Strivin & Thrivin

In our latest episode of the Strivin and Thrivin Podcast we had an inspiring and advice-filled chat with Sally Read, Fractional Events and Community Manager at Strivin and Director of Sourcingly, all about her unique journey from chef to recruitment connoisseur.

Want to hear all the advice Sally had to share - check out our latest episode now.

Thinking of changing careers but nervous about making the big leap? Sounds like our latest episode of the Strivin and Thrivin podcast is what you need.

We caught up with Rhea Shyamkant and had a chat about how she found the courage to make the unconventional move from finance to HR.

Want to hear our full conversation with Rhea listen in now.

To quote that catchy Paul Kelly song we probably all remember from that one superannuation commercial, from little things, big things grow.

And what is often the catalyst for that growth? People. At least that’s what Michael Delaney, Head of People and Culture at Preezie will certainly tell you.

After spending eight years in the agency world, Michael jumped over to talent acquisition and found his passion for taking little known startups and gearing them up to take on the big boys. His journey started in 2007 at a company who may have heard of called Salesforce. While they’re certainly no longer a small fish in the sea (they are now  a 40 billion dollar business), it was here Michael discovered his undeniable passion for helping things find their fullest potential and his love for P&C.

We sat down and had a chat with Michael as part of our Moving from Talent Acquisition to People & Culture podcast series. We got the lowdown on his journey from TA to P&C in the startup world, the power of good storytelling and why people are at the heart of it all.

Listen to his episode now.

When life chucks over a chance, you grab it (with both hands, ideally). Failure is always an option, yes, but what’s the alternative?

Anything, really. But growing stale in a role, organisation or industry is a distinct possibility

Anita Thompson, Head of Business Operations at legal services firm LOD, is the complete antithesis of that (slightly scary) scenario. She’s jumped at every opportunity, crossed into other industries and markets - and learned a whole lot along the way.

Anita spent 4 years at Deloitte during the heyday of big budgets and grad-grabbing (FUN), then leaped into legal land. While she first worked in a graduate recruitment role at Deacons, she soon ended up in HR. Throw in some time overseas with Ashurst in London, yet more experience and a baby…and before long, Anita was back in Sydney doing HR (including people & culture) for  start-up AdventBalance Lawyers.

When that company merged with LOD, she put her hand up for a marketing & comms role. Not yet as exhausted as those reading this (😅), Anita made the move to her current role in business operations in May 2022.

So you certainly won’t wonder why we brought her along for our Moving from Talent Acquisition to People & Culture podcast. Clearly, she knows how to keep a career varied, interesting and invigorating!

Anita gave us her POV on embracing opportunities, changing careers and why a background in TA is a huge plus. 

Check out her episode now. 

Some people cause problems. Others sit back watching those problems get worse. And then there’s Lianne Vineberg.

She’s been solving sticky situations since she began her career in marketing a few years back. Soon enough, she realised recruiting would suit her proactive nature a bit better.

6 years later (and with a plethora of P&C experiences under her belt), Lianne went in-house. And what do you know? Yet more problems to solve! (Let’s just say, expensive, underpar support for teams did not sit well with this go-getter).

This prompted Lianne and her partner to launch T6 Talent Partners, a Toronto-based firm offering recruitment, HR advisory and training.

She’s done a lot. So we talked a lot. About why listening is everything in HR, how to advise (not baby) managers and where to start if you want to pitch into P&C.

This episode is chock-full of tips, tricks and advice from talented people just like Lianne - check it out now!

There’s nothing new about neurodivergence. And the world would indeed be a duller place without the likes (and legacies) of famously-neurodivergent thinkers like Tim Burton, Lewis Carroll and Steve Jobs.

But what’s oh-so-refreshing about today’s landscape is our changing attitude towards those individuals who…simply see things a little differently. Workplaces (and the world in general) are waking up to the wonders of neurodivergence. And, may we say, not a moment too soon.

Samantha Nuttal, founder of The Neurodivergent Coach and a 20 year veteran of graduate recruitment, knows this topic inside out. She lives with dyscalculia (the numerical version of dyslexia), coaches neurodiverse people to thrive in their careers and educates organisations on workplace inclusion. Oh, and she also keeps her foot in the early careers door with a part time gig at Sydney University.

In other words, the perfect candidate for our final Emerging Trends in the World of Emerging Talent podcast. In fact, Samantha gave us the jolt we probably all needed when it comes to inclusive practices.

She gave her unique insights into why organisations are crazy not to consider neurodiverse candidates, how to discover those people in the first place and what we can all do to be truly inclusive.

Check out her episode now! 

Elyssa Goodman, Atlassian’s Campus Recruitment Manager, is all about changing it up. Throughout her career, she’s covered most industries: legal, finance, consulting and government - and, of course, tech. And, even though she began her days as a lawyer and policy analyst, she’s spent more than 17 years in early talent.

So as if we weren’t going to pull her in for our latest podcast series, Emerging Trends in the World of Emerging Talent.

As always, we had a good ol’ yarn. Elyssa told us what she’s seeing in new grads, how organisations can support them post-pandemic and why connection matters more than ever.

Check out her episode now! 

You probably know why you need relationships with universities (a smorgasbord of savvy students, for starters!). And if that’s already a big push in your graduate recruitment strategy, you’ll know all about the benefits.

But many organisations don’t actually know what industry engagement is.

And we get it. Because even if you’re across the whole idea, where do you actually start? So many departments, courses, campuses and students.

That’s why Elena Holland from UNSW is here to help. As part of the Career Accelerator team at UNSW’s Business School (AGSM), she’s been happily engaging with industry for 5 years. Before that, Elena spent many years in agency recruitment, where she found her passion for employability and getting people into jobs.

Elena laid it all out for us: how organisations can engage with universities, why going with the flow helps and what you can do to grab students’ attention.

Let’s face it: it’s a candidate’s market out there today. So getting high-quality grads over the line takes a bit (just who are we kidding here? A lot) of time, effort and investment.

Enter one of GradAustralia’s Graduate Attraction Consultants, Elliot Cirkovic. He’s been at the organisation since 2020, supporting companies to attract top-notch grads from universities across Australia. Before that, he held roles in both agency and internal recruitment, including 4 years in the graduate space. And, having previously been a State / National soccer referee, he knows how to tell it how it is!

That’s why we brought Elliott in for this episode of Emerging Trends in the World of Emerging Talent podcast. He told us why organisations need to know (and communicate) their offering, how clever job ads can get you noticed and why authenticity matters.

When you spend more than 25 years in the early career space, you learn a lot about grad recruitment, training and development programs. A grad guru, some would say (we do. We say it).

That’s exactly why we teed up a chat with Suncorp’s Kelly Pfeffer for our latest podcast series, Emerging Trends in the World of Emerging Talent.

Kelly is currently doing her second stint at Suncorp (she previously spent 6 years looking after the organisation’s grad program), in an Early Careers Specialist role. Before that, Kelly spent 20 years working in HR generalist and grad management positions in various Queensland government departments, as well as in the IT/engineering industry.

Oh, and along the way she created Grad Hero Hub - an online community for graduate recruitment and development professionals.

Thankfully, Kelly still found time to sit down with us!

We loved picking her brain about managing this generation of grads, how Covid has changed the landscape and why it’s up to every organisation to do their bit for upskilling up the workforce.