Since the kiteboarding accident that I had Christmas Day my life has changed a lot. I broke my pelvis, my nose and had muscle damage to many parts of my body, but they were nothing compared to the brain injury that happened to me as well. The first 3 weeks I was in a medically induced coma to help me survive from my kiteboarding accident. Originally in the medical team were saying that it would take 18months to 2yrs to recover. After the first 6 weeks they transferred me from the Gold Coast Hospital to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit (BIRU) at the P.A. Hospital and I had my first great win. The medical staff said it would now take approximately 6 months for me to be out of the hospital instead of the 12 months plus which they originally estimated.

After week 11 at BIRU I had my next win when they told me it would now be 2 weeks before I was allowed to be an outpatient, a total of 13 weeks. I am now involved in the outpatient program and have a family review meeting on the 5^th June.

During the discussion that I have had with my treating team they believe that I will have passed the out-patient program and will be living normally. Well, close to normal. On celebrating the passing of the patient program I will be opening a nice bottle of bubbly. Non-alcoholic, that is, as I am not allowed to drink alcohol at the moment.

I would like to thank everyone for the help and support that I have received during this period, but would like to truly thank Kim Ritchie, Justine Eden and my Family, for all the support that I have received.

Jessica Scerri: As part of the ever-expanding IT Division, Jessica joins ERR as an IT Recruitment Consultant. Jessica’s previous position was Corporate Account Manager for a global telecommunications, responsible for the management of global and national accounts, corporate acquisition and growth.

After hours, Jess loves to cook, loves to shop, enjoys going to the beach and has a keen interest in the property market. Hailing from Adelaide’s Barossa Valley originally, Jess enjoys visiting her family there and enjoying the wine country.

Emma Durham: Emma joins ERR in the role of Client Relationship Manager. Emma wound up in IT Recruitment after a night out with friends somehow resulted in Emma getting interviewed for a job with an IT Recruiter. She left her job as a marketer for a top tier law firm and commenced her career in Recruitment. Prior to ERR, Emma was the HR, Talent & Engagement manager at a Software Development Company.

Outside the office, Emma’s life is ruled by her mini schnauzer, Zara Belle-Jolie. When Emma’s not hanging with her pooch, she’s in the gym, or out running, with the odd night out for special occasions.

Belinda Mulé: Belinda is ERR’s new Manager, Operations. Belinda’s background is in Management, in the Professional Services Industry – primarily the Accounting industry where she was 2IC for 5 years.  Belinda has experience in various industries, including Engineering, Property Development and the Construction Industry.

Away from the office, Belinda loves movies, celebrities, reality TV and everything Hollywood. She loves red wine and is trying to get back into fitness, but is having a hard time slotting it in between shopping or socializing (which is fair enough).

Tom Peard: Tom joins the IT Team as a Resourcer, coming to Eden Ritchie from a small recruitment company with a wealth of experience in IT Recruitment. Prior to recruitment, Tom had an eclectic mix of jobs including Store Coordinator for The Works Australia and working as a jackaroo in Roma.

Tom enjoys playing rugby and fishing (even if he doesn’t catch anything). He’s always good for a laugh and enjoys socialising with his friends.

Sue Torenbeek: Joins us in the role of Health Consultant, with 6 years+ in Queensland Health. In her previous role with Qld Health, Sue was a Senior Clinical Recruiter sourcing healthcare professionals from across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Prior to that, Sue worked in London, for London Deanery as a Recruitment Administrator.

Sue has a passion for travelling and has travelled extensively across Europe and Colombia, with another trip planned soon. She loves fishing and whale watching (complimented perfectly by her sea sickness) and her two dogs.

Katherine Melville: Katherine is a new addition to the IT team, joining us as an IT Resourcer. Katherine’s previous role was as a Contact Centre and Customer Service Recruitment Consultant with a global Recruitment company. Before that, Katherine spent over 5 years with an insurance company as a Commercial Insurance Specialist.

Katherine loves socialising with her friends, listening to music and has a passion for cars.

We at Eden Ritchie are extremely pleased to welcome these individuals to our team.

These sites mean a job seeker can browse hundreds of available jobs, find the perfect job for them and apply for it, all in a matter of minutes (depending on how fussy you are). Technology is a blessing for job seekers, however it is definitely a double-edged sword.

While job boards and networks like LinkedIn offer effective tools to find jobs and distribute resumes, people must remain conscious of the fact that their personal lives are also available to potential employers, should the employers choose to search for them. And that’s how simple it is – type in a name, click search and anything from personal images to videos and conversations are presented to anyone who cares to look for them. Thank God for privacy options. However some people just plain forget the basic things like ‘don’t make those pictures of you passed out in a bear suit available to the public’ or ‘don’t add your boss on Facebook’, resulting in situations such as this:
But how far do employers have a right to go? Is it acceptable for them to seek out your personal profiles? Is it acceptable for them to ask you for your login and password so they can enter your accounts themselves? A company needs to know what sort of person they’re going to employ, but not at the expense of individuals right to privacy. But with social media, privacy is becoming more and more ambiguous. It’s a wonderful tool, useful in so many different ways, but people need to bear in mind during their use of it that their personal information is about to be projected into the Internet ether and that it will be available for access to millions of people and that, for the most part, your privacy is controlled by you.

Are you a recruiter or responsible for hiring decisions? What do you think? This is an open debate – do any job seekers out there have experiences they want to share?

But how does this effect where the employment market is heading in the short term?  We know that there is going to be a change of power at the senior levels. We have already seen a new Director-General appointed for Department of Premier and Cabinet, and the word on the street is that a new Under Treasurer will soon be named, but what does it mean for the thousands of public servants across Queensland, who are simply focused on delivering outcomes for the State, whether it be related to health services, education or roads.

One guarantee these changes will bring is with it even more change.

Changes to department names, changes to reporting structures, and changes to policies, to name but a few.  It will be a matter of time before Machinery of Government changes are announced and the flow on effect begins.

For those of us providing recruitment services to Government, our job will be to very quickly gain an understanding of what the mandate will be for each new Department, who is in charge, and what the strategic vision so we can identify what skills are going to be in demand and work proactively to meet that challenge. Yet another flow on effect from change at the top!

Change has many meanings, some may say “it’s a cause to be different, a transformation, others may say it’s seasonal, to move from one phase to another (Anna Bligh herself referred to the cycle of politics and the momentum for change in her concession speech).

Whatever spin you want to put on it, change is inevitable and shouldn’t be feared.  Change brings opportunity, the chance of doing things better, or smarter. After all, we call ourselves the Smart State don’t we? Or perhaps the new Premier will change that strategy too.

True or false?

It is a fact that many applicants still have a less than favourable experience when they apply for a new job, be it a direct application to an employer or through a recruiter…

In this employment market where skill shortages do exist in particular areas, many employers are still acting to their detriment in the way they treat potential employees.

The “sins” are many – with the most common including:

• Not acknowledging applications received
• Taking months to fill a vacancy
• Not providing a contact person and phone number on a job advertisement
• Outdated and irrelevant position descriptions (sometimes none at all)
• Advertising a role when you already have someone earmarked to appoint
• Interviewing and never providing feedback

If an applicant does get to sit across the interview table, often the way an interview is conducted is enough to drive the conclusion home that this organisation, isn’t culturally a good fit.

An interview needs to be a two-way dialogue, where the applicant demonstrates the expertise they bring and how the organisation will benefit from their appointment.

The organisation in turn has to demonstrate what benefits the applicant will get from joining them over a competitor – whether it is training, challenge, growth or development…

I believe that a recruitment process where the opportunity is not provided to talk to someone about the role from the outset is a flawed one.  I believe that any employer not prepared to interview within 4 weeks of advertising is crazy.  I also believe that not acknowledging an application or providing feedback post interview is rude.

I also believe that if you are a serious job seeker – thinking that you can just hit the apply button and stand out in the crowd is laughable…

I’d be interested to hear your experiences… Please share your thoughts in the comment box below!

One day while casually trawling through job ads your spot your dream job… So you write a great application, get an interview; impress them enough in an hour to hire you and your referees stack up.

But that’s not the end of the process…..  Although for many it is.

No!  It’s only part way through the process.

Think about the last time you started a new job, how did you approach it? How did you plan, research? How clear were you on what you wanted to achieve in your first day?  First week?  First month?

Or did you just sit back and let on boarding take its course?  Ease through the first week and amble through your first month, hoping your team would like you and your boss would be impressed?

You only get a short time to make a strong first impression.  Coming new into a role and a new organization you have a unique opportunity to see things in perspective, you have an open mind and a higher level of energy and engagement.

This is not to say that you need to come into this with a level of aggression that will intimidate and aggravate your new work colleagues either.  There has to be a fine balance between energy, drive and questioning the status quo.

Do you consider the “unwritten ground rules” of this new team and organization?  Often these rules are subtle but the easiest damaged when you are new…

Often its not always what you do – its how you do it.  Actions speak louder than words and once you have built a perception of a person – it seldom changes.

How will you gain the respect of your team?  How do you ensure that you have the skills and capabilities on board to support you?

And how do you navigate through a new organization to determine who the key players are that you need to align your self with?

It’s a 2 way street both for the employer and the new employee.  On boarding is often an overlooked process by many employers, leading to lower performance and potentially disengagement of new recruits.

I’d be keen to hear your experiences – leave a comment in the box below telling us your story.

We are SO thankful to report that Greg is making a rapid recovery since his horrific accident Christmas morning when he went kite surfing.

As you may recall, Greg was lifted many meters into the air by strong winds and dumped onto the ground, fracturing and dislocating his hip, breaking his nose and sustaining severe head injuries.

After 16 days in an induced coma and near death, Greg slowly emerged and has since made a progressive improvement each week.  It is so gratifying to see Greg so quickly returning to his old self, with his sense of humour, quick wit and steely determination.

Greg has recently left the Gold Coast Hospital and has relocated to the PA Hospital in Brisbane in the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit for further treatment and to begin the next step on his road to recovery.

It makes you realise how strong the human spirit is and how important it is to have both your good health and loved ones to support you, and Greg is fortunate to be blessed with both.

Thank you for all of your support during this time – we have passed this on to Greg and his family.

Greg’s parents, John and Jenny, and his sister Jessica have asked us to pass on their thanks for all the kind thoughts, prayers and support from everyone. Greg will continue to need this support in the near future please keep him in your thoughts.

Justine Eden and Kim Ritchie
Directors
Eden Ritchie Recruitment

• Standing out in the field?
• Providing excellent customer service?
• Under promising and over delivering?
• Challenging yourself and developing new business?

The team at Eden Ritchie are – and we need a like minded, motivated individual to join our team. This is a 360 consulting role, you will need previous experience from within recruitment, specifically the IT space.

In the fifteen years since Eden Ritchie Recruitment commenced business we have achieved consistent growth in market share. Today we are regarded as one of Brisbane’s leading providers of IT, accounting and Executive staff to a range of high profile organisations. Working in the fast growing IT Division at Eden Ritchie Recruitment, you will be dealing with dynamic roles across commercial, local and state government organisations.

If you are not competitive by nature this role is not for you, to be successful you will need to combine demonstrated business development abilities and an entrepreneurial flair with the drive and hunger to convert every opportunity.

In this exciting career move, consultative skills in business planning and needs analysis will also be invaluable. Our website will provide further information about our organisation, our team and the types of roles we recruit.

If you seek challenge and autonomy within a progressive, team environment please contact Kim Ritchie on 3230 0025 or Dan Smith on 3230 0012– via email kim@edenritchie.com.au

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this is a timely reminder to make sure your resume stands out in order to give you the best chance of securing that dream job in 2012.

As an applicant, it’s important to remember you are competing against every other candidate that might be interested in a particular role. For some roles, we receive as many as 150-200 applications. So what is the key to making yourself stand out against the competition? It’s imperative that you know how to sell yourself to maximize your chances of securing an interview, which – let’s face it – is where the true test is.

I often hear from employers and other recruiters that they see hundreds of resumes across their desks that don’t seem to match the requirements of the specific position. This makes it very hard to shortlist down to a top few candidates to interview. The key is demonstrating how your skills and experience meet the requirements and showing the potential employer how you will add value to their team. If you can do this, it will significantly increase your chances of securing an interview. There are normally two key parts to a job application, the cover letter and the resume:

Cover Letter
If you are going to write a cover letter then make it count. In our time poor society, hiring managers don’t have time to read an exact rehash of your resume, so make it stand out! Use this as an opportunity to give a short outline on how your skills and experience would allow you to deliver in the role and how hiring you would add value to the business. Use this to also add a brief description on why you want this particular job.

Resume
As a recruiter I see hundreds of resumes every month and all of them are different in terms of the length, information included, layout etc. So what stands out in a good resume? As nearly all hiring managers are pressed for time, there are three main attributes to a good resume that will make it stand out from potentially hundreds of others in the applicant pool.

• Length – At most, a good resume should be six pages. Hiring managers simply don’t have time to read resumes that are ten or fifteen pages and sometimes more. Concentrate on your recent positions – the most relevant being your roles within the past ten years.
• Layout – Make sure your resume is easy to read. Break it up with dot points or shorter paragraphs at various intervals rather than long paragraphs that are time consuming to read. If it’s easy to read, the hiring manager is less likely to skip over parts of it.
• Content – Most people focus their resumes on the responsibilities or tasks rather than the achievements or deliverables. If you implemented changes that saved the business money, highlight it. If you delivered a project under budget or earlier than expected, then highlight those achievements. Proven performance is the main thing that hiring managers are looking for when recruiting so make sure you highlight your achievements!

The key is keeping it succinct, thus keeping the hiring manager engaged, as well as highlighting your achievements. If you can do this, it will give you the best chance of securing an interview for that dream job in 2012!

But, unfortunately our beloved Gregory Clark was involved in a kite surfing accident on Christmas morning on the Gold Coast and ended up in the Gold Coast Hospital ICU with a broken hip, nose and significant head injuries.

Greg was placed into an induced coma in order to allow his body to recover and the swelling to reduce.  With his parents and sister at his bedside he remained in an induced coma for the next 9 days.

It is still very early days, but we can report (thanks to regular updates from Greg’s family) that he is progressing well in his recovery, now coming out of the coma, he is breathing for himself and reacting to people around him.

Although Greg only joined Eden Ritchie Recruitment recently, he has fast become a key part of our team and has made some great friendships and connections with our team, candidates and employers alike.

His sense of humour, generosity and friendship are only some of his great attributes that we will miss in the office.  We expect/hope that he will be back on the job some time in the future……

At Eden Ritchie Recruitment we are shattered by this accident and ask you all to direct your energy, love, thoughts, prayers (whatever works for you!) towards Greg’s speedy and full recovery and to support his parents, John and Jenny and Greg’s sister Jessica during this terrible time.

Justine Eden and Kim Ritchie
Directors
Eden Ritchie Recruitment