Episode 51: “How to become the No 1 “Go To” Recruiter in your tight niche” with Chris Caiger-Watson

What’s is it like to join a company as one of their very first employees, then go on a 17 year journey with them through GFCs, recessions, pandemics, sale of the business, highs, lows and everything in between? And how does it shape you as a professional? Well, we ask these questions (and more) of the wonderful Sandra Rowlingson from Bluefin Resources, in this week’s episode of “Recruitment Journeys”.

For most Recruiters, it’s a giant leap of faith to start one recruitment firm… Let alone three or four! But this is exactly what serial recruitment entrepreneur David “DJ” Jackson has done over his his 20+ year recruitment career. (And that’s not including the ones that maybe haven’t been so successful!) Dave doesn’t like the word “entrepreneur”. He says that title is a little bit cringe. But, like it or not, that’s exactly what he is. He’s undoubtedly a man who takes risks, and turns opportunities and dreams into business realities. And that has been proven again most recently when DJ completely reinvented himself as a Brewer-extraordinaire of non-alcoholic, award-winning beer, Beneficial Beer. This podcast is a roller coaster ride. Hope you can keep up!

How many of us can truly say they’ve made Recruitment work for them? Well, this man certainly can! Swapping the illuminations of Blackpool for the palm trees of Miami, James Ward has had a glittering career in the industry that we call “Recruitment”. From top billing contract Recruiter at the SThree Group, to international Rec2Rec, Wardy has seen it all. And it was lovely reconnecting with James after all these years, and talking through all things SThree, Rec2Rec, and just recruitment life in general. Those of you who know Wardy will know he’s one of the industry’s good guys, and so I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. 🌴

Jay O’Brien worked for Hays, a global recruitment company for over 13 years. Then, he decided to spin his career completely on it’s head and go and work for privately owned specialist, Redpath Partners. Every element of his day-to-day worklife would now be completely different! Or would it? We chat with Jay around his reasoning to immerse himself into a completely different working culture and environment, the pro’s and the con’s, the key differences, and ultimately, if the move has paid off. This career pathway (from “global” to privately owned specialist) is not unique to Jay. Many have done it before, and many will do it in the future. So we were grateful to Jay for talking us through his own personal experience, in the hope that it can help others considering such a move. Hope you enjoy this weeks episode of Recruitment Journeys.

Paul Hallam is an absolute stalwart of the Australian Recruitment Industry, enjoying a career spanning well over a quarter of a century. As one of the three founding Directors of Six Degrees Executive, this is a career spurred on by one key ingredient: Passion. Paul has many passions and drivers in his life, all of which are talked about in this episode of “Recruitment Journeys”, recorded live at the RCSA Shape Conference on Hamilton Island. I learned a few things about Paul that I didn’t know, having known him for at least 15 years, such was the openness of the conversation. To me, this felt less like a podcast interview in tropical paradise, and more like a couple of recruitment lifers sitting by a roaring fire and chatting the hour away! Hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did.

It took me about two years to get these particular recruitment leaders behind microphones, and I reckon they only agreed because the tropical holiday vibes were in full effect. Recorded live on sunny Hamilton Island at the RCSA Shape conference, Kat and Jo from MAYDAY Recruitment gave me a full, authentic and often amusing insight into how MAYDAY came about, and how they’re growing their company. The conversation was of course super sensible and business-like, but there was also quite a lot of chat about things like raving and pole-dancing. The MAYDAY Founders are a breath of fresh air, and I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.

Stu Holmes comes from a loving and privileged family, and went to one of the best schools in the land, where his Father was the Principal. But sadly, despite this blessed start to life, life did not quite pan out for Stu the way it was possibly supposed to. Stu found himself in prison, which was a sad conclusion to a life (at the time) in a downward spiral. Without a shadow of doubt, this is the most honest and indeed confronting podcast interview I’ve ever conducted. I’m so grateful to Stu Holmes for agreeing to tell his story. But, now that I’ve got to know Stu, it comes as little surprise that he’s happy to share a story that can only serve as a warning to those who hear it. Stu now lives his life advocating for second chances through the Green Collar Brigade. He firmly believes people who make mistakes deserve a second crack at life. And a second chance is exactly what has been offered to Stu after finding himself in prison, at his own doing, just a few years after co-founding one of Melbournes best know recruitment brands. I hope this podcast touches you the same way it touched me, and you come out of it in agreement that absolutely everybody deserves a second chance in life.

She doesn’t like talking about it too much, but Debbie Davis from Sirius People was recently awarded CEO Monthly Magazine’s “Most Influential CEO Award” for the IT recruitment industry. So we were chuffed and honoured that Debbie agreed to hop onto the Recruitment Journeys podcast to tell us how this farm girl from country New South Wales, and once budding Olympian, found herself to be the recipient of such a coveted award. Hope you enjoy the episode!

Nina Mapson-Bone is a busy human! She’s a Mum, an MD, Chair of the RCSA, sits on charity boards, and is now also an author! So high profile is her life, her colleagues affectionately refer to her as their very own “D-list Celebrity!” Nina crams a lot into her life, and she does it all with a very cheery disposition. But the subject of her new book “Meaningful Work: Unlock your unique path to career fulfilment” really caused me stop in my tracks and think about my own life… In a good way. Hope you enjoy the episode.

This is not a story that you often see play out in our industry. Erin Evans has just parted ways with her business partner of 11 years, and has sold her stake in the company that they started from scratch together from a small two desk office, to start all over again, on her own. They have mutually, and amicably, agreed to continue their entrepreneurial journeys separately, accepting that sometimes, things just don’t work out the way you planned. They originally had two businesses together (Intelligen and Firesoft) and they are now both 100% owners of just one of these companies. As I said, it’s not a story that’s overly common in our industry, but Erin has agreed to come on todays podcast and tell us with candour and transparency how they came to this tough decision. I’m so grateful to Erin for sharing this most recent, and potentially still raw, chapter of her life with us. Hope you enjoy the episode. ⛔️⚠️👹GREMLIN WARNING 👹⚠️⛔️ MANY APOLOGIES FOR THE POOR SOUND QUALITY OF (just) THE HOST ON THIS PARTICULAR EPISODE! THOSE BLOODY GREMLINS GOT HOLD OF MY MICROPHONE!👹