This Week in Talent (7th September)

Uh Oh – Tracy has the TWIT-conn for the month of September…!

Greetings from sunny Queensland everyone & welcome to my musings on all things Talent & beyond for the next few weeks! I’m Tracy, & I head up the Talent Acquisition team for Bechtel Corporation in this region – we are a global EPC company delivering exciting projects of purpose all over the world. I’m privileged to lead a superstar team of recruiters, coordinators & sourcers responsible for delivering top talent & hires for some very cool projects happening globally & across APAC & India. Some of you may also know me in my capacity as co-founder of the Brisbane Recruitment Meet Up Community which relaunched this year & I can hand on heart say that QLD’s truly Got Talent these days!

So, I’m excited to be here & share with you all this month, I LOVE September-time & this year it’s a bumper month, jam-packed with a bunch of my fave things! Spring is springing, footy finals are kicking off, it’s that sweet spot time of year when the weather balance is about right & it just feels like possibilities & new beginnings are everywhere, emerging all around us.

I’m feeling especially philosophical about new beginnings as we are right in the middle of our Graduate recruitment drive at the moment. I’ve been more than a little inspired by some of the early careers talent we’ve had the opportunity to meet with in recent weeks.

How exciting (& nerve-wracking) to be just beginning in your career, and to be stepping off into your first professional role? How on earth to choose from all the amazing employers & opportunities that are out there this year…??

And, importantly on our side, how can perspective employers onboard graduate talent in a meaningful way that sets them up for success? – The experience of a first role can be formative & life shaping & the impact on a graduate’s future career journey is undeniable – it’s a huge responsibility that us employers should not take for granted. We’ve all been on a journey of our own also, needing to also rediscover our early careers hiring mojo, as many of us bring these programs back to life after the past few years hiatus – I’d love to hear from anyone else doing cool stuff in this space, hit me up to trade musings on the subject.

Finally, as this lands in your inbox many of us will be primping & preening in readiness for thee Talent Industry night of nights with the ever-glam Internal Talent Awards (aka ITAs) happening later today in Sydney – I’m looking forward to the chance to catch up in person with industry friends from all over, cheering on the finalists & winners & of course, having a boogie! Speaking of boogie, why not get into the ITAs Spirit with their Pre-Event Playlist on Spotify – Listen Here

Before I go get my dancing shoes on, here are a few bits & pieces that that caught my attention this week – hope you enjoy!

What Should Graduate Employers Be Looking for in Successful Candidates?

Some solid advice & starting tips here from the team at GradConnection for anyone (like us) who is revisiting early careers hiring again this year after several years hiatus. Just one of many resources we consumed in recent weeks on the subject.

4 Ideas to Attract, Engage and Retain Top Talent

HRD have created this free resource citing some top Strategies to secure & nurture talent in a competitive job market. Talks to the cost of attrition (a whopping $30K each time a role is replaced!) & the fact at least 42% of employees are actively looking to move in the next 12 months – what are some things you can do to put the brakes on?

Want to Be a Talent Leader? Here’s How 600,000 Others Got There

On the subject of career journeys, here’s an interesting analysis & commentary from LinkedIn on the journeys of over 600K Talent Leaders – in both TA & L&D related leadership roles, women hold a significant majority across virtually all industries, all the leaders career trajectories however follow a varied trajectory with no single path or straight line – so many unique entry points & no one-size fits all mould. But I guess we all knew that already …!

Webinar: AI & TA: What’s Hype, What Works, What’s Next

Here’s a Webinar not to miss: Recruiting Future Podcaster & TA futurist Matt Alder is teaming up with some other super smart industry folks in the first of a new series of conversational webinars. Coming straight out of the gates with cutting through the hype of AI in TA – this one is a must for anyone who, like me, is still getting their heads around it all.

X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) has just added a new jobs listing function

Probably like most of you, I’m watching this one with interest. Only available to verified accounts so far, X Hiring is the latest key move to making X an ‘everything app’ with this new feature allowing companies to essentially post job listings on the platform. Is it a challenger to the likes of LinkedIn & Indeed…?? Time will tell, I hope that any competition to the job board giant’s monopoly is only positive for the rest of us.

McKinsey Chart of the Day

Those who know me, know that I’m a bit of a TA data nerd – I love a good chart or infographic & I’m a big fan of the McKinsey Chart of the day Series – Visual explanations for the changing world that we live in from the future of work to the global shortage of residential real estate, autonomous driving, and the market for tech talent, there’s data &, yep you guessed it, a chart for anything you can dream up – check it out & I challenge you not to fall down a bit of a rabbit-hole whilst exploring!

Be a Talent Groupie 👕

Did someone say MERCH??? Super excited to see the launch this week of the Talent Community Merch Online Store in collaboration with Nathan & the team at SwagNSend!

Anyone can jump online anytime & for a small cost, support & rep your favourite Talent Community group from the 10 participating including: ATC, Brisbane Rec Meet Up, Circle Back Initiative, Melbourne Rec Meet Up, Rubberband, Strivin, Sydney Talent Meet Up, TADU, Talent Table, TaPod.

It’s mate vs mate, state vs state – let’s see some friendly inter-community competition folks & get amongst it!