Recruitment Journeys: The Podcast Series from Mint R2R

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 Journe...

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, lik...

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 a...

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 env...

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...

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....

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 m...

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 recipie...

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 caree...

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 sometime...

How does a self-proclaimed flame-haired, larger than life Geordie-Jock go from literally bearing all in a kilt on national TV, to becoming the almost respectable Managing Partner of a leading digital recruitment company in Australia… But doing so without compromising his big personality and his zest for life? We ask James Farrey from Just Digital People that exact question, on todays episode of Re...

Most Recruiters don’t join a company and think to themselves, “Great, that’s me sorted for the next 16 years!” Most Recruiters, when they get that 7 year itch (or even 2 or 3 year itch), jump ship, or start looking for that greener grass. But what if you didn’t have to? What if the company you worked for allowed you to constantly evolve, constantly grow, be constant challenged, and be long-term ha...

Ephram Stephenson epitomises the “recruitment entrepreneur”. In his 22 year career, he has successfully launched, scaled and sold more recruitment companies than most of us have had recruitment jobs. But with Collar Group, he seems to be achieving something a little bit out of the ordinary. Collar is less than 2 years old, but already has 13 offices, and 100+ staff, with close to 1000 temps runnin...

Ryan McCabe was, in his own words and own admission, a failed engineer, then a failing Recruiter. But during his brief-ish foray into Recruitment, he has a lightbulb moment. With a wife seven months pregnant, zero evidence that his idea would work, but blind and unwavering belief, he founded Odro, and pioneered video-technology for the recruitment industry. In today’s candid chat, we chat with Rya...

Paul Masters is the recruitment industry advisor behind all the big, recent multi-million dollar M&A deals here in Australia. Paul is the guy who quietly helps recruitment business owners realise the dreams they had many years ago when they started their little companies from kitchen tables or serviced offices across Australia. Paul is the guy who brokers the deals, that helps these business owner...

Ross Clennett has been a recognised name in the Australian Recruitment Industry for many a long year. So it should come as no surprise that he was the 2022 recipient of the RCSA’s CEO Outstanding Contribution Award. Before he was a recruitment trainer and blogger, Ross was a very successful Recruiter in his own rights, billing around a million dollars a year in today’s money. In this chat today, h...

For as long as I can remember, there’s always been a bit of a morbid fascination with what I do within the Recruitment Industry, namely Rec2Rec. So why not get over 50 years of R2R experience together, on the same podcast, and lift the lid on what we do? On this episode of “Recruitment Journeys”, we have a bit of a special one… I’m simply calling this “The Rec2Rec Special”. Joining me in this chat...

Paul Tulip was a Recruiter who liked a drink. He proudly maintains to this day that some of the best friends he met, and best memories he made, were with a beer in his hand. He’d happily admit that having a drink was not only important to him, but a part of who he was. Then on one standard Tuesday night, that all changed. He woke up at 1.30am on a normal school night, drunk and hungover (yes, it’s...

In an industry that’s crammed full of small, niche specialists, all trying to cut through the noise, compete with the big boys, and make a crust… How do you stand out? How do you ensure that you’re not only seen and heard, but ultimately recognised as the No 1 “Go To” Recruiter in your chosen super tight niche? We asked Chris Caiger-Watson from Genius People, because I reckon he’s done exactly tha...

Niall Clerkin was, as he puts it himself, “fit as a fiddle”. He was running marathons left, right and centre, and living his best healthy life. He was also a Recruiter by day, and had enjoyed a wonderful recruitment career, proudly listing “million dollar biller” and senior recruitment executive as some of his accolades. Then, after a relatively inconspicuous visit to the doctors, he found himself...

How did Paddy Flaherty go from dreams of playing in the Premier League, to masterminding the rebuild of an iconic Sydney recruitment brand that had taken a bit of a hiding through covid? In this “Recruitment Journeys” podcast chat, we speak to Paddy about his own recruitment career, the highs and lows, and what the “secret sauce” is that he attributes to the success of rebuilding Experis NSW almos...

Erin Devlin has had a very jam packed life, and done it all. From professional ballet dancer, to international cabin crew, to recruitment industry leader, to mother of (soon to be) 3, to author… There’s literally no limits to Erin’s talents, and everything that she turns her hand to, she seems to do to the highest of standards. In this new podcast episode, we speak to Erin and find out where that...

In Episode 47, we look closely at a subject that’s been very topical in the recruitment industry of late, since the arrival of Old Mate Covid… And that’s “working from home”. Or more specifically, the shorter working week. A few recruitment businesses have pioneered the four day working week, or the nine-day fortnight with amazing results. And they haven’t looked back. Today we talk to two such in...

Iterate and Creative Natives were two exciting Australian start-ups, that launched within a few months of each other, in 2019. Both were set up for great early success, and destined to smash the lights out in their first full calendar year of 2020. And then Covid hit. Every single recruitment business on the planet struggled for a period of time. But the firmly established companies probably had a...

Welcome to a very special episode of “Recruitment Journeys”. Today, we’re talking about something that’s been ever present in the recruitment industry since the beginning of time, and certainly since the beginning of my recruitment career. It’s as much a part of the fixtures and fittings of our industry as coffee and compendiums… And that’s booze. Seemingly, our industry can’t seem to function wit...