New Zealand

Employment Human Resources Job Boards Recruitment Work

2024: A Year.

I've asked a few recruiters of late how 2024 has been for them, and comments have ranged from "worse than the GFC" to "f*ckin' sh*te mate". Thankfully, it is all but over. SEEK were kind enough to buy me a few beers and some lovely socks this week, and overall…

Sean WaltersDecember 20, 2024

Employment Human Resources Politics

180,000 reasons not to get a pay rise

Being originally from the UK, I find the MMP voting system here refreshingly "European". For those who don't know or care, the UK, being stuck in the 1930s, uses the outdated "first past the post" system. To explain briefly, the UK is divided into over 600 constituencies. Come election time,…

Sean WaltersDecember 6, 2024

Employment Recruitment

Robert Walters exit the Christchurch market

“Cause I lost my job two weeks before Christmas” sings the late, great Sixto Rodriguez in his 1971 non-hit “Cause”. If a sadder first line of a sadder song has ever been written, I don’t want to hear it. Unfortunately for some, life is imitating art right now in the…

Sean WaltersNovember 21, 2024

Employment Recruitment

Loose lips sink (relation)ships

I heard a story doing the rounds this week which can be traced back to an NZ-based global recruitment firm. Apparently, a Consultant, whilst about their business, spotted a colleague "interviewing" with a competitor. And being the grade-A corporate snitch that they are, decided to take a surreptitious photo of…

Sean WaltersSeptember 20, 2024

Employment Politics Recruitment

Looking up from the gutter

Because I like cheap property and long commutes, I live in the Auckland suburb of Titirangi. For those who don't know Auckland, or perhaps New Zealand, Titirangi is mostly bush, hills, and women who look like they've got Lenny Kravitz in a headlock. Because of these hills, landslips are common.…

Sean WaltersAugust 30, 2024

Human Resources Politics Recruitment

UK Recruiters prove that the grass isn’t always greener

A tale of perspective today. As you may or may not know, I am currently in the "United" Kingdom. My use of inverted commas is of course intentional given the general feeling of the place. With Brexit, a recent General Election drubbing of a party in power for 14 years,…

Sean WaltersAugust 15, 2024

Employment Job Boards Recruitment

SEEK continue to underserve the NZ Market

This week I received, as did you, the "SEEK Employment Trends Quarterly Snapshot". A riveting read as the title suggests, but please allow me to give you the edited highlights. Firstly, this is a non-New Zealand specific document. In fact, we open with an overview of the Australian market, followed…

Sean WaltersAugust 9, 2024

Employment Human Resources Work

Tough times creating bad candidate experiences

Have you ever noticed how high demand affects the quality of customer service we experience? If you've ever found yourself shopping on Oxford Street in London at Christmas time, you'll see this. Chubby, sallow-skinned English women wrestling Zara tops from each other to then be treated like cattle by equally…

Sean WaltersJuly 19, 2024

Politics Recruitment Work

Five BIG stories from the world of Recruitment

Regular readers will know that I often find myself scraping around for a blog topic on a Friday morning. Not so today. Following the blog hotline ringing off the hook this week, here's a snapshot of FIVE big things that have happened to the industry. Think of this like a…

Sean WaltersMay 31, 2024

Employment Recruitment Uncategorized

How to future-proof your recruitment career

If we exclude the actions of global recruitment firms, which I typically do, the last 12 months have been the most tumultuous I've witnessed in my 13 years in the New Zealand recruitment industry. Even during Covid, most of us retained our jobs. Sure we took pay cuts, didn't shower,…

Sean WaltersApril 5, 2024