9 Talent Hunters share what they are doing now to prepare for post-Coronavirus

The night is darkest just before dawn and while we struggle to see light at the end of the tunnel at the moment, we do know that all these shall pass.

As we look forward to the arrival of that day, we spoke to some of your peers to find out what are they doing to stay positive, keep their chins up and become better at what they do so that they are in the best position to push on once we have crossed that “bridge”.

What are you doing to stay positive and prepared during these times? Use the comment section to share your thoughts.


Nada Dixon
Global Talent Acquisition Specialist, IMDEX Limited

Entering this period of uncertainty provides me with the opportunity to work with our hiring managers to define their long-term Talent needs. These conversations will be paramount to IMDEX successfully navigating through, and post, the coronavirus pandemic.

We are concentrating on building robust and diverse technology focussed Talent pools to ensure that we will be communicating with an engaged and highly capable candidate audience to consider for future positions with our business.


Sarah Purches
Talent Acquisition Consultant at RMIT Online

I have been blocking out some time in my calendar each day to think about any obstacles I have come up against and how I can better tackle them.

I’m also getting up early most mornings and going running as it is a great way to clear my mind and de-stress; this has also really helped me to focus as soon as I get stuck into work at my dining table.


Alana Bennett
Human Experience Coach at Connected Experience

Well, I am taking the opportunity, amid having kids at home, to write, write, write. I want to bring as much of my content plan to life whilst things are somewhat quiet in preparation for my own consulting business (#timingiseverything).

The other thing is, I feel like this point in time is a huge opportunity for personal growth. We are in such unprecedented times however I am loving the “back to basics” lifestyle that my family is living – bush walks, board games, bike/ scooter rides, cooking, and not having to rush to everything.

My hope is that this actually continues far beyond Covid-19.


James Witcombe
Director & Recruiter at SMAART Recruitment

I’ve just downloaded Adobe Premier Pro and am learning how to use it (via YouTube tutorials!).

Video is so important in recruitment and business generally… being able to use a great editing tool is an excellent skill to have.


Agata Furman
Employer Branding Specialist at RMIT University

What I am paying much closer attention to is practicing mindfulness and nurturing my relationships with people.

Current lockdown really made me think about how do we take certain things for granted and I am spending few minutes each day reflecting on things I am grateful for – it helps me combat the uncertainty and allows me to really put things into perspective.


Ryan Biggs
Head of Resourcing & Employer Brand at Australian Financial Complaints Authority

My team have recently had a brainstorming to identify the projects we can work on that don’t require us to be in the office or meeting with vendors to co-create. Some of these include Talent mapping, updating our EVP comms, running online training for our hiring managers on best practise. In addition, refreshing our frontline Assessment Centre processes to support a surge in recruitment. These outcomes will be invaluable once Covid-19 blows over and we start to get busy.

On the personal front, I have challenged myself to create more space for mindfulness, creativity and sharing my knowledge with others. I often find myself going at 120km/h but this Covid-19 situation made me realise some of my greatest inspirations come when I set aside time to simply be well. That, or at 2am when I’m trying to switch off!


Marita Beus
Talent & Resourcing Advisor at Jemena

As a person who thrives on connection, COVID-19 has taught me just how important technology is to stay connected so I am using any spare time I have to connect with my peers.

Our organisation has a number of objectives we are working towards with Diversity and Inclusion being a main focus. As this is an area I am interested in, I have been involved in internal discussions to ensure that our business is set up to achieve this objective both now and when this crisis is over.


Dan Nuroo
Talent Acquisition Manager

It is a great opportunity to look globally at peers who are brave enough to contribute to the conversation. Re-engaging with them has been a real buzz as well as the local network.

Leaning on the local network is hugely important, the connectivity here is amazing if you work with it. The phone calls of support, emails and texts etc. I have received has been humbling, knowing I am not alone and that we are in this together. 


Rachel Ash
Talent Acquisition Specialist

For me, it has been about becoming more connected and involved with the community both inside and outside of the workplace.

The TA/HR community in Australia is amazing! We have so many great communities to become part of including this ATC group, the TA Downunder Slack channel, Meetup groups and even just via LinkedIn. It has been really humbling to see everyone support each other and go out of their way to help or share their experiences during this challenging time. 

Another positive is that #isomode has forced everyone to get back to basics. It has been great to pick up the phone and have some great “check-in” chats with HR folks in my network, that I may not have spoken with for a while. Their shared experiences and knowledge has been invaluable, so I would love to continue all of the above moving forward!


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