End Of An Era for Rice Consulting

*** Please note that what you read below was written on Friday 1st April in New Zealand.  A date known for nefarious pranks and mischief.  We are truly grateful for the deluge of well wishes that accompanied this post, and still are now, but please bear that in mind when reacting to this “news”.  Thanks!  Jonathan Rice (Rice Consulting MD….still) ***

Good morning recruiters of New Zealand. Great to see so many of you at the #RicePowWow last night, especially as it will be my last. I was tempted to make this announcement last night, but opted instead to confide in a few of you in person, before issuing this press release on my recruitment blog of 5 years, The Whiteboard.

Every recruiter has a shelf life, it’s a tough gig to maintain, and I really do take my hat off to those “career recruiters” out there. For me, after a decade in this wild industry, it is time for the next chapter. A sense of creeping disillusionment with the way our industry operates was really brought home to me by some of the behaviour I witnessed post-PowWow by some of our industry’s so-called “thought leaders” last night.

But I’m not here to be judgmental. I appreciate all the support the recruitment community has afforded me over the past six years of running Rice Consulting, and I am thankful for the rewards and opportunities the recruitment industry has provided me too.

I will be in touch with some of my more closer acquaintances in person to discuss this in more depth, but the business will continue as usual without me. Due to the necessary change in shareholding the business will be changing its name and brand too. I wish Sean Walters all the best with continuing to build the legacy of what I started, and am happy to reveal the new business name and brand here, skillfully created by the talented brand strategists and creatives at Adcorp:

^ Jonathan Rice

“After over 6 years at the helm, the business has never been in a better state, and I thank Jon for giving me this opportunity. “Stepping up” is always daunting, but, as a business which has always tried to foster fresh-thinking and innovation, it’s a challenge that I’ll relish. I firmly believe that to our clients and candidates alike, this represents an exciting new chapter for Walters Consulting. Under my stewardship, we plan to grow the business in terms of geographical footprint, with our new Gore office opening in quarter three of this year. There’ll be the same level of candidate and client care, with an increased focus on fun. Our ethos is that changing jobs shouldn’t be stressful or painful. Think of Walters Consulting as the whiskey in your water and sugar in your tea. It’s a new chilled-out entertainer approach to recruitment, which will be both refreshing and ground breaking in equal measure.

My thanks also goes out to Adcorp for the re-brand. We’ve been informed that the new logo represents “progression”, a “sense of movement”, and a “citrus-fresh approach to recruitment”; a brand that combines both the “young/old paradigm” and the “duality of man-and/or-woman”.

Travel and charitable commitments permitting, Jon will still be involved in an advisory capacity, although will not be involved in day to day operations. Therefore, CV floats will now be coming from me, so please add me to your “safe sender” list on Microsoft Outlook. On a personal level, I’d like to thank Jon for his leadership and direction since the founding of the business. The recruitment industry’s loss will be the Sumatran orangutans gain.”

^ Sean Walters, Vice President, Walters Consulting