2025 Market Salary Survey

AI just joined your interview panel.

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:30:01 GMT

Somewhere in the world right now, a hiring manager is asking a question… and three seconds later ChatGPT is answering it.

In 2020, I was 11 weeks pregnant as the world began to shut down. 6ish months later I went on maternity leave, and when I returned 10 months after that (if you’re struggling with the maths, we’re now in July 2021), the recruitment world had CHANGED.

For 10 years prior I’d had it drilled into me that if you couldn’t pick someone out of a lineup, you didn’t submit them for a job. Video interviews were a last resort, typically only if someone lived overseas, otherwise, it rarely happened - and now I arrived back in a market where if you couldn’t submit your candidate 24 hours after seeing their CV for the first time, they’d get a job before you’d even thought about formatting their resume. In addition to that, people WERE more conscious of germs, so obligating people to come into the city, on a train, or bus, to interview with you for 30 minutes was a thing of the past.

I’ll be honest, it took me a while to adjust, and I didn’t like it.

One of the best things about my job was getting to meet new people all the time, and building a rapport and understanding of who they were and what they were like, that is unmatchable in experience by meeting face to face. I’ve LITERALLY made now lifelong friends (and boyfriends! Don’t judge, I was very professional) by interviewing candidates in person, and realising they were my kind of people.

However, life is change, I adapted, and 5 years on, the recruitment market is about to flip again.

In just the last week, I’ve had two hiring managers tell me they have been in a video interview, and it was obvious the candidate they were speaking with was reading answers provided by AI. Remember when Googling answers during an interview felt risky? That was adorable.

In each case they told the candidate they were speaking with that they wanted to hear what THEY thought, and what THEY had to say, not AI, and they carried on with the interview. In each instance I don’t believe the candidate got the job, but honestly, I thought both hiring managers were very gracious about the circumstance. What kind of awful position do people want to get themselves into where they secure a job because of knowledge they don’t possess and skills they don’t have? Of course, that’s a harsh perspective - maybe these candidates get nervous in interviews, and struggle to articulate what they DO know, but either way, it makes me nervous for them, and the organisation who might hire them.

Now we move to point number 2- recruiters are being told they are going to be replaced by AI, but hilariously, (or ironically? I don’t know, I always struggle to know what’s truly ironic), I believe we’re going to come full circle. I think the recruitment process of the future is going to involve compulsory face to face interviews (and I guess people who are short sighted will have to remove their glasses in case they are AI enabled?!), where AI cannot impede the interviewers ability to get an accurate read on capability, cultural fit and competence. In a world where writing an AI CV takes as long as it does for me to sneeze 3 times, how will organisations ensure they’re getting what they’re paying for?

To add to this, external recruiters (like the glorious people who work at PRA) are going to have to jack up (or brush up, depending on their baseline) on their depth of technical knowledge to be able to dive into what the resume presented to them says, and translate this into what it means in the real world, and know how to probe and dig to ensure what’s in front of them matches what’s in front of them. Wait- that’s confusing (isn’t all of this?!).

With little fanfare or announcement, the modern interview panel now includes a recruiter, a hiring manager, and an invisible robot whispering in the candidate’s ear. Really this is the story of a new interview skill: maintaining eye contact while secretly reading bullet points generated 0.8 seconds ago.

Nothing is stopping this from happening (yet), but watch out, it won’t last long.

Do you know the best thing about this article? I wrote it on an aeroplane without wifi, to make sure I didn’t cheat and use AI! It’s tempting, I get it! But I’ve got something AI doesn’t.…a memory of what this job felt like before speed became the primary KPI.

I’ve sat across the table from people who were brilliant on paper and wrong in person. I’ve also met people who were terrible at interviews and incredible at the job. That messy, human gap between what’s written and what’s real is where recruitment actually lives. AI can help people sound smarter, faster, sharper. But it can’t replace instinct, curiosity, or the ability to sense when someone lights up talking about the thing they love.

So yes, the tools will change. The process will evolve. The pace will keep accelerating. But the end goal stays stubbornly, inconveniently human. And maybe the future of hiring isn’t about competing with AI at all, it’s about doubling down on the parts of this work that technology still can’t fake.

Connection. Judgement. Trust.

Turns out, those were always the real job.

Written by, Carrah Jordan

PRA CEO

The AI Authenticity Gap: Why AI-Generated CVs Could Be Holding You Back

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 05:04:02 GMT

The AI Authenticity Gap: Why Your AI-Generated CV Might Be Costing You the Job

I see hundreds of CVs every week. I spend more time on LinkedIn than I care to admit. And one thing that's becoming increasingly prevalent is the appearance of overly authored posts and descriptions with plenty of words but precious little substance. Much of this has coincided with the widespread adoption of tools like ChatGPT.

As someone working adjacent to the tech space, I was genuinely excited when AI started making waves across the world. I thought this was going to be a real game changer, and in many ways, it has been. But the overuse of generic AI-generated content has become so prevalent that I feel some people are now failing to show their authentic voice - the very thing that makes them stand out in a competitive market.

The Early Adopter's Reality Check

I was one of those people who tried to adapt early to AI, using it to help me in my professional and personal life. But here's the crucial difference: I didn't just accept the standard output I was given. I took the bones and made them my own. I used AI as a tool, not as a ghost-writer.

Too often now, I see CVs that have been completely assembled by ChatGPT - so generic, so obviously automated, that I genuinely feel the candidate would have been better off not sending anything at all. These applications don't just blend into the background; they actively work against the candidate by signalling a lack of effort and authenticity.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Recent research validates what recruiters like myself are seeing daily. A May 2025 survey of 600 U.S. hiring managers revealed some startling statistics:

One in five recruiters (19.6%) would outright reject a candidate with an AI-generated resume or cover letter
Over a third of hiring managers (33.5%) can spot an AI-generated resume in under 20 seconds
58% of hiring managers express concern about AI-generated applications

Think about that for a moment. Hiring managers are detecting AI-written CVs in less time than it takes to read a single paragraph. The very tool candidates think gives them an edge is often the red flag that gets them filtered out.

The Efficiency Versus Laziness Debate

When ChatGPT first emerged, many of my colleagues said outright that this was going to make people lazy. I argued against that view. I believed that just as Excel made formulating reports easier without making us worse at analysis, ChatGPT would help people be more efficient in their work - freeing them up to focus on strategic thinking and creative problem-solving rather than getting bogged down in formatting and structure.

I still believe AI can be a powerful efficiency tool when used correctly. The problem is that many candidates aren't using it to enhance their work; they're using it to replace their work entirely.

The Personal Touch in an AI World

While improvements are being made to make AI-generated content seem less generic, there's a fundamental issue when you're putting forward something meant to be a representation of yourself. Your CV is your professional story. It's your opportunity to showcase not just what you've done, but who you are, how you think, and what makes you different from the hundreds of other applicants.

When you rely on AI to put it all together, you lose all control and that crucial personal touch. The research backs this up: Baby Boomers and Gen X hiring managers are particularly sceptical, with one in four Baby Boomer managers likely to reject fully AI-generated resumes. Even among younger Millennials and Gen Z managers, who you might expect to be more accepting of AI use, there's a clear expectation that the final product must sound human, show real effort, and reflect the individual behind the words.

The Right Way to Use AI in Your Job Search

By all means, use the tools available to you. AI can be excellent for:

Brainstorming bullet points you might have forgotten
Identifying gaps in your experience narrative
Improving grammar and clarity in your existing writing
Suggesting different ways to frame an achievement
Creating a first draft structure that you then completely personalise

But don't think that because you can do something quickly and easily, you're going to get the same results as someone who actually takes the time to show they've invested effort. The data shows that 74% of hiring managers have encountered AI-generated content in applications, and they're becoming increasingly adept at spotting it.

Standing Out in a Tough Market

It's a challenging market out there in many sectors of the technology industry. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to ensure you can show exactly who you are. That means:

Write in your own voice - Not the corporate-speak that AI defaults to
Include specific examples - Generic achievements sound hollow
Show your personality - What drives you? What excites you about your work?
Customize for each role - AI-generated applications often feel one-size-fits-all
Proofread beyond grammar - Does this sound like something you would actually say?

The Bottom Line

The irony is that in trying to use AI to save time and improve their chances, many candidates are actually undermining themselves. They're creating a sea of sameness in which their application drowns rather than floats to the top.

Remember: hiring managers want to hire people, not algorithms. They want to understand your unique perspective, your problem-solving approach, your communication style. They want to see evidence that you've put thought and effort into your application because that's a strong indicator of the thought and effort you'll put into the job itself.

Use AI as a tool in your toolkit - but make sure the final product is unmistakably, authentically you. That's what will make you stand out in 2025 and beyond.

Need help crafting a CV that showcases your authentic voice while still being competitive in today's market? Get in touch, I'd be happy to provide guidance on how to strike that perfect balance between efficiency and authenticity.

Article written by:

Jack Davies
PRA Brisbane

Associate Consultant - Development and Testing

M: 0483 969 454

E: jack.davies@pra.com.au

Download Your PRA Job Seeker Handbook 2026

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 04:33:10 GMT

Job hunting can be tricky, but we’ve got you covered. Our 2026 PRA Job Seeker Handbook is full of tips and insights to help you:

Make your applications stand out
Nail your interviews
Navigate offers with confidence
And land the role that’s right for you

Whether you’re actively looking or just thinking about your next step, this handbook is a handy guide to have.

Download your free copy below!

From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Finding Your Fit in a Shifting Job Market

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 05:08:09 GMT

“I’ve been applying for jobs for months, and I’ve had lots of interviews, but I keep coming second, or they cancel the role, or put it on hold, and I’m starting to get worried about how I’m going to pay my bills”.

I have had this conversation, or one that sounds just like it, with lots of candidates in the past few months, and it’s agonizing for them and weighs heavily on me. The part of my job I love the most is helping people put their best foot forward, highlight their skills that really matter, and hone in on what they love doing most; and help them find the role that fits that.

So - aside from a tough economy and a tighter job market, what are some of the common challenges I’m seeing candidates who are job hunting have?

1) They’ve been in a job with a weird job title, or a weird mix of responsibilities/ delegations, and now they aren’t sure where they fit- which makes applying for roles and selling themselves feel hard

2) They’ve been in really senior roles, that aren’t as abundant as, well, less senior roles, and so with more competition in the market, they don’t know what to do if they can’t do the type of work they’ve been doing to date (or earn the salary they’re used to)

3) The expectations of the job they used to do have changed (due to things like AI), and so now an introverted and shy developer doesn’t have the same value proposition as a ‘consultant’ type, who can be an “analyst/programmer” or future consultant/prompt engineer.

But while the job market is tough, it’s not without opportunity, and more importantly, you’re not alone in navigating it. We’re here to help guide you through it with expert advice, encouragement, and practical tools.

A couple of general job-hunting ‘first impressions count’ considerations, presentation and communication:

Presentation:

During Covid, when everyone was working from home, for some, professional presentation standards slipped a bit — and now the market is correcting. Unfortunately, most companies do judge a book by its cover. The Halo Effect is a well-known psychology concept. If you look well-groomed and put together, people subconsciously extend that positive impression to other qualities — like competence, reliability, and honesty. This is a cognitive shortcut our brains take when forming quick judgments. Additionally, Risk Assessment Bias is a bias that means humans are wired to make rapid judgments about safety and trustworthiness — and appearance is one of the first cues we use. If someone looks orderly and conventional, it’s often interpreted as “low risk” compared to someone whose presentation is far outside the norm.

Communication:

Communication is universally recognised as one of the most important requirements in a new hire. In 2025, business insider highlighted that communication was the most in-demand skills even in technology where AI is advancing. While a 2025 report reveals that 92% of hiring professionals now say soft skills—including communication—are just as important as technical skills. Can you confidently say that communication is your strongest skill? Have you worked with a career coach, vocal coach or mentor to talk about how you might improve your communication skills and/ or interview skills? Recruiters are an invaluable resource to ask to provide feedback on how you interview, and if your communication skills could be improved in any way. ChatGPT can also help with suggesting and refining answers to interview questions so you can practice before a face-to-face interview.

Now that piece is sorted, let’s talk about strategies you can leverage to move forward. To begin, I’ll address my first point listed at the start of this article:

1) You’ve been in a job with a weird job title, or a weird mix of responsibilities/ delegations, and now you aren’t sure where you fit.

This is a great time to chat to a recruiter or a career coach (who specialises in your industry), and ask them where they think you fit, or what kind of job titles you should be looking at on job boards. An exercise I often ask candidate’s I’m working with to complete is to go on Seek and look Australia wide at jobs that are in the general ballpark of what they do, and start reading the responsibilities of these roles- note the job titles being used, and see if the job titles and responsibilities align with what they’ve been doing, and update their CV to include these key terms of titles (only if they are applicable of course!). Sometimes what you’ve been doing vs. how it’s described in other companies isn’t the same, so make sure you’ve got common language between your resume and the job ads on job boards like Seek and LinkedIn. Sometimes it’s also appropriate to have more than one CV- perhaps your most recent role was a blend of both program manager and General Manager and one

CV highlight both of these things can send mixed messages, and it may be worth breaking down the responsibilities for each into two separate documents, depending on the role you’re applying for, so you don’t spook anyone that you’re “too senior” OR “too junior”!

2) You’ve been in senior roles, that aren’t as abundant as, well, less senior roles, and so with more competition in the market, you don’t know what to do if you can’t do the type of work they’ve been doing to date (or achieve the salary you’re used to).

The reality of being a senior professional is that senior roles aren’t as abundant as junior roles- so this may mean looking at interim roles in the meantime, that you are qualified to do, and can still enjoy, while you wait for the perfect opportunity to arise. If you are a Director of Engineering, this might look like considering Scrum Master or Iteration Manager roles (on a contract ideally, so you’re not leaving people in the lurch when your dream role comes along in the medium term). If you’re an Operations Manager, perhaps looking a process improvement roles or other coordination type roles (depending on the nature of your role) could be an ideal stop gap. Once again, it may be worth having two CV’s that highlight the respective skills you have at a more senior level and a less senior level.

The key here is to lean into your strengths while building complementary skills that boost your value proposition. Let’s be clear- you don’t need to suddenly become an extrovert, but you can focus on improving communication in structured, low-pressure ways—such as writing clear documentation, preparing concise updates for stakeholders, or practicing short explanations of your work to non- technical audiences. Positioning yourself as someone who can translate complex technical detail into understandable insights can be just as valuable as being outspoken. You should also highlight adaptability, continuous learning, and curiosity about AI and new tools, framing yourself as forward-

looking rather than resistant to change. Even small steps—like taking an online course in business analysis, practicing interview answers that show problem-solving impact, or learning prompt engineering basics—signal to employers that they’re evolving into the “analyst/programmer” or consultant type the market increasingly demands, without abandoning the core technical expertise that still underpins your strength.

You’re Doing Better Than You Think

In tough times, it's easy to feel like you’re falling behind. But if you're actively job searching, applying, or even just considering your next move, you're already making progress. Finding a job today isn’t just about luck. It’s about persistence, strategy, and being open to possibilities. Whether you are in-between roles, switching careers, or starting fresh, every step you take is a step forward.

What Else You Can Do Right Now

In addition to the above, here are some practical tips to help you stay focused and confident in your search:

1. Look for a career, not just a job

Now is the perfect time to reflect on where you want to go long term. Look for roles that match your values, skills, and ambitions, not just your current needs.

2. Upskill and refresh your toolkit

Short courses, certifications, and workshops can dramatically boost your employability.

3. Be flexible — and open-minded

Part-time or contract work can often lead to permanent opportunities. Don't be afraid to explore new industries or ways of working.

4. Get expert support

This is where we shine. PRA offers personalised advice, résumé help, interview coaching, and real market insights to help you stand out.

The PRA Jobseeker Handbook

We know the job search can feel overwhelming, so we’ve created a resource to make it easier.

Our Jobseeker Handbook is a free, downloadable guide full of practical advice to help you:

Build a standout résumé and cover letter
Prepare for interviews with confidence
Access the best job boards and training resources
Map out your career goals and steps to get there

Whether you're fresh out of university, returning to the workforce, or shifting careers, this guide will support you every step of the way.

So don’t give up. Keep going. And when you're ready, we're right here beside you.

At PRA, we don’t just place people into jobs, we help build careers.

Professional, experts, fun and approachable that’s who we are, and how we show up for you.

Article written by:

Carrah Jordan | PRA Director – QLD
P: +61730717200 M: +61483950845

Is AI Making Workplaces Smarter, or Less Fair?

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 01:33:49 GMT

Is AI Making Workplaces Smarter, or Less Fair?

As tools like ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini become embedded in everyday work across industries, it’s more important than ever for organisations to use them responsibly, fairly, and ethically.

Just as crucial is the question of trust. As users, we need to know that the information these tools produce comes from reliable and unbiased sources. To understand how that trust is being built in practice, I spoke with Fernando Mourão , SEEK’s Head of Responsible AI. He shared how one of Australia’s leading tech employers is moving beyond the AI hype and putting real focus on fairness, accountability, and transparency in the way it designs and uses AI.

1. Bringing Responsibility into the AI Development Lifecycle

Fernando described his role at SEEK as one deeply embedded in operational culture:

“My role is basically helping to operationalise practices and behaviours that allow SEEK to deliver AI in a safe, reliable, and responsible way.”

SEEK is an organisation that has over 200 people working on AI projects, and has been utilising Artificial Intelligence tools within the organisation for over 10 years. Fernando highlights that it isn’t about writing policies and walking away. It's about embedding responsible AI practices across people, platforms, and pipelines, from initial design to post-deployment monitoring.

2. Bias Isn’t Just a Data Problem

When I asked whether biased outputs stem purely from the data used, Fernando took a broader view:

“Bias comes from business decisions, algorithms itself, and many other aspects.”

He added: “This kind of impact is particularly important in our domain because AI can often replicate or amplify existing biases, especially in recruitment. And we definitely want to avoid that. We need to anticipate and mitigate those risks wherever possible.”

For SEEK, addressing bias means going beyond clean data, it’s about thoughtful design, governance, and building awareness across teams.

3. Addressing Bias in the Real World

The conversation highlighted some of the proactive steps SEEK is taking:

Defining a clear impact framework for its AI tools
Implementing systems to detect multilingual and algorithmic bias
Creating feedback loops between policy, education, and technology

These efforts reflect the Diversity Council Australia's T.R.E.A.D. Guidelines, which encourage organisations to Team up, Reflect, Educate, Acquire, and Decide when deploying AI in recruitment. The framework is designed to help businesses introduce AI tools with greater awareness and accountability, reducing the risk of reinforcing bias rather than eliminating it.

4. AI Accessibility:

A Double-Edged SwoAs AI becomes more accessible to non-technical users, Fernando stressed the risks of rushed adoption:
“AI is now more accessible, so more people are using it. But that also means more risk, because they don’t always understand how to use it properly.”

With ease of use comes greater responsibility. Without the right education and oversight, even well-meaning users can introduce harm or inequity.

“It’s like having a knife in your kitchen. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be dangerous.”

This concern is supported by research. Dr Natalie Sheard of the University of Melbourne, in her article “Discrimination by Recruitment Algorithms is a Real Problem,” writes:

“As the use by employers of AI to screen job applicants grows, there are serious risks of discrimination against women, older applicants and minority groups.”

Sheard cautions that until proper regulation is in place, organisations must tread carefully with these technologies, especially in hiring where the impact on people’s lives is direct and long-lasting.

Final Thoughts:

The stakes aren’t just operational; they’re human. Whether it’s screening a job applicant, prioritising a customer query, or shaping internal decisions, AI systems are already making choices that affect people’s lives.

If you're working with or implementing AI in your organisation, my advice is: don’t wait for regulation to catch up. Start asking the hard questions now, involve diverse voices early, and treat ethical design as core to the process.

If we’re not intentional in how we build AI, we risk deepening the very biases we hope to eliminate.

As Artificial Intelligence becomes more embedded in the tools we use every day, are we doing enough to ensure it serves people in a meaningful and fair way?

Author,

Jonny Church

Principal Recruitment Consultant at PRA
Recruiting all things Data, AI and Architecture

References

Sheard, N. (2025). Discrimination by Recruitment Algorithms is a Real Problem. University of Melbourne – Pursuit. https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/discrimination-by-recruitment-algorithms-is-a-real-problem

Diversity Council Australia (2024). Inclusive AI at Work – T.R.E.A.D. Guidelines. https://www.dca.org.au/news/media-releases/dca-releases-guidelines-to-reduce-bias-in-ai-recruitment

Conversation with - Fernando Mourão on Wednesday, 2nd of July 2025 https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernando-mour%C3%A3o-a40a5183/

2025 PRA Market Salary Survey

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 01:17:06 GMT

Download our 2025 Market Salary Survey.

W hether you're hiring, job hunting, or just curious, our updated Salary & Market Guide provides clear benchmarks across the tech and engineering space, helping you make confident, informed decisions for the year ahead.

Talent Trends and what’s next in 2025: The future of recruitment

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 02:48:22 GMT

Talent Trends and what’s next in 2025: The future of recruitment

Can you believe 2024 is almost over? As we get ready to say goodbye to the year, let’s look back at some of the key talent trends that shaped the market in 2024 and are set to continue their influence into 2025. Spoiler alert: It’s all about speed, upskilling, and an experience that puts candidates first.

1. AI is here to stay (and it’s getting better)

AI is still a game-changer for recruitment, and it’s only getting more powerful. Candidates are embracing AI, especially when it helps match them with the right job faster and more accurately. 23% of candidates want a job that’s a perfect fit, and 22% want it done quickly – and with the right recruiter using the right tech, these goals are totally achievable. (80% of candidates expect to be placed within three weeks. No pressure, right?) AI isn’t replacing recruiters; it’s helping them do their jobs even better.

2. Upskilling and reskilling: the new recruiting superpower

As tech evolves at lightning speed, companies will place even more emphasis on upskilling and reskilling their teams. Forget looking for the “perfect” candidate – employers are increasingly hunting for people with potential, curiosity, and a willingness to grow. This trend will be especially big in industries like tech, healthcare, and manufacturing, where skill gaps are growing fast. Recruitment strategies will focus more on learning and development programs, helping employees keep pace with change and close those ever-widening gaps.

3. Candidate experience: make it great or they’ll walk

In 2025, if you’re not treating your candidates well, you’re missing out. The candidate experience will be top of mind for job seekers. They want a recruitment process that’s smooth, transparent, and quick – no one has time for delays or confusion. More than 45% of candidates chose their current employer based on their experience or the positive stories they heard from others. So, if you want to attract the best talent, your recruitment process needs to shine. Partnering with a trusted agency can help you make sure every step is seamless and positive, from the first application to the final interview.

4. The gig economy: not just a trend, it’s the future

The gig economy isn’t slowing down anytime soon. More professionals are seeking flexibility and the freedom to work on project-based roles, and companies are happily obliging. 75% of contract workers say they’d work with their employer again if the experience was positive, if they had access to upskilling, and if the onboarding process was automated (because let’s be real, no one wants to fill out endless forms). Expect to see even more gig work in sectors like tech, marketing, and design, where flexibility is the name of the game, and the work fits neatly into short-term goals and projects.

The bottom line: recruitment is evolving fast

As we look toward 2025, recruitment will be all about embracing new technologies, prioritising personal growth, and delivering a candidate experience that wows. For companies, this means being flexible, forward-thinking, and always striving for better. For candidates, it means more opportunities, faster processes, and a focus on career growth. The future of work is here – are you ready to take it on?

The New Right to Disconnect in Australia: A Positive Shift for Work-Life Balance

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 06:17:27 GMT

This week saw a significant change Australian workplace rights with new legislation that empowers employees to set boundaries, ensuring that work does not intrude into their personal time outside of official working hours. It demonstrates the increasing importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and the introduction of the "right to disconnect" is a significant step in this direction. The change has benefits for Employees & Employers and we dive into them below:

Combating Constant Availability: The legislation addresses the growing issue of employees feeling pressured to be constantly available, a problem worsened by remote work and the prevalence of digital communication tools.
Protecting Personal Time: Workers can now fully disengage from work-related communications during their non-working hours, except in cases of emergency or pre-agreed necessity.
Fostering better culture: By encouraging employees to disconnect, companies can foster a more motivated, productive workforce, as employees return to work refreshed and focused.
Promoting Mental Health: This shift towards prioritising mental health and well-being in the workplace may lead to a healthier, more sustainable work culture.

What are some tips for employers with this change?

Encourage Clear Boundaries: Support your employees in setting and respecting boundaries between work and personal time to help maintain their work-life balance.
Avoid After-Hours Communication : Minimise sending work-related emails or messages outside of official working hours unless it's an emergency or has been pre-agreed upon.
Promote a Healthy Work Culture: Foster an environment where disconnecting after work is the norm, helping to reduce stress and prevent burnout among your team.
Lead by Example: As a leader, demonstrate the importance of the right to disconnect by respecting your own boundaries and not engaging in work communications after hours.
Provide Flexibility: Offer flexible working arrangements that allow employees to manage their time effectively while still meeting their professional responsibilities.

Whilst it will take a while to adjust the changes, together Employees & Employers can work together on balancing work and personal time.

Job seeking insights for the remainder of 2024

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 06:44:07 GMT

It is no secret that today’s job market is a tough one for jobseekers. Minimal investment in large-scale technology projects, lack of market confidence, high interest rates, and inflation still tracking above the 2-3% target has reduced the number of available opportunities and pushed salaries and day rates below their post-covid boom. This trend is reflected in the numbers - in the most recent jobs report from Seek, ad volumes had fallen well over 20% in Victoria and New South Wales, led by weakness in the hospitality, tourism and technology sectors.

With an increased number of applicants for every position, jobseekers applying through standard portals such as Seek and Linkedin face an upward battle getting recruiters, talent acquisition teams and hiring managers to view their CV amid a glut of other highly skilled candidates.

The Australian Chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis recently held an event, supported by PMO and Agile training services organisation PM Partners, to address the state of the current market and what candidates can do to stand out and find their next role.

Leaders from Endeavour Drinks Group and Transgrid offered an overview of the current state of the Business Analysis market and valuable insights on what they look for when building teams.

Below are some of those insights, along with some of our own, to help you find your next gig!

Be a “generalist specialist”

In a world of constrained budgets and lean teams, individuals are often expected to perform several functions. For a Business Analyst, this may mean acting as a Scrum Master or taking on some project management responsibilities. This not only shows your ability to step-up when delivery is paramount but offers great learning opportunities so you can add more strings to your bow.

Conversely, picking a specialism can help you become and be seen as a leader in your chosen field. Growth areas include Cyber Security, Cloud, Data and AI. The list is endless but pick something that interests you and get learning!

Upskill

This is a controversial one. While some hiring managers reject certificates and training in favour of hands-on experience, others see them as a key element of a candidate’s profile. What is clear is that having certificates will certainly not harm your professional development and chances of landing the role you are looking for.

Using your time to upskill and invest in yourself shows a “learning mindset” and allows you to develop fundamental skills in your chosen capacity.

Network

While a committed and resourceful recruiter can be a huge asset, expanding your own network is a key step in finding your next role. Build connections via conferences, webinars and meetups in your space. Meeting like-minded professionals can improve your knowledge base and open doors you previously would not have had access to.

While we live and work in an increasingly digital world, getting face time with people in your arena is an unbeatable way of improving your reach.

Be flexible

The days of companies offering roles that are entirely or mostly “work-from-home” are seemingly behind us, with most positions requiring 2 to 3 days in the office. In a slow market, if you are unwilling to go to the office and swap ideas with colleagues then you will be missing out on a large portion of available positions.

Similarly, many career contractors are now opening themselves up to permanent positions with limited day-rate opportunities available in the market.

Both day rates and permanent salaries have taken a hit of around 15% in the last 12 months, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

Work on your soft skills

Invariably, hiring managers place soft skills - the ability to communicate, work in a team, collaborate and problem-solve - as equally or more important than technical know-how.

While technical skills can be taught, soft skills are seen as an inherent ability and key to creating a cooperative team or delivering a successful project.

Be an active listener. Listen to the questions being asked during the interview and respond accordingly. Too many candidates have a pre-prepared answer that does not address the question.

What do you do on a daily basis? You should be able to answer this clearly and concisely, whilst talking directly about your achievements, not just that of the team and wider business. If you can’t then practise saying it out loud to yourself or family and friends - it might make you feel silly, but it will help you in an interview scenario.

Stay positive

Receiving rejections can be a disheartening experience, but staying positive is key. The market will turn, and the right opportunity could be just around the corner.

Keep a log of all the opportunities you have applied for and do not be afraid to follow-up with hiring managers, talent teams, or recruiters - don’t be afraid of annoying people and own your own search. If the role is right for you then decision makers will appreciate you engaging in the process.

It is a tough market and you are not the only one experiencing sometimes disjointed and convoluted processes, but keep applying to relevant positions, actively engage with your network, and keep at it!

The evolving flooring industry in Australia

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:49:45 GMT

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The flooring industry in Australia is experiencing significant changes, driven by innovation, sustainability, and a demand for high-quality, durable solutions. As we navigate 2024, let's explore the key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping this dynamic sector.

Key Market Trends

Sustainable Flooring: Eco-friendly materials like bamboo, cork, and reclaimed wood are gaining popularity as consumers become more environmentally conscious.
Technological Advancements: Innovations in flooring technology are enhancing product durability and design possibilities, especially with digital printing for vinyl and laminate flooring.
Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT): LVT continues to dominate due to its versatility, affordability, and realistic appearance, making it ideal for both residential and commercial spaces.
Health and Wellness: There's an increasing demand for low-VOC flooring options to promote healthier indoor environments.

Challenges

Supply Chain Disruptions: Global supply chain issues are affecting the availability and cost of raw materials, leading to increased lead times and pricing volatility.
Skilled Labor Shortages: The construction boom has highlighted a shortage of skilled flooring installers, impacting the industry's ability to meet rising demand.
Economic Uncertainty: Fluctuating economic conditions can influence consumer spending on renovations and new constructions.

Opportunities

Sustainability Initiatives: Investing in sustainable practices and materials can attract eco-conscious consumers willing to pay a premium for green products.
Training and Development: Addressing the skilled labor shortage through training programs and apprenticeships can ensure a steady supply of qualified professionals.
Digital Transformation: Embracing digital tools, e-commerce, and virtual showrooms can streamline operations and enhance customer experience.
Customisation and Personalisation: Offering bespoke flooring solutions tailored to individual preferences can create a competitive edge and foster brand loyalty.

The Road Ahead

The flooring industry in Australia is poised for continued growth and transformation. By focusing on sustainability, innovation, and workforce development, we can navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead. Let's continue to innovate and lead the way in creating beautiful, functional, and sustainable flooring solutions.

For more information on the market reach out to Simon Madden .

Growing demand for contractors

Wed, 01 May 2024 01:02:49 GMT

The buzz around contractors

Lately, there’s been a real buzz around hiring contractors. It’s not just the latest fad; it’s a sign of changing times. Businesses and their workforces are shifting gears big time—thanks to cool tech, fresh faces in the workforce, and new twists in how companies do their thing.

Why are contractors in such hot demand? Flexibility tops the list. Tech companies, ad agencies, corporates and creative powerhouses are all on the lookout for that perfect blend of skill and agility. Contractors swoop in with their superhero-like abilities, tackle projects with precision, and then fly off to the next big thing. This means businesses can scale up or down super fast, matching their manpower to project peaks and troughs without skipping a beat.But it’s not just about filling seats. Contractors bring new ideas and bold innovations to the table. They've usually got a suitcase packed with varied experiences from working across different sectors, which means they’re often bursting with fresh perspectives that can propel a project forward.

And it’s not just the big guns reaping the benefits. Small and medium-sized businesses are getting in on the action too. Hiring a contractor lets these smaller outfits punch above their weight, snagging expert skills for a fraction of the cost of full-time pros.

Sure, contractors might bill by the hour at rates that make you blink twice, but think about the savings on taxes, benefits, and all that other HR costs. Plus, there's no strings attached. When the project’s done, everyone can shake hands and part ways without any messy breakups.

Then there’s the whole remote work revolution kicked into overdrive by Covid-19. Now, with killer collaboration tools, companies can connect with top talent from anywhere. Hello, world-class expertise, goodbye, office boundaries!

But it's not all smooth sailing. Contractors face their own set of challenges like unstable income and missing out on workplace perks. Companies that want to keep top talent coming back should think about offering some sweeteners—cool projects, flexible schedules, maybe even a reserved parking spot.

With the contractor boom, it’s also crucial to keep everything above board. Navigating the maze of labor laws and tax rules is key to keeping things legit and avoiding legal headaches. So, if you’re on the hunt for a contractor, or just curious about how they can rev up your projects, give our team a shout. We’ve got the lowdown on making contractor hires a breeze and making sure they stick around for the long haul.

2023 Company Wide Salary Guide

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 06:41:46 GMT

Download our latest guide to learn more about Company Wide Salary Guide.

Onboarding Workers Remotely: Everything You Need to Know

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 13:36:42 GMT

With the current pandemic affecting many industries, companies are moving their operations on a remote basis. We've seen businesses slowly adapt and move on as usual. As operations continue to grow, hiring new staff will inevitably take place in a remote setting.

We've prepared a step by step guide to guarantee a successful onboarding experience.
Click here to get your copy.

How to Prepare for a Video Interview

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 13:09:21 GMT

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are encouraging employees to work from home. But what if you are currently in the process of job hunting?

The good news is that your job search doesn’t have to stop, with many recruiters and employers choosing to conduct video interviews as a way to responsibly continue their hiring processes.

Whilst video conferencing has become common in people’s day-to-day work, we understand that many candidates will not have used it for formal interviews and this can often lead to preventable problems and mistakes. So, if you’re applying for a role that requires you to interview virtually, here are our top video interview tips to help you ensure it goes off without a hitch.

Set the Stage

One predictable but often overlooked element of preparing for a video interview is making sure you have the right environment. Clutter can be distracting, so try to find a quiet area of your home with a plain, minimalist background, such as in front of a blank wall.

Consider whether you have enough natural light from windows or if you need to supplement with lamps and overhead lighting. Avoid being backlit by a window, as this can make it difficult for the interviewer to see you clearly.

Finally, think about any audio disruption, for example, noises such as road traffic, ticking clocks or incoming messages and emails on your phone or laptop. This could all be distracting to both you and the interviewer, as well as cause potential issues with audibility. If there are others at home with you, consider letting them know you need quiet whilst your interview takes place.

Check Your Equipment

This may sound obvious, but it’s essential to make sure that all your equipment is functioning properly, even if you haven’t previously encountered a problem. You’d be surprised how many candidates we speak to have audio or visual issues which could easily be avoided with a little extra preparation.

Get online a few minutes beforehand and do a simple check of things like battery life and internet connection, and do a test run with the specific video conferencing software. The most common options are Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime and Google Hangouts (the interviewer/we will generally let you know which one they are going to use). Once you have everything set up, see if a friend, family member or your recruiter can call through and check that you look and sound clear – that way, you can be confident that everything is going to work as it should when it comes to the real thing

Dress the Part

We’ve all heard the jokes about telecommuters wearing business attire on the top and pyjamas on the bottom, but don’t be tempted to try this out yourself! We always advise candidates to dress as though they are going into the office. Putting on professional attire can also help you mentally prepare. You may be interviewing from your home, but the way you dress will get you into the right mindset for success.

Prepare your Paperwork

It’s okay to have a copy of your CV at hand, just as you might have in a face-to-face interview. You can also do some additional preparation and note the key points you’d like to cover in the interview, and either print them out or display them on a second screen. Just be mindful that you are not reading answers outright or referring to your notes too often.

Don’t forget to have a notepad and pen at the ready, in case you want to jot down any points or questions to ask after the formal section of the interview is over.

Communicate Clearly

As you probably know, there are some challenges when communicating over video conference, not the least of which are issues with lagging. The easiest way to overcome this is to leave a pause after each interaction to ensure your interviewer has finished speaking. This will also give you time to gather your thoughts and plan your response.

Try to maintain eye contact with the interviewer through the camera lens rather than getting distracted by other things on your screen, and nod and smile throughout to show you are engaged, as you would if you were conversing in person. And don’t be afraid to be yourself – just like in a face-to-face interview, showing a little personality amid the professionalism can go a long way.

Summary

Since we can expect Coronavirus to change the way we do business – at least in the short term – many Australian businesses will be utilising options like video interviews to keep their hiring moving, so it’s important to make sure you’re ready.

If you’d like to speak to our expert team of recruitment specialists about how to prepare for a video interview or your options for job hunting during the pandemic, contact us.

5 Questions to Tell if a Company is Really Supportive of Women

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 12:43:55 GMT

Australia has one of the highest percentages of women working in tech in the world, sitting second in a recent global study . However, with the report also revealing that women represent only 28% of the Australian tech workforce, there is still a long way to go in balancing gender disparity.

During your job search, you will likely come across companies proclaiming their commitment to workplace diversity and supporting women in tech. But how can you know they are sincere about these initiatives, or if their good intentions are really translating in their day-to-day work environment?

The interview process itself may give you a clue, allowing you to be on the look out for inclusive interview questions that are based on empathy, respect and transparency. At the end of the interview, make the most of the opportunity to ask a few questions of your own. After all, this is a time for you to get to know them as much as for them to get to know you, so take this chance to find out if they really ‘walk the walk’ when it comes to supporting female tech workers.

Read on for our list of key questions that will help you determine if a company is really committed to diversity.

1. Do You Run Compulsory Diversity Training for Managers?

The quality of your relationship with your manager can make or break your time with a company, and leaders that have made proactive efforts to improve their approach to diversity have a big impact on the work environment. Whilst it may not be realistic for everyone, if an organisation has implemented training to help address issues such as unconscious bias in the workplace, it’s a good sign of their commitment.

2. How Many Women Currently Work in the Department?

This question is best applied to large organisations where you can get a fair picture of the department as a whole, because the gender-split of small teams may not necessarily indicate their commitment to diversity. You can ask for information about the company’s current ratio of male to female employees, but why not dig a bit deeper and find out who you would actually be working with? A good follow up question is understanding the roles these women hold – whether they are Engineers or Developers, for example, or have non-technical administrative or support roles.

Bear in mind that some companies might be on a drive to improve diversity, and not have reached their targets yet. If they’re open to improving their approach, that may be something worth considering.

3. What is the Gender Split of the Executive Team?

Following on from the previous question, be sure to ask about the number of women in leadership positions and not just about your immediate team. Most of us love the opportunity to advance within our roles over time, so take a look at the current leadership team to get an idea of whether women are being offered the same chance to move up the ladder as their male counterparts. Diversity in management – or a lack thereof – says a lot about the company’s current culture.

Again, keep in mind that the size of the organisation can skew the representation, so it’s important to take a holistic view, particularly with smaller businesses.

4. How Do You Instil a Culture of Inclusivity?

Diversity is key from a policy perspective, but what is the company doing to make women feel included once they’ve been hired? Ask how the organisation is actively advocating for women on a day-to-day basis. This can include flexible working arrangements for mothers returning to work, networking events and mentoring for women working in tech, and career planning that empowers women to achieve their goals.

5. How Has the Executive Team Demonstrated their Commitment to Diversity?

Positive changes trickle down, so it’s important to understand how company leadership is delivering on commitments to supporting female workers.

Whilst this question can be answered in many different ways, the trick is getting the interviewer to provide practical examples of initiatives or programs the company has implemented to support women in tech. After all, real-life experience and results are far more valuable than talking in hypotheticals or referring to policy documents.

Final Thoughts

Although these questions can help you gain insight into how committed a tech company is to inclusivity and supporting its female workers, they still offer only a surface-level look. The best way to ensure you find your ideal fit is to work with a trusted recruiter who will advocate for you and provide you with unparalleled insight into a company’s culture.

Get in touch with the team at PRA for support with your next job search, and to learn more about how we place tech professionals with organisations that share their values.

The Truth About Counter Offers

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 12:49:54 GMT

You’ve interviewed for a position with a new company. The company likes you and makes you an offer. You take the time to analyse everything – career development, growth potential, salary, benefits and intangibles – and after some thought, you decide to accept the offer. However, when you attempt to resign from your current company, it doesn’t go as smoothly as you planned. Your boss is upset about losing you and presents you with a counter offer in an attempt to persuade you to stay.

What do you do?

Read on to find out the truth about counter offers and why, in most cases, accepting a counter offer is rarely a good idea.

“Where’s the Restroom?” Syndrome

No doubt about it, change can be scary. Employment changes are journeys into the unknown and often lead to feelings of risk, challenge, adventure and, possibly, fear. It’s natural to have anxiety about leaving a comfortable position “where everyone knows your name”. You’re familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the company, how the office mail system works, what constitutes a lunch “hour” and where the washrooms are.

When considering a counter offer, don’t let familiarity cloud your judgment. Ask yourself whether the new position is a positive step towards advancing your career. Will it be better for you than your current position? If the answer is yes, then proceed with pursuing the position. Familiarity will follow!

Why Companies Make Counter Offers

Some companies never make counter offers and in others, it’s a fairly common practice. Consider what happens when an employee (like you) resigns:

First, morale is likely to suffer, particularly among your closest co-workers. Management will notice, and your resignation may be perceived as an unfavourable reflection on your boss. Your absence could jeopardise the progress of a big project, lead to increased workloads for colleagues who remain behind, and even mess up vacation schedules! Furthermore, it could be expensive (in terms of time, energy and money) to replace you.

A cheaper “solution” for the company is to make you a counter offer. This may consist of a raise, a promotion, change in title or job description, or a combination of these factors. It may even be just a promise of change to come.

Be aware that this “solution” may actually be a stalling technique. By buying you back, the company has bought itself some time, perhaps to finish that big project, reorganise other team members or search for a suitable replacement for you.

What Does a Counter Offer Sound Like?

Because your company wants to attract you to stay, a counter offer will usually come cloaked in flattery. It may sound something like this:

“But you know we’re right in the middle of a big project! You’re much too valuable to the team to desert us now!”
“We didn’t want to tell you until next quarter, but we were just about to give you a raise/promotion to show you how much we appreciate your work. Why don’t we make it effective immediately instead of having you wait any longer?”
“We had no idea you were unhappy with anything here. Let’s discuss this further before you make a rash decision. Whatever it is, we can work it out.”
“You know we have great plans for you here! But the company you’re going to work for? What can they do for you?”

Understandably, counter offers can be tempting and ego-inflating. You also may detect an underlying threat that by not accepting the counter offer, you’ll be throwing away your entire career, future, life.

Why Counter Offers Don’t Work

It’s true: counter offers very rarely work. There are several reasons for this, but one of the biggest ones is trust. No matter what the company says, you will forever be a “marked” employee. You have demonstrated your lack of loyalty by considering another opportunity. People will feel jilted, even if you accept a counter offer and stay. Trust and acceptance among your immediate colleagues may be irrevocably lost. Managers, too, have long memories, and won’t forget your lapse in loyalty, no matter how brief it may have been.

At the same time, it’s likely that your basic reason(s) for thinking of leaving will eventually resurface. There is a myriad of reasons why you may have considered a change – perhaps something in particular bothered you about your position, or maybe you were presented with an irresistible opportunity. Regardless, changes made as a result of a counter offer may appease you in the short term but rarely last for the long run. Statistics show that if you accept a counter offer, there’s a high chance that you’ll voluntarily leave or be terminated within six months to a year.

Similarly, while it may be true that your current company values your work, your interests and career will always be secondary to that of your boss, and way down on the totem pole compared to the company’s profit or survival. Reconsider the flattery that often makes up a counter offer – is it really about you?

In addition, if your counter offer involves an increase in money, consider the source of the raise. Is this just your next raise, granted early? In that case, will the counter offer simply prolong your review cycle? Remember that all companies have budgets that include strict wage and salary guidelines.

If you’re still unsure whether it’s wise to accept a counter offer, here are some thoughts to keep in mind.

What You Can Do?

Rather than setting yourself up for the feelings of confusion and guilt that may arise when a counter offer is presented, be prepared and know how to turn down a counter offer gracefully. When resigning:

Avoid any possible misunderstanding by submitting your resignation in writing.
Focus on the positive opportunity you’ve been offered with your new company. At your resignation meeting, don’t feel pressured into giving reasons for resigning. Simply state that you’ve been presented with an opportunity that you cannot pass up.
Handle your resignation right the first time you do it. Be professional and courteous, not disgruntled or weak. Offer to help during the transition time, then follow up with your best effort.

Then, after you’ve done all that you can, move forward!

Look ahead to your new opportunity, complete with fresh challenges and all the excitement that goes with the start of any journey. Good luck!

For more counter offer advice or help with the search for your next job opportunity, get in touch with our team today.

Market Insights 2020

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 13:56:55 GMT

Job security has now become the main priority for many Australians as they adjust their current and future job plans. The current state of the economy is shaping the way they view their employment prospects now, and even their long-term careers.

PRA has collated research information conducted on behalf of SEEK which reveals how the working lives of Australians have been impacted, what people are thinking and feeling about the job market now, and how their priorities have shifted. We also learn more about how businesses are working through the various challenges brought on by COVID-19.

Read more about what key market insights have been gathered to assist businesses inform their recruitment strategy, as well as how one major company is focused on ensuring its employees feel connected and valued now.

Download Here

COVID Chronicles - Survive to Thrive 2020, VOL 2

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 13:46:24 GMT

The only thing we are spreading is Good Vibes!

In the words of George Washington Carver “Where there is no vision, there is no hope”

So, to follow on from the first release of the #PRA COVID Chronicles, and our initiative to counteract the negative media and influence of the COVID 19 pandemic, here are some highlights, tech tips and mindful health picks we wanted to share this week:

1# Woolies Apps are where it’s at!

Online is thriving, with the pandemic acting as even more of a catalyst in the digital era. Some companies are reporting a huge shift to their online customers, apps and the demand for tech support to facilitate this.

Woolworths has reported a 320 per cent increase in the use of its app as shoppers either digitally prepare for a physical shop or - if they qualify - complete their grocery shopping online.

Traffic to the website has doubled, and it has been reported that there are now 1.2 million active users of the app, which - among its functions - shows “where to find products in your local store” and can help “organise your shopping list by aisle”.

2# Easter Treats: Myer has been able to rehire 2000 staff!

After the temporary store closures in March, and in response to help with demand in online sales, Myer has been able to rehire a huge number of their stood down members of store staff. The online store has seen a surge in business, which during its Easter Treats campaigns saw sales skyrocket, up 7000% year-on-year on items like skincare, fragrances and makeup.

3# Fighting the good fight: Gilead Sciences’ Coronavirus Treatment Proves to Be a Step in the Right Direction

Earlier, Gilead Sciences got involved in the COVID-19 vaccine race and suggested its remdesivir could be a treatment for the virus. The company developed the drug to treat Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus infections. However, in dealing with Ebola, remdesivir showed little success. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved the drug as a cure for COVID-19 but China and some other regions used it and gave positive feedback with all 122 test subjects returning negative results after treatment.

4# New year, New Me: Corona-life spring clean, macro views on your “New Normal”

As a lot of us are adapting into a new way of working from home, or in the event we aren’t working, we are finding ourselves confronted with the task of truly reviewing our time and assessing how we actually spend it.

The ability to review patterns of behaviour and our daily routines can have a transformational effect to our wellbeing and future productivity. The time to analyse the “Why” in many activities we have (or haven’t) been doing in our normal routine, and to adopt better serving habits in this “new normal” and beyond. Are you waiting to do that creative project you never have time for? Or realised the weekly book club you have been routinely going to was no longer inspiring you? Using isolation to reflect, shake things up and have a life spring clean can have a massive positive spin on the new year, new me that none of us were expecting.

And, If you need any help in the planning of day to day, here are some of our recommended apps to help along the way:

5# Gratitude Activity Jar, Iso- OUT

One nice idea that has emerged is that of a Gratitude Activity Jar. Essentially start with an empty jar, and every time you (or the family) think of an activity you want to do out of quarantine, write down and pop it in the jar. Practicing gratitude is a sure-fire proven way to reduce stress, and once the isolation is lifted, also gives you a fun daily activity to do and mindfully boost to morale on the other side.

6# Mindset hacks to help you manage and navigate these uncertain times

Introducing Victor Chieng !

Victor Chieng is a Mindset/Life Coach and contributing guest author to the PRA Chronicles. Victor will be sharing powerful tips and tricks, different perspective pieces and empowering discussion pieces to help you create powerful distinctions and drive positive changes in your life.

Get in touch with Victor at connect@victorchiengcoaching.com or http://victorchiengcoaching.com for a free one-hour Discovery session to see how Victor can help you in these challenging times.

In this week's edition, we have 2 articles written by Victor on his blog which addresses the following:

6.1# Self-Isolation and WFH (things you need to do to avoid jail time!)

The harsh reality of relationships is that many couples (especially those with children) have become used to a routine which doesn't include their partner. This blog article pokes a little fun at the current situation but also addresses the 6 basic human needs in relationships and provides advice on what areas of your relationship you need to nourish in order for it to flourish and grow.

How Australia’s IT & Digital Sector is Responding to COVID-19

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 13:42:56 GMT

COVID-19 has disrupted many sectors in Australia, and those who are unable to make the transition into remote working have been experiencing a significant reduction in their operations. While it may seem bleak, our data indicates that the IT & Digital sector is seeing a far greater degree of optimism than might be expected.

Download our latest guide to learn more about how Australian IT is responding to COVID-19.

International Women's Day

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 09:29:43 GMT

It’s International Women’s Day and for the last couple of months, I have been meeting with senior women leaders to learn about their experiences and the challenges they have overcome to reach this point in their career. All their interviews have been thought-provoking and inspiring and I want to thank them all for being so open with me and sharing their stories. The purpose of these interviews is really to highlight the issues that women still face and what we can do to see more women around the Board Room table.

This years’ theme for International Women’s Day is #balanceforbetter and although things are certainly moving in the right direction, it is definitely still not equally split at senior positions and C-Suite level. So why is this? Why are we still having to have this conversation?

There have been some common themes throughout these interviews that are clearly still making it difficult for women to break through that glass ceiling.

Women need to be encouraged . It’s a common theme throughout that women are less likely to apply for roles. This may be due to not having all of the skills required or the fact that they feel they have too much to compromise in terms of life/work balance to take on the role and therefore won’t apply.
Unconscious Bias is a phrase that is heard a lot and we are all definitely guilty of it and it’s something that is pretty difficult to change. As a generalisation women can experience a lot of scrutiny that would not necessarily be the same for a man. For example, being told that they too emotional because they are passionate about their team or too aggressive because they are direct and outspoken.

So what does it really take to be a good leader? I asked all of the women about the qualities that they admired in a leader or qualities which they have as a leader and it was extremely interesting to hear that a lot of them had very similar responses.

Authenticity – probably the most common. Finding out who are you and making sure you don’t lose it.
Empathy – being able to connect with your team as it builds better relationships and ultimately allows you to get the best out of them.
Passionate – ultimately you need to love what you do.

Every woman I interviewed showed incredible passion for their work and their teams, that it was incredibly easy to see why they were so successful.

They also offered up advice to women starting out in their career and again (not surprisingly) a few were mentioned more than once. Here are my favourites:

Be resilient – you will have setbacks, but you can learn from every experience.
Learn the technical skills but also ensure that you develop the soft skills, such as how to communicate.
Seek out a mentor or a sponsor - someone who is going to champion you and help you to navigate your way through.

It has been incredible speaking with these women, and for someone still early on in their career, it’s extremely inspiring for me to have an opportunity to sit down with these impressive leaders. I hope by sharing these stories on one of the most prominent issues of our time others can also be inspired not to limit their ambition. This is an important conversation, not one that should just be spoken about on International Women’s Day (although it’s nice having a day dedicated to celebrating us). Further interviews will be published in the coming weeks and months, with some brilliant female leaders. If you've enjoyed the content so far and would be interested in continuing the theme of these discussions by discussing your career journey, please feel free to contact me via beth.ferguson@pradigital.com.au or drop me a message on LinkedIn.

Happy International Women’s Day!

4 Tips for Writing a Top Tech Resume

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:00:35 GMT

Australia's Tech industry can be fiercely competitive, and a key tool to stand out from the crowd is your resume. As specialist Tech recruiters, we've seen resumes of all shapes and sizes (from fantastic to poor) and one thing is clear: the quality of your resume can make the difference between reaching the next stage of the recruitment process and being discarded to the ‘no’ pile.

While you take extra precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic, find out how to use this opportunity to develop your tech CV and maximize the odds of securing the perfect tech job.

Tailor to the Role

When it comes to top resume tips, one piece of advice that we repeatedly give candidates is to tailor their resume for every job to show they’ve paid attention to what the employer is looking for in the advert. This means double-checking it includes everything the employer is asking for – after all, a modern CV provides the "answer" to an employer's "problem." When writing a Tech resume, include the skills highlighted in the job description, as well as any important keywords. As you describe your skills, show how they are used on a day-to-day basis and give examples of projects you've worked on including your level of involvement. Remember to highlight any relevant soft skills, and more importantly show how you keep your IT knowledge up to date in this ever-changing industry. In addition, be sure to strategically select achievements in order to prove you have the right skills for the role.

Share Your Passion for the Industry

One of the best pieces of resume advice for candidates is to demonstrate their passion for their chosen field. If an interest in tech is part of your everyday life, showcase it, and your enthusiasm for the industry will become clear to potential employers. Perhaps it’s a personal project you’re working on in your spare time or regularly attending tech meetups and events – whatever it is, highlighting what you do outside of work is a great way to demonstrate your genuine enthusiasm for the Tech community. Plus, it has the added bonus of demonstrating a desire to continue growing and developing new skills.

There's More to IT than Technology

When looking at how to write a resume for the IT industry, it's vital to remember that in today's market, successful candidates possess more than just technical skills. Soft skills are becoming increasingly important in the Tech teams of today, especially when it comes to progressing into management roles. Abilities such as stakeholder management, relationship building and communication will go a long way towards making a candidate stand out in the talent pool. At a time when technology is becoming more and more integral to the day-to-day running of organisations, an example of a good resume is one that highlights a candidate’s ability to bridge the gap between IT and business by explaining technical information in a way that resonates with various stakeholders.

Remember the Basics

Although resumes may have changed over the years, the basics of building a resume are still important. Remember to keep your resume up to date regardless of whether you've been in the same role for years or weeks, by listing any new roles, promotions, responsibilities, achievements and special projects.

To ensure readability and clarity, we generally recommend keeping your resume thorough but concise, covering the key details of past roles and IT projects worked on, as well as using a logical resume format with clear headings, sub-headings and bullet points. Remember to thoroughly proofread the document before submitting it to a job application, and consider soliciting input from a second set of eyes to ensure it’s the best it can be. Sending your resume to a recruite r is a great opportunity to get instant feedback on whether it presents you and your experience in a way that resonates with potential hiring managers.

Final Thoughts

A resume is the first impression that a candidate leaves on a potential employer, so it’s crucial to get it right, particularly in the IT industry. Putting in the extra effort at the application stage and ensuring your resume is up to a high standard is the best way to stand out and increase your chances of moving forward in the hiring process.

Need more resume help, tips for your next job interview or support in your IT job search? Get in touch with the PRA team today.

Dear Everyone Thank You!

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 13:53:35 GMT

I have been thinking about articulating and sharing this for a few weeks, but I'll be honest- I have NOT been that person who has taken up a new hobby, discovered my secret passion for scrap booking and hand woven 3 new quilts for orphaned kangaroos.

No, just like you (or at least, some of you), the last few weeks have made me tired. Our country is going through a huge amount of change, our industry is going through a huge amount of change, everyone else's industries are going through a huge amount of change, and we're all but trapped inside, for 90% of the day.

CHANGE IS HARD! Like, really really tiring stuff! However, within all of this change, those of us in sales and services are doing everything we can to keep our businesses moving, our staff busy, and people in jobs. One silver lining in recruitment is we are wonderfully positioned to help in this time of crisis- but that does mean going out and finding opportunities for employment that we can put candidate's into.

We (recruiters) know you're all struggling too. We know you're having to handle all of this change too. We know that along with all of this change and uncertainty, many of you also have to juggle home schooling your kids and doing your jobs at the same time (shout out to many parents I've spoken with who are doing 14 hours days to make it all happen), and for many of you, recruitment is the last thing on your plate, so I want to say this....

THANK YOU.

Thank you for being gracious and kind to recruiters.
Thank you for chatting with us, and letting us chat with you and hear how you're going (we're extroverts- we miss you!).
Thank you for letting us offer to help however we can, and taking us up on our offers when you need help.
Thank you for telling us you'll check on that job vacancy to see if you can use recruiters, or telling us we're all in this together and we all need to help each other, and not telling us we're horrible for doing what our job requires of us, even though at the moment that feels pretty hard.
Thank you for treating us like humans who are also struggling.

Many recruiters have been laid off or stood down in the past few weeks, and as an industry we're all feeling the stress and pressure of those decisions. This is not a fun time for anyone, but your good will and consideration is worth its weight in gold to help us keep on helping those that we can, and make sure we still have juice in the tank to home school our kids, keep showing love to our families and loved ones, and generally keep on keeping on.

This too shall pass, and we all have our part to play in making sure we all get through this. Thanks for the part you've played for us :)

By: Carrah Jordan

3 Resolutions to Boost Your Tech Career in 2020

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 12:26:15 GMT

New year resolutions. It’s the time of year when your social media feeds are clogged with articles and people talking about the gym, eating healthy and looking after themselves, but what about your career? As we near the end of January, it’s not too late to reflect on the year that’s been and make some career resolutions for the year ahead. Whether that’s building stronger connections, furthering one’s education, or mentoring others, it could be anything! If you haven’t set any career goals yet, don’t let it fall by the wayside. Make it count and boost your tech career in 2020 with these three resolutions for technology professionals.

1. Attend a Tech Event by Yourself

When it comes to networking events, it’s only natural to coordinate with friends or colleagues and attend together. However, that may be exactly what is hindering you from making the connections you need to boost your career. While it may push you outside your comfort zone, make a pledge to go to a networking event, conference, or even a MeetUp group by yourself. Going alone has so many benefits and not going with a friend (who will likely command most of your time there) is the precise the reason to go alone. Instead, you’ll have the ability to spend your time the way you like, and the freedom to strike up conversations with new people.

If it sounds a bit nerve-wracking to attend alone, keep in mind there will be so many others that are just as nervous. And most importantly, talking to new people is a skill, one that needs to be honed, maintained, and valued just like anything else! With a bit of practice, it’ll start to feel natural and before you know it, nothing will hold you back from working a room and further building your professional network.

2. Help Someone Else’s Career

It is often said that one the of the best ways you can help yourself is to help someone else. Sharing your experience with others and mentoring someone young or new to the industry can, of course, benefit others – but it can also bring a significant sense of fulfilment for yourself as well. Being connected to a sense of purpose drives motivation and creativity in any field, and a lack of inspiration is just a hop skip and a jump from burnout.

Make a New Year’s resolution to take the initiative and mentor someone who could use your advice. Having this obligation will also double as external accountability, providing further motivation to perform or conduct yourself in a way that would be considered worthy of role modelling. Additionally, one of the benefits of mentoring is the ability to amplify someone else’s voice, someone who’s had different life experiences than you and likely has a fresh perspective professionally. A mentee will benefit from having a more senior team member to add clout to their voice, while the mentor can benefit from gaining a new viewpoint and avoiding stagnation.

Clearly, there are many advantages to be gained by mentoring others, but one of the most important gains is that you’re simply doing something good – something that a mentee will appreciate for years to come.

3. Develop a New Skill

To remain relevant in the rapidly changing tech industry, it’s more critical than ever to stay ahead of the game, especially in fields where it’s easy to become stagnant quickly. When hiring, tech companies are going after the latest and greatest talent who understand advancements in various platforms, apps and resources, so it’s critical to display a hunger to stay on top.

Because keeping up with current technology is so crucial, it’s important to further advance your skills through courses and executive seminars outside of your regular job. While the thought of continuously studying throughout your career may sound daunting, keep in mind this is something that can provide profound fulfilment and confidence in your expertise.

Not only that, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be something that weighs you down either. Try to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the pace that technology changes and focus on becoming competent at one new thing at a time, over the years it will add up and figure substantially on a CV.

Closing Thoughts

Although it doesn’t come easy, continuously building on one’s existing tech industry relationships and skills is imperative to keeping yourself dialled into the current IT landscape. Keeping in mind the tips above will assure you buoyancy when the going gets tough and set you up for a strong, fruitful career, and we’re confident you can achieve just that. If you could use a bit of guidance or are looking for tech jobs, PRA is an expert within the IT recruitment market – speak to the team.

Building Self Confidence: 3 Steps with Josh Beatty

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 12:10:55 GMT

1. Fake it

You may have heard the term "Fake it till' you make it!" and this is somewhat true, if you are feeling that you are lacking in certain areas of your life, especially ones driven from inward feelings, then when you act as if you already possess or have mastered that feeling or skill your mind is somehow tricked into believing that as fact.

Think about when you smile and you start feeling happy, or when

I'll give you an example, I remember reading about a young woman who had been applying for entry-level positions around her local area here in Australia, she was frustrated by applying for role after role and not hearing anything back - She finally applied for a role with ALDI (the supermarket chain) and received the typical 'Thanks but no thanks' rejection email and she (in her words) "Rejected their rejection" and responded back with the following:

"Although my application was rejected, I have been applying for jobs for over a year now with no success. My skills are on par with your store, with the ability to be exceptionally fast-paced to scan items like every ALDI Team Member does.

I pride myself on my impressive sale skills and can describe myself to be very persuasive and show effectiveness. So persuasive in fact, that I would like to confidentially reject your rejection. Thank you for letting me be a part of the team, I won’t let you down.

See you on Monday for my 9-5 shift."

After this she was then invited in for an interview - She was 18 at the time and may not have even worked before, but she faked some confidence and was successful in landing the interview.

2. Body and Mind

2.1 Exercise

Exercising is beneficial for your confidence in a number of ways one is that it boosts endorphins that make you feel good - The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that it only takes 5 minutes of exercise to start getting the 'Feel goods' from your gym session.

Secondly, when you exercise regularly you are improving the way your body looks and operates, you are making the outward appearance that you see every day reflect the best version of you.

2.2 Meditate

Daily meditation has been linked to a number of positive physical and psychological benefits, one of which is eliminating negative self-talk with 'Brain Chatter' - When you master the ability to remove the negative scripting inside your own mind you will unlock another level of confidence!

3. Learn

Educate yourself on topics you want to feel confident in - have you ever been in a conversation where someone mentions a random topic you have lots of experience with and you felt a sudden boost in your mood knowing that you were going to intelligently speak about the new topic? This is what happens when you are educated on topics of conversation, being informed on a topic you know is going to be spoken about is an easy way to build internal confidence.

A real-world example of this working is, when I go out to meet with someone new I will try and find out a little bit about their interests, what is happening where they work and (if we have spoken before) read up on topics we discussed. This allows me to feel confident in the conversation AND makes them feel good because the conversation will be on topics they are familiar with.

If you implement all three of these tips then I am certain you will build your personal confidence and will start to feel more comfortable in your own skin.

“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” ― Lao Tzu

Sources:

https://www.unilad.co.uk/life/teen-turned-down-for-job-at-aldi-rejects-rejection-in-hilarious-letter/

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise

An Employer's Guide to Onboarding

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 12:05:15 GMT

You've been through the extensive process of recruiting and interviewing for a role and have found the perfect candidate – someone with the right mix of credentials and experience, but what comes next?

In this guide, we cover everything you need to know about onboarding to ensure a smooth and successful integration for new team members into your business.

Included within the guide is detailed information and examples on:

Preboarding: Getting a Head Start
The First Week
The Basics
Settling In
Setting Goals and Tracking Progress
Ongoing Training and Support

We hope this guide helps to get your onboarding programme off on the right foot! If you still feel like you’re not prepared enough for your new hire, or would like to know more about how you can best prepare for the onboarding process, get in touch with your PRA consultant.

IT Roles Among 20 Highest-Paying Job Titles in Australia

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 12:00:20 GMT

Offering the right salary is essential when recruiting and retaining quality employees. From a candidate attraction perspective, meeting salary expectations is one of the most important factors for job seekers, along offering flexible working conditions and training opportunities. After all, you don’t want to find yourself missing out on your ideal candidate during the offer stage because you were unable to negotiate the right package.

SEEK has recently published a Salary Review looking at annual full-time salary averages across a number of job titles from 2011/12 to today. They’ve come up with the top 20 job titles that earn the highest salaries in Australia.

Based on our experience, we were not surprised to see that six of the top 20 high-paying jobs were within the Information Technology, Telecommunications and Digital sectors.

These include:

3. Java Algorithmic Trading Developer – average salary of $175,000

8. Security Solutions Architect – average salary of $166,000

10. Technology Director – average salary of $165,000

15. Head of Software Development – average salary of $164,166

17. Enterprise Sales Manager – average salary of $163,928

20. Business Readiness Manager – average salary of $161,250

If you’re planning to recruit one of these roles, get in touch with our specialist team. We can help you put together a hiring strategy that will find your ideal candidate.

Be sure to also download the PRA 2019/20 Salary Guide for additional salary insights to ensure your organisation’s salaries align with the highly-competitive Tech market, enabling you to attract and retain your best talent.

4 Things to Do Before Applying for Your Next Tech Job

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 11:52:22 GMT

We’ve all heard the famous Benjamin Franklin quote, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”, and this mantra applies when you are starting a job search, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. All too often, people make the decision to leave their current role and throw themselves head-first into the job hunt, only to find they don’t get the results they want right away. If you’re spending more time at home as a result of the pandemic, this a good opportunity to do a bit of planning and preparation that will ensure you’re in the best position to find the right Tech job and nail the application process from the start.

Here’s our advice on the key things to do before applying for a job.

1. Strategise Your Next Step

Planning out your career goals will help ensure you move into a new role that fulfils your needs. You might be at a point in your career where you want to gain experience across as many projects as possible. Or perhaps the company culture is more important to you, for example, if you’ve recently started a family and want flexible working arrangements.

Start by thinking about why you are looking to move from your current position. Is it for financial gain, professional development or have you simply progressed as far as you can? Listing out the reasons for leaving and creating a wish list for your next role will help you sort through all the roles advertised and focus on the one that is right for you.

2. Get Your CV and LinkedIn Profile in Order

Job search preparation starts with reviewing your resume, ensuring it’s up to date and includes all of the achievements in your current role. Formats for resumes change over time and this might be the first time you’ve looked at yours for several years. Focus on the projects you’ve delivered, targets you’ve met and other key achievements, as well as on highlighting your skills and responsibilities.

Next, assess the effectiveness of your online presence, particularly your LinkedIn profile. Again, you’ll want to be sure that it is current and reflects your most recent experience, and that it builds upon the details in your CV. Since the primary purpose of LinkedIn is networking, focus on expanding your professional network with valuable connections that could open the door to new opportunities, including, where possible, people within the companies you seek to work for. There are plenty of roles that are filled through networking, so introduce yourself to hiring managers or connect with recruiters in the Tech field on LinkedIn .

3. Review Your Personal Brand

As we mentioned before, conducting an online audit is essential when you’re about to embark on a job search, and your personal brand is a major part of that. Bear in mind that recruiters and companies often Google prospective employees as part of their sourcing strategy. Do a quick search and see what comes up against your name. Is this how you want employers to see you? Does it accurately represent who you are and what you have to offer as a candidate? A good way to develop your personal brand is to engage in online discussions with industry peers or share articles about the latest developments in IT on LinkedIn.

Don’t forget to take a look at your other social media accounts. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram may typically focus on your personal life rather than your professional one, but you should review your privacy settings to make sure the content is only visible to your friends and family, and delete anything that you’d be uncomfortable with a prospective employer seeing.

4. Tailor Your Application

Hiring managers can receive hundreds of applications for each job they post, so yours needs to stand out. One of the best ways to achieve this is to tailor every application to reflect the specific criteria of each job vacancy, thereby demonstrating that you meet the requirements for the position. Before you apply for a role, analyse the key points of the job advertisement, as well as do some research on the company to better understand their vision, recent projects and key people. This will help you to customise your cover letter and CV so that they echo what the organisation is looking for.

When writing your resume, focus on showcasing the skills and experience that are required to deliver this particular role, as opposed to outlining a full job history that wastes valuable space on irrelevant details. Think about specific qualifications or courses you’ve completed that would be worth highlighting. It can also be helpful to talk to your recruiter to find out more about the position and discover what the ideal candidate looks like.

Summary

Making the decision to move roles or companies can be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. You are now facing a world of new opportunities and are about to take the next step on your career trajectory. Through a bit of forward-planning and by following these steps on what to do before starting a job search, you’ll be set up to secure your dream job in no time.

If you’d like to talk more about preparing a job search, our team of specialist recruiters can help. Don’t delay your IT job search – get in touch today.

Opportunities with MuleSoft - Training and Certification

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 11:40:01 GMT

The MuleSoft team at PRA are excited to be working alongside MuleSoft to raise awareness of the certification training programmes that MuleSoft offers and the opportunities that exist for those who are certified.

At PRA, we’ve been recruiting MuleSoft professionals since early 2017, with a dedicated team in place for the last couple of years servicing large corporates and SMEs nationally. Over this time, we’ve seen a significant uptake in the use of MuleSoft by organisations and the demand for certified MuleSoft professionals has grown exponentially.

This has been driven by the need for organisations to enhance their customer experience as well as improve productivity and connectivity in order to remain competitive. Collaboration with other businesses across platforms and applications has become a must in order to serve the common needs of their shared customers. So, our clients are now operating in a landscape that allows seamless integration with systems they don’t control.

That is why many organisations we work with — in an effort to support their ever-changing transformation needs — are looking for more and more people with MuleSoft expertise. With MuleSoft fast becoming the epicentre of integration, gaining one or more MuleSoft certifications will catapult your career and increase your opportunities.

MuleSoft Overview

Put simply, MuleSoft empowers organisations to connect everything! It enables easy integration of existing systems, regardless of the different technologies that are being used. What is most noteworthy, however, is the fact that MuleSoft sheds the need for brittle custom code integrations, paving the way instead for organisations to design, create and manage reusable APIs on one centralised platform. Organisations can maintain full control over the API management lifecycle from design to delivery in any environment — cloud, on-premises or hybrid.

With MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform, development teams launch applications are 3x faster and are 300% more productive! This has meant many of the companies we work with who have adopted MuleSoft are even more competitive and leading the way in their digital transformation journey.

Training Programmes Available to You

As MuleSoft continues to become integral to the growth and progress of global businesses across all industries, the demand for development teams who have the pertinent skills and expertise has grown exponentially. MuleSoft training and certification is focused on building strong foundations to drive success for individuals, teams and the business as a whole.

Whatever your role in a MuleSoft project — as a Manager, Developer, Architect, Administrator, or IT professional — there is an overarching learning path to teach you what you need to know to be successful. Below is an overview of the MuleSoft training pathway:

MuleSoft training and certification provide the “what” and the “how,” as well as the “why.” This gives professionals an insight into the rationale behind key product features, innovative tools, useful applications, and more.

Below are the upcoming dates for the next MuleSoft training sessions:

Exclusive Training for PRA Clients & Candidates

This introductory instructor-led course on 19th September is for anyone and everyone involved in an Anypoint Platform project who wants to get hands-on experience learning what Anypoint Platform is and how it is used to discover, consume, design, build, deploy, manage, and govern APIs.

Registration URL: https://training.mulesoft.com/class/register
Registration Code: PRA

Summary

Achieving MuleSoft certification is a step in the right direction to gaining the skills, experience and expertise that the industry is demanding. There is no doubt that in order to remain relevant and competitive in this age of constant digital transformation, certification is necessary.

If you’re interested in getting involved with MuleSoft, or you are already certified but looking for a fresh opportunity, or you are an employer looking to hire MuleSoft certified developers, take action today.

Contact MuleSoft to find the right course for you in your location here.

Contact PRA to find the latest opportunities and advice on current MuleSoft market trends here

Extra Resources

Below, we've included a number of extra resources around the benefits that integration can have for businesses, as well as the value that MuleSoft can bring to your organisation.

The Value of Integration - MuleSoft Whitepaper

Rise of Composable Enterprise - MuleSoft Whitepaper

Integration Use Case Whitepapers - MuleSoft

The Developer Coefficient - Stripe Whitepaper (an excellent insight on the cost of developers and the savings that can be made through re-use).

The Jigsaw Pieces of Project Management Podcast

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 11:34:52 GMT

Experienced Project Manager, Coach and Mentor, Jeanette Cremor, joined us for the first Meetup of The Jigsaw Pieces of Project Management Series earlier this year. Jeanette offered a fresh approach to project management and covered how the project leadership pillars of self, practice and solution can make a difference to your project success.

Here, our Director, Chris Bremner, catches up with Jeanette to discuss the key takeaways from the event.

More about Jeanette Cremor:

For over 20 years, Jeanette has walked many project journeys (mostly in government and universities) as a Project Coordinator, Business Analyst, Project Manager, PMO Manager and Program Director. She's planned and delivered programs with a responsibility of $20M capital and $10M operational budgets! https://www.jeanettecremor.com.au/

How to Settle into a New Job

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 11:23:13 GMT

Once you've secured that perfect IT or Digital position, another phase begins: settling into your new role. With the first weeks packed full of things to learn and names to remember, it’s no wonder that many people find starting a new job to be a somewhat nerve-wracking experience. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you’re looking for ways to ensure you get off to the best possible start, here are a few of our best tips on how to settle into a new job, allowing you to lower stress levels and begin making a positive impact on the business in record time.

Accelerate the Learning Curve

When you’re adjusting to a new job, you’re not expected to know everything right away – the initial days and weeks in the role will likely involve a steep learning curve. Even if you’ve been in a similar role at another company, there will still be new procedures and systems that you will have to get familiar with, although we’re sure you’re aware of that!

Whilst it might sound like common sense, it pays to give your full attention during any orientation or training, and it’s a good idea to take note of any useful information; from internal procedures to coworkers’ names and roles. Writing down key information will help you memorise it and ensure you don’t need to have it repeated to you in future.

If you’re fortunate enough to receive a handover period from the role’s predecessor, make the most out of the time to build your understanding of the role, company processes and insider tips. In addition, make it a priority to listen more than you talk during the onboarding stage, but don’t shy away from speaking up with questions when you need to.

Start Building Relationships

An essential part of settling into a new job is getting to know your new colleagues, as well as key stakeholders. In a new environment, many people will feel shy initially, but try to be friendly and take every opportunity to introduce yourself. Make an effort to remember names by writing them down if you need to, or even creating an organisational chart to understand how everyone fits within the company.

Most people enjoy talking a bit about themselves, so a great way to start a conversation is to ask your new colleagues about their roles and professional background. Likewise, asking questions about anything from an internal process to how to use the coffee machine gives the other person the opportunity to feel like the expert and share their knowledge. You can also look for ways to help out with everyday tasks (provided you have done your own work) – this will not only help you to establish a reputation as someone willing to go the extra mile, but provides another chance to build rapport with your coworkers.

Additionally, make time early on to get to know your manager, particularly their communication style. Do they prefer face-to-face meetings over email? Investigate how they like things done; are they detail-oriented or more concerned with the big picture? If they like frequent updates, make calendar reminders to send reports, or if they’re more hands-off, they might prefer a more independent approach from you. Understanding their unique working habits will make it a lot easier to build a good relationship.

Immerse Yourself in the Company Culture

It is likely that the culture was a big part of what attracted you to the company in the first place, so understanding it further will help you adapt to the workplace. Use the first few weeks to immerse yourself in the culture and absorb what goes on around you:

Look at how people interact with each other both internally and externally. Are people casual and hang out after work often, or do they take a more buttoned-up approach, keeping business and personal time separate?
Pay attention to the way the business operates, including attitudes towards leave, overtime, and flexibility.
Accept invitations to lunch, coffee runs and other social activities to take advantage of any opportunities to know your colleagues in a casual setting.

As someone new to the business, you may have a fresh perspective on how to improve the culture, but make sure you’ve fully understood current practices and established yourself in the team before making any suggestions.

Adapting to a new work culture takes time, and while it’s easy to feel impatient to fit in, remember that this early period will allow you to solidify relationships and become a valued member of the team in the long term.

Summary

Settling into a new job is challenging at any level, but it’s also is a great opportunity to make a fresh start, build your expertise and develop useful professional connections. With our top tips in mind, you’ll go into your new role feeling well prepared and ready to get off to a strong start. Ultimately, the best approach is to simply focus on doing a good job – if you give it your best from the start, you won’t have anything to worry about!

If you’d like more guidance on navigating the IT and Digital recruitment process, the team at PRA will be happy to meet with you – get in touch with us today!

How to Resign in the Right Way

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 11:14:40 GMT

Often the thrill of accepting a new job offer is quickly overshadowed by the daunting task of resigning your current position. But quitting your job doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable or challenging process. With some preparation, you can terminate your relationship in a positive way that maintains your reputation and doesn’t burn any bridges within the IT industry. Here are our top resignation tips for leaving your job smoothly and professionally, whilst remaining on friendly terms.

Meet with Your Manager Face-to-Face

Step 1: Book a meeting

Once you’ve made the decision to resign, the first step is to schedule a one-on-one meeting with your manager. If you’re lucky enough to have a close working relationship, they may already know that you are seeking other opportunities or may even have been a referee for your new position. This will make the conversation much easier, and you’ll be able to discuss logistical information such as your proposed leaving date, ideas for a stress-free transition and how to announce the news to your team.

Step 2: Prepare what you’ll say

If, like most people, you think your resignation might be a surprise, write down a few key points in advance so you are fully prepared. For example, consider how you will broach the topic and be ready to openly talk through your key reasons for leaving the organisation. Keep in mind your manager may be caught off guard and have follow-up questions for you.

Step 3: Follow up with an email

After the meeting, send an email tendering your resignation in writing and confirming dates and other points discussed. Make sure you don’t talk to anyone else about your resignation before your manager. The Tech industry is small and you don’t want the news to get out across the grapevine before it’s gone through the appropriate channels.

Leave a Positive Impression

While you are telling your colleagues and friends about your move, your manager will be starting to think about finding your replacement and ensuring that deadlines and projects aren’t impacted. This is where you can show a great deal of professionalism and goodwill, regardless of how you feel about your time with the organisation.

How you leave your job can have a lasting impression on your professional reputation, and while you may not plan to return to the organisation, you may well come across co-workers and stakeholders down the track. With this in mind, making the effort to maintain your professional network is essential – you never know when you’ll be looking again, or even recruiting yourself!

Try to stay as flexible as possible in terms of your transition and handover – this can include being open to negotiating your leaving date to give your company time to recruit a replacement. Support your team in delivering projects up until your last day and try not to leave people in the lurch.

Focus on the positive aspects of your role, including your achievements and skills you’ve learned. You can take it one step further and express gratitude to mentors and colleagues who have made your experience with the organisation a good one. All of these behaviours will leave people with a positive lasting impression of you as a worker and a person.

Be Ready for a Counter-offer

Your manager may make you an immediate counter-offer or ask what it would take for you to stay with the company. Be prepared for this, and remember that you don’t have to provide a response straight away.

Counter-offers can come in the form of salary increases, benefits such as training opportunities or flexible working conditions, and promotions. The question to ask yourself is – why did you have to resign to receive these offers?

If you have a good relationship with your manager and a structured appraisal system, it should be clear what you are looking for in your next career step. In fact, quite often you will have started looking for a new IT job because your company or team weren’t able to fulfil your career goals.

Despite counter-offers being flattering and validating, in the end, you need to remain focused on your own career aspirations. Be open and honest about what you are being offered with the new role and the reasons you started looking for a new position in the first place. After weighing up the pros and cons, you should be ready to accept the counter-offer or, more likely, to thank your manager but advise that your resignation still stands.

Summary

Resigning from a job is often a challenging experience, but that doesn’t mean it can’t go smoothly. Even if you’ve reached a point where you don’t like your job any more, there are often redeeming features to a workplace, such as your colleagues or the projects you have delivered.

Planning how to resign in a professional way means you can finish your final weeks with grace, dignity and your head held high. This will stand up well in terms of how others view you and will enable you to leave the job on a positive note.

If you’re looking to make your next move, talk to our team of IT recruitment specialists at PRA.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Holly Knill

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 09:57:12 GMT

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Holly Knill | Group Director, IP & Content Products, Foxtel

Career

Originating in New Zealand, Holly studied English and Politics before joining Television New Zealand as a ‘rookie’ journalist. With an impressive career that has moved her from New Zealand to London, Abu Dhabi and Australia (with a few pit stops in between), Holly has worked on many innovations in Media, including digital TV channels, websites and interactive ‘red button’ apps, mobile TV, the UK’s ground-breaking Sky Go and, closer to home, OTT products for the Australian Open, the Rio Olympic Games and Foxtel’s Content and IP products. She has predominantly worked within large broadcasting companies but has also enjoyed her time working with start-ups who are devoted to solving business and consumer problems with innovative thinking.

Holly’s journalist instinct has played a part in the choices she has made and so far, it has ‘mostly’ paid off, but that doesn’t mean it has been without its challenges. Holly has a strong presence and can hold her own corner and she is not afraid to call out wrongdoings in the workplace. Like many of her peers, Holly has experienced workplace sexism, direct and passive. She will respond directly when asked about the ‘size of her balls’, being ‘too aggressive’ and having ‘too much testosterone’, and finds men can feel uncomfortable when asked the same questions, not that men typically ask each other these questions. She has been direct with colleagues and manager when sexist remarks, unconscious bias and bullying impact their working relationship or perception in the workplace. So, don’t be mistaken, she can definitely hold her own in Australia’s ‘Boys Club’ culture.

Leadership

Holly’s managers have been predominantly male and have all had different leadership styles. She learns from both the good and the bad and has realised that turning the bad to good results in the most rewarding work experiences.

Qualities she admires:

Intellect – people that know their craft (bad behaviour can go hand in hand with brilliance)
Passion for what they do
Honesty
Being able to challenge people and bring out the best in them
Empathy

Holly is an honest and direct person, so will always tell her team what she expects and likes to leave them with a laugh or smile on their face. She wants to get the best out of them so that they can achieve something great, which they can use in their future roles.

Teams

Holly embraces opportunities to diversify her teams because her experience has shown it yields better results. Media and product development can be very ‘white male’ and without disruption, the unconscious biases can lead to dangerous group-think, poor customer experiences and financially risky situations. Diversity is crucial in great product design and service if you want to reach the widest possible customer base. She has recruited numerous teams throughout her career comprising different genders, religions, race, political beliefs, sport preferences and socio-economic backgrounds. The one constant upon which she is uncompromising is their talent.

Mentors

Holly likes to have mentors, although not necessarily in an official mentoring capacity. She will take inspiration and advice from her manager and other leaders with whom she has an affinity, and keeps old managers and friends in her back pocket for advice as / when needed. Having worked around the world, she can always find someone to lean on for advice if she needs it, regardless of the time.

Advice

Holly applauds the ‘Me Too’ movement and believes that the majority of younger woman today are more likely to stand up for themselves than their predecessors. Holly’s advice to women starting out in their career is:

Be resilient – you get knocked down? You get back up again
Stand-up for yourself and others. Call bad behaviour out without making it personal (it’s more effective in making a change for good).

Holly is an exceptional woman with an amazing career who has definitely made an impact on the teams she has managed and companies she has worked for. With her direct leadership style, no-nonsense attitude and sense of humour, it is easy to see why she has been so successful and it was a pleasure speaking with her.

3 Tips for Attracting Top Tech Talent

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 11:05:45 GMT

In the fast-paced and ever-changing IT industry, recruiting quality people is essential for driving growth for your organisation through agility and innovation. However, the Tech talent market can be highly competitive and knowing what attracts candidates to an IT job vacancy over another opportunity is often no easy feat.

To keep your organisation ahead of the curve, here are three of our best tips for attracting top talent to apply for your vacancy, allowing you to have your pick of the best IT professionals in the industry.

Provide a Positive and Efficient Recruitment Experience

The interview isn’t the first time candidates will begin forming their opinion of an organisation; in fact, they interact with and develop a perception of your company from the second they apply for the job, so it’s vital to provide a good experience from the beginning.

When it comes to hiring, speed is crucial. Taking too long can make candidates feel their time is being wasted, leading them to either lose interest in the position or accept an offer. To prevent this, analyse your hiring process as a whole and identify areas where it’s overly complicated, where additional communication can be added and any stages where it progresses slowly. From here, aim to reduce the time for applicants to go through the process. For example, with the majority of candidates preferring to apply for jobs online, check your process allows those applying via mobile to access the same information as a desktop applicant would.

It’s important to maintain good communication with candidates throughout the entire process by answering questions promptly, following up in a timely fashion and ensuring they know the next steps to take. Even when delivering bad news, make an effort to thank them for their interest and provide constructive feedback, this ensures they leave with a good impression of your business.

With a high volume of applications to handle, providing a good recruitments process experience for IT candidates can be difficult; this is where a specialist Tech & Digital recruitment agency can help; serving as the go-between and point of contact throughout every stage of the process, minimising the time for both sides.

Create a Value Proposition

Whether it’s in the job ad, on social media or during correspondence, take every opportunity to highlight what’s in it for the candidate should they accept the role. Sell the position and the organisation – after all, they’re assessing your company as much as you’re assessing them. What sets you apart from other IT companies or competitors? What training or development is on offer? Do you provide special bonuses or flexible work arrangements? Emphasise where the company can help to meet a candidate’s personal and career goals, as well as the benefits of your culture.

In the Tech industry, many candidates are attracted to businesses that are on the cutting edge or have access to the latest IT innovations. To catch the eye of the best talent, be sure to highlight what tools and software they’ll get to work with, as well as any opportunities to contribute to technological advancement or the future of the organisation.

A word of warning, however – be careful not to exaggerate the company or benefits, as this is sure to be found out later down the track.

Utilise Brand Ambassadors

When it comes to what attracts candidates to a company, there is nothing as valuable for marketing the business as a great place to work as the testimony of someone with first-hand experience. Current employees are the most valuable ambassadors you can ask for, and even past employees can contribute to building a positive reputation.

Gauging a company’s culture used to be difficult to do from the outside, but with the rise of social media, google reviews and websites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn, it’s become easier than ever to gain insight into what it’s like to work somewhere (for better or worse). This is where past and current employees come in handy. Encouraging people in your organisation to spread the word wherever they can by leaving positive reviews on these sites (or even through in-person discussions where possible), can have a significant impact when candidates do their research.

In addition, look for other ways to spread the word about your business, such as by using Facebook or LinkedIn to showcase internal events, employee achievements and other topics that will get people talking and feeling positive about the organisation.

Summary

When we think about how to attract employees to your next IT job opening, the most important thing to remember is the candidate’s experience matters and can ultimately lead to securing best-in-class talent. To make the hiring process easier and more effective, talk to us; we’re here for all of your IT and Digital recruitment needs.

With offices across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, PRA understands the local IT job market in Australia. Get in touch to learn how we can help to shape the way candidates see and interact with your business, allowing you to secure the skilled Tech talent you need to deliver on your business objectives.

2019/2020 PRA Tech & Digital Salary Survey - Download Your Copy Now

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 10:59:27 GMT

Are you looking to make a new hire or wanting to find out if you're remunerating your staff in line with the market?

The PRA Salary Survey provides you with the knowledge to help stay ahead of the game, with current salary trends and insights in the Tech & Digital markets across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Benchmark data and commentary sourced from the 700+ Tech & Digital placements we facilitated in the 2018/2019 FY, in conjunction with interview data, job ad responses and insights from our clients and candidates.

Go into your next salary negotiation with the information to secure and retain the top Tech & Digital talent - download the PRA Salary Survey for your city below:

Sydney

Melbourne

Brisbane

A Candidate's Guide to Interviewing

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 10:49:05 GMT

We pride ourselves on finding you the best tech and digital job opportunities, but as a candidate, there always comes a point where you have to sell yourself - the interview.

However, interviewing effectively is tricky, especially if it isn't something you do very often. To help, we've put together our Guide to Interviewing for tech and digital professionals.

Included within the guide is detailed information and examples on:

Behavioural Interview Questions
Situational Interview Questions
Technical Interview Questions
Body Language

To access the guide, please click the image below. If you'd like further assistance in your job search, please get in touch with the team.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Valentina Dunoski

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:39:07 GMT

A creative person, a strong woman and a passionate leader, we caught up with Valentina on her journey into leadership as Head of Product.

Career

Always a creative at heart, Valentina dreamed of a career in the performing arts, but it took a slightly different turn and instead she completed a Business degree at the University of Technology, Sydney. Shortly after completing her degree, she landed her first role in marketing where she found herself stuffing envelopes, but she has most definitely come a long way since then. Valentina got a taste of Product whilst at Optus and her journey has only got more exciting since. Whilst at Optus, they formed a partnership with American Express, which led to her next role with them, where she developed the first pre-approved marketing campaign. Moving through the Financial Services industry, she has brought to life new products, created high performing teams and grown digital portfolios from a vision to something tangible. From working on an industry-first B2B App store whilst at Commonwealth Bank to delivering Apple Pay, Google Pay & Samsung Pay whilst at Cuscal, Valentina’s experience is nothing short of impressive.

Valentina’s journey has not been without its setbacks and challenges, but she has always taken this in her stride and has been able to take something away from every situation whether it has been positive or not.

Leadership

Unconscious bias has been visible in some organisations in Valentina’s career. Being a female leader, she has been exposed to being told she cares too much, but for her, the most rewarding aspect of being a people leader is to genuinely make a difference in someone’s career.

Valentina likes to nurture her team to help them grow and is a firm believer in focussing on someone’s strengths, as they then become stronger and excel further. She finds if you focus on their weaknesses, it undermines them and destabilises them in their roles.

Qualities as a Leader:

Democratic – likes to take the team on the journey and work collaboratively.
Personable – team will always know where they are at in their role but she always wants to know what’s important to them as an individual.

Mentors

Valentina has had a number of different mentors and leaders that she has admired, both male and female, and she has taken away different qualities and aspects from each. Female leaders have taught her to have passion and vision but to combine this with always having your facts right. Male mentors have had an ability to anchor themselves and have taught her to trust in her own ability.

Teams

Particularly in Product / Technology and financial services, Valentina finds it can be challenging building a gender diverse team. The challenges can be down to numbers of applications that she receives in the first instance and it will generally be more male heavy. When thinking back about her teams, she has found that often the women in them will have needed more encouragement to step up into new roles.

However, Valentina doesn’t agree with positive discrimination, ultimately the role should go to the best person for the job. She finds that this adds to the stigma around Women on Boards only being there to fill a quota rather than getting there on their merit and thinks it has a negative effect.

Advice

Valentina believes that, as women, we need to make sure we support each other and not tear each other down. Her advice to women starting out their career in Technology is to:

Find your personal resilience .
Set your vision and mindset to what you desire, there will be setbacks but you need to dust yourself off and keep going.
Maintain who you are, your integrity and your authenticity .

An incredibly honest and creative woman, whose passion lies in seeing her teams succeed and she definitely has a lot of successes to celebrate. It was an absolute pleasure learning about her journey.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Laura Aaltonen

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:31:30 GMT

From an unpaid Coder to General Manager of Fjord, we caught up with Bronwyn to discuss her journey in Digital.

Career

Bronwyn studied at Melbourne University in a Bachelor of Commerce and then decided to live the backpacking lifestyle finding herself in London. A copy of a Digital Magazine sparked an interest that led her to studying after hours. By agreeing to work for free, she landed a role at an internet studio as a coder and she freelanced for The Sunday Times. After 6 weeks, she had herself a job offer.

The BBC is where Bronwyn’s career really took off as she was given amazing opportunities for training and development and had a lot of time to bring new initiatives and technologies to life. This led to her working her way up to Head of Design & User Experience. She returned to Sydney, having spent 15 years in London, and joined Fjord in 2014 as Service Design Director. After 3 years and two further promotions, Bronwyn is now General Manager.

Balancing Family Life

The UK had great maternity leave options in comparison to Australia. Bronwyn then went back to work part-time. Her life coach once said, “If you had a magic wand, what would your ideal work-life balance be? Now go ask your boss for that.” Following the advice, she did. Bronwyn got full time pay for 4 days work after demonstrating the case that she was doing the same amount of work as her peers in that time. Sydney, however, could offer a much better balance and lifestyle than London could and after having children, this became a priority for her.

Leadership

Bronwyn is drawn to leaders, both men and women, who are focussed on the people within the business and building the right culture.

Qualities that she admires in a leader:

Authenticity which she believes allows you to connect more deeply with people
Self-awareness and being able to regulate your emotions
Light-heartedness and not taking themselves too seriously
Passion about what they do.

Generally, Bronwyn has had quite diverse teams. Accenture is aiming to be a split of 50/50 diversity by 2025, whilst Fjord is already tracking quite well against that target. Bronwyn finds it harder to see diversity and balance at leadership levels, which she believes is due to a number of different reasons such as unconscious bias, women choosing different lifestyles and taking time out to be a parent.

Ambition Gap

Bronwyn saw a speaker at a Women in Leadership talk about the “Ambition Gap” and it was something that really resonated with her. As a generalisation, she does feel that females in teams need to be pushed a bit harder, as sometimes they don’t have the same driving ambition, which can be a result of gender conditioning over our whole lives. She feels that as women, we can sometimes hold ourselves back as there are too many compromises.

Advice

Seek help - work with a coach and mentor and ask for help when you need it.
Focus on soft-skills - you can be technically strong but the soft-skills will really help to develop your career. Make sure you invest in yourself. Inter-personal skills and emotional intelligence can help to set you apart.
Don’t specialise too soon - people starting out in their career can come with new skills that people already in the industry don’t have. They can be very valuable to a business.

Throughout Bronwyn’s career she has sought out help and advice, in every aspect of her life, from psychotherapists, life coaches, mentors to even pet coaches for her dogs. Obviously, this has worked! Bronwyn is an extremely humble and inspiring woman and it was amazing to hear about her journey and all she has accomplished.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Bronwyn van der Merwe

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:22:21 GMT

From a Digital Producer for her university magazine to Head of Experience & Design for Gomeeki, we caught up with Laura on her impressive career through digital & design.

Career

Laura was born and raised in Finland, with both her parents working in Business & Technology. Naturally, this meant she was always quite curious about the industry and she completed a Masters degree in Business, undertaking studies both in Finland and Australia. During this time, she worked for the university magazine as a Digital Producer and this is where she really became interested in design.

Laura completed her thesis, conducting user research on how technology is used in the workplace and how it could facilitate more effective work. This research was highly regarded but instead of continuing through a doctorate, she decided to find her feet in the business world and joined Accenture’s Customer Strategy division. Laura loved working in consultancy because it offered her the opportunity to work with different clients on different projects exploring analytics, e-commerce and marketing so early on in her career. This gave her a much better understanding of what she wanted to do. UX design was not a well-defined topic at this point in time but she knew that she wanted to do something with Technology and Design, having always been a creative person and loving the arts. Accenture transferred Laura over to Sydney, where she worked as part of Accenture Interactive until the start of 2017.

Laura then spent two years at Oakton/Dimension Data as Experience & Design Practice Lead, where she delivered services in digital experience and grew the design team. Most recently, Laura joined Gomeeki as Head of Experience & Design, having always wanted to work within a start-up environment, and has loved every day of it so far. She is able to work on innovative projects in a dynamic environment with a great team and is excited about the opportunities to grow.

Leadership and Mentors

Laura feels she has been lucky in her career that she has always had someone in every company that has supported and guided her. She has found that good managers have definitely made a difference to her career, and if she never had this then she would have likely sought out a mentor.

Laura is a direct person, and she can imagine that some people believe this to be a Finnish stereotype and it could be perceived in a negative way in some contexts. However, in her career, it has seemed to work in her favour, as she has never been afraid to challenge or ask questions and put her opinion forward.

Leadership qualities that she admires and strives for:

People focused – empower people to do their jobs
Authentic and approachable
Transparent and leading by example
Visionary characteristics

Teams

Laura highlights that whilst she works in a male-dominated industry, the male/female difference within the companies she has worked for hasn’t really been something she has observed and the culture has always been positive. In Finland, women and men are seen very much as equal so it has never been within her thinking. As a result, when building teams Laura would be hesitant recruiting based on a quota, and although she is keen to see more women in the Tech industry, she wants the best people in her team, who are the right fit for the company. Diversity to her does not only mean female/male ratio, but also other aspects such as cultural diversity. She finds that she sometimes doesn’t get as many women applying for roles, possibly because they may be more risk averse than men and sometimes hold themselves back if they don’t feel they are 100% qualified.

Advice

Laura’s advice to women starting out their career in Tech:

Take the risk. You are never going to know everything, so don’t be afraid to try something new. You’ll learn.
Don’t specialise too early, more experience gives you a different perspective.
Play to your strengths and do what you love.
Seek to work for inspiring people who you respect.

Laura is clearly extremely passionate about what she does and wants to lead her team by example. She has demonstrated an extraordinary career thus far, with a vision for even more success driving forward.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Karen Lewis

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:06:26 GMT

An advocate for women, a passionate leader and an expert in Digital, we caught up with Karen Lewis about all she has overcome to reach Head of Digital & Performance Marketing at Salmat.

Career

Karen, originally from the UK, studied in Multimedia, trying to combine computing with her creative flair. Seeing the evolution of UX has been an exciting journey for Karen and has definitely given her the ambition to push the boundaries.

After moving to Australia in 2011, her main aim has always been to make a difference, whether that is to the end user or to her team. In her 15-year career, Karen has worked up from an Account Manager to leading digital marketing divisions and worked across Retail, Financial Services and Travel.

Challenges

Karen’s journey hasn’t been an easy one and she has overcome her fair share of challenges. Karen is a direct person and doesn’t know how to be anything but honest. As an opinionated and outspoken woman, she believes this has put a ceiling in her way, as sometimes it hasn’t been perceived well in the corporate world.

Karen has experienced Unconscious Bias first hand. Throughout Karen’s career, she has received feedback that she makes herself too “emotionally vulnerable”, however, similar behaviour that she recognised in her peers was congratulated for being “passionate.” Karen has remained adamant that she will not conform to these biases and instead recognises that an organisation that does not like opinionated women is not the right organisation for her.

Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In” was a pivotal turning point for Karen. It encourages women to ask for a seat at the table, or in Karen’s case: “I didn’t ask for a seat, I just sat down.”

Leadership

For Karen, seeing her team thrive and develop has been far more rewarding than any other aspect of her career. She enjoys taking people on a journey with her and she finds it not always about the technical capabilities but growing them as people.

Leadership Qualities she looks for:

Authentic
Honest
Transparent
Don’t lead from the front, lead from the side

Karen doesn’t know how to be anything but honest and she thinks authenticity is the greatest quality in a good leader. These are the types of people she will gravitate towards. She wants to be the leader that she would have liked to have in her career, and although she has had managers that she looked up to, she has never really had a mentor. It’s important for her now to offer that mentorship to the people in her team to see them excel.

Teams

Karen has found it difficult to build diverse teams. In her current team, she has found that her SEO team is mostly male and the SEM team is mostly female. When she looks at her team based just on attributions it makes complete sense and the teams work. However, she does think it is the responsibility of the hiring manager to be aware of the biases. Karen would always hire on attitude - in her team she wants to be surrounded by ambitious, hungry and driven people.

However, Karen does believe in putting mechanisms in place to see more women around the board room table.

Advice

Have tenacity and resilience – always push for what you want and don’t be afraid to ask.
Seek out a mentor – someone to help you navigate your way through the corporate world.

Karen’s determination to see her team succeed was evident from our meeting. An incredibly passionate leader with a wealth of experience, who is determined to keep fighting to see more women around the board room table.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Michaela Aguilar

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:52:02 GMT

With an undeniable drive and passion for technology, we caught up with Michaela on her career and journey to Head of Solutions at Havas Media.

Career

Michaela is originally from Austria and has been in technology longer than the internet has been around, so it’s safe to say she has really seen it all. With undeniable drive and tenacity, Michaela is now Head of Solutions at Havas, but it definitely hasn’t been an easy journey for her. With a real passion for digital, Michaela spent years consulting for a number of clients. This was to ensure that, as a single mother, she had flexibility but could also provide her sons with stability. With an incredible portfolio, Michaela supported Catchi setting up their Australian brand which then sold to Havas, which has been a great environment for her.

The consulting period of Michaela’s career was extremely challenging for her and she feels she is still playing catch up, but in no way has this deterred her. Michaela is extremely passionate about creating a platform that helps women in similar situations and ensures that single mothers can still be successful.

Issues

As a single mother, you have to leave to pick up your children at 5 pm. This makes it difficult for social activities after work, whilst also being under a lot more scrutiny because you have to deliver a high level of work within a shorter space of time. For Michaela, this was a great life lesson because it meant she could never be slack, she learnt to be very efficient, precise, quality orientated and extremely focused.

Michaela’s belief is that a lot of the issues start with language, and it’s a very powerful tool if used correctly. Her problem is with how women are addressed; they should not be addressed as ‘girls’ or ‘chicks’. We wouldn’t call men ‘boys’ and so we should not allow people to patronise women by calling them ‘girls’, they are young women.

Michaela believes that these changes need to start in the home and in schools at a young age. Boys need to be educated on how to treat girls and then in turn women when they grow up. Girls and young women need to be given options about careers and instil that ambition at a young age.

Role Models

Most of Michaela’s role models throughout her career have been men. She took note of how they spoke, interacted and carried themselves and learnt from them without sacrificing her feminine attributes.

Leadership

An extremely passionate leader, Michaela really cares about her team but leaves emotion out of her management style. She will always react to something with facts and figures and leaves emotion out of it and this allows her to be an extremely fair leader.

Qualities as a leader:

Honesty
Team knows it is ok to make mistakes and she greatly supports learning
Passionate about what she does
Consistent and stable

Teams

Michaela hasn’t found it particularly difficult to build diverse teams because she would never want to hire a woman because of her gender; it needs to be the right person for the role.

Advice

Michaela has coached younger women on how to have a presence, how to speak, how to interact in meetings and how to speak out to encourage their development.

Michaela’s advice to women starting out their career in Tech & Digital:

Don’t put up with disrespectful treatment, deal with it there and then
Don’t let someone refer to you as a girl, you are a woman.
Take risks – don’t be afraid of failing, you learn from failing.

A strong female leader with an incredible journey. It was amazing hearing Michaela’s thoughts on the power of language and the effects this has on women. She has most definitely used her experiences to implement positive change, it was an absolute pleasure speaking with her.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Suzanne Bartkiw

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:45:55 GMT

A bold, honest and candid leader, we caught up with Suzanne on her journey through Technology in the Banking industry and her thoughts on leadership.

Career

Suzanne completed a computing degree and then started out her career in IT Support at Queensland Police. She started her banking career in 2002, joining Commonwealth Bank, where she spent 2 years as an Executive Manager. Suzanne then moved to Westpac where she has worked for the past 10 years. Suzanne has worked in Technology for the majority of her career, however, in 2012 she moved away from this and in 2018 she moved into a business leadership role as the Head of Portfolio Consumer Bank Design & Governance.

Working in the Banking industry has certainly not been without its challenges for Suzanne. During our conversation, she elaborates on this, as well as the experiences and attributes that she has developed in that time.

Leadership

Suzanne has noticed, that once you reach a certain level, it does become harder to further your career into those top three layers of leadership. Subsequently, she feels there is a different expectation, irrespective of gender, in the way you need to operate at those levels.

Qualities as a Leader:

Upfront & Honest
Transparent

Suzanne has a track record of helping organisations make change happen and feels her leadership style works towards this. She does, however, recognise that her qualities, in some situations, can be a weakness, and as such has only targeted senior roles that play to her strengths.

Suzanne hasn’t really had a mentor in her career but she finds that working with someone who supports you is more important than trying to find a role that you want to do. If you can find someone who really values what you do and the way you operate, then you can use that strong working relationship to help you progress in areas of strength.

Challenges

As a generalisation, Suzanne feels that women can take feedback personally. She has found that females sometimes feel more strongly challenged by emotional tactics as a means to influence them, whereas for male counterparts this has less impact on self-confidence and performance.

Suzanne is outspoken and honest and gives the impression you will always know where you stand with her, but feels that these traits can sometimes be perceived as being difficult.

Would it necessarily be the same for a man?

Suzanne feels that men are much more comfortable with the unknown than women. She identified the fact that men are far more likely to apply for roles where they may not necessarily possess all of the skills and experience required. On the contrary, women are prone to spending more time thinking about whether they are ready for the next step and if they have all of the technical skills.

Sometimes as a woman, there can be an underlying perception that you have to be a bit stronger and a bit more capable than a man at the same level to be deemed equal.

Teams

All of Suzanne’s teams have been a mix of male and female. She found that whilst working in Tech, traditionally her teams were male-dominated. Now that she is in Governance, she has more women in her team.

Advice

One of Suzanne’s managers said to her “Just do the work and let the work speak for itself.” Something she has always stood by. But her advice to people starting out in their career would be:

Put your ego in a box and spend those early years learning as much as possible.
Do different jobs and find out what you are really passionate about.
Spend more time listening.
Don’t get fixated on the job title.

Suzanne is a no-nonsense woman and a strong leader, who has definitely played to her strengths throughout her career. It was amazing to hear such honest opinions on leadership.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Quanchai Burns

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:41:29 GMT

From Physiotherapist to Senior Portfolio Director at Allianz, we caught up with Quanchai Burns about her journey into leadership.

Career

Quanchai started out her career as a Physiotherapist and fancying a change of scenery, discovered insurance. She joined QBE at the start of a major transformation of their Workers Compensation division, which centred on delivering great outcomes for injured workers and employers whilst driving commercial performance.

As a member of a pilot team, Quanchai effectively worked as a change agent to roll out and embed the change across the division. The practical on the job experience enabled her to grow her foundational technical and leadership capabilities. This really sparked her interest in change management and led her to complete a Change Management qualification and ultimately a full Executive MBA. Since then, she has performed various senior strategy and planning executive roles within QBE, IAG and now at Allianz where she is the Senior Portfolio Director for the largest customer-facing division.

A common question for Quanchai is "how did you move from Physio to Corporate?" Although it is not the most obvious career move, she explains that the core capabilities of problem-solving and stakeholder management are transferable skills that are equally relevant in both the health and corporate settings. As a Physio, she would seek to perform a differential diagnosis for a new patient to determine an appropriate treatment regime. Similarly, a strategic review of an organisation requires a hypothesis-based approach. Evidently, you should expand your thinking regarding your possible career options.

Family Life

Quanchai is a working mother with a 9-year-old daughter. When her daughter was born, she took two years out of her career and returned to work part-time after this. It was important to her to prioritise her family life at this stage - a mentor had once said to her “your children will never write an epitaph saying that you spent too much time with them”. She highlights that for every parent, the decision whether to step out of your career for a period is a very personal choice based on your own preferences and circumstances.

Quanchai has been fortunate to work for organisations, including Allianz that are committed to diversity and inclusion, and has been able to flexibly balance her role as a parent with her career. However, she does acknowledge that unconscious bias can still impact career progression for working mothers more broadly across the corporate sector. Her advice for mothers is to:

Take ownership for managing your career
Discuss your career goals with your leader before and after your maternity leave
Continue to invest in your capabilities to remain relevant in your field
Research companies that support modern, flexible work practices for working parents.

Leadership

Whilst on an Executive Leadership Program several years ago, Quanchai had the opportunity to interview board members and C-suite executives on the topic of leadership and their leadership journeys. The interviews with leaders across different sectors and industries highlighted some common themes and traits including:

Being passionate about what you do
C ontinue to learn throughout your career and hone your craft
Every single leader demonstrated resilience to setbacks along their journey.

Qualities in a Leader that Quanchai particularly admires are integrity, the ability to inspire and motivate others, as well as the ability to develop others as leaders.

Teams

Quanchai has a diverse team and hires for talent and cultural fit. In constructing a high performing team, she looks for diversity of thought, intrinsic motivation and emotional intelligence rather than basing her hires on demographic factors.

Mentors

Quanchai has had many mentors throughout her career, from formal mentorship programmes to less formal mentoring relationships with her managers and other senior executives. Learning from the wealth of experience offered by others and seeking feedback has been the key to driving step changes in her performance. She believes the relationship you have with your manager is one of the most important, as they are going to help you to build your brand and provide you with opportunities to grow. At all levels of her career, she has had an ongoing journey of learning and she doesn’t believe that should stop.

Something she doesn’t think women do well is to seek sponsors, who will advocate for your career progression. It seems to be a common theme that many women will wait for recognition or have to be encouraged to take the next step in their career.

Challenges

Quanchai has faced different challenges at different stages of her career. Early on it was all about deepening your technical expertise, learning the ropes, learning agility and having a passion for what you do. As she moved up the ranks broader “T-shaped skills”, emotional intelligence and being able to navigate an organisation became increasingly important. As a working parent, flexibly managing the demands of being a parent and senior executive is an ongoing balancing act that requires disciplined prioritisation and the occasional reminder to be kind to yourself.

Advice

Be resilient, your career is a marathon and not a sprint
Recognise and play to your strengths
Don’t be afraid to seek out help and find both mentors and sponsors
Prioritise so that you can work smart rather than hard
Ask for help when you need it
Back yourself

Quanchai is a thoughtful leader with an obvious passion for developing teams, it was a pleasure speaking with her about her career in Insurance.

Women In Leadership | An Interview with Sarah Vega

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:35:20 GMT

With a real passion for Technology & People, we caught up with Sarah Vega (Partner at KPMG) on her career and her thoughts on leadership.

Career

After speaking with Sarah for 5 minutes, it is clear that a passion for technology is in her genes, and it stemmed from her father, who is still her hotline when she needs tech support. He was an Electronic Engineer in the Royal Air Force and then a Signals Engineer at the Government Communications HQ in the UK, and from a young age, Sarah has been coding and playing on home-built computers. She was on the very first computing degree at Loughborough University in the UK and following this joined Accenture, where she spent the first 12 years of her career. Sarah’s career has seen her move from consultancy into the corporate world where she has worked for MLC, Transfield Services and Commonwealth Bank and she has eventually come full circle back into professional services, having joined KPMG last year. Sarah has always been most comfortable straddling the line between the Business function and Technology, and because she speaks both languages fluently, this has allowed her to really excel. Her skill set is extremely broad and she has managed everything from Business Transformation, Project Management, Enterprise Architecture and IT Strategy and Governance.

Leadership

In her diverse career, Sarah has built many high-performing teams and has learnt through first-hand experience and some hard lessons the attributes that set aside the great leaders from the average.

Qualities that are important to her:

Bravery with empathy - in equal measures allows you to land a message effectively
Aligned Values - lead to a happy and successful work life
Authenticity – now a corporate buzz word but still to strive for
Listening - we have two ears and one mouth and should use them in those proportions

In Sarah’s experience, poor leaders haven’t had the ability to speak up effectively, and says it’s hard to speak up if you are the dissenting voice and even harder to land your message in large teams. Sarah’s view is that having the bravery to speak up whilst having empathy towards your audience allows you to deliver a strong opinion or message without coming across as aggressive. Although ‘authenticity’ is a corporate buzz word right now, Sarah strongly believes that authentic leadership is something to strive for, as it breaks down hierarchical barriers, allows you to connect with your team and ultimately be more successful at building, articulating and engaging others in your mission. Sarah also believes that she is the happiest at work (and the most successful) when her own values have been deeply aligned with those of her boss and the organisation she works for.

Teams

Sarah prides herself on building aligned, empowered, diverse teams and it is definitely one of her strengths. She believes that when an organisation hires a strong female leader, they attract more females to them and can be effective in overcoming gender balance issues. In her last role, she had a number of exceptional women on her team and when recruiting for a vacant role of General Manager, she needed to recruit a male into the role to ensure she had gender balance.

Sarah is an advocate for seeing more women in senior positions, and with a previous employer, she sponsored a piece of work to investigate why they weren’t seeing many female applications for Executive Manager roles. A key finding was that there were many talented women but they didn’t have anyone encouraging them to put themselves forward. So she made herself the figurehead and implemented a few small interventions such as sending the women weekly emails, sharing personal stories, highlighting positions available, making herself available for calls and encouraging them to think differently. Within 3 months they had managed to turn the pipeline to 50/50 at first interview stage and more women than men were being offered the job at the end of the process.

When it comes to positive discrimination however, Sarah has mixed feelings. Having been part of an organisation where they hired the wrong person to ensure diversity, she has witnessed firsthand the negative impact of this and the effect it can have on a business. She feels that the frequent narrative that ‘there are just not enough women out there’ to fill senior roles particularly in technology is inaccurate and that organisations need to look harder and use different approaches to attract females.

Advice

Sarah has often offered coaching and mentorship to women and people in her team and has a passion for self-development. One memorable piece of insight was from a research scientist who specialised in differences in communication between genders. The research showed that women frequently take the back seat in crowded meeting rooms and they haven’t learnt strategies to interrupt a fast-paced conversation.

Sarah’s advice to women starting out in their career:

Develop technical competence – master the skills of your trade
Make and keep promises – if you consistently deliver you will develop a great reputation
Get feedback from people that have your best interest at heart and integrate the insights

Sarah has a remarkable career and is extremely passionate about supporting women into leadership. An incredible interview with a thought-provoking leader, it was amazing hearing about her experiences.

Welcome to our Blog!

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 01 May 2017 09:21:38 GMT

Allow me to take 5 minutes of your time to introduce our Blog and give you a quick heads up on what to expect.

I must have had at least 30 social media companies pitch to me in the last 24 months, offering to provide a larger online footprint for the Gen 5 Group. This footprint could be as large or small as we wished depending on our budget. We could employ writers for our blogs, automate posting to Linked In and employ other tools and techniques to make our voice heard.

This seemed like a no brainer. Finding time to write a blog or post that valid article or comment that goes viral, would never be a problem again.

However I was wrong. Little did I know that we had a company full of potential Premiers Literary Prize winners bursting to be discovered. So here it is, we have decided to write our own blog and I'm first cab off the rank.

Keeping it Real

Catchy title? This blog will always strive to reach this level,and let's face it, what's the point otherwise. All of us at Gen 5 will be contributing to this blog over the coming months, and I hope we will find our way onto a feed of yours, providing insightful or educational information, or even humor to cut through your day.

We have a terrific team that live and breathe their specialist markets. You will find blogs that will help you nail finding that perfect job, improve you professional relationships or understand the craft beer industry. Hey, it's going to be an interesting collective with a diverse set of personal interests. What will be consistent is our passion for our industry and our desire to stand above the rest.

...now who is next?

Philip Kingdom, Director

Great Place To Work 2016

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 09:16:07 GMT

The Gen5 Group has placed 24 in the 2016 Best Places to Work Study, a catalogue of the

50 employers nationally.

The Best Places to Work study is widely acclaimed in Australia. Based on one of the world’s most

comprehensive studies of workplace culture by Great Place to Work Australia, the quality of this

year’s study was higher than ever. The success of the Best Workplaces is a testament to their

willpower and innovation to retain happy, engaged, loyal, high performing workforces during

challenging times.

“This is an exciting, transformative and competitive time for companies,” said Zrinka Lovrencic,

MD of Great Place to Work Australia. “With a services sector heavy economy, employers now

need to make a greater effort to improve their workplace cultures in order to retain employees.

This competitive pressure benefits everyone, as all workplaces can increase their levels of

employee engagement. The companies that have made the 2016 study have risen to this challenge

and exemplify workplace culture excellence.”

Gen5 is the parent company for a number of successful recruitment companies that offer true specialisation to their customers. We have always been privately held with a number of our employees sharing ownership in their geographic location and/or brand.

Gen5 as the parent company is responsible for the infrastructure and support for the group, providing skills in finance, HR and IT.

The 2016 Best Places to Work will be published in a feature insert in Australian Financial Review

and www.greatplacetowork.com.au on Wednesday 31st August, 2016.

Oxfam Trailwalker

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 09:12:10 GMT

On Friday the 19th August Guy Nardo, Richard Skipper, Callum Read and Jason French from the Gen5 Group (incorporating PRA, PRA Digital, Enginuity, HubExec and Deliveri Solutions) raised $7540 for Oxfam and participated in the 2016 Oxfam Trailwalker event.

The team of 4 kicked off at 7am and made a very aggressive start knocking off the 1st 58k’s by 11:15PM that night. Unfortunately the trail claimed a couple of casualties along the way with Jason and Callum retiring with injuries at that time.

Guy and Richard soldiered on and completed the mammoth 100k’s in an amazing 30hrs and 54mins.

The injuries are substantial, the memories are plenty and we hope we have made a significant improvement to Oxfam’s recipients.

Thank you very much for all those that donated and congratulations to the team for their efforts

The question on everyone’s lips is: who’s up for it next year?

Welcome to The PRA Digital Team

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 09:04:02 GMT

The PRA Digital team would like to warmly welcome Ffion Williams! Ffion will be joining our Sydney team as a Consultant.

Please read Ffion’s interview below to get to know a little more about her:

What do you do for Professional Recruitment Australia?

I focus on the candidate management of the UX, UI and service design markets in Sydney

How did you arrive at this business? What path brought you here?

I worked in Recruitment in the U.K. for around 1.5 years and really enjoyed it, I always wanted to work abroad and was told there were great opportunities for recruitment in Sydney.. After a number of skype interviews for different companies I decided that PRA would be a great fit for me.

What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?

I'm known for building good rapport with candidates and clients and finding the best talent

What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?

I really enjoy networking and meeting new people. I like to get to know the candidates that I represent as I feel I get a very good understanding of the type of role that they are looking for. I try my best to match them to their ideal roles.

What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy?

I enjoy shopping, socialising, going to the gym and horseriding - I’m yet to find somewhere to do this in Sydney so welcome any suggestions!

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Food - mainly chocolate!

What’s your favourite quote?

"Everything happens for a reason"

Describe yourself in 3 words

Friendly, sociable, loyal

Oxfam Australia Trailwalker

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 09:00:31 GMT

The Gen5 Group incorporating PRA, PRA Digital, Enginuity and HubExec are participating in the Oxfam Trailwalker charity walk (100km in 48hrs) and we would like your help to smash our $5000 fundraising target.

Oxfam Trailwalker in Australia has raised more than $70 million since 1999. With the support of our Trailwalker teams, Oxfam has the funds to carry out our vital work around the world and enable the people we help to bring about positive change in their lives. Together we are promoting education, ensuring access to clean water, teaching skills to grow food and fighting for their rights.

It doesn't matter how big or small your donation is, it all goes to a fantastic cause
The Gen 5 team is passionate about this cause, with three of the participants having traveled through Africa and witnessed poverty and starvation first-hand.

Please click on the link below to get to know more about The Gen5 Group team and to donate now:

https://trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/my/team/23548

Welcome to The PRA Team

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 08:06:14 GMT

We would like to welcome on board Karen Gordon. Karen has joined our PRA Brisbane team and will be working as a Recruitment Consultant.

To get to know a little more about Karen, check out her interview below:

What do you do for Professional Recruitment Australia?

I am a recruitment consultant within PRA Brisbane, supporting the account managers here to source IT candidates for various positions across all levels of seniority.

How did you arrive at this business? What path brought you here?

I was referred into this role by an existing PRA staff member who knew I had a background in HR and thought I would enjoy the role, and I do!

What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?

I have a quirky knack for remembering obscure details about technology and equipment! I am also good at establishing and maintaining great professional relationships among clients and customers.

What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?

I’m passionate about continually learning, striving to achieve and helping others in their pursuits. PRA allows for rewarding and fulfilling work within a great environment.

What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy?

I’m passionate about snow holidays and snowboarding. I try to get the snow at least three times a year if I can

Anything else you’d like to tell people about yourself?

My first job out of high school was scooping ice cream and I enjoyed the job so much that I still do it sometimes for fun!

What’s your favourite quote? / What’s your philosophy on life?

The brave don’t live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all.

Describe yourself in 3 words

Honest (sometimes too honest which is now eight words), reliable and funny!

The Gen5 Group support Sydney Children's Hospital Fundraiser

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 07:59:43 GMT

A big thank you to everyone at the Gold Kids Disco for another terrific fundraiser for the Child Life Therapy Department at Sydney Children's Hospital. The Gen 5 Group helped to create new playrooms in the wards where the kids can have fun and forget that they are sick. The playrooms allow the kids access to play and music therapy to distract them from painful procedures. And the boss got to dance with his kids too..

Welcome to The PRA Digital Team

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 07:42:17 GMT

We would like to welcome Melissa Huxley to the PRA Digital team, Sydney.

To find out a little more about Mel, see interview below -

What do you do for PRA Digital?

Software development web/mobile

How did you arrive at this business? What path brought you here?

I moved to Australia in 2014, after 4 years managing a start-up business in the UK. I travelled a fair bit in my first year here and joined a recruitment firm a year later. I like the idea of working my own desk and meeting my own goals so recruitment was the obvious choice. I met a few members of the PRA Digital team through a mutual friend and liked the idea of specialising in one area and working the Sydney market instead of the Brisbane one I was working at the time (and working with these guys!) so here I am!

What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?

I find that I have a knack for connecting like-minded people. Even when it had no real benefit to me, in my previous management role I seemed to be the facilitator in making connections between others and their businesses. This works well in recruitment obviously.

What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?

I think again it comes back to making connections – I feel that is what recruitment is about – finding that person that is good for that team and that company and that role. It isn’t an easy thing to do to find the exact candidate but when you do, and you make a placement that is 100% beneficial to both sides, it’s a great feeling.

What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy?

Dancing is my passion. I would do it every day if I had the time.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Chocolate, especially Lindt chocolate.

What’s your favourite quote? / What’s your philosophy on life?

Life is 10% what has happened to you, and 90% is how you react to it.

Describe yourself in 3 words

Curious, Honest, Determined

A Cause to Celebrate

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Mon, 16 May 2016 07:28:39 GMT

In April 2016 the Gen5 Group (consisting of PRA, PRA Digital, Enginuity, HubExec and Deliveri Solutions) placed nearly 100 candidates into new jobs making it their most successful performance in their 12 year history.Thanks to all our clients and the candidates we placed for being part of this record breaking month. To celebrate this occasion the Sydney team enjoyed a fantastic day out on the harbour. Well done guys!

Welcome to The Team

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 07:17:49 GMT

We are excited to welcome another person to our team, DALE RAWLINSON. Dale will be joining our PRA Melbourne team as a Consultant.

To get to know a little more about Dale, check out the interview below:

What do you do for Professional Recruitment Australia?

I'm in a Consultant role

How did you arrive at this business? What path brought you here?

I was aware of PRA as a competitor and was interested in working here. I met with Chris and a couple of the Consultants and it was a very easy decision to make, joining PRA after being offered the role.

What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?

Good technical knowledge, consultative and always looking to improve

What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?

Delivering a quality solution and developing long term relationships. I'm looking forward to adding value to the office here in Melbourne and to Gen5 as a whole.

What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy? What can’t you stop talking about?

Sports; watching and playing. I play rugby for "PowerHouse" in St Kilda, I support MUFC (held a season ticket there for 11 years) and just enjoy watching sport generally although AFL is still a lost concept on me currently.... I'm also pretty passionate about burgers; juicier and taller, the better!

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Beer, Burgers/ KFC, Gravy

Anything else you’d like to tell people about yourself?

I used to be very anti cats, however, I recently inherited two and it turns out I actually now quite like them

What’s your favourite quote? / What’s your philosophy on life?

"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away"

Describe yourself in 3 words

Handsome, charming, modest (Funny too!)

Awarded Top 5 in LinkedIn Most Socially Engaged Staffing Agencies

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 07:14:09 GMT

PRA has been ranked in the top 5 "Most Socially Engaged Staffing Agencies - Australia" (Enterprise) by LinkedIn, based on our engagement with both our candidates and clients. Great work, team PRA!

PRA Brisbane: Organic Rooftop Garden

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 07:11:12 GMT

An update from PRA Brisbane's ROOFTOP ORGANIC GARDEN:

PRA's " Happy Honey" harvest #2 has produced 50kg of golden goo from our Brisbane rooftop organic garden and beehives! It is much darker and sweeter than the first harvest in January.

It must be because of all the happy PRA candidates and clients sweetening up our hives!!!

Welcome to The Team

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 07:02:18 GMT

We are excited to welcome to our team SARAH MCVILLY! Sarah will be working as a Candidate Manager for PRA Melbourne.

To find out a little more about Sarah, c heck out below:

What do you do for Professional Recruitment Australia?

I am a Candidate Manager for PRA

How did you arrive at this business? What path brought you here?

After escaping a small country town called Colac, I moved to Melbourne where I worked for 3 years at another recruitment agency.

What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?

My OCD when it comes to my inbox and actioning emails. I hate a full inbox it gives me anxiety! Seriously!

What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?

I enjoy making a genuine difference to the candidate. I get excited for them when they are successful with a role because I know what an impact it can make on their lives and what a big decision it is for them.

What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy? What can’t you stop talking about?

I am obsessed with shoes. I have so many ridiculous shoes that are never appropriate to wear anywhere. I am constantly sending my boyfriend photos of shoes, he thinks I have problems.

What would be impossible for you to give up?

Coffee. If I haven't had a coffee in the morning I'm not the easiest person to get along with.

What’s your favourite quote? / What’s your philosophy on life?

The only thing standing between you and your dream is the BS story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.

Describe yourself in 3 words

Easy going, genuine, perfectionist

St Vinnies CEO Sleepout

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 06:58:16 GMT

The wonderful MARY CLARK will be proudly participating in the St Vinnie’s CEO Sleepout for the 4th year in a row! On Thursday 23rd June Mary will be spending a chilly night on the turf under the iconic Story Bridge. Tonight more than 105,000 Australians have no place to call home. Behind each statistic is the story of a fellow Australian who has experienced the extreme isolation and desperation of homelessness. Please click below to donate https://lnkd.in/byxicg9

Exciting times for our Melbourne Office

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 06:53:43 GMT

Exciting days ahead for our Melbourne office as they get ready to move into a new space!!

They are 90%of the way to configuring a floor plan and will then move onto finer details of the design before getting started with the build. Everything is on track to see them moving in at the end of June!

Supporting Our Clients

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 07:32:56 GMT

The Gen5 Group were proud to support one of their valued clients, Albert Olley as he participated in the NSW Police Legacy – 2016 Remembrance Bicycle Ride. NSW Police Legacy is a strong and compassionate not-for-profit organisation committed to supporting past and present police and their families to ensure that they thrive in times of tragedy and need

This charity aims to raise funds to continue providing essential financial assistance and social programs and experiences to the widows, widowers and dependent children of deceased police officers.

Albert put in a huge effort and rode a distance of 300kms over 3 days from Sydney to Canberra.

Well done Albert!!

Gen5 Sydney Move Into New Office

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 06:34:09 GMT

2015 has been a fantastic year for the Gen5 Group (PRA, PRA Digital, Enginuity, Deliveri and HubExec) which has culminated in 2 key milestones for the business: A new office for the Sydney team and a new website for PRA ( www.pra.com.au ).

The Sydney team celebrated the opening of the new office with a fantastic party where over 100 clients joined in the festivities and several guests even threw down the challenge on the ping pong table!

The new office is an amazing place to work and one which fosters fun, creativity and success. The additional space will allow us to achieve the growth plans we have in place. We are very proud of what we have created and we are all excited about what new opportunities 2016 will bring.

Thanks again to all of the guests whom attended and we wish you all a Merry Christmas

Cheers

Jason French, Director NSW

AIPM QLD State Forum 2015

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 06:28:43 GMT

PRA was a Silver sponsor at this year’s AIPM (Australian Institute of Project Management) QLD State Forum.

Carrah Jordan, PRA Brisbane Account Manager, had the opportunity to present on the day. Her topic was "Gaining & Growing Your Career: How to Market Yourself and Grow Your Career in a Changing Market", and her discussion was well received by the Project Managers in attendance.

PRA also had a stall at the AIPM Job fair at Brisbane Town Hall and our team were available to provide advice to job seekers. PRA looks forward to being part of future AIPM events!New Paragraph

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 06:10:55 GMT

We regularly contribute to goods drives across the country for items such as clothing, blankets and groceries.

PRA also gives generously to fund raising events such as Jeans for Genes Day, Starlight Day, Pink Ribbon, Movember, Daffodil Day and many more.

We sponsor and support the following local teams throughout Australia:

Rapida Vecchi Cycling Team

Essendon Hockey Team

Brisbane Under 9's Soccer Team

Rapida Vecchi - PRA has been a very proud major sponsor of Rapida Vecci cycling team www.rapidavecchi.com As the competitive 2012 Road season draws to a close, we are proud of our team's amazing achivement in 2012. These include:

Twelve stage wins
Eight stage seconds
Seven stage thirds

Here are some snaps from their recent comeptition at the 2014 QLD Criterion Championships.

Intech Credit Union

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 06:03:40 GMT

At PRA, we are well aware of the challenges that are faced by those who choose to work in project focussed, contract based roles when it comes to dealing with financial institutions. That is why the relationship we have with Intech Credit Union, as a member of ITCRA, is so important - we recommend everyone give them a call as ITCRA's CEO knows from personal experience their service and products are exemplary.

More about Intech Credit Union:

Intech Credit Union is the only banking institution dedicated to serving the ICT industry. They have been servicing the sector for over 50 years, and understand your needs and offer highly competitive mortagage rates. See your dreams take off with a low rate home loan with no monthly or annual fees!

Express your interest via this form by clicking here

Feel free to let us know if you find this useful, we're always glad to hear from happy contractors!

Gen5 Group 10 Year Anniversary Conference (July 2014)

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:56:56 GMT

Our 10 year birthday is this year and we’ve been celebrating!

All the staff at the Gen5 Group including staff from PRA, Enginuity, bubbleHub, HubExec and Strategi attended our first Gen5 Group company conference at the Hunter Valley, NSW. Great times had by all and we all had fun meeting the teams from our offices across Australia during the Vintage Cocktail themed dinner, Hot Air Ballooning and Wine Tours.

Its not often enough we all get together...

Are You Sleeping in your Warm Bed Tonight?

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 05:46:46 GMT

This is a great event that challenges business and the community to experience homelessness first hand for one night and to raise important money for the provision of the St Vincent de Paul homeless services.

There are more than 100,000 Australians who find themselves homeless each night of the year. Just under half of these are women; a quarter are under the age of 18.

The discomfort of sleeping on the streets is a fragment of the larger reality we hope to impart upon influential leaders of the community as part of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. With their help, and yours, we can fight the issue of homelessness together.

Mary Clark in our Brisbane Office will be joining the Vinnie’s CEO Sleepout again on 19th June this year to raise money for St Vinnies!

Donations can be made via the website: click here

Further information is available via the CEO Sleepout website: www.ceosleepout.org.au.

Starlight Day

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 05:42:44 GMT

This year PRA volunteered their time to help raise money for Starlight Day on Friday 5th May 2014. Our staff proudly wore the Starlight volunteer t-shirt and took to the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane merchandises, donation boxes and home baked cupcakes!

Starlight Day is the biggest annual fundraising event that is held nationally by the Starlight Foundation. Its aim each year is to raise much-needed funds to help seriously ill and hospitalised children and their families around the country and to provide a range of programs to help brighten their lives.

We raised close to $3000 and even though some of us got caught in the rain we still made the most of the goodwill day.

The highlight of our day was getting a visit from the Starlight Super Hero's!

BREAKFAST DISCUSSION: CYBERSECURITY - September 2013, PRA Office Brisbane

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 05:31:34 GMT

Please join us for a new PRA’s breakfast discussion led by Dr. Tim Redhead - Director DotSec, Dot com Security as he shares insights on today’s organisations digital security – or lack of.

Over the past few years, the net has been awash with examples of organisations that have been extensively compromised without a trace, sometimes for years at a time. Whatever the origin of the attack, from the star employee who arranged VPN connectivity to unknown overseas third-parties, to the top-of-the-line security contracting company that now does not exist, the consequences are the same: extensive, sometimes near-total, exfiltration of core assets and IP.

During the presentation, enjoy a healthy catered breakfast and find out options and solutions to a growing number of digital security attacks. The reporting examples used during the presentation will be relevant, whether your information infrastructure is hosted in-house, with some kind of hosting/cloud provider, or a combination of both. In addition, a real-time event management and alerting services will run in the background, providing live feedback on incidents that are occurring while the presentation is taking place.

Dr Tim Redhead established and now directs the operations of DotSec, an expert information-security company based in Brisbane, Australia. DotSec provides specialist information-security design, integration and testing, as well managed security services, to clients in the finance, legal, investment, banking, education, transport and government (local, state and federal) sectors.

Prior to establishing DotSec in 1999, Tim led the operations of the security group at the Distributed Systems Technology Centre, a cooperative research centre that operated between 1992 and 2006.

Tim received his PhD in computer science from the University of Queensland in 1997, after being awarded first class honours in computer science from James Cook University.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT AND INNOVATION - September 2013, Sydney

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 05:24:49 GMT

PRA presents ‘Digital Footprint & Innovation’, a free interactive panel discussion covering several multi-facet topics around digital innovation, social engagement and user experience.

The event will focus on the experiences and business practices with industry thought leadership via a peer-led discussion led by senior executives from Adobe, Facebook, General Pants Group, GroupM and Play Communications.

The purpose of the event is to showcase and case study these organisations’ approach and practice towards digital marketing, User Experience, social engagement and Big Data. Our digital experts will identify the gap between Australian current business practices in comparison to rest of the world.

Industry experts will showcase examples of digital innovation across the Australian business landscape and discuss why Europe and the US are rapidly evolving in the commercial digital domain. Amongst other things the forum will also consider: Is Australia a risk averse country to rapid progression within the digital domain? Will we suffer consequences if we don't engage in a digital roadmap? In addition to learning about ways business can innovate and invigorate under increasing budget pressures.

GUESTS SPEAKERS:

Yu Dan Shi – Moderator for this event, Yu Dan Shi is the APAC Industry Strategy Director for Marketing Cloud at Adobe.
Mark Cowan - APAC Client Partner at Facebook
Eben Miller - CIO at General Pants Group
Michael Bromley - Former NBN Head of Online Services – Senior Executive - Digital
Danny Bass - Chief Digital Officer at GroupM
Simon Horauf - UX/CX – Play Communication

BREAKFAST DISCUSSION: INSIGHT INTO DOMINO'S DIGITAL STRATEGY - March 2013, PRA Office Brisbane

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 05:15:07 GMT

Presented by Group Chief Information Officer at Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Wayne McMahon, as he shares insights from Domino’s Pizza Digital Success.

Find out what makes a business stand out in the overpopulated, over-competitive realm of digital marketing and how an traditional brick and mortar operation selling pizza predominantly through its network of franchises is now realising 50 per cent of its sales online.

Wayne McMahon is Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (“Domino’s”) Group Chief Information Officer, responsible for overseeing strategic and operational aspects of Domino's Global Information Technology Group. As CIO he is focused on ensuring appropriate technologies are deployed within the Domino's environment, bringing both operational efficiencies and new ways to engage the company’s customers.

Wayne fell into information technology while in his late teens and has never looked back, coming to Domino’s with an impressive work history including CIO roles at The Gunz Group, The Super Retail Group, The Esquel Group as well as Asia Regional and Global Director roles with ModusLink; an American multinational Supply Chain organisation.

Managing the information technology needs of multinational corporations experiencing significant business growth through geographical expansion into new Global markets has been Wayne’s greatest career achievement to date.

While it is the variety of tasks and challenges that come with working in information technology that has kept Wayne passionate about his work, it is the importance that Domino’s places on using information technologies as a business ‘enabler’ that inspires Wayne in his current CIO role.

With Wayne’s extensive experience and passion for technology, he is enjoying the opportunity to push even further the boundaries of Domino’s already impressive online commerce solutions.

Wayne holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) from Wollongong University.

DIVERSITY AND CHANGES IN ICT - June 2012, Sydney

wow@shazamme.com (Default Author) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:03:45 GMT

PRA and the Australian Computer Society jointly present an interactive panel discussion on Friday 22nd of June 2012 to help you explore the challenges that organisations face to retain and engage ICT professionals from an increasingly diverse background.

Research has shown that we are heading into an environment in which skills shortage, already visible in Australia's information and communications technology sector, will become critical. Understanding changes and diversity in the workplace is the key to achieve job satisfaction and staff retention.

In a panel discussion chaired by Yu Dan Shi, Chair for NSW Women Board of Australian Computer Society and Talent Management Consultant for Right Management, five inspirational speakers will share with you their personal experiences on how you can:

Address diversity in the workplace, should it be age, gender or culture
Adapt to the changing requirement of employees, particularly generation Y
Attract and retain high caliber ICT staff
How to leverage your personal brand and professional value proposition

Do not miss this rare opportunity to network with like-minded peers and enjoy a complimentary lunch and an interactive session with:

Leisa Hart - Director Lucex Consulting and Board Member at Uniting Care; Former COO of Mission Australia
Linda Zeelie - South Pacific PPM Lead and APJ PPM Regional Program Office Lead at HP
Tannya Follington - Project Director, Avanade
Yu Dan Shi - Chair for NSW Women Board of Australian Computer Society and Talent Management Consultant for Right Management
PRA representatives: Alison Evans, Managing Consultant and Matt Gordon – Director, Professional Recruitment Australia

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