for organisations seeking to implement diversity and inclusion strategies in their recruitment process.

Ensure Your EVP Walks Your Talk

To achieve a more inclusive hiring process, your company must prioritise creating policies that speak to candidates from all backgrounds. These policies may include offering flexible working hours, career development opportunities, diversity awareness training programmes, etc.

By ensuring your EVP is rich in inclusive policies, you can attract a diverse talent pool and promote a more welcoming work environment. This can lead to higher employee retention, increased job satisfaction, and better overall company performance.

Create an Inclusive Workplace Culture

Companies must strive to create a workplace culture that celebrates and supports diversity and inclusion at every level and in every sense. If applicable, form a group responsible for identifying diversity initiatives and developing DEI policies. Equally, by involving your employees in the conversations, you can ensure your culture reflects the real needs of every team member.

Offering diversity and inclusion training to your employees, including managers and executives, is another excellent measure to help you instill and foster an inclusive work environment. And regularly surveying your team for feedback and assessing the effectiveness of their DEI policies will help you stay true to your goals.

Like your EVP, a company culture that values and promotes diversity and inclusion will help you to attract and retain a diverse talent pool and foster an environment that promotes creativity, innovation and success.

Stake Your Claim as a Thought-Leader

Building an inclusive workplace is crucial for the future success of any organisation. By actively engaging with diverse candidates, developing inclusive policies and nurturing a culture that embraces diversity, you will lead an inclusive recruitment campaign that will capture the attention of the modern workforce and cement your position as a progressive and future-thinking company.

Here at WOW Recruitment, we recruit for the future. But with the world of employment constantly changing, we know it can be challenging to keep pace with the evolving expectations of the modern workforce. Don’t stumble through the process alone. Give us a call today , and let a WOWzer walk you through it.

Our 5-Step Process to Recruitment

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 02:07:37 GMT

One thing that we’re passionate about at WOW Recruitment is our ability to offer clear, practical and concise information to all who want to work with us. Trying to find the top talent in a market that is squeezed for available candidates isn’t the easiest thing to do and yet companies everywhere are working to address the current talent shortage .

If you’re anything like us at WOW, you will know that people are the most important asset that your business can have. The ongoing talent shortages combined with attitudes to work shifting mean that it’s crucial now more than ever that employers understand what motivates their employees. Not only that, they need to consider what will help to attract new employees in the first place.

Our WOWzer approach to making sure that we only offer the best talent on the market is buried in trust, empathy and respect. We don’t just recommend jobs to candidates or candidates to employers; we listen, we research and we don’t introduce our clients to candidates unless there’s a good fit.

“We realised we really needed help to quickly find the best possible leaders - otherwise the company could fail.” – Ruben Martin, CEO.

“WOW Recruitment has been awesome from start to finish. The recruitment process was fast, simple and professional, they went beyond expectations to address all of my questions and concerns. Thank you Gavin and the WOW Recruitment team.” Tan Falconer , candidate.

At WOW Recruitment, we are ready to help you find recruitment happiness and here’s how we do it.

Let’s Talk About You

Before we can do anything to help you to find the right candidate, we need to talk a little bit about you and get to know what you need. Whether it’s a specific skill set in a candidate or a whole team of candidates that you’re hunting for, we want to talk all about it!

The way we see it: we cannot help you to thrive unless we know enough about you! It’s all about understanding your culture so that we can create a detailed job description and know precisely whom you’re looking for.

We want to know your goals, your non-negotiables and what you want from a candidate. This conversation should be all about teaching us enough about you so we can help.

Finding People, Not Profiles

The second step to finding recruitment happiness comes from culture. Have you ever sat somewhere waiting for a meeting and just observed what’s going on around you? Soaking up the culture is imperative if we want to get to know how your business operates at its core. People are what matters and they’re the key ingredient to success for any business.

Finding that perfect match between a candidate and the workplace is important to us, and we’re able to advertise your job opening better and search for those candidates for you once we know what your business culture is like.

It’s great news for you that we have an extensive network of excellent candidates to leverage. We perform a forensic candidate and database search so that we can ensure careful candidate pre-selection. Shortlisting our candidates and presenting them to you to show you that we’ve considered everything you asked for is one side of it, but knowing the candidates inside out to ensure the right match is the other.

Diving Deeper

Our WOWzers are fantastic when it comes to diving deeply into finding candidates to fit your business needs. With extensive research, thorough analysis and checks all backed by information, instinct and the correct insights, we can deliver – and we’re confident about that.

From a thorough interview process with each candidate to performing background and reference checks, we offer a complete service. On top of our regular service options, we can also provide you with criminal records checks and skills testing if it’s needed. All you need to do is let us know your needs and we’ve got you covered .

At WOW Recruitment, we also take our candidates through their recruitment process from start to finish. We often consult on what the interview process should look like for each individual client so that we can do things your way. With our candidates, we regularly check in, continue prepping and keep both you and them engaged every step of the way.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Once you’ve met the candidates we recommend to you, you can let us know whether they’re right. However, that’s not where we’re done!

We make sure that everyone involved is happy and we ensure that the deal is sealed before we step back a little to let your new working relationship develop. That process often involves making sure that the correct offer is negotiated, candidates are settling into the position and our guarantees. At WOW Recruitment, we ensure that if a candidate – for whatever reason – doesn’t work out in the first 3-6 months, we replace them at no additional charge.

It’s important to us that you feel the service you have received is as well-rounded as we know it is, so we’ll keep in touch with you to deliver that complete package you’re expecting.

Following the Journey

The last step in our recruitment happiness process is our long-term commitment to that satisfaction. We don’t just place a candidate and ghost you; we’re there for the long haul! We want to help you through any potential teething issues during the settling-in process and we want to assist you with onboarding.

We love feedback, so knowing that the job has been done isn’t enough; we need to know whether we hit the mark or missed it completely. We offer a post-placement review program and we’ll check in with you at the 1, 3, 6 and 12-month marks while still being available to you in between those times.

Following your recruitment journey is all about ensuring that you get the outcome you want – that’s our WOW factor.

Summary

Our 5-step process to recruitment happiness is something we’re very proud of here at WOW Recruitment. The best part is that it applies to permanent roles, contract roles and beyond.

Are you finding it tough to find the right fit for your business? Our WOW Recruitment team are more than happy to work with you to place candidates that work for you for the long term. Contact our team today and let’s get the conversation started.

Hitting Reset - Getting Your Team Back into Routine

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 04:01:40 GMT

Contemplating hitting reset in 2023 with your team? Returning to work after a break gives you a fantastic opportunity to do so, with employees refreshed and recharged. It’s common for most people to be fully back at the office and ready to concentrate in February, so being prepared for that is vital if you want the quarter to kick off right. Not every business feels the need to have a team refresh but when everyone is coming back to work after some time off, motivation is a must!

Here, we share some steps you can take to reset your team, all with a key aim of upping your employee engagement and retention rate – two must-haves in these candidate-short times!

Start with a Review

It’s a little tricky to move forward without having a good understanding of where you’ve been. So your first step is to actually… look back! An end of year review is always a good idea and once you have done one you will have somewhere to begin to reset your year.

While it’s good to do this initial review on your own first, it’s also a savvy move to involve your team in the process. They’ll have valuable insights to share and suggestions to offer. As a bonus, by inviting and accepting their feedback, it’s likely they’ll be more open to accepting and making any changes that need to happen.

Consider the following review areas:

Goals – what did you hit or miss? Assessing these answers naturally lead you to your team’s strengths and weaknesses and allowing you to harness the former, while working on improving the latter in 2023.
The current team dynamic . How would you describe the team? In reviewing team relationships, you might uncover some unhappy employees. As their manager, a great question you can put to the team is, ‘What can I do better’? It requires a bit of bravery but the response you get might be the most important lesson you learn in 2023!
Flexible (hybrid/remote) working . What’s working well and what isn’t? You can drill down to specifics such as communication, planning and reporting.
Client feedback . Throughout last year, your team would’ve received feedback directly from your customers about what’s great and not-so-great about your company. While this was hopefully was shared and addressed at the time it was received, it can be beneficial to bring all this feedback together and review it in one session to examine any possible trends.

Address the Gaps

Once your review process is complete, you’ll be armed with plenty of great intel to reset your team and increase engagement. Your focus now should turn to what you can tackle. Let’s say you’ve uncovered an imbalance in the spread of team workload. You can then review roles and associated responsibilities and see what tweaks you can make. If you find you need some extra headcount, feel free to give our Wowzers a yell!

Perhaps you’ve realised your team communications need a little fine tuning. For instance, your sales team seems to have a high load of missed opportunities. Gather your team to brainstorm a consistent way of sharing leads and really listen to their feedback.

By addressing the gaps in your review, you can reset your team so that everyone is happy, motivated and ready to work on this year being the best it’s ever been.

Set New Team Goals

Next up is using your review data to set some nifty goals for the new quarter. It’s a crucial part of your reset, as it’s super energising for employees to focus on a fresh target. Motivating your team and giving them some drive comes with the goals that you set together.

As a collective, set some team-wide goals. Decide on:

The What . What is the change they want to make or target to hit as a team?
The Why . What impact it will achieving this goal make? Does it align with the company’s purpose, vision and values?
The Obstacles . What might get in the way of success?
The How . What do they need to do to achieve this goal as a group?
The When . Set the deadline with some smaller milestones along the way.

Set Fresh Individual Goals

Your team is the sum of its parts - if one part isn’t happy, this can have a big impact on overall success.

To help you start the year off on the right foot with employee engagement, set up one-on-ones with each team member with the aim of finding out what motivates them in their job. While you might already know, it’s good to check in as these can change over time.

During this meeting, ask each employee about their current motivation levels. If they’re feeling a little low, ask what you can do to help. Try to really delve into what actually does motivate them – is it a sense of meaning, the chance to grow professionally, recognition of their work etc. You may even like to ask them what it looks like when they’re demotivated, as well as what you can do if that happens.

Working together, you can then set an individual goal or two for the year and think up a plan to help them get there. Keep up the regular checks ins and offer support when needed.

Next-Level Recruitment Support

Launching into a new working year brings a fantastic sense of renewal and excitement, particularly if you have a set of fresh goals to work towards. By following these four reset steps, you can help your employees set such targets while also gaining a deeper understanding of what makes them tick. Combine these and you’re sure to up your employee engagement ante and retain the valued team you’ve worked hard to build.

If you need further support in performing a team reset, feel free to connect with one of our Wowzers at our specialist recruitment agency in Sydney. We love helping our clients ensure their current staff are happy, as well as assisting them in securing new talent for their open Digital, Contact Centre, Retail, Technology, and Sales and Marketing jobs in Australia.

Quiet Quitting: How to Spot It and What to Do About It

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 06:40:47 GMT

If the management buzzword of 2021 was ‘the new normal’, then this year’s must be ‘quiet quitting’.

First coined in 2009 by economist Mark Boldger, it has been previously explained as ‘quitting the idea of going above and beyond at work’.

The topic has drawn a lot of interest online and taken on negative connotations in the process. However, when you take a deeper look, it’s not about employees quitting at all. Instead, it’s a way of them indicating a wish to achieve a healthier work-life balance, and that’s totally understandable given what we’ve all been through these last few years.

Any employer of choice naturally wants to help their staff find balance, especially when you consider happy employees are much more likely to contribute to company success than unhappy employees (plus they’re also 13% more productive !).

Here we explore the concept of quiet quitting, ways you can spot it amongst your team, as well as some bonus strategies to address it and increase employee engagement.

What is Quiet Quitting?

The definition of quiet quitting depends on whom you ask.

Some see it as prioritising their personal life over work, while others find it an effective way to buy out of the ‘hustle culture’ that we’ve become accustomed to. Some people just don’t feel that to succeed professionally, they need to be constantly in work mode. Others again view it as a way to do as little as possible to get the job done.

Then there’s a recent Gallup poll that seems to combine them all by defining it as people who are not engaged at work, who do the minimum required, and who are psychologically detached from their job. Some of the signs of ‘quiet quitting’ include:

A sustained lack of motivation and/or enthusiasm
Consistently arriving or logging in late and/or clocking off early
A reluctance to ask questions – or not asking any at all
Declining to take on new tasks, responsibilities or projects
Avoiding after-work social events
Being noticeably withdrawn
Voicing persistent frustration with tasks, colleagues or other stakeholders
Increased sick leave

While some of these behaviours naturally occur from time to time, if they happen on a frequent and prolonged basis, you might have a quiet quitter in your midst.

The Reasons Behind Quiet Quitting

According to Asana’s Australia Anatomy of Work Index 2022 , close to half of all workers have recently suffered from burnout (45%), with nearly one quarter experiencing burnout four or more times in the year leading up to the survey (24%). Such feelings have directly led to an increased incidence of ‘quiet quitting’ amongst Australian workers.

Other key reasons for quiet quitting include employees feeling:

Undervalued and/or unrecognised
Consistently overwhelmed
Uncomfortable establishing boundaries
Reluctant to speak to managers about their emotional state
Unsure about how their work contributes to the greater company purpose
A misalignment between the company and personal values

Ways to Address Quiet Quitting

These strategies can help you to uncover how to address the issue, plus boost employee engagement and happiness in your team. As a bonus, these have positive flow on effects on productivity, company culture and company brand. These are all big ticks for employee retention and new talent attraction!

Find Out Your Employees’ “Why”

The first step in dealing with quiet quitting is finding the source of an employee’s disengagement. If you notice a team member showing signs of disengagement, arrange a one-on-one to discuss how they’re feeling. Hopefully, they’ll feel comfortable enough to answer your questions truthfully.

From here, you can learn what’s going wrong and start to improve their circumstances. For instance, if it’s workload-related, you could consider hiring a temp or freelancer to ease the burden – and not to brag, we’re pretty good at helping source talent, temporary or permanent!

Cultivate a Feedback Culture

It’s hard to deal with an issue you don’t know about, and that’s why employee feedback is so important. There are plenty of ways to garner honest feedback about a range of issues and for it to be most effective, consider both direct and anonymous methods. In addition, see if upper management are open to holding whole company or department forum-type feedback sessions focused on employee experience.

While getting the feedback is great, your action after it is what really matters. This shows employees you really value their opinions and their on-the-ground knowledge and experience.

Help Your Employees Understand Their Purpose

Quiet quitting can be a sign that your staff don’t know what they’re really working for. According to McCrindle Research , 45% of Gen Z’s want work that has meaning and purpose beyond just getting paid, helping staff see how they’re contribution makes a difference could be a real game changer.

Review Workloads and Workplace Practices

It’s possible you’ll receive feedback about employee workloads and inefficient workplace practices. When it comes to workloads, carefully evaluate what’s in your team’s pipeline and consider tweaks. It might be extra resources, a redistribution of tasks, or questioning whether some projects are really essential to overall business goals.

As for workplace practices, devote some time to understanding where there may be inefficiencies. Is there anything you could do to enhance your team’s work processes? An example includes implementing guidelines about how meetings should run, and what should constitute a meeting.

An Extra Hand Dealing with Quiet Quitters

You’re doing a positive thing by helping your employees establish work-life balance in the hopes of re-engaging with their work. Quiet quitting shouldn’t be something that comes with negative connotations, but something that signals you to work on your culture in your business.

If you need further assistance in this area, or are looking to add some extra resources to your team, feel free to connect with one of our specialist recruiters . We’re proud to be a premier recruitment agency in Sydney, and love helping our clients with their employee needs, whether that’s retaining current staff or looking for new recruits for open Sales & Account Management, Marketing & Digital, Customer Service & Call Centre, Business Support or Executive Search jobs in Australia.

Why Now is the Best Time to Assess Your Career Goals

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 06:57:27 GMT

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on employment. From the rise of remote working and video-conferencing technologies to the Great Resignation becoming a popular topic of discussion, the impact of the pandemic is profound.

The pandemic may have changed certain things within the workplace but it has also proven to be clarifying for many. This report by ING showed that the pandemic has caused 28% of respondents to dream about a different life and consider whether their existing skills will always be needed. The report also shows that people are using this time now to plan and upskill – so why not do the same?

Now is the perfect time to think about your ambitions and where you see yourself going. In this blog, we will explore some key things to keep in mind when it comes to reviewing career goals that will help you to get serious about the path you are on.

Think About How You Got Where You Are

The fact is that many people are where they are in their careers without a clear idea of how they got there. For others, they simply followed an interest they developed during their childhood/teenage years. This interest turned into a degree, which turned into a career – and that’s okay!

But when was the last time you thought about how you arrived where you currently are in your career? Was it part of a plan, or is it just somewhere you’ve ended up? Are your interests changing as you get older? All these questions are relevant when it comes to your future.

When you know how you got where you are, you can finally look at where you want to go next and craft the right pathway to get there.

Consider What You Want

It is worth taking the time to consider both your personal and professional life when thinking about your career goals.

Are you content professionally, or do you want a job that challenges you more? What do those challenges look like – can you get them in your current role, or do you need to look elsewhere?

Similarly, what do you want your career to give you in your personal life? If you value your free time, then perhaps taking on a more demanding role isn’t the right decision for you to make. However, if you want to retire early then you may need to think about searching for a more lucrative job.

Planning a career is about balancing the demands and desires of both your personal and professional world, so think about what will benefit each to decide on your career goals.

Remember, You Don’t Always Have To Go Upward

When you’re considering the next steps in your career, it is too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that success means you always need to be moving on to new things: bigger titles, tougher challenges, more attractive salaries.

Success isn’t linear and depending on what your goals are personally and professionally; it might look quite different for you. Sometimes the greatest opportunities and professional growth come because of moving sideways.

Be open to moving laterally, either within your current job or to other industries. These moves may not come with the titles or rewards that you associate with success, but the chances are that they’ll lead to greater satisfaction and personal development.

You don’t need to always move upwards – oftentimes, the higher up the ladder you get, the more removed you are from what you originally liked about your job.

Don’t Overlook Good Opportunities

Just as it is easy to think that you always need to be climbing the professional ladder, it’s easy to overlook good opportunities because they aren’t what you’re used to. For example, you might not have previously considered temporary or contract positions, but they can be one of the best ways to achieve some of your career goals without needing to make major life changes.

Perhaps you’re interested in exploring a different role in your industry or have always wanted to spend some time living overseas? Contract roles allow you to do both things at once if you so desire. They can also be a wonderful way to get your foot in the door and gain some experience with a new company to see if they’re the right fit. The important thing is to remain open to opportunities outside of your normal experience, as they can be valuable stepping stones towards achieving your career goals.

Summary

It may be tough to take a step back and plan your career goals, but if you don’t take the time now, then when?

The job market has shifted and the way we work is changing, too. You deserve to have a career you love, so make time and set some goals that carve a path to a future you’re excited about.

And if you find yourself struggling, we can help! As a leading recruitment agency in Sydney, we collaborate closely with our candidates to get clear on their career goals and connect them with the best sales and account management, digital and marketing, business support, contact centre, customer service and executive jobs in Sydney and Australia wide.

If you think a career change might be in order, or just want a second opinion, get in touch with one of our wonderful WOWzers today.

5 Tips for Getting Hired After a Career Break

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 07:40:21 GMT

When you’ve had a career break and you’re looking to make a return to the workforce, the excitement and the nerves are pretty real! The good news is that you can take comfort from the fact that you’re not alone in these feelings.

According to a recent LinkedIn survey of 23,000 workers worldwide, 62% of employees have taken a career break, while 35% are keen to do so in the future. Whether you’re returning to work after a break for family reasons, redundancy, after travel or for mental or physical health concerns, you might be worried about how things have changed in the workplace while you’ve been away.

While it’s true things have progressed at a lightning speed in digital, sales and marketing, and contact centre industries, it’s just as true that there’s been a huge focus on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion. We’ve put together five tips to help ease your transition back into the workforce.

Consider Your Current Circumstances

Before you embark on your job search, it’s a savvy move to reflect on your wants and wishes for your new role. As you try to work out what you want, it’s just as important to focus on what you don’t want. What would you like to achieve right now and in the near future? Perhaps you just want to dip your toes in the market and ease back in.

In this instance, a temporary or contract position might be an innovative idea. Consider your requirements around hours, salary, commute time, work from home options and so on. Do you want to work independently or in a team environment?

Carefully contemplate your answers as they’ll shape your job search and help you decide whether to choose temporary and permanent roles.

Research the Industry

A little prep work to arm yourself with knowledge about the latest trends and news will give you a great boost of confidence but might also reveal areas where you can refresh your knowledge or learn more – YouTube is your friend here!

On the topic of confidence, turn to reflect on your strengths and current skill set and write these down. If you’re not sure, ask family and friends where they believe your strengths lie. As you go through this process, you might discover you’ve learned a lot from your career break, just like others have as shown in recent LinkedIn research .

Over half of employees surveyed (56%) said they acquired new skills or improved existing ones — such as problem-solving, communication and budgeting — during their career break. 54% of women said they were better at their job after their career break, with many stating their emotional intelligence stores skyrocketed by raising a family (anyone tasked with the job of raising children with different personalities across ages and stages will agree!).

As you read through your skill set list, you’ll probably be pretty surprised at how much you’ve learnt during your time away from the workforce, and that much of it’s highly relevant for success in your industry. Give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy the confidence bolster it brings (an essential when embarking on a new job search).

Polish Your CV and Explain Your Career Break

Before you head back to work, it’s time to refresh your CV. If it’s been several years since you’ve touched it up, you might like to check out our guide about on how to write a complete CV, as well as our tips for updating your headshot for your professional profiles.

When it comes to addressing your career break, there’s no need to shy away from it. You can frame it positively by highlighting what you learned along the way. It helps that many organisations are currently taking proactive steps to de-stigmatise career breaks. LinkedIn is one.

They’ve inserted an area under the ‘experience’ section in members’ profiles to explain a career gap. It covers the reasons for a break, be it full-time parenting, bereavement, caregiving, a gap year, redundancy and so on.

Hot recruitment tip: be sure to personalise your CV to every position you apply for by including keywords from the job ad and addressing how your skills meet the job duties/requirements.

Ask Your Network for Help

Networks are amazing sources for job opportunities or at the very least, intel. Reach out to your connections and see whether they have any leads. It might be former colleagues and bosses, as well as friends and family. Let them know you’re back on the job market, but you could also take the chance to ask them if they’d be interested in being referees.

They may be able to recommend or point you toward any of the programmes newly put forth by the Australian Government, too. You may not have heard that they have ‘supported returner’ programs in place to help women return to work after a career break — Career Revive is one. Consider looking into companies that provide these structured pathways to help you get back your workforce mojo. Some examples include ANZ and Macquarie .

The NSW government also announced in their recent budget a $32 million cash injection into their Return to Work program. It will now also provide one-off grants of up to $5000 to help women meet financial obstacles in getting back to work.

Consider Chatting With a Professional

It’s natural to feel a little worried about going back to work after a break, so it can help to have an expert in your corner, someone who can support you to reintegrate.

Here at WOW, that’s something we love doing. As a specialist recruitment agency in Sydney, we get how tricky it can be navigating a return to work, no matter the reason for your career break. Our job goes beyond recruiting the right person for a role, it’s about being a career advisor and partnering with our candidates to develop their career paths. After all, today’s candidate can easily become tomorrow’s client!

We can support you by offering advice about:

interview formats, techniques and how to answer questions
how to refresh your CV, tailor your applications and develop your elevator pitch
industry trends and insights including remuneration rates
suggested courses and certifications (if needed)
identifying your strengths and areas for improvement
current job opportunities, some of which before they’re externally advertised

If this sounds good, feel free to get in touch with one of our WOWzers.

Extra Help?

We hope these five tips help you prepare for returning to work after a break. Here at WOW, we love helping people like you get back to work with confidence and ease, so please let us know if we can give you extra support.

You might like to also check out our selection of exciting opportunities in account management, digital, and business services such as admin, business support and secretarial positions. We also have a great range of sales and marketing jobs in Australia!

Top Tips for Welcoming New Temps

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 07:54:01 GMT

Temp hires are just as important as permanent hires for any business. Temps are usually brought on to address an urgent need, cover staffing gaps or help permanent staff handle their workloads during peak seasons.

A recruitment agency will usually look after the process of finding the right people, drawing up temp employment contracts and handling payroll. But when it comes to making a temp feel welcome and ready to settle into their new assignment, employers have the most important part to play.

When everyone is busy, it’s tempting sometimes to pop the new person into a chair and leave them to their own devices – but there is a better way!

Giving new temps a proper welcome on day one can help them be more productive, quickly fit in with the team and contribute positively to the company culture. We’ll outline the most sensible tips for onboarding a temp that will help new starters hit the ground running and feel welcomed to the fold.

Prepare Before the First Day

It helps to make an onboarding checklist before a new temp is due to start to ensure you cover all the essential tasks and help teams get prepared if necessary. This will prevent any last-minute running around the morning your new temps are arriving.

Have a list of the introductions you need to make ready to go and the most important information the temp will need when they first walk in through the door. Write the list in chronological order so you can tick off each item as it’s done.

Onboarding is a team sport, so preparing current employees ahead of a new temps arrival is also important. Make sure your permanent employees know the temp’s name, the work they will be doing and the help that the team will be expected to give them.

Start with an Orientation

On their first day, greet them at the entrance and give them a tour of the workspace and amenities. Don’t forget to show them where the coffee machine is, where ping pong tables are (if you have those) or recommend the best places nearby for buying lunch. Bonus points if it’s on the company on their first day!

Introduce temps to their team members and give them a warm welcome. After that, it’s a good time to hold an information session in a meeting room or another suitable space, so you can brief the new hire on their assignment, key information about the company and any important policies and procedures they need to understand.

Providing new temps with a ‘welcome pack’ can be an especially useful way to help them get oriented on their first day. Resources could include key contacts, phone numbers and software shortcuts, as some examples. Don’t forget to include any passwords they need to be effective in their role, too.

If appropriate, you might want to include a few goodies like a company coffee mug, stationery, lunch voucher or sweet treats. (Everyone loves a good swag bag!)

Pair Temps with a ‘Buddy’

As specialists in contact centre recruitment and business services recruitment, we recommend assigning a buddy or mentor to temps on their first day to show them the ropes. Buddies can guide new temp employees on the job, answer their questions on the fly and give them the rundown on the office culture and dynamics. If any introductions or tours were missed at the start, a buddy can help fill in those gaps.

It’s best to assign a buddy who loves their job, is approachable and has the right amount of experience to mentor a newbie, too, so that your new temp feels welcomed. A buddy can also give them feedback where appropriate, which helps them to be more efficient!

Help Temp Workers Feel Included

The social aspect of onboarding is just as critical as knowing where the bathrooms are. After all, everyone likes to feel like they’re part of a group. Helping new people fit in with a team helps everyone work better together.

Wherever possible, find ways to include temporary employees in social activities such as team lunches, coffee runs, after-work gatherings and any bouts of daily fun your team might indulge in. Temps will be more likely to feel like they belong and have opportunities to establish rapport with their colleagues.

With their variety of work experience, temporary employees can offer companies valuable insights and fresh perspectives, so find ways to include them in meetings and seek their suggestions where appropriate.

Don’t forget to check in regularly with new temps and stay accessible, so they can seek out managers when they need to. Get in touch with them at the end of the first day to see how they’re doing and make note of any critical feedback.

Summary

Focusing on clear communication and social gestures can help your temporary workers feel welcome and able to make an impact from day one – no matter how long their contract lasts. Good onboarding processes help new hires start confidently and get productive quickly. The more a team invests in onboarding new hires, the easier the process will be.

By looking after temps well on their first day, you may also help pave the way for a great temp to eventually become a great permanent employee!

At WOW Recruitment, our contact centre recruitment and business services recruitment specialists have deep experience with hiring and onboarding temporary workers in Sydney and across Australia. We can connect you with the best temp talent, offer more tips on onboarding a temp or two, and a whole lot more! Get in touch with our team today.

Leading Young, Leading Strong: WOW’s Co-founder Emily McLeod

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 10:15:10 GMT

Leading a team of 25 at age 19? Co-founding a company by 22?

It’s certainly an impressive feat – and one WOW’s co-founder and director, Emily McLeod, achieved right at the beginning of her career.

Here, Emily shares her leadership journey, one that took her from engineering to sales and finally recruitment. She provides key insights into the challenges she’s faced, the lessons she’s learned, as well as some great leadership advice for current and emerging leaders in Australia.

Emily’s Leadership Journey

Straight out of high school, Emily began studying for an engineering degree, as according to her career advisor, that’s where her strengths lay.

“But I absolutely hated it. It was so dry, and I just didn’t enjoy the process. I was also the only girl in my class,” she explains.

Knowing she couldn’t face becoming an engineer, Emily scouted around for something totally different. She landed a sales job under the leadership of Daniel Tonkin, who went on to become a colleague, a friend but most importantly, her eventual co-founder of WOW.

“When I started in the sales job, I was 18. Within six months, I was promoted to a leadership role. Within 12 months, I was managing a team of 25 sales reps. It was my first taste of leadership and leading a performance- and results-driven organisation,” she says.

“As it was an entry-level sales organisation, we had a lot of young travellers and students who didn’t know what they wanted from their career yet. My one-on-one sessions focused on coaching them through what they actually wanted to do with their career, and I really enjoyed that aspect,” she says.

After spending a few years at the company, Emily began looking for another sales role, hoping for something with a corporate focus. But as she interviewed with a recruiter, they asked her a question she wasn’t expecting.

“They said ‘Have you thought about going into recruitment?’ And I replied, ‘I have no idea what recruiters even do!’. In the meantime, the CEO came into the meeting room to join the conversation and gave me more food for thought. I went home, mulled it over and ended up accepting the role as I felt like it would really suit my skillset. And I was right!” she laughs.

After spending a few years at the recruitment agency and getting a further taste of coaching others, she and Daniel decided to make a go of it themselves. They founded WOW when Emily was just 22.

“And I guess the rest is history,” she says.

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Authenticity

In just eight years of working professionally, Emily has managed to achieve what others have worked at for decades. But that doesn’t mean it was easy. During this time, she’s faced many challenges and learned a number of valuable lessons that have continued to empower her throughout her career.

Misalignment when internal recruiting

As any leader will tell you, finding the right people for your team is one of the most crucial (and often most difficult) parts of establishing and growing your business, and Emily is no stranger to this struggle.

“When we first founded WOW, the biggest challenge we faced was hiring the right people. I found that so frustrating because I’m a recruiter – I’m supposed to be able to hire good people!” she laughs.

“In those early days, we hired people who didn’t have a lot of experience so I had to spend chunks of my time training them. It was difficult to balance because I was also the only one generating the business revenue.”

“After making the mistake of recruiting rookies with our first three or four hires, we realised we didn’t have the systems and processes in place to train them. We rejigged our budget and put more money into salaries to bring on experienced professionals. It’s only now we’re in a position where we can train rookies because we have the right framework in place.”

Emily explains that a big part of establishing a successful hiring framework is understanding the ‘why’ behind your business, and the driving forces behind it.

“Another mistake we made was not adequately defining our vision, mission and values before interviewing. We just hired based on our gut instincts. After getting it wrong those first few times, we sat down and nutted out our values and our vision of what we were trying to create with WOW. We then focused our interviews on ensuring our candidates aligned with these. Once we did that, we made some awesome hiring decisions and started to build a very powerful team .”

Leading came naturally but explaining it didn’t

Despite being so young when she took on her first leadership role, Emily never allowed her position to intimidate her or distract her from what she did best.

“I never looked for a leadership role – it kind of found me,” Emily explains. “Daniel used to say that I made it look so easy but all I was doing was leading by example, and people seem to find that inspiring. Because it happened so organically, I never found leading intimidating.”

“What I did find intimidating – and one of my biggest challenges – was trying to explain my process for success. I knew I was a great recruiter, but I couldn’t figure out how to make others great recruiters too. But I had to learn how to do that pretty quickly because as we started to grow, clients wanted to work directly with me at WOW, but I didn’t have the capacity to service everybody.”
“The way we solved that problem and kicked into growth mode was by ‘bottling the magic’ of systems and structures, moving it from being the ‘Emily way’ to it being the ‘WOW way’”

It was from this experience of distilling Emily’s approach that WOW’s five steps to recruitment happiness were born.

“It enables our clients to trust our process as a team versus my process as an individual,” she says.
“Now, everything that gets done more than once here at WOW needs to have a system behind it. We’ve got a training library which has videos, templates and checklists. We even have a system for creating a system!”

Like many other sectors, the recruitment industry faces major challenges in attracting and retaining talent. Emily explains that having systems and training in place is the best way to encourage and foster people’s growth, and create an environment where people stay long term.

“It really shows that recruitment can be a career, not just a ‘two-year gap filler’ industry.”

Dealing with imposter syndrome

For women in leadership, imposter syndrome is statistically more common than it is in men. Emily is no stranger to this feeling and has realised that isolation is often a trigger.

“It’s certainly been a big challenge for me. Sometimes you feel like you don’t deserve the accolades, or that you’re a fraud. I really struggled with that during COVID because I was at home and isolated. I couldn’t connect in person with my team and get that reality check first-hand in seeing what we’ve all created,” she explains.

Over the years, Emily has developed a number of strategies for dealing with imposter syndrome when it strikes.

“I can’t say I’ve nailed the solution yet, but I’ve built a framework to manage it, drawing from advice from other female leaders I’ve talked to. The first step is to be aware of it and I do this through stillness practices like meditation or yoga. The second thing is remembering I have a choice of where to put my focus. The last part is consciously disassociating when that impostor syndrome voice starts to creep in. It’s obviously quite uncomfortable to do, requires a lot of self-awareness, and it’s a work in progress.”

Embracing vulnerability

It’s natural for people in leadership to feel they have to hide vulnerability and put on a ‘brave face’, but Emily is a firm believer that an unwillingness or inability to be vulnerable prevents many leaders from being as effective as they could be. Afterall, it’s the people who have overcome challenges or adversity who we often find most inspiring.

“During the pandemic, there was a lot of conversation within leadership networks about the power of embracing vulnerability during times of change. And I felt like I needed to step outside my comfort zone during that time and embrace it as well,” she says.

“I forced myself to learn to be okay with sharing my weaknesses and struggles. And in doing so, I started to enjoy my role even more as I was being me. Being open to being vulnerable also helped me to connect with our staff on a level I’ve never been able to do before. It was a powerful tool that empowered the rest of the team as well. I thought it would do the opposite, but it actually gave me a bit more influence within the team. That was a huge learning curve, even though it wasn’t very comfortable to do!”

This commitment to personal growth and genuine connection with others has guided Emily throughout her career, and is the driving force behind the way she interacts with her team, clients and candidates. She believes in understanding what matters to each individual, and actively prioritising both physical and mental wellbeing. Ultimately, this is her advice for emerging leaders: to look after the whole person.

Looking for more leadership advice or want to know more about how we nurture careers? Please get in touch with us to find out more about the WOW way.

How to Eliminate Unconscious Bias in Your Hiring Process

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:32:32 GMT

Unconscious bias during the recruitment process is one of the key factors preventing organisations from building diverse and inclusive workforces.

Despite the best intentions and supporting policies, employers are at risk of demonstrating discrimination and bias relating to a person’s age, ability, gender, nationality culture or looks .

This can be early on in the process and mean that only a certain profile of candidate even submits an application. Or during face-to-face interactions which either cause the jobseeker to withdraw from the process, resulting in a less-qualified candidate receiving the offer.

In this blog, we explore different ways you can stop unconscious bias in your hiring process and ensure the most worthy candidate is the one offered the job.

Stage 1 – The Job Advertisement

Even before you put your job out into the market, there are several ways you may have already eliminated some jobseekers. The wording of the ad itself, and the supporting job description, can exclude many applicants right off the bat.

Gendered wording is when particular language is used that automatically biases men over women or vice versa. For example, research has shown that phrases like “We are looking for a strong, confident salesperson who can achieve sales targets” appeal more to men and are considered “masculine-coded language”. On the other hand, words such as collaborative, communicative and supportive can appeal more to women. You can use a tool such as the Gender Decoder to check your job description before distributing.

The channels you use to advertise the role can also inform the type of candidate who applies. When deciding where to promote your role, think about who consumes that media – for example, would advertising through some social media channels exclude older applicants?

Stage 2 – The Shortlisting Process

It can be challenging to face a huge pile of CVs on your desk and know that you have to somehow come up with a way to whittle it down. But the criteria you set at this stage is very important and may inadvertently take some candidates out of the running.

Firstly, have a think about the essential skills you’ve listed for the role. Are they really 100% mandatory? Does having a specific qualification or x many years’ experiences truly matter when you could also find a less experienced jobseeker who better fits your team?

Also, it can be a good idea to encourage “blind applications” where CVs are presented without any identifying information such as name, nationality, gender and age. Research studies have shown that after de-identifying CVs, women candidates were significantly more competitive in roles where they are the underrepresented gender. Candidates born overseas or living in lower socio-economic areas were also more competitive.

Many recruitment partners will submit resumes to you in this format anyway, so it’s worth having a chat to them about other ways you can ensure the recruitment process is completely unbiased.

Stage 3 – The Interview

Gone are the days where a job interview was an informal chat with the odd hypothetical question thrown in. Now, structure is essential to ensure an evidence-based, fair outcome that doesn’t alienate any jobseekers.

Your interview should be planned and cover a number of behavioural questions where candidates can demonstrate their previous experience and skills. These responses should all be assessed in a consistent manner against a set of pre-agreed criteria. This doesn’t mean you can’t also include some ice-breaker or motivational questions to better get to know your applicant.

You should also pull together a recruitment panel of peers who can help the assessment process. It is a good idea to ensure there is diversity on the panel, and try to have someone from outside the immediate team to provide an even more impartial perspective.

Finally, try to not make any assumptions based on a candidate’s appearance during the interview process. As long as the applicant is presented neatly and professionally, any judgement about clothing, piercings, tattoos and other physical features must not come into the decision marking.

Stage 4 – The Final Decision

Ultimately, your final decision should be made using metrics rather than your gut. By following the steps above, you should have plenty of information at your disposal including:

A shortlisted group of blind applicants who meet all essential criteria and have been sourced from a diverse marketplace
A hiring panel of diverse peers who are rating candidates against a consistent scoresheet
Reference checks from previous employers who can provide further evidence of the candidate’s capabilities

It’s highly unlikely that you will have a tie at the end of this process, but if this happens it’s okay to consider responses to motivational questions or cultural fit. Just ensure you are able to justify your final decision if questioned.

Summary

Unconscious bias is not only discriminatory and damaging to candidates – it can also mean hiring managers can miss out on the best person for the job due to implicit stereotyping.

Here at WOW Recruitment, our team of specialist recruiters has their fingers on the pulse of the talent marketplace here in Sydney and across Australia. Give us a call today, so we can put you in contact with your next great hire.

How to Write a Great CV: The Complete Guide

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 11:32:58 GMT

Are you preparing to start applying for jobs but your resume needs some polishing? Perhaps you’re ready to gain work experience with your first casual job, or you’re a recent school leaver looking for something more substantial to start your career. Either way, your CV is the first point of introduction for employers, so it’s crucial that it highlights your skills, strengths, leadership abilities and attention to detail.

We recently hosted an online workshop to give our candidates a coaching session on how to write a solid CV and we’d love to share some of the wisdom from that session with as many people as possible. Read on to find out how to write a CV , what to include, what to leave out and the major mistakes to avoid.

Nail Down the Structure of Your Resume

An example of a good CV structure follows this outline:

• Contact Information (your full name, phone number and email address)
• Professional Summary
• Key Skills
• Key Achievements
• Work Experience (if applicable)
• Education
• Volunteering (or notable extra-curricular activities, if you’ve done any)
• References

While some of these sections may not apply to you, they provide a good starting point for structuring your resume. Make sure every section you’re including has a clear heading in bold font, to make it easier for the recruiter or hiring manager to read at a glance.

Showcase Your ‘Soft’ Skills

Before we get into the finer details of resume writing , it’s essential you understand what employers are looking for when they’re reading through job applications and interviewing people.

Although there are many types of technical skills relevant to specific jobs, there’s also a broader range of ‘soft’ skills. These are sometimes referred to as ‘transferable’ skills because they apply to virtually every job and industry in some form. Some examples include:

• Reliability : Punctuality, honouring promises to carry out or finish something.
• Leadership traits : Showing initiative, the ability to work independently and unsupervised, working within a team or lead a team.
• Attitude and mindset : Positivity, patience, a can-do attitude and being approachable.
• A strong work ethic : Showing sustained commitment to an activity or task for a long period of time.
• Strong communication skills : Excellent writing and verbal skills.
• Signs of maturity, dedication, and commitment : Your overall willingness to learn new things and apply what you’ve learned.

Whether you’ve had previous work experience or not, it’s possible to have many of these skills through a variety of life experiences, such as your education, hobbies and community activities. Have a think about what you’ve learned from informal work such as babysitting, gardening, volunteering, or your involvement in a school program.

You can also mention your excellent grades, a leadership role you had at school or your perfect school attendance record, to name a few examples.

Demonstrate Your Technical Skills

In contrast to soft skills, technical or ‘hard’ skills are easily quantifiable or measurable. Examples of technical skills can include office software (Google G Suite, Microsoft Office), or specialist platforms (Adobe Photoshop, HootSuite). Driving a vehicle, counting cash and balancing money, operating specific tools or machinery are other examples.

Think about what physical, technology, mathematical or other technical skills you have that are relevant to the job you’re applying for, and include them on your CV.

Include a Professional Summary

The Professional Summary is a snapshot of who you are – think of it as your 1-minute elevator pitch, or what you would say to the head of a company if they asked, ‘tell me about yourself and why should I hire you?’

Crafting a Professional Summary is also good practice for writing cover letters. You can use key points from it in future job applications that require a letter.

Here are a few tips to help you produce a winning summary:

• Write a maximum of 4-5 sentences summarising your key attributes, skills and experience . There’s no need to write your full autobiography here – only include the highlights of your professional history.
• Break it down into four sections : 1) Your current situation (e.g., work or study), 2) your experience, 3) your key skills and 4) why you’d be an asset to the business.
• Ask your peers or mentors for advice – People who know you well can help you describe yourself in new and honest ways.
• Read it out loud to make sure it flows and makes sense . It should sound natural and like you are speaking directly to the hiring manager.

Describe Your Skills and Achievements: Do’s and Don’ts

Do:

• Use bullet points : These make the best impact and keep your resume tidy.
• Include between 5-7 key skills : Be sure to highlight skills that relate to leadership.
• List specific achievements: Between 1-3 is enough . Achievements can include awards, short courses, employee of the month or similar recognitions.
• List any roles with leadership you’ve had : E.g., sports captain, school captain or prefect, and any promotions at work.

Don’t:

• List skills and achievements in just a couple of words . You should briefly explain them with a sentence.
• Include jokes or information that might be confidential . Doing either of these will make you look unprofessional.
• Include anything untrue . It should go without saying – don’t make things up. You’ll get found out quickly.
• Overcomplicate your expertise . Remember: core skills are simple and transferable.

List Your Work Experience

To outline your work experience, list each position in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job or volunteer role at the top. Include the month and year you started and ended each role, including any changes within each role, such as promotions or changes to your job title.

For each position, write a brief description of what duties and responsibilities you had, and your key achievements.

List Your Education and Qualifications

This section is relatively simple: list each certificate, diploma, degree and any other qualifications you have in reverse chronological order, in this format:

Bachelor of Commerce
University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW
Completed May 2021

Higher School Certificate
Glenwood High School, Glenfield, NSW
Completed November 2019

As you acquire more qualifications, add your most recent and relevant education to the top of the list. It’s unlikely an employer will be interested where you went to high school a few years after you’ve completed a degree, diploma or apprenticeship.

Include References

We recommend including two professional references (a current or former manager, principal or coach) and one personal reference. For each referee, only include their full name, job title or relationship to you, and their telephone number.

Another key CV tip: Make sure you’ve sought permission from each person to confirm they’re willing to be your reference!

The Final Review of Your CV

Now that you’ve got the structure and content of your resume worked out, there are a few final tips to run through:

• Include your full name and current contact information at the top of the first page . The correct phone number and email address are essential so people can get in touch with you easily.
• Proofread your resume . Preferably more than once to avoid any errors in spelling or grammar.
• Space out the body text with 1.5 spacing to prevent it from looking cluttered.
• Keep your whole resume to 1-2 pages maximum . Anything longer than this is unnecessary for just about everyone.
• Use bullet points .
• Use clear, readable fonts. Calibri Body or a similar font is easily readable on most devices . Also, make sure the font size is consistent – size 11 or 12 is best.
• Don’t be afraid to include types of work or study experience with short durations . If you’re new to work or have just finished studying, add emphasis on your foundational skills over technical skills.

Summary

Writing out a full CV can feel daunting at first, but it will get easier with more time and work experience under your belt. Your resume is a living document you’ll be updating for your entire career, so remember to keep all information current and edit it to include new roles, skills and achievements.

A good CV is one that presents the best version of you in a professional way, without lies or exaggeration. It’s important to understand your strengths, be confident and own the experiences you’ve acquired so far.

Are you looking for more tailored resume advice and help with getting job interviews? Get in touch with our team of business services, sales, marketing and digital recruitment specialists using the form below. For more practical job search tips, keep an eye out for our next live session!

6 Steps to Update Your Headshot

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 12:05:02 GMT

As the end of the year rolls around and a new one is about to begin, now is a great time to reflect on your personal brand and consider if it needs a little refresh. One of the key elements of your professional presence is your headshot. That little round photo is your digital identity and is usually the first thing a recruiter sees when they look you up on LinkedIn or other professional networking sites.

What does your headshot say about you? Is it an accurate reflection of who you are right now (if it’s more than a few years old, it probably isn’t!)? Should this be the case, we’ve got some professional headshot tips to help you accurately convey who you are today, ensuring you make a great first impression on a potential new employer.

1. Convey a Realistic Look

The best professional headshots allow a recruiter to get a true sense of who you are. If your photo isn’t an accurate representation (even if it’s something as small as not wearing glasses when you normally do), it can be quite jarring when the recruiter meets you. At worst, it might cause them to question your credibility.

That’s why it’s so important to ensure your professional headshot is up to date and reflects what you look like every day – that includes hairstyle, glasses and makeup (if applicable).

When it comes to clothing for the photo, choose an outfit you’d wear to a job interview. Opt for solid muted colours, rather than black or white. Avoid patterns as they can be distracting to the eye, and keep accessories simple for the same reason.

The trickiest part of getting your headshot right is your facial expression. A natural smile is always a winner ( a study of 800 profile pictures found people view you as more likable, competent, and influential if you smile in your headshot, while showing teeth makes you twice as likable as a close-mouth smiler).

Spend a bit of time practising your posture and smile in front of the mirror to see which expression you like the most. It will probably feel awkward, but your future career will thank you!

2. Avoid the Selfie

You might be king or queen of the selfie, but these are best left for your social profiles. Instead, have a friend or family member photograph you (or you could even book a professional photographer!). If you feel more comfortable, you can use a tripod or rig up a makeshift camera mount using books on a table. Ensure your phone sits at a 90-degree angle, is at eye level and your face takes up around 60% of the frame. The end result will be a lot better for it!

3. Choose a Neutral Background

As your face is the primary focus, your background should be as neutral as possible. A plain or brick wall is good for indoors, while outdoors, a simple landscape works (just make sure there are no trees sticking out of your head!).

Extra tip : If you have dark hair, use a light-coloured backdrop, otherwise, it can be difficult to see where your hair ends and the wall begins.

4. Opt for Natural Lighting

As any professional photographer will tell you, a great shot comes down to the right lighting.
You want soft natural light on your face. It shouldn’t be too direct as it can wash you out.

To achieve this, stand about a metre from your background, face a window and position your camera between yourself and the window. Should the sun be a little too strong, you can drape some sheer fabric across the window. If you prefer to shoot outdoors, try to pick an overcast day and a spot that has a little shade, and avoid standing right beneath trees where the lighting tends to be uneven.

5. Check Your Camera Settings

You’ll want to aim for an image that is as high resolution as possible, while still adhering to professional networking site requirements (for instance, LinkedIn only allows images up to 8MB in size and 400 x 400 pixels).

If using your phone, use the front-facing camera (rather than the inward one) and pick the highest quality photo setting. Depending on your phone, you might be able to take it in RAW format, which gives you more editing control. However, if you’re not particularly good at editing and exporting to JPEGS, this might not be a good option.

Consider using your photo ‘bursts’ feature with the timer. This will allow you to take a quick succession of shots so you have a bigger selection to pick from (and avoid all the once where your eyes are closed).

6. Go Light on Editing

With a plethora of photo editing programs on the market, it can be easy to get a little carried away with filters and touch-ups, but a restrained hand works best here. Try to keep edits to a bare minimum, focusing mostly on lightening or darkening as required. After all, the aim is for your headshot to represent you in reality.

Extra Personal Brand ‘Refresh’ Help

We hope these six tips give you a better understanding of how to take a professional headshot. While you’re busy updating your online presence, you might also like to refresh your CV to reflect the great work you’ve done this year, whether that’s hitting new sales targets or implementing a successful digital marketing campaign.

If you’re looking for a fresh start in 2022, feel free to get in touch with one of our recruitment agency specialists . And while you’re at it, you might like to check out the range of exciting job opportunities we have on offer to start your new year off in the right way.

Top Podcasts to Motivate and Inspire You in Your Career

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 14:03:34 GMT

As the year draws to a close, it’s a good time to take stock of your career. Perhaps you’re happy in your current role but want to focus on your professional development, whether that’s by discovering some fresh sales techniques or learning how to enhance your team leadership abilities. Maybe you’re reconsidering the merits of your existing job, or simply want to uncover some ways to boost your motivation.

For any of these situations, there is a podcast to help! Here’s a list of some of the best career podcasts, including some specific Sales and Marketing podcasts for those of you looking to up your game in 2022.

Sales and Marketing Podcasts

The Advanced Selling Podcast

If you feel a little stagnant in your sales role, ‘The Advanced Selling Podcast’ might be the lift you need. Created by Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale (20+ year BSB sales training veterans), the podcasts contain valuable insights into what it takes to be a master salesperson, with a focus on techniques you can employ straight away in areas like cold calling, prospecting and forecasting. Presented in a highly humorous way, each podcast sits around the 10-20 minute mark – a nice bite-sized chunk you can easily fit into your busy day.

Social Media Marketing Podcast

Mike Stelzner certainly knows his ‘social’ stuff. From his blog that gets 10 million hits a year, to his daily email list that goes out to hundreds of thousands, Mike’s company ‘Social Media Examiner’ is a juggernaut in the world of online marketing.

His ‘Social Media Marketing’ podcast series contains wisdom from his own experience, as well as other leading social media pros. Topics include selling with Instagram reels and stories, creating TikTok videos that connect, and new strategies for marketing funnels and email sequences. Packed with plenty of actionable tips, it’s a handy resource for those wanting to extend their social media marketing prowess.

Career, Leadership and Professional Development Podcasts

Your Career Podcast

Jane Jackson was recently voted as a Linkedin Top Voice 2020 Australia, and it’s a well-deserved spot. With over two decades of experience as a career management coach, Jane really knows her stuff when it comes to helping people make the most out of their careers. This podcast contains wide-ranging pearls of wisdom including building your personal brand and how to be happier at work, alongside job search and interviewing tips.

The LEADx Leadership Show with Kevin Kruse

The best leaders learn from… the best leaders. In this podcast series, Kevin Kruse (an entrepreneur with nine New York Times bestselling books under his belt), gets those juicy leadership insights for you by interviewing some top-notch business talent, such as Stephen M R Covey and Ken Blanchard. From thought-provoking topics such as ‘This 12 year old wrote a novel – what’s your excuse’, to the ‘The start-up story of Netflix’, you’re sure to find some gold nuggets to build your leadership capabilities.

How I Work

Some days, you just wish you had more than 24 hours to work with! While this podcast can’t physically give you that, it does offer a plethora of strategies, tips and tricks to help you optimise your day, and get more done. Hosted by Australian organisational psychologist, Dr Amantha Imber, you’ll enjoy interviews with a cross-section of successful professionals, from entrepreneurs to musicians. Listen and learn as she expertly draws out what they do differently to increase their efficiency and boost their productivity levels.

The WOW Way

Whether you’re contemplating a career move or actively looking for a position, it’s a savvy idea to remain in the know about the ever-changing recruitment market. And listening to our ‘ The WOW Way’ podcast is a great way to do so!

Hosted by Viv Edwin, each episode features conversations with clients, candidates or expert WOW recruitment consultants , giving you the lowdown on the latest happenings in the sector. Whether it’s interview tips, career progression guidance, or inside info for your industry, you’ll benefit from the best advice from our knowledgeable WOWzers. And if what you hear leaves you wanting more, feel free to get in touch with one of our recruitment agency specialists to discuss how we can support your professional growth and future career.

Jaime Hevia on What It’s Really Like to Work at WOW

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 14:10:47 GMT

Jamie Hevia is our Candidate Experience Manager at WOW. A friendly fella who prides himself on his commitment and persistence, Jamie shares the reasons why he loves working with us.

Why Did You Choose to Work at WOW?

It’s the same reason I choose to walk into a store or eat at a particular restaurant – from the moment I stepped in, I felt welcomed and at ‘home’. The WOW team and office environment really allows you to be your best and most importantly, be yourself.

And I’d like to add that after two years with WOW, I’m not bored or stagnating. I’m excited about the future and seeing our business grow.

How Does WOW Differ from Other Agencies?

I don’t feel like a ‘number’. The company invests in me and there’s a genuine care and passion for my contributions. I happily chat about WOW at dinner parties which to me, is testimony that we stand out and do things differently.

Share 3 Things at WOW That Significantly Impact Your Recruitment Career

My directors and team believe in me. This allows me to grow in my role and build a path to success.
I’m inspired by our vision to aim for gold and always look at ways to improve and lead as a brand.
WOW has an open-door environment. We all have the freedom and opportunity to reach out to anyone and contribute our ideas, and this encourages me to do so.

Share Any Comments You Have About WOW’s Training and Development Opportunities

It’s the perfect mix of plan and execution – there’s a lot of thought and planning that goes into upskilling everyone. It’s executed well in many ways, one of which is that everyone has the opportunity to ‘catch up’, while being supported by the team. We also have a culture of knowledge sharing, so we benefit from each other’s experiences.

Share Any Comments You Have About WOW’s Culture

You could not get a more eclectic bunch of people who probably wouldn’t normally hang out together outside of work hours, yet it works! We have fun, we have different opinions, and everyone gets the opportunity to express themselves. I think it’s actually our difference that makes us a stronger team.

Share Any Comments You Have About Wellness, Diversity and Inclusion At WOW

As we’ve grown, the business has put extra focus on wellness. For example, I feel comfortable asking for time off without having to explain myself. There’s a strong care factor, and I feel I can share anything with my managers.

As for diversity and inclusion, we are a big melting pot of personalities and backgrounds. It’s certainly more diverse than any other environment I’ve worked in. While we’re all ‘ WOWzers ’ (our preferred name for our employees), that doesn’t mean we’re all cut by the same pair of scissors!

7 Effective Management Techniques to Boost Employee Performance

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 14:08:06 GMT

It’s fair to say it’s a manager’s dream to work with a high functioning team that excels in getting stuff done. And it’s pretty obvious that the more engaged and happy your employees are at work, the greater their productivity levels – and the better your bottom line.

If you’re in the people management game and would like to implement some fresh strategies to improve employee performance, we have you covered with these seven key management techniques.

1. Create Clear, Realistic and Measurable Goals

When it comes to working out how to improve employee performance, a smart place to start is to carefully review the goals you’ve set for your staff. To give team members the best chance of success, goals should be clear, realistic and measurable. When reflecting on these goals, ask yourself:

Is the goal clearly defined?
What steps are required to meet it?
How much time will each take?
Are the steps broken up into specific milestones to accurately measure progress?
Can it realistically be achieved within the timeline set (factoring in the employee’s or team’s overall workload)?

If you answer ‘no’ or struggled to answer a question, this might mean the tasks and overall goal needs some adjusting.

Pay particular attention to the timeline question, as this is an area that causes employees the most stress, leading to a less-than-stellar performance. If your team feels they have adequate time to do their best work and meet their goal, they will less likely feel frustrated or overworked (two traits that aren’t conducive to increasing productivity!).

2. Maximise Communication Methods

At one time or another, we’ve all faced the twin towers of an overflowing inbox and a seemingly insurmountable ‘to-do’ task list. But if you drill down into that electronic inbox, you’ll likely discover plenty of ‘to and fro’ emails that could’ve been solved in minutes with a quick conversation. And if you find them, your employees will too.

This is where maximising your communication tools can be of real benefit. Encourage staff to utilise real-time messaging systems, video chats, phone calls or face-to-face interactions instead of relying primarily on email. It’s a great way of enhancing team performance as it frees up time that can be better spent on tackling those ‘to do’ lists.

3. Encourage Feedback

Whether you’re managing a team of outbound sales superstars or a band of savvy front-end developers, they’re a goldmine of information. Sitting right on the front line, they directly interact with customers or stakeholders, so they’re often the first to hear about an issue or pain point.

By actively and regularly seeking out their feedback, you’re able to respond in an agile manner and avoid delays and the inevitable frustrations they cause. More importantly, you’re clearly showing your employees that their opinions and ideas are not only valued, but acted upon. This does wonders for their engagement, and their desire to do more and better.

In a similar vein, you can let employees know that you’re open to suggestions for improvements in other areas of the business. An example might be in the way you lead. Are they happy with the amount of guidance you give them? Do they feel kept in the loop about important issues? What would they change? This is a great way to demonstrate that you understand part of managing employee performance is being willing to tweak the way you lead them.

4. Foster Growth

One of the most valuable strategies to improve the performance of employees is to invest in their growth. It could be by helping them expand their current skillset with an industry-based course, or learn new tricks of the trade through job shadowing or mentoring. It might even be as simple as increasing the scope of their responsibilities. All of these things will allow them to do more in their current role, not to mention more for the company at large in future. It’s also a smart way to build up their loyalty stores.

As career growth is highly personalised, establish a clear progression pathway with each employee. Set goals together and create small milestones for achieving them. You may also like to use this meeting to review their current performance and let them know what they’re doing well, alongside areas for improvement. Part of their progression pathway might be to focus on upskilling in these spheres.

5. Embrace Autonomy

As a leader of a team, you’re responsible for the end result. And in some managers, this pressure can lead to an awful lot of micromanaging. This can have a detrimental effect on productivity – from excessive approval processes creating workflow bottlenecks, to unhappy employees who feel like they have no control over their daily tasks.

If you really want to know how to improve team productivity, then consider becoming the Dean of Delegation! This doesn’t mean you have to take a total step back, but rather wisely assign tasks to the most qualified staff, and then let them do their thing. You can then check-in at crucial points to provide support or guidance as needed, or when requested.

Part of this involves ensuring staff have the right resources to be able to move forward. Things like removing process obstacles, or giving them access to key stakeholders or managers for approvals. You’ll be well rewarded with satisfied staff with new-found leadership skills, which can only be a good thing – for you, them and the greater company.

6. Become a Master of Recognition

One of the easiest ways to boost productivity is to provide recognition for a job well done. Feeling appreciated has huge flow-on effects – from an increase in motivation and self-confidence, to a willingness to innovate.

There are plenty of forms of employee recognition, both monetary and non-monetary. Interestingly, the latter is often more valued, thus impactful. It could be a private or public ‘thank you’, an award, or even time-in-lieu. No matter the form, it’s all about ensuring your employee knows how much you value the work they put in.

7. Equip Yourself with the Right Team

To get the most out of your employees, it’s essential to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses, and assign tasks accordingly. While you might be lucky to have a Jack-or-Jill-of-all-trades on your team, most people excel in one or two specific areas. The key to achieving that vital boost in productivity is to match the right person to the right task.

Getting the correct mix of people takes considerable time and effort. Often mistakes are made in the earliest stages of recruitment and aren’t realised until you’re quite far down the track. Working with a professional recruiter, like us here at WOW Recruitment , solves this conundrum. We have oodles of experience in matching the right candidate to the right role, so you can sit back and enjoy those productivity gains. Please get in touch to learn how we can help.

Finding a Role with Your Ideal Cultural Fit

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:21:36 GMT

Cultural fit in the workplace is just as crucial as job fit, if not more so. After all, it doesn’t matter how qualified you are, if you don’t enjoy working at the company, your chances of success are on the slim side. That’s why it’s so important to not only know what you’re looking for in a company culture, but how to spot it amongst the sea of opportunities currently available in a candidate short market.

Here are five ways to learn how to find a role with the right cultural fit, both in the short and long term.

1. Compile Your Culture Wish List

It’s pretty hard to find the right cultural fit without first understanding your priorities. Spend some time reflecting on the following:

• Leadership style

Are you an autonomous worker, and prefer a manager that lets you get the job done as you see fit? Or do you appreciate collaboration and guidance as you work towards your goals?

• Working conditions

How important is work flexibility? Perhaps you’d like a work from home option, or some freedom around your start or finish times so you can squeeze in a gym session, beat the morning commute or pick up the kids a few times a week.

• Professional development

Where do your rank growth on your scale of ‘things most wanted in a job’? Maybe you want the chance to job shadow the top-performing sales executive in your team to learn some new tricks, or you might be keen to move up the ladder from Marketing Assistant to Marketing Manager. Consider the full range of professional development opportunities you’re after, from on-the-job learning to upskilling through external courses, as well as promotion prospects.

• Recognition

Being recognised for your hard work is essential to keeping your work happiness level high. Reflect on what suits you best – it might be in monetary compensation (such as an increased pay packet or bonus), or it could be your boss thanking you directly, such as by highlighting your top quarter results at a company level. It could very well be a combination of all.

2. Seek Out Some Proof

Now you have a better understanding of what’s most important to you in a company culture, the next move is to pop on your research hat. Here are some avenues to consider:

• Company website and socials

Many companies in Australia today are investing time in cultivating their employer brand. Aside from ensuring their consumer base receives a cohesive (and stronger) message about their business, it also gives potential employees a good taste of what it might be like if they come on board.

Have a browse through the company’s website. Do they clearly state who they are and what they stand for (i.e. their vision, mission and values)? Do they have evidence to show this in action (employee stories, customer testimonials, blog articles, photo gallery etc.)?

Repeat this research task on their social profiles, including LinkedIn. Then a take moment to imagine yourself working there based on what you’ve found.

• Online review sites

Websites such as Great Place to Work and Glassdoor contain plenty of reviews from real employees. It’s worth having a look to get a feel for what the culture is really like from those on the ground. Don’t let a few bad reviews put you off though. Try to take a ‘bird’s eye view’ to gauge the overall sentiment.

• Draw on your professional network

You might know someone who currently works at the company, or have a colleague or friend that does. If so, discreetly reach out to them and ask about the company culture.

Another great avenue for support is a professional recruiter, like us here at WOW Recruitment. As Sales, Marketing, Business Services and Technology recruitment specialists, we’ve helped many candidates find their ideal cultural fit. And along the way, we’ve gleaned a ton of insider info about each company’s culture, so feel free to have a chat with us.

• Attend networking events

Companies host a range of events throughout the year, from product launches to speaking engagements about industry issues, to award ceremonies. You might like to consider attending and then networking afterwards, as it’s yet another way to take their culture pulse.

3. Ask Your Culture Questions at Interview Time

It’s useful to remember that while your top priority is to make a good impression at a job interview, the process is a two-way street. A company that’s proud of its work culture will want to show that off during recruitment, especially as it goes a long way towards helping them secure the best talent with the right cultural fit.

As such, they’ll appreciate you attempting to understand how they tick by asking questions. Here are a few to consider:

1. What’s one thing that helps this company succeed that someone from the outside wouldn’t know?
2. How would you describe your company culture in three words?
3. Why do you like working here?
4. What things wouldn’t you change about this company?
5. How do you recognise employee achievements?
6. How do employees get feedback?
7. What kinds of people succeed here?
8. Is there a lot of collaborative work or is it mainly autonomous?
9. Do you hold social events or activities to build the team?

4. Be an Eagle-Eyed Observer During Your Office Tour

An office tour is a great way to get the lay of the land. Employers may offer to take you on one, but if they don’t, it’s okay to ask if you could see the space where you might potentially work. As you go about the tour, pay attention to your surroundings. Do workers seem content? Is their focus trained on their task or are they interacting with one another? How are the workspaces arranged? Are there break areas, a kitchen and so on? What’s the vibe like – loud, calm etc.?

After your interview, reflect on what you saw and consider whether you’d truly be happy working there.

5. Lean on the Professionals for Support

Picking a role that’s the right cultural fit can be a tricky task, but you needn’t go it alone. You can opt to take the savvy option by partnering with a professional recruiter (yes, us!) who keenly understands the importance of cultural fit between companies and candidates.

We can work with you to uncover your needs and match you with the most appropriate selection of opportunities . We can also help you fine-tune your interview culture questions, as well as support you in weighing up the pros and cons of each role to help you make your decision. Feel free to get in touch or give us a buzz on 02 8320 0683.

8 Strategies for Retaining Your Best Talent

Wed, 07 Jul 2021 14:30:56 GMT

Working in recruitment, one thing’s currently pretty clear to us – top employees have no qualms about moving to another organisation if a better opportunity comes calling. And losing a staff member really hurts, not just in dollar figures but in taking those years of company knowledge with them.

If you want to avoid the pain of productivity, performance and culture losses and hold onto your best talent, here are eight suggestions on how to improve employee retention.

1. Review Your Salary and Benefit Offerings

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in right now, competition for great talent has hit a fever pitch. In such an environment, it’s difficult to remain ahead of the curve in relation to salary going rates (hot tip: ask us !). But it’s oh-so-important you do for two reasons:

Your valued staff don’t have to feel the pressure to ask for a pay packet boost (or worse yet, go looking elsewhere to find it)

It clearly shows them how much you value their contribution (an essential for employee engagement and retention)

However, keep in mind that money isn’t the be-all and end-all of retention. It also pays, literally, to try to go beyond the pay packet. What can you offer by way of benefits? Better yet, find out what your staff really want. Many will happily forgo the office ping pong table for greater work flexibility, whether it’s start and finish times that make it easy to attend to a family emergency or school function, or a work from home option. With more employees now enjoying working from home (having got an enforced taste thanks to the COVID-19), offering this is an impactful employee retention strategy.

The ability to personalise benefits is also attractive. If it’s realistic for your organisation to do so, you could consider allowing employees to swap out benefits as their circumstances change. A staff member who has recently become a new parent, for example, might appreciate a bit of extra parental leave over a company-sponsored gym membership.

2. Realise Recognition Reigns Supreme

Rewards needn’t be financial to be effective as an employee retention strategy. Recognition for work well done is just as important as the dollars and cents that make up an employee’s pay packet, as it boosts their motivation and loyalty stores (and those are some great retention boxes to tick!).

Take a few moments to think about what you do on a daily or weekly basis to show your employees how much you and the business at large value their efforts. If you need a bit of inspiration, a simple “thank you”, acknowledging their efforts one-on-one, or giving public recognition in team meetings or across digital communications can make a big difference. Awards are always appreciated too.

Some examples are:

Team member of the month
Gift cards
Social activities (pizza nights, tenpin bowling etc.)
In-office treats (lunch delivery, lunchtime games/trivia etc.)

3. Ensure Employees Have a Clear Career Progression Pathway

Another vital component of learning how to retain top talent is to ensure they’re confident they have a bright and engaging future at your company. Invest in the time to uncover your employees’ professional goals and try to understand what excites them. Your sales star might want to eventually lead their own team, or your tech support guru might have a hankering to get into development in the future.

Once you’re clear on where they want to go, set up an appropriate development pathway encompassing short and long-term milestones. And don’t forget to check in regularly to ensure their role still aligns with their long-term goals.

4. Provide Regular Opportunities to Upskill

For many employees, stagnation puts them firmly on the fast track to looking for greener employment pastures. Upskilling and further training is one way to avoid this and keep those engagement levels high.

Give your staff plenty of opportunities to update and expand their skillsets, from internal and external training to mentorship and job shadowing, to a commitment to promote from within (both laterally and up the ladder). Aim to connect this to each employee’s personalised career progression pathway so it’s relevant and valuable to them.

5. Foster an Open Communication Culture

Another essential to improve employee engagement and retention is nurturing an ‘open door’ culture – one where employees know their opinions are welcomed and their feedback is actioned. This way, you can quickly address any frustrations or worries with salaries, tasks, deadlines or management before they come so deep-seated the staff member entertains the idea of other job options.

Soliciting feedback is one part of developing a truly open culture. You can consider a mix of anonymous (online) and direct (face-to-face in meetings) at regular intervals. A simple form might be a short survey that asks “Can you identify any bottlenecks in your daily workflow? What suggestions do you have for improvement?”.

Whatever form/s suit your company, follow-up is vital. Act on the suggestions, or provide an explanation if you can’t.

6. Reflect on Your Leadership Style

it’s widely acknowledged that a bad boss is one of the main reasons people decide to move jobs. While it could be a tad uncomfortable, consider critically reviewing your leadership style. Are you a ‘hoverer’, always asking for updates or requiring approvals before your staff can take action?

If you’ve successfully fostered an open culture, you could also directly ask your employees for honest feedback about what is and isn’t working in the way you manage and lead. And again, follow through by taking steps, no matter how big or small, to action it.

7. Learn From Your Exit Interviews

Ok, so you lost an employee. While it’s frustrating, you can still salvage something valuable from it, and you will find it in your employee’s exit interview.

An exiting team member holds crucial intel about the health of your company. If done properly, the exit interview can allow you to extract great feedback to assist in improving your culture, minimise further turnover and, even improve your brand. Aim to do it during your employee’s final week with someone who’s not their direct manager, as a neutral party increases the chances of them opening up and speaking freely.

8. Recruit Smart

While the above seven employee retention strategies are focused on what you can do with your current employees, this one sits in the ‘prevention is better than cure’ vein.

Carefully reviewing your recruitment processes helps you achieve an optimum alignment between what you want and what the employee wants from the get-go, resulting in a better match and longer-term retention.

This involves:

Understanding the job and the skills, abilities and qualities needed in a potential employee
Asking the right interview questions
Setting and managing employee expectations during the recruitment process
Maintaining communication momentum so you don’t lose a great potential hire to another company.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? As Sales, Marketing, Business Services and Technology recruitment specialists , this work is something we love doing! We’ll happily take the stress out of the recruitment process for you, along with providing an ideal candidate experience throughout every touchpoint of the journey. Feel free to get in touch or give us a buzz on 02 8320 0683 to find out how we can help.

The Pros and Cons of Temporary vs Permanent Work

Sun, 06 Jun 2021 14:35:38 GMT

When job hunting, the terms ‘permanent’, or ‘temporary’ appear often in job descriptions – but what do they mean in a real-world setting?

Deciding whether to apply for a permanent or temporary role is a critical choice in any job search. Each job type comes with a distinct set of traits that – depending on your circumstances – are either beneficial or not.

Before you start searching for a role, weighing up the pros and cons of temporary and permanent jobs will help you understand how a position will fit in with your circumstances, career goals and lifestyle preferences.

If you are searching for sales, marketing or business services jobs in Australia, our blog covers what you can expect from a temporary or permanent role.

Temporary Work

Temp jobs can last anywhere from a few hours to several months. They are a great way to gain experience in a variety of working environments and industries at a quicker pace compared to permanent jobs.

While many early-career professionals go for temporary roles, they can be beneficial for anyone regardless of experience level. The flexibility of temporary work makes it ideal for people who are raising a family or studying. Temping is also suitable for people who have just moved to a new city and want to keep their CV current, or those who are visiting Australia on a Working Holiday Visa.

The best way to find temp jobs in Australia is to get in touch with a recruitment agency, as they can connect you with multiple opportunities. Agencies usually hire temporary workers on behalf of employers, so they have ongoing relationships with candidates and regularly match them to new assignments.

Depending on the time of year and broader economic trends, companies may advertise more temporary jobs than permanent ones. Temp positions tend to get faster budget approval and help companies cover their interim staffing needs quickly.

Many temporary roles offer the possibility of transitioning into a more permanent position later, but it’s not a guarantee. When working as a temp, consider your entire work assignment as a trial with your employer.

The pros:

Depending on the role and its grade, a temporary position can pay more per hour than a similar job that is permanent.
Temporary roles are paid an hourly rate, which means you get paid for every hour you work and you get the possibility of a higher rate on weekends or public holidays.
There is usually no requirement to give notice if you want to resign (although it is sensible to do so whenever you can).
You can broaden your skills and professional network with a variety of employers.
Temping is an excellent way to get your foot in the door at a reputable company.

The cons:

Less financial stability – temp work can mean less predictable pay if you don’t have another role lined up after your current assignment.
There is no guarantee an employer will extend a temp assignment or offer you a permanent position.
Companies are not required to give you notice before ending your assignment.
You do not get paid leave or holidays.
Being unable to ‘settle’ into a role for more than a few months can make some people uncomfortable.

Permanent Work

Permanent jobs in Australia are still – to some extent – the ‘traditional’ job type for professional careers including sales and marketing. As the word ‘permanent’ suggests, this type of job is an ongoing engagement, with no set end date. When people talk about ‘9-5 jobs’, they’re usually referring to permanent work, although some permanent jobs can be part-time.

From recent graduates to mid-career professionals and senior managers, people from all walks of professional life can be found in permanent jobs. Perm jobs are the bedrock of many organisations and they help to build or maintain a company’s culture and performance.

Leadership positions, including Team Leaders and Executives, are more likely to be permanent positions. In marketing, it’s more common to be given project management responsibilities or management of external agencies if you are in a permanent role. In sales, a perm job gives you more scope to work with long-term business goals and accumulate more commissions.

To find permanent jobs in Australia, your best options include applying directly to employers using job sites and company career pages or signing up with a recruitment agency.

Many opportunities are not immediately advertised to the public, however, so connecting with your network or an agency can help you tap into positions that are not otherwise visible in online searches.

The pros:

Job security and financial stability are two major drawcards of permanent work. With a predictable pay cycle (usually monthly or fortnightly) and regular hours each week, you can worry less about looking for the next assignment and make more long-term financial plans.
Permanent jobs provide paid time off, so you will get paid public holidays, annual leave, parental leave and a set amount of sick leave each year.
As a permanent employee, you may get access to perks that are not available for temporary roles, such as additional superannuation.
You have opportunities to pursue a career path within the company, so you can work towards a promotion or even make a sideways move into another area that interests you.
Employers can devote more resources towards your professional development, such as on-the-job training, coaching and more.
Settling into a role for more than a few months allows you to build connections with your colleagues and clients. This can help you steadily grow your professional network and even make a few friends for life.

The cons:

Depending on the seniority of the role, your pay on a per-hour basis could be lower than an equivalent temporary job.
You may get bored with an unchanging routine – commuting to the same office, doing the same tasks, working with the same colleagues every day.
You can get stuck in a rut if your position has no clear scope for career progression.
Less flexibility around hours and schedules might negatively impact your work-life balance.
Before you resign, you might have to give your employer anywhere between two weeks to more than a month’s notice.
Although permanent jobs are perceived as more secure than temporary roles, there is a possibility your position is made redundant if the company restructures or faces financial difficulties.

Summary

With ample opportunities available for both temp and permanent jobs, it is crucial to consider what job type is best for you before you start applying.

When searching for sales, marketing or business services jobs in Australia, think about how a temp or perm role will suit your motivations, career ambitions and financial situation. You might have to weigh up the pros and cons for every role you apply for, so using this article can help you make decisions more quickly.

Are you a sales, marketing or business services professional looking for a temporary or permanent job? Do you need advice on how to make the most of your job search? As a leading recruitment agency in Sydney, WOW Recruitment connects talent to Australia’s most exciting employers. Get in touch with our team today for help in finding your next role.

How to Ensure Your Cover Letter Stands Out

Fri, 28 May 2021 14:38:32 GMT

Do you know how to create a cover letter that will send you to the top of the shortlist? It can help to think of the job application in business development terms. Your CV is your credentials document – a summary of key achievements, qualifications and skills. It is an opportunity to present the facts and show the employer you meet all the requirements to fulfil the role.

But the cover letter is your pitch. It’s time to show your personality, demonstrate how you can add value to your prospective employer’s business and, ultimately, set yourself apart from the competition.

Attempting to write the perfect cover letter can feel daunting at any point in your career, but don’t worry – we’ve put together this article on how to write a cover letter that stands out from the crowd.

Make It Tailored and Personal

Continuing the business development analogy, you would never recycle or rehash a pitch document for a different business, so why do it with a cover letter? It can be tempting to use a templated cover letter for every role, but in truth, it’s something that hiring managers can spot a mile away.

Instead, you should write a tailored cover letter each time and directly address the job description you’re applying for. It’s okay to include a few generic introductions and personal statements in your cover letter, but your best bet is to focus on what makes you unique. It’s safe to say you’re not the only applicant using the opening line “I’m a creative, dedicated marketing or IT consultant with X many years’ experience in…”

Try to present instantly what your motivations are for applying for this role and why you think you’re a good fit.

Use Keywords

The secret to writing the perfect cover letter is usually found in the advertised position description. Before you get started, go through the job ad and highlight any keywords or phrases that leap out at you.

This might include specific qualifications or experience with a particular software or program, or maybe even a soft skill such as negotiation or stakeholder management. Try to pull these words or phrases across into your cover letter while finding ways to relate them directly to your experience. This is by far the most straightforward and effective way to push your application into the shortlisted pile.

Keep It Simple

Brevity is key here because hiring managers can be reviewing dozens if not hundreds of applications for any given role. Make their job easy by structuring your cover letter in a clear, easy to follow format that avoids big blocks of text and verbose sentences.

Think about summarising some elements using bullet points and try to keep the whole letter to one page. Another cover letter tip is to read your first draft out loud to yourself or a friend, then cut back any sections that are difficult to follow.

Pay Attention to Detail

There’s no point talking about your prowess as a communicator if you don’t prove it with your own work. Make sure you proofread your cover letter several times before sending it and consider enlisting a friend to review the final version.

This may sound obvious, but ask any hiring manager and they will have many examples of applications that include the wrong company name and job title. Make sure to double-check all the key information so you don’t get caught out!

Also, don’t forget to verify the spelling of the hiring manager’s name and position. This is the person who will decide if you’re through to the second round, so it’s worth being on their good side. If a name isn’t provided, try doing a bit of research through Google or LinkedIn to find out who is managing the recruitment process so you can address them personally.

Summary

Writing a stand-out cover letter is the best way to make a positive first impression on a prospective employer, so getting it right is crucial for landing that all-important interview.

Here at WOW Recruitment, we can help by running you through examples of a good cover letter and will coach you through the whole hiring process to help you secure your ideal job. Chat to one of our recruitment specialists today to get started!

Tips for Writing a CV that Gets You Noticed

Wed, 05 May 2021 12:21:18 GMT

Job hunting is a competitive process. And, as with any competition, preparation is the key to being the first over the finish line. If you want to have the best chance of winning the race to that dream role, then it comes down to nailing your CV.

The following tips on how to write a CV will help you make the best impression on the recruiter or hiring manager and set yourself apart from the other candidates.

Focus on the Fundamentals

Your CV should be a reflection of who you are in the professional world. In this job-hunting game, it’s not only about selling your achievements but also presenting your case clearly in a format that is easy for the hiring manager to digest. If you’re not sure where to start with your resume, you can always search online for examples of a good CV or ask your recruiter for advice.

Make sure your CV is up to date with all of your most recent responsibilities and achievements, as well as training and professional development experience. This crucial information can be challenging to recall when you’re applying for a role, so keep a note in your calendar to update your CV every few months. That way it will be fresh and ready to go when the right role arises.

And don’t forget to proofread your CV before submitting it, keeping an eye out for typos and spelling errors. A second set of eyes might spot that mistake you missed, so consider asking a friend or mentor (or your recruiter!) to review the document before you send it.

Ensure it is Succinct and Well-Structured

It’s worth bearing in mind that a hiring manager could be looking at dozens or even hundreds of applications for a single role. So it’s not uncommon for people to skim read CVs, looking for specific qualifications or experience rather than reading word for word.

Start with your most recent position and then list your work history in reverse chronological order. Don’t bother including too much information about your earliest roles – focus on your most recent and relevant achievements.

It’s also important to include both the month and year you started each position so your new employer can understand your full work history. If there are gaps in your CV, don’t worry – you can include a line about your sabbatical or how you occupied a period of unemployment. It’s better to address it upfront rather than leave the hiring manager with questions before you’ve even met them.

Try to keep your whole CV to two or three pages, providing a clear and concise summary of your work history and accomplishments. When writing, avoid long or convoluted sentences that might confuse the reader. Keep your wording simple and to the point (bulleted lists are a great way to succinctly present key points), and be strategic about how you use headings and sub-headings.

Be Specific and Quantify Achievements

When it comes to presenting your skills and experience, specificity is everything. A good structure to use for each position in your work history is role, responsibilities and achievements. Clearly present your job title and the organisation you worked for as a heading, then include a brief statement about your overarching role. This could be something like, “During my time with XYZ, I managed a team of 25 marketing and design professionals and sat as a member of the senior leadership team”.

Next, provide a list of achievements that illustrate what you did in that role. Start each bullet point with action verbs such as “managed”, “created” or “developed” and add quantifiable data if possible. For example, if you’re talking about sales results, say something like, “Delivered a 15% increase in sales during my first quarter by attracting a major new client to the business”.

Try to keep away from cliches that could be used to describe anyone at your professional level. This is the time for you to shine and find opportunities to showcase your specific skills and attributes in a memorable way.

Tailor Your CV to Each Vacancy

It might be tempting to keep a generic CV that you can roll out every time you apply for a job, but tailoring your application is key. It’s not enough for you to know you are capable of doing the job; you need to be able to demonstrate it.

This doesn’t mean writing your CV from scratch every time. Instead, look at the job ad and pull out the main attributes and skills the hiring manager is looking for. You can then include keywords and phrases within your CV or do a quick check to ensure your application covers all the most important components the company is seeking in their new hire.

At the end of the day, you want to make it as easy as possible for the hiring manager to recognise how well suited you are to the role – and what makes you different from the other applicants.

Start Your Job Search Today

Our experienced team at WOW Recruitment know how daunting it can be to go through the job application process . That’s why we’re on hand to offer you practical guidance and CV tips so you create an application that will get you noticed for all the right reasons.

For more resume advice or to take the next step in your career, drop us a line today .

3 Ways to Speed Up Your Hiring Process in a Competitive Market

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 14:48:17 GMT

Competition for skilled candidates is, and always will be, high. Top-performers can come and go in the blink of an eye, and the efficiency of your hiring process may determine whether you get your pick of the best people or lose those coveted applicants to a competitor and struggle to fill critical roles. Not to mention that a lagging hiring process costs time and money that could be better spent elsewhere!

We all know that time is of the essence in the war for talent, so here are three effective strategies for speeding up your recruitment process to ensure you can secure the people you need, when you need them.

1. Define a Clear Candidate Profile

Step one for any employer is creating a clear candidate profile. What does your ‘perfect fit’ look like? A well-thought-out candidate profile is the foundation for all subsequent steps in the hiring process – start strong, end strong! Ensure your requirements are crystal clear, outlining everything from skills, competencies and experience to personality traits, work style and cultural fit.

If the perfect candidate profile hasn’t immediately sprung to mind, speaking to other leaders in the business could help you to put together a better picture. The other option is partnering with a specialist recruiter who can help you identify what’s crucial vs. ‘nice to have’ and steer you in the right direction with their industry experience.

With a strong profile as a guide, you will be able to quickly identify which candidates match your needs, faster.

2. Streamline Your Process

Step two is taking the time to think critically about where the bottlenecks in your hiring process are likely to be. Ask yourself these questions:

Have I set enough time aside to review candidate shortlists?

Can I combine multiple stages of the interview process together?

If I interview a great candidate how can I quickly get other decision-makers on board with my decision?

It will come as no shock that interviewing is one of the most time-consuming steps. Issues such as requiring several rounds of interviews or having to juggle the schedules of multiple interviewers can be sticking points that can cause significant delays. Being flexible with times and location, utilising phone/video interviews and conducting panel interviews are all great ways to optimise this part of the process.

3. Be Decisive

Once you find the right candidate, we recommend that you stop interviewing other prospective hires. Of course, it can be tempting to explore all possible options before making a decision, but in today’s market, the best people still have their pick of opportunities and delaying could mean missing out on your first choice leaving you back at square one.

It’s a good idea to be ready to extend an offer to your preferred candidate right away, ideally on the same day as the interview. And don’t forget to keep applicants (or your recruitment partner) in the loop about where they stand – if they think you’re not interested, they might move on to another employer. Moving quickly is a win-win for all parties; in doing so, you are not only raising your chances of securing your ideal candidate, but also allowing unsuccessful people to continue looking for a role that’s a better fit for them.

Summary

In recruitment, every day counts, and getting high performing people on board as quickly as possible is vital to any organisation’s success. By taking steps to shorten the timeline, you can make the final offer sooner and be in the best position to hire top people for your team.

Working with a recruiter is one of the easiest ways to speed up your hiring process – we’re specialists at keeping candidates engaged, ‘selling’ the benefits of your company, and overall just helping to make the process as efficient as possible – for all parties involved!

About WOW

Everything we do comes down to making everyone happier about recruitment. We know recruiting the very best people is critical for you. Get in touch or give us a buzz on 02 8320 0683 to get greater together.

Workplace Culture: How to Find the Ideal Fit for Your Next Job

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 14:57:43 GMT

When looking for a new job, you must look beyond the job title and salary and delve into the culture of a business. We can’t emphasise this enough! Landing a job in a team where your values are shared and reflected back at you gives you an immediate advantage. In the right environment, your career can take off in directions you never thought possible.

Why is Workplace Culture Important?

On average, we spend a third of our lifetime at work. That’s a significant chunk of time, so it stands to reason that our work environment influences our happiness and overall well-being. Where culture is not a priority, our self-esteem, work-life balance, physical and emotional health, and sense of safety are all at risk.

The  Gensler Australia Workplace Survey 2020  proves that culture contributes significantly to job satisfaction. The 2,430 Australian workers surveyed ranked the following as the top five things they value most about being in their working environment.

Working in person with colleagues
Socialising with colleagues
To focus on my work
Impromptu face-to-face connections
Brainstorming and ideating with colleagues

Identify Your Own Values

Finding the right workplace culture is about ascertaining and prioritising what’s important to you. Which values are non-negotiable, and which can you give or take?

Past work experiences are an excellent source of inspiration. Think about those roles or experiences that have made you most happy. When have you thrived, and when have you fallen flat? Be honest and mine your memory for every nugget.

Was it that time the senior leadership team called for your opinion on a new hire? Or the time you got to lead an exciting project? Maybe trust, autonomy and collaboration are your drivers. Or maybe, you are at your best when working in a small team of like-minded people. Remember, these are your values, so there are no rules about what they should look like.

Look for the Signs

If an organisation can tick most of the boxes below, you know you’ve landed yourself a keeper.

Long-term employees: Happy and engaged employees stick around. Fact!
The colleague/friend merge: When friendships form through a professional connection, you know that the team dynamic will be great.
Workplace involvement: Professional development, team building, and social get-togethers are all signs that those in charge care about creating ways for their team to connect beyond the confines of the office.
Transparency: No secrets, no stress. If communication flows throughout the company, everyone knows where they stand.
Clear mission and values: Mission statements and company values are more than words on a page. They should be the centre from which all company decisions and policies derive and course through the veins of the people within.
Diversity: Embracing diversity is more than hiring people from all walks of life. If a business truly celebrates diversity, it will be diverse in its thinking, approach and actions.
Wins are celebrated: When a company celebrates achievements, this sends a clear message that their team’s work is valued. We all love to be appreciated. When our feel-good tank is full, we are happy to keep leaning in and giving our best!
Leaders are visible and accessible: If an organisation’s leadership team is front and centre and available to all, this creates a sense of unity. The one team, one dream mantra springs to mind. A unified team working towards a shared goal is a powerful thing indeed.
Ongoing professional development opportunities: Opportunities for professional development and career advancement give way to genuine job satisfaction. Businesses that provide these pathways are repaid with employee loyalty and a thriving community of motivated brand ambassadors.
Comfortable workspaces: A company’s physical environment speaks volumes about how a business feels about its team and vice versa. A comfortable, well-planned and clean work environment is good for the soul and, therefore, team morale.

Employee well-being checks. An organisation that takes the time to check in with its people, either by anonymous survey or regular face-to-face catch-ups, is a company that cares! Not only is this a sign that they prioritise culture, but they are active in their efforts to preserve or improve it.

Do Your Homework

Take the time to read over a company’s website and scroll through its social media profiles. The About Us and Meet the Team pages can give you some insights here. Pay attention to wording and expressions. Remember, you’re looking for signs that suggest a company values its people and product or service in equal measure.

Reaching out to present and former employees on LinkedIn can provide some great insights, too.

The Culture Fit Interview

Often, we forget that the interview process is a two-way street. Both parties are trying to find their next perfect match. The interview must be balanced, allowing both the candidate and the interviewer a chance to try each other on for size.

A carefully crafted line of questioning is an excellent way to discover whether you are in alignment with a company’s culture. Every question should uncover a little bit more about what they prioritise. Having defined your values (as detailed above), your radar will lock in on the answers that speak directly to them.

Equally, if a company probes you with questions designed to assess you as a good fit, this is a good sign. In fact, it may even signal that they are more intent on hiring someone aligned with their culture over someone with more experience.

Summary

Learning more about a company’s workplace culture is a worthy investment of your time. Step back, think about the day-to-day and try to visualise yourself living the role. And remember, where there is an alignment of values, opportunities are abundant. You have worked hard to get your career to this point. You deserve to join a team that recognises and celebrates this.

At WOW, we prioritise cultural fit. That’s why we focus on finding people, not profiles!

We are a passionate recruitment agency in Sydney that works tirelessly to match good people with great companies. From high-flying digital careers to those looking for sales and marketing jobs in Australia, we work hard for our WOWzers. If you’re on the hunt for a dream job with a dream team, jump on this handy  link  to send us a message. We’ll have you matched up in no time!

And that’s a wrap 2020…

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 15:35:43 GMT

2020 will go down in history as a challenging year we’ll never forget. We all found ourselves in a precarious position surrounded by uncertainty in one way or another. When the majority of the world came to a standstill and we were asked to stay home, we had to find new ways to feel fulfilled and productive… A lot of us were forced to slow down and relearn our values and our priorities and thus, shape new perceptions. So as 2020 comes to a close, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the year as a leader in business. I think it’s incredibly important that we take everything we learned in 2020 into 2021. It’s definitely a time to turn the page and start a new chapter but let’s also remember to have awareness and gratitude for all the things that we learned.

Here are my key learnings and key take outs from 2020:

The people you surround yourself with matters – They say that your network is your net worth and that resonated with me more so this year than any other. When times were especially tough, it was the people I was able to lean on for support that got me through. Whether it be the numerous phone calls with my business partner, the group chat with my friends sending encouraging messages throughout the day, venting with family over dinner, running ideas past my partner on yet another walk around the block or seeking professional advice from education and training communities like The Entourage, TMSG or Business Chicks. The sense of community and being surrounded by like-minded people certainly helped in keeping the enthusiasm and motivation levels high and reminded me that leadership doesn’t have to be lonely.
The importance of gratitude – When you’re faced with a challenge or you go through hard times, it’s easy to see the negatives in the experience but this year, I truly understood the value of finding the learnings to be grateful for. I consciously made the decision to shift my thinking to being grateful for particular events as I gained a new found understanding, value or perception as a result.
Resilience fatigue is real – Typically when we talk about resilience, we talk about bouncing back. 2020 was a year that required leaders to lean into challenges time and time again. Leaders were required to be resilient, flexible and agile. As a result, as we entered into the last quarter of 2020, I started feeling burnt out and feeling like I was coming to the end of my resilience. It felt like I had kept the engine revving too high for too long. At the beginning of the year, I was making decisions from a place of resilience. I made decisions knowing we weren’t going to be one of the businesses that collapsed due to the impacts of the pandemic. However, as the challenges dragged on for months, the amount of resilience left in the tank felt like it was eroding. I got to the point of feeling a high level of fatigue in general. So, in October I took myself out of the game for a long weekend. I disconnected from all things business related for three days, read novels instead of business books and spent time in the sun with family. It gave me the rejuvenation I needed to get through the last quarter of the year with new found energy. Removing yourself from a situation and taking down time (even if it’s only 3 days) allows you to reset and gain a fresh perspective… And so I learnt not to quit but to rest.
Never lose your sense of humour – Matthew McConaughey’s unconventional book ‘Greenlights’ highlighted this one for me. He talks about successes and failures in a way that made me laugh out loud. It made me realise that no matter the challenge, you can’t underestimate the importance of having fun along the way and to never take yourself too seriously.
Teamwork makes the dream work – In the midst of all of the obstacles, I knew that when all was said and done post COVID-19, I wanted to ensure I had shown my team the support and appreciation they deserve for all of the extraordinary work and effort that was put in throughout 2020. When other companies slowed down, our team doubled down. It definitely wasn’t easy but I saw the WOW team come together in solidarity, determination and persistence. The results we were able to achieve as a team in that time are both incredible and inspiring.
Listen to your community and customer – As an extroverted leader, I am constantly making conscious decisions and creating habits to become a better listener. It’s no surprise that introverted leaders are more attuned to asking questions, rather than barging in with non-contextualised answers. There are benefits for every leader in adopting some of the traditional traits of an introverted leader during a crisis. Some of these traits include, asking more questions rather than developing answers, speaking more purposefully, remaining perceptive and embracing silences. In 2020, we listened and we learned (admittedly, sometimes in our pyjamas) and we were able to make improvements to our services and delivery to help make our clients and candidates more successful in their candidate/job search journey.
Embrace vulnerability – Brené Brown informed a lot of my decisions this year with one of her core values: “have the courage to be vulnerable”. Through her books and podcasts, she explores the idea that we all struggle with things but sharing them is not a sign of weakness, it’s actually an incredibly powerful way to build trust. You have to be willing to be vulnerable to create trust in your workplace… especially during uncertain times. Let’s be real, we all struggled in one way or another in 2020. The chances were that if you were feeling one way, someone else was feeling the same. Sharing these feelings in a resourceful way strengthened our culture and pulled our team together.
Take the time to reflect – Reflection is an essential step in developing ones skills as a leader and reviewing organisational effectiveness rather than carrying on doing things the way we have always done them. There was plenty of time in 2020 to think and question, in a positive way, what I do and why I do it and then decide whether there is a better, or more efficient, way of doing it in the future. Take the time to ask yourself the hard questions before turning the lights out at the end of a long day, closing out the quarter or moving into the new year.
Raise the standards – A few months ago, I heard the quote “In life, you don’t get what you want, you get what you can tolerate”. This triggered something inside me that transpired into immediate action. We turned “shoulds” into “musts” and we had a big shift within the team as we consciously made decisions to raise our standards, allowing us to close gaps in our service delivery. The whole team was on board and ‘raising the standards’ became the theme of our last quarter of the year.
In times of adversity, lean in to change – We all went through so much change in 2020… Between the bush fires, the pandemic, fear of a second wave and then a third wave, quarantine, new school years and changes to the way we run businesses or show up for work. Our nervous systems crave predictability and consistent responses from our environments so it’s only natural that the amount of change experienced caused fear, stress and anxiety. However, resistance to change is the cause of that stress. I found the best way to deal with the change was to lean into it, rather than resisting or fighting it. We were able to lead the team through this by communicating clearly and consistently, setting out our goals, remaining agile and adaptable in our approach, being ready to shift as things change, setting micro action steps in the right direction, rewarding our success and constantly reaffirming our commitment to the change along with positive reinforcements.

So here’s to 2021 – A new year with new possibilities and opportunities . Don’t forget that you have the power to re-write the future at any time. So be courageous, be brave, do the work and learn from 2020. Take the positive experiences and the lessons and let’s move into 2021 with an open mind… I’ve got a good feeling about this year!

Here’s to survival and dreams fuelling our energy for tomorrow.

Happy New Year all!

Supporting your success,

Emily McLeod

8 Steps to Appropriately Addressing Job Ads & Position Descriptions during COVID-19!

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 15:43:40 GMT

Let’s be honest, the market is pretty damn competitive right now for candidates so I thought I’d share some insights on how to shape your resume to match the role you’er applying for.

Steps to Addressing Job Ads and Position Descriptions

Don’t “embellish” your credentials – i.e. Don’t lie… That leads to a bad fit down the road.
Review and analyse the Job Ad or the Position Description – Make note of the job title, duties and responsibilities, specific requirements and location. Make the decision on whether you’re suitable or not.
Note the keywords used (to navigate an ATS – applicant tracking system) – Many companies utilise applicant tracking systems that scan resumes for specific keywords regarding skillsets and types of degrees achieved. Oftentimes, you can find those keywords in the job description. After reviewing the Job Description to ensure you’re qualified for the role, pick our specific phrases that describe the type of candidate the company is looking for and then…
Add the keywords to your resume – if you want the chance of landing the job, edit your resume to include the specific programs the employer is looking for.
Update the professional summary on the top of your resume – It’s smart to update this part for each job because in some cases, it may be the only thing the hiring manager reads. If you can’t capture their interest in your professional summary, they may not bother with the rest of your resume. I know it sounds harsh, but it’s like reading the back cover of a book to see if you’d like it. Again, you don’t want to lie. That leads to a bad fit down the road. But you want to think about what it was in their job posting that intrigued you the most. Is it the job title or the chance for advancement? Be realistic about how this job would fit your career goals and then highlight those goals in your newly customised professional summary.
Be specific – Generalisations won’t set you apart from the pack. You need to get specific. Try to include facts and figures with each description of your work experience.
De-clutter your resume – You want your resume to be clear and concise and customised strategically for the hiring manager who sees it. That means that clearing away the non-important features so your main accomplishments can really shine.
Focus on your skills that relate to the opportunity – Present your potential new employer with a highlight reel – what’s most relevant – rather than pages covering your whole career history. Pick the most important parts of your resume that you want to be known for, then shape it to match the job you’re applying for. You’re essentially identifying your most marketable strengths and exploring those options.

In a candidate heavy market during COVID-19, it’s essential that you put that extra bit of effort in to tailoring your resume for the job you want so you can stand out from the rest!

Feel free to reach out to a member of the WOW Recruitment team for any further advise on appropriately addressing job ads and position descriptions – 02 8320 0683.

10 Steps to Writing a Stand Out Resume during COVID!

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 12:34:46 GMT

On paper, people are going to look similar… So, find what you have that makes you different and you’ll stand out from the pack!

A lot of candidates are in the job market right now, which can make things more competitive but these are the steps you can take to help you stand out.

10 Steps to Writing a Stand-Out Resume

Summarise your experience using a “Professional Summary” at the top of your resume – This is generally one paragraph that includes your goals, key skills and key achievements/career highlights. Ensure your professional summary discusses your goals beyond your current position. Most employers want to see candidates that have a career path in mind. Tip: Use this as a chance to show your personality.
Highlight soft skills – Attitude and mindset are things employers are looking for right now. COVID-19 turned everything on its head and as organisations adapt, they’re looking for people who can prove they have the ability to thrive on change, work autonomously, have resilience, are comfortable thinking outside the box or being creative and can handle uncertainty or the unknown.
Emphasise results & achievements under each role – It’s not enough to just restate your job description or key duties and responsibilities. If you want to stand out, show your impact with facts & figures. Instead of saying “I worked with the sales team to increase the number of products sold”, you should include the exact results that the team experienced as a result of your efforts. For example, “I successfully worked with the sales team to achieve 140% of the target in Q2 of 2020”.
Find your unique selling point – What is it about your career history or background that makes you great at what you do? What can you offer that most people can’t? What unique skillset does your background provide you with? Once you identify this, include that throughout your resume and in your professional summary.
Emphasise your strengths and transferrable skills – Know your strengths and transferrable skills. Take the time to truly think about them and focus on highlighting them throughout your resume. If you struggle to identify them, you can think back through performance reviews or feedback from management and colleagues and ask yourself “what’s the recurring theme?”. You can also refer to SEEK’s transferrable skills checklist here .
Highlight leadership skills – Even at a junior level, any examples of leadership ability are seen in a positive light.
Have relevant examples throughout – Generalisations won’t set you apart from the pack. The more proof that you can pack into your resume, the better.
Make it easy to read – Bullet points are better then long paragraphs and resume structure is important.
Attention to detail – Triple check your CV for spelling and grammar mistakes. People do turn away CV’s based on this.
Customise your resume for the job you want – We cover this in more detail here .

Hopefully this helps you on your resume writing journey! For further tips, feel free to reach out to a member of the WOW Recruitment team on 02 8320 0683.

Having a great network is key to surviving and winning!

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:28:27 GMT

Having a great network is key to surviving and winning!

Over the Easter long weekend, I have had the chance to keep reflecting on what’s happening around me and this is my COVID diary entry for today!

As a recruitment agency and sales agency owner, I have had more clients in the last 4 weeks putting their services on hold than ever before! Whether it has been due to recruitment freezes, or because they don’t want to generate sales within the current climate, they are unable to run their business as usual or just unsure on what the future holds. In this current climate, they are all very valid reasons.

But… I am fortunate enough to keep signing new clients – my most recent client was signed on Saturday! I feel very grateful and lucky considering all that is happening. I put my plan together for my new client on Easter Monday. I feel a similar energy and emotions running through my veins as I did when signing my first client over 10 years ago. But this time it feels different, like I found a short cut. It feels like I cheated. I really want to say the new business comes from my raw talent and my polished skill set but, in all honesty, it just comes from my network.

They do say that your net worth can be measured by your network. Here are my thoughts on building the right network, to hopefully survive and then thrive.

It doesn’t matter if you are new to the market or a seasoned professional, you want the right people to know you.

So, do people know you? Are you building your personal brand? Will they think of you when the time is right?

Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s always been about who you know not just what you know because it gets you in the door! It gives you a shot to make an impression. It’s not just about creating a LinkedIn profile and connecting with people or going to events and collecting business cards. It’s about what you do once you’ve made that initial connection. It’s about the follow up.

Who makes up your network?

It includes your people, future business partners, customers, suppliers, mentors, your team and anyone that gets in touch with you.

How are you helping your network on a regular basis? How are you nurturing your network?

No one likes the friend that only calls when they want something… So, don’t be that person. Don’t just call “Clients” when you want something! Make it a regular habit of calling them to check in, call to say hi!! �� Take your clients out for lunch and message them and say thanks as often as you can!

Look at how you can help all your network!

On Wednesday I’m dedicating the whole day to have 1 on 1s with my team just to see how everyone is going.

For the last 6 years I have offered up an hour and a half every morning before I start work each day for staff, ex-employees, friends or people I’m mentoring to book me in for causal catch ups, to discuss development, accountability or answer questions.

What are you doing with your people?

Do you have a mentor?

Are you currently mentoring people?

If not… make a start!

You are constantly building your network!

I choose to treat everyone I get in contact with, with enthusiasm, interest, engagement and positivity. You never know where the next opportunity will arise from.

With this understanding your network will grow as they get to know who you are as a person… a real human. This is how you build your fan base.

Leave everyone on a positive! It isn’t hard trying to make people around you have a better day! Smile, be positive, show enthusiasm and interest to customers, colleagues, potential clients and especially to people that say “NO”.

My personal mission each day is to try and make people smile when I speak to them.

So, who are the right people to connect with?

Research says anyone and everyone.

Researchers announced the theory on the six degrees of separation was pretty accurate. By studying billions of electronic messages, they worked out that any two strangers are, on average, distanced by precisely 6.6 degrees of separation. You are linked by a string of seven or fewer acquaintances to Madonna, the Dalai Lama and the Queen.

If you want to save time, then sticking with people within an industry, market, city or career would increase these chances of getting connected.

But… once you are connected remember to reach out!

Here are my top tips for how to win at networking:

1. Understand people – Learn about different cultures, religions, traditions and understand what makes people tick.

2. Be curious – When you are in front of people ask a lot of questions!! Be keen to learn and understand! You have two ears and one mouth. If you listen more then you talk you will learn something.

3. Be likeable – I use this in two ways! Be likeable and be like a bull. Be aggressive towards your goals and ambitions but people need to like you in order for them to want to help you.

4. Be generous – Are you the person getting drinks, dinner bought for you all the time? Don’t be a tight arse it could cost you a coffee, a beer or food. People wait for mentors or people to pay for everything. If you want to win buy a beer or dinner for your mentor, key stakeholders and colleagues.

5. Don’t burn bridges – smile and wave!! People, events and situations at times can be frustrating. People let their ego dictate relationships and how events and situations unfold. People that win smile and wave and don’t get caught up in the emotions. Most of the time it will have no relevance.

6. Be honest – You build trust by showing you understand firstly and then by showing them you can do what you say you can.

7. Say YES to every opportunity – even though it may be out of your way and not very viable. I have had to work on smaller margins to help a client with cash flow but it has worked out as we were able to build a meaningful long-term relationship.

8. Lastly, you need to get results and show you will you go about your business in the right way.

People overestimate what they can do in one year, but underestimate what they can do in 10 years. You never know where people will be in 10 years, but the chances are your network will become more educated, wiser and helpful as you grow.

When your sense of self-worth and identity are attached to your work, what do you do when the world asks you to stop?

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 15:03:53 GMT

A foundation of our society in the 21st century is to work, save money, buy a house, build your wealth and then continue working until you retire at 65 (for the average Australian). It gives us a sense of meaning and for many of us, including myself, a sense of self-worth and identity.

Suddenly, we find ourselves in a precarious position where some people can’t work at all and others need to navigate working from home and having their entire routine thrown out of whack.

As an extrovert, I get my energy, stay motivated and feel positive by being around other people. As someone who is career driven and loves their work, I also attach a lot of my happiness and sense of identity to my work. So, as you can imagine, when I can’t be around other people, whether it be my friends or work colleagues and my business is impacted significantly by the effects of COVID-19, it’s challenging. These have been trying and testing times for many of us.

I was raised to strive towards financial independence and financial freedom and as a result, attach self-worth and identity to the very thing that helps me achieve that – my work.

I’m not very good at sitting around doing nothing. It’s not that I can’t sit and be alone with my own thoughts or that I don’t enjoy my own company, it’s that I love being productive and busy and I love the feeling of accomplishment and achievement.

So how do you cope when the world, for the greater good of humanity, asks you to sit at home?

You have to find other ways to feel fulfilled and productive… Ways that traditionally haven’t been rewarded by a capitalist agenda.

There’s not one approach for everyone but for me, the following things have been working:

Staying connected virtually – Organising virtual drinks with friends and work colleagues over Facebook video chat, Zoom or House Party.
Cooking – I had it on my 2020 bucket list to become a great cook, this time has made that possible. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m auditioning for MasterChef but I’m far better off than pre-iso.
Offering help to others – Figure out what value you can add at a time like this to the people around you. For me, I realised that I can play a key part in keeping the work force moving so I can add tremendous value to people right now. Take the time to recognise what value you can add and then lend a helping hand.
Yoga – I’ve always struggled to meditate but this has been a great time to practice and has really helped me switch off my whirling thoughts and reconnect with my body. I’ve also started doing Yoga on FaceTime with friends. Namaste.
Resetting goals – If you’re in the same boat as me, your 2020 plans have been thrown out the window but take the time to reset and re-evaluate them. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself.
Exercising – I’ve never exercised this much in my whole life. I have set goals around minimum km’s to walk or run each day and set weekly challenges for myself and my partner. This helps fuel my competitive side ��
Personal development and learning – Watching webinars and speaking on live webinars where I can, listening to podcasts and reading.
Puzzles – Lots of puzzles to fulfil my need for problem solving.
Ticking much procrastinated tasks off my ‘to do list’ – Finished our website and started writing for our new blog.

We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now with restrictions starting to lift but there’s still a little way to go.

Many of us are still forced to sit at home and relearn what our priorities are. Take the opportunity to discover who you really are and what you truly value. And remember to have fun along the way.

How you can stay relevant in 2020 as a Recruiter

Sun, 26 Apr 2020 15:19:47 GMT

Here are our thoughts on how you can stay relevant in 2020 as a Recruiter in the current economic climate.

Firstly, agencies need to adopt a new mentality in order for them to add value and here’s how;

Vulnerable connection and authenticity – Trust-based and relationship-based recruiting has never been more important. Shift your mindset to wanting to help wherever you can, take the time to build out your network, share info, empathise, feel, walk in your clients/candidates/consultants shoes, let them know you get it and find a way to connect with people.

Remember to call your clients, candidates and consultants and just check in on them. No one likes the friend that only calls when they need something so don’t be that person to your people. Call them and see how they’re coping, check in on how this may be impacting them and offer any advice or to simply be a sounding board for them.

Recruiters and recruitment agencies can be adding incredible value over this time to keep the workforce going and here’s how;

Develop and continue to grow your virtual workforce – Have candidates readily available who are happy to work from home.
Have temporary workers available immediately – Shift your mindset to contractors and temps.
Educate people on virtual interview and online assessment technologies – Help them maintain a smooth recruitment process that minimises face to face contact whilst remaining personal and help them implement it on their side too.
Offer advice on people strategy – Even if it’s just to let them know what other companies are doing right now to look after their people.
Offer displacement support – We have created an interactive brochure that HR managers and line managers can share with their team if they need to make redundancies so that we can support them and offer them any guidance.
Offer career coaching – Whether it be resume writing / their LinkedIn profile / interviewing tips for your candidates.
Be there for candidates – Have open and honest conversations about the job market, give them advise wherever you can
Valuable online content – Think about how you can bring your community together or add value to your community online – i.e. podcast, webinar, blogs, educational LinkedIn content and/or social media.

And lastly, remember to be human! We’re all in this together ��

How to Write an Eye-Catching Creative CV

wow@prominence.social (Wow Recruitment) — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 02:56:19 GMT

Working in a creative industry often provides an exciting and interesting career full of opportunities to truly engage your imagination.

As is often the case in the job market, the creative industries can be quite competitive. With so many candidates vying for attention, you must produce a CV that is truly eye-catching.

When creativity is at the core of your profession, it makes sense that employers will want to see this reflected in your job application. It’s unlikely that anyone who works in the advertising or publishing sectors, for example, would hire someone with a lifeless CV.

Recruiters and Hiring Managers will typically work through countless resumes for each role they’re trying to fill. The higher the volume of applications, the more important it is that yours stands out. It’s for this reason we’ve focused on the top tips you need to write an eye-catching CV that’ll stand out enough to gain an interview for your next creative job.

Keep it Short and to the Point

A CV shouldn’t be pages and pages long. In fact, most employers will be looking for no more than two pages for a CV and there should be enough information on those pages to show that you’re right for a role. Keeping your CV short doesn’t mean you’re not experienced enough, it just means that you’ve learned not to drone on.

Using short, snappy sentences ensures that you can give the biggest impact in the fewest words. Too much detail lengthens your CV. You have to consider how much of your CV a Recruiter or employer would pay attention to. If someone is skim-reading your CV, you want the right things to leap out and waxing lyrical about your last job in marketing isn’t the way to do it. Save that for the interview!

When you keep it to the point, then the reader can effortlessly get the info they need, which they’ll appreciate if they’ve got a mountain of applications to get through.

Be Descriptive and Interesting

It’s easy to say that you’re a passionate and hardworking employee who can learn quickly, but can you get this point across in an interesting and original way?

The language that you use will either help you to stand out from the crowd or it can be the reason your CV goes in the trash. You want to strike the right balance between explaining yourself concisely and coherently, whilst also captivating the reader’s attention. So, find your unique selling point and communicate this succinctly.

Don’t be afraid to back up your points with genuine examples. If you increased engagement by 50% in your last digital marketing role, then go ahead and include this information. When you emphasise how you can add value, then you’ll instantly be a more attractive prospect.

Adapt Your CV for the Role

If you’ve got loads of experience then that’s great, but it might not all be relevant to the role you’re applying for. Don’t be afraid to lose something from your CV if there’s no real benefit to including it this time.

It’s always a good idea to make sure your CV is a match for the job you’re applying for. This doesn’t mean you should stretch the truth, but that you should include relevant information to the job description and company – that’s why it’s okay to lose things from the copy.

Do some research on the business and make notes from the job ad. This will help you to find ways to highlight why you’re an ideal fit. Have you clocked the keywords used in the job description? If relevant, weave some of these through your CV so that the Hiring Manager will catch them as they read.

If you don’t have any creative industry experience, then it’s still possible to tailor your CV to appeal to the employer. Focus more on how the skills and talents you developed in previous roles apply to the job you’ve set your sights on.

Be Flawless

Mistakes on a job resume might seem minor but this can put employers off. Taking extra care to proofread and edit your CV to perfection is essential. The person reading your resume will be able to tell when you’ve put serious effort into creating it, and this can naturally give you a boost.

Asking someone to double-check your CV is an easy way to spot any errors you’ve overlooked. It’s also a good idea to get a second opinion so you can give yourself the best chance of success.

The simplest way to give your CV the edge is to work with a Recruiter, as they can share their wealth of industry knowledge with you. Not only will they help you to polish your resume, but they’ll also connect you with the most appropriate jobs in your local area. For example, if you’re a graphic designer in New South Wales, then connecting with a recruitment agency in Sydney will streamline your job search.

Keep Design in Mind

Although the written content of your resume is naturally the most important consideration, it’s also wise to make it easy on the eyes.

To make your creative CV look good, you should use:

clear section headings
consistent formatting
easily readable font and font size
bullet points for key info
white space liberally – have ample separation between each section

If you’re not proud of the way your CV looks, then it isn’t finished yet. Make sure you’re keen to show it off before you submit it for consideration.

Applying for Creative Jobs

Now that you know how to create an eye-catching resume, you can immerse yourself in the process of getting the job of your dreams.

Remember, no two roles are identical so don’t be tempted to hone your CV once and send it to multiple employers. Put the work in now and you’ll soon be thanking yourself in the future.

For further help on your journey to land your next creative role, check out our Tips and Resources for Job Seekers or connect with us directly for a chat about your goals.