Politics

Job Hugging (and why I prefer “self-love”)

“…and trust me, we’re going to be dealing with many more w@nkers once the market improves” I find myself saying to Claudia during her annual review this week. This is my version of wisdom. Or motivation. Or both. Of course, calling candidates (and some clients) “w@nkers” is frowned upon in…

Sean WaltersApril 10, 2026

Employment Politics Recruitment

Thanks heaps Donny

Well we’ve had a good run of it. For most of us, we’ve seen almost 8 weeks of business growth and positivity. Ignoring the two years of recession, I don’ think we can be too spiteful towards a tiny-handed, demented, nepo brat who seems intent on causing constant global instability.…

Sean WaltersMarch 6, 2026

Politics Recruitment Technology

Proofreaders, Prodigies, and the AI Panic

As if I wasn’t predictable enough, a blog criticising the RCSA is followed by a blog about AI. One about All of Government and another taking the p*ss out of Consult will make it a full-house. However, short of a seriously lame post comparing “your next hire” with an Olympic…

Sean WaltersFebruary 20, 2026

Employment Politics Recruitment Uncategorized

Regulated recruiters or a regular waste of time?

Following a biblical flood, I'm currently having my bathroom renovated. I'm actually having three bathrooms renovated simultaneously, but this adds nothing to the analogy, and only more debt to me. Due to the scale of the renovation required, I need the work of an architect and consent from our beloved…

Sean WaltersDecember 5, 2025

Employment Politics Recruitment Work

NZ and Me: The Story of a Droopy Pecker

"Keep ya pecker up" 'tis what they say. And having gone through a run of personal bad luck recently, I couldn't agree more. Without dwelling on it, I've had a motorbike stolen, a bathroom and bedroom destroyed by flood, shingles, two weird growths cut out of my body, and a…

Sean WaltersNovember 7, 2025

Employment Human Resources Politics Recruitment

Stuart Nash…and other irrelevancies

Much to the bookmakers' delight, I avoided this one last week. Although the story broke just at the moment when I'm typically scratching around for a blog topic, I knew that the magnitude of the story would see it more-than-covered in the mainstream press. Yes, it would have been easy…

Sean WaltersSeptember 18, 2025

Employment Human Resources Politics Recruitment

Life after Recruitment, when recruitment is life

I read a semi-interesting Herald article about anti-abortionist Chris Luxon this week. Being semi-interesting, it was of course behind a paywall, so apologies if you can't read it. For those who refuse to pay for news, it highlights how Luxon's approval rating is at a two year low, having dropped…

Sean WaltersSeptember 5, 2025

Employment Politics Recruitment

Christchurch recruitment: Death by a thousand cuts

I don't blog about Christchurch much. Odd in some ways given that it's New Zealand's second largest city. In fact, based on the news coverage that the Garden City receives in general, it seems hard to believe that it's almost twice as big (by population) as Wellington. Wellington, being the…

Sean WaltersAugust 1, 2025

Employment Job Boards Politics Sourcing Technology

Drowning in a sea of candidates

Although I could use the data generated by our sophisticated CRM, I, like most recruiters, like to rely on a little thing known as gut-feel. Let's be real, who needs solid, defensible, researched and reasoned information, when we can provide anecdotes, hear-say, speculation, and rumour. If you're an agency leader…

Sean WaltersJuly 25, 2025

Human Resources Politics Recruitment Work

More job losses at Robert Walters highlight the cost of (mis)management

It's been another tough seven days at Robert Walters. Regular readers may remember my blog from last November, back when Robert Walters pulled-pin on their Christchurch operation, leaving 7 or so employees without a job just before Christmas. If my sources, and there are plenty of them, are anything to…

Sean WaltersJune 6, 2025