News, Views and Advice

Anyone who has ever followed their heart and made a career jump will tell you it’s a journey filled with uncertainty and excitement.

International Women’s Day is about celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness about gender inequality, and pushing for change. This year’s theme, #AccelerateAction, is a call to make things happen now, rather than waiting for gradual progress.

For more than half a decade, our HorizonOne community has come together to support Dementia Australia’s Memory Walk & Jog, and this year was our biggest yet! 

Whether you call it Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Recruitment as a Service (RaaS) or simply ‘outsourcing’, engaging a team of professional recruiters to manage part or all of your recruitment has been a trusted workforce strategy for decades.

If you’re struggling to attract great candidates, we know it can be easy to blame a tough market, and even easier when the qualitative data supports your narrative.

If you wanted to find a new role, which of these scenarios sounds better to you?…

2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the recruitment industry, especially in Canberra. But what do we as recruiters need to do to be successful this year? How can you go from surviving to thriving in a ‘tough market’?

HorizonOne has been recognised for their use of our brand to maximise candidate, client, and employee engagement at the TIARA Awards 2024!

As businesses wind down for the holiday period, it’s always worth taking a moment to reflect on the year that was and what may lie ahead for the year to come.

As both an executive and a recruiter/friend to senior executives in a variety of industries, the highs and lows of leadership do not escape me.

When you’re a busy recruiter, and feel like the clock is always against you, the last thing you want to deal with is paperwork.

If you’ve ever indulged your inner entrepreneur, or been involved in delivering a sizeable community initiative or event, you’ll know that these experiences demand a unique blend of skills and strategic thinking.

By now the Artificial Intelligence (AI) hysteria has subsided, and the business world has settled into acceptance of the fact that AI is here to stay.

For many people coffee is a key part of their morning routine, if not the very first step. But here in Canberra, coffee isn’t just a habit – it’s a culture.

Marketing is a career that many people love as it’s a chance to work in an environment that provides a combination of creativity, flexibility, impact, and growth.

In August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported job growth of 58,000—well above the 2024 monthly average of 38,000. Additionally, 22% of employers plan to expand their teams over the next three months, a 4% increase on the last report.

Last week, the HorizonOne team brilliantly brought the Roaring Twenties into the 2020s as we celebrated Gatsby style.   

Eager, impressionable and up-to-date with the latest industry knowledge, graduates can make a great addition to any organisation.

“I’m sorry! I’ve already accepted an offer from another department.” 10 words a hiring manager never wants to hear – especially when it’s coming from a star candidate at the end of a long graduate recruitment campaign.

To many people, the lifestyle of a scribe sounds too good to be true: work when you want, how you want, and make good money in the process.

Managing your own time, working from home, calling the shots on your work hours… it’s a lifestyle that most of us can only dream about. But for those with a career in scribing, it’s a reality.

Flexible work has certainly become the theme of the past few years, with more people seeking opportunities that provide a better work/life balance.

How an international move led to the creation of a business partnership that changed the face of recruitment in Canberra.

April 2008: On the cusp of the worst recession since the Great Depression, Simon Cox took his first step on a road rife with uncertainty, competition and challenges, and founded HorizonOne.

If you asked me to distil HorizonOne’s origin down to a single founding principle (or the vibe, as Daryl from The Castle would put it), ‘Recruitment Karma’ would have to be it.

EAs can come from any number of backgrounds, but a great EA becomes an extension of you – pre-empting what you want or need before you even ask for it. And when you work together so closely for so long, it can be painful to find a replacement when your current one decides it’s time to move on.

Like everyone these days, our inboxes are bursting at the seams. Uniquely for recruiters though, a large proportion of these emails are CVs and job applications. Given there are only so many hours in a day, the way we scan CVs has become a fine art.

Anyone who has spent time interviewing potential employees over a number of years has likely encountered the Promoter. 

They are the kind of person that always presents very well, they are easy to get to know, likeable, communicate readily and leave a good first impression.

Using multiple agencies to fill a vacancy surely gives a client access to more candidates, right? But… why are your competitors working with recruitment agencies on an exclusive basis?

In a world of increasingly complex technology where we are more connected each day, why is it that so many people have a blind spot for their LinkedIn profile?  

When you’re searching for the perfect position, it pays to develop a great relationship with a recruiter who can add real value to your career. But with so many recruiters to choose from, how do you find the right one? And, once you do find them, how do you develop a successful relationship?

Contemplating whether to take a new job offer can be exciting and terrifying. The lure of a brand new office, with a new team, a new job title, and possibly even a little extra in the pay packet is often too enticing to ignore.

Your job plays such an important role in your life – it not only provides the money you need to survive and enjoy life, it also allows you to follow your passions, motivates you to get up and go every day and helps give you purpose.

Where do you want to be in life? It’s a question we often forget to ask ourselves as we struggle to keep up with the everyday demands of work, family, friends, life, hobbies, and so on.

When you apply for a new position, chances are there’s a whole bunch of people with similar qualifications and experience going for exactly the same role.

You just got called for an interview and you’re pumped: you really want the job, and you’re keen to make a fantastic first impression.

Reject means “dismiss as inadequate, unacceptable or faulty”. Sounds pretty harsh, doesn’t it?

In the past we’ve looked at why it’s not a great idea to ghost your recruiter. As well as potentially damaging your reputation, it shows a lack of respect and is unprofessional – particularly when you’re looking for work.

To many people, the lifestyle of a scribe sounds too good to be true: work when you want, how you want and make good money in the process.

Do you want to make a move from the private sector to the public sector, but aren’t sure where to start? Or perhaps you have tried to land a role with a government department, but haven’t had much luck?

You have a job opening, and need to fill it fast. Problem is, you’re also really busy – so you hastily pull together a job brief and send it out to a bunch of recruiters. Then you wait for the CVs to flow in and hope to find a good match.

Tech-related roles have certainly surged in the past decade, evolving from web development and coding right through to machine learning engineering and data science.

It’s in a recruiter’s DNA to say yes to clients. After all, where would we be if we refused every job order that came through?

You may have seen our recent blog on why you should choose contracting. Sure, it sounds like a great option to transition into the public service, particularly at the start of your career. But now?

“Flexible work” is certainly one of the more popular employee benefits we’ve seen arise over the past few years – with many job seekers actively looking for roles that promise it, and many employers keen to include it in their job descriptions.

You’re in the market for a new job, so you tentatively put out some feelers by sending your resume to a few recruiters, or apply for some jobs directly.

When we leave school, a lot of us don’t know what we want to do for the rest of our lives. But there comes a point when the only way to find out is to try new things. 

Digital transformation in all sectors has accelerated rapidly in light of the global pandemic. Digital skills have become almost a pre-requisite in many roles, as employees and organisations/employers navigate a new era of work in which technology plays a crucial part.

As Australia’s unemployment rate drops to a level not seen in almost 15 years, employers across Australia are scrambling for talent.

You’ve worked hard your whole life, and sense that it might be time to explore something new. Perhaps you’re not entirely ready to step out of the workforce, but are craving a lifestyle that offers the perfect balance between a foot in the door, extra income, and more personal time.

They say change is as good as a holiday, so why not spend some time exploring change in your own backyard? This month is arguably the most beautiful in Canberra, as our abundance of trees see their leaves turn shades of gold, amber and tan.

Where are all the candidates!? It’s a question almost every employer is asking. A recent media release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics may shed some light on this issue.

A few months ago, I invited a recent graduate to the HorizonOne offices for a meet and greet. As soon as this person arrived, I could tell they were extremely employable. Highly qualified (having spent the past few years gaining their Master’s degree), well-presented, respectful and very articulate, I knew the moment they secured an interview they would be snapped up.

Your career has gone from strength to strength, and you suddenly find yourself within arm’s reach of a respected C-Suite title.

Whether you’re a senior leader in a commercial organisation, or an EL2 looking to move into a ‘super’ EL2 or SES position, the ultimate question is: how do you make the leap?

You’re on the hunt for a new job and have been trawling through job ads all day. Before long, your head is spinning with buzzwords like “Great communicator”, “Flexible work”, “Self-starter”, “Fast-paced” and “Dynamic”.

While money is not the be-all and end-all when choosing a job, it’s certainly still an important factor for most people. Particularly during periods of high inflation when the cost of living rises, the amount you see in your bank account on pay day can have a very real effect on your wellbeing.

As Australia’s skills shortage rages on, employers in all sectors are really feeling the pinch. It’s become such a concern that one of the first actions our newly-elected government took was to introduce a new bill aimed at addressing the “urgent skills crisis”.

Author and speaker Joe Girard once said: “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs…one step at a time.”

Modern workplaces have come a long way from where they once were. Cubicles have been replaced by open plan workspaces, disparate systems are being overhauled in favour of integrated technologies, and collaboration has superseded the siloed approaches of the past.

We all have quirky things we enjoy in life. For some, it’s a unique hobby in their spare time. Or an interesting food fetish they indulge in every now and then.

You’re working in a job that pays the bills, but it definitely doesn’t excite you. You love engaging with people and challenging yourself, yet you’ve found there’s little opportunity to reach your full potential in the role you’re in right now.

In today’s job market, it’s not uncommon for skilled people to be inundated with opportunities within hours of sending their CV to recruiters. After selecting the roles they wish to go for, they could be looking at multiple job offers in the first week alone.

How did the new year start for you? Did you return to work with a spring in your step, feeling rested and ready to kick some serious goals? Or did the sheer thought of going back make you want to crawl into bed and never get out?

As we settle into 2023, it seems all the fuss surrounding the ‘Great Resignation’ has also started to settle. Our nation’s unemployment rate remains incredibly low, but unfortunately, it seems so too does employee engagement.

Have you heard of a boomerang employee?  Someone who leaves a company, only to return months or years later?  It’s a trend that has become increasingly popular, with more employers offering rehire options to former employees.

For those of us old enough to remember what the job market was like just over a decade ago, today’s job market would have been unthinkable.