New Zealand

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

Recruitment Sourcing

The Ten Commandments of Recruitment

The last few years have not presented ideal conditions to learn the craft of recruitment. The post-Covid bounce, coupled with the dearth of candidates has skewed the nature of what recruitment really is. If you have started your career during this period, and forgetting the past 12 months, you could…

Sean WaltersFebruary 23, 2024

Employment Human Resources Politics Recruitment

How Awful Are We?

If you spend any amount of time on LinkedIn, you'll see that Recruitment Consultants are almost universally disliked. Recently I've spent a bit of time dealing with other industries who are also perceived as being awful. Here's my ratings: Real Estate Agents I've just sold and bought a house, so…

Sean WaltersJanuary 26, 2024