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Published Date: 25th September 2023.​The recruitment industry is undergoing a transformative shift with the introduction of ChatGPT and AI, with some people welcoming the software with open arms and others viewing it in horror. It’s easy to see that these technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way recruiters, employers and candidates interact and how hiring decisions are ultimately made. However, concerns and opportunities must be considered as with any technological advancement. In this blog post, we will explore the current landscape of ChatGPT and AI in recruitment, addressing the pros and cons and highlighting critical areas for further consideration. Unleashing the Power of ChatGPTPicture this: a client administers a technical test to a candidate during their pre-interview screening. They ace it with a perfect 100% score. Sounds like a success story, right? Well, not so fast. It turns out the candidate used ChatGPT to complete the test, so now you need a clearer understanding of their skills and have an applicant with questionable ethics. This scenario left us scratching our heads and sparked a deep dive into the capabilities of AI in the recruitment process. How prevalent is it, how are people using it, and how can employers and recruiters know when they’re being hoodwinked?ChatGPT can create something out of nothing. It can generate profiles, craft CVs and even write up references. In many ways, it's a game-changer ­but we must all tread carefully, ensuring accuracy and reliability of the materials it produces. Examining the Impact on ClientsOne significant benefit of ChatGPT and AI for employers is their increased efficiency in recruitment processes. Automating candidate profile creation, CV screening, and reference writing saves employers valuable time and resources. With AI-powered tools, employers can sift through a large pool of candidates, identifying the most promising talent in a more streamlined manner. However, employers must know the potential risks of relying solely on AI-generated outputs when assessing candidates. While AI can provide impressive job descriptions and ads, candidates may exploit these tools to manipulate (and enhance) their applications. I can’t emphasise enough the need for employers to conduct comprehensive evaluation processes that place humans front and centre. Thorough interviews, assessments and reference checks conducted by experienced recruiters or hiring managers enable organisations to understand better a candidate's true abilities, cultural fit and potential for growth.Balancing the Role of RecruitersAs recruiters, we have a delicate role in this AI-driven era. We pride ourselves on building solid relationships with our clients,­ taking the time to get to know their business, their culture and their people before matching them with the best talent. We need to identify candidates’ skills, experience, personality, and motivations.With ChatGPT, we can reap the benefits of automation and process efficiency, but we must always maintain our primary focus, ultimately finding the right person for the job. This human-centric process applies nuance and the broader context that AI cannot understand yet!As recruiters, we're passionate about finding the perfect fit, not just a superficial fit based on keywords. The human touch is what enables us to understand our clients' needs and candidates' aspirations truly.Candidates and Ethical ConsiderationsLet's remember the candidates in this equation. With the rise of AI in recruitment, ethical questions have come to the forefront. AI can help candidates generate clear, concise, well-structured CVs that best showcase their experiences and qualifications. However, candidates should be mindful not to use AI-generated content for technical assessments or other tasks that require the genuine application of their abilities. Using AI to boost performance in specialised tests artificially crosses ethical boundaries and can compromise the integrity of the recruitment process. This doesn’t benefit anyone in the long run, as the candidate is likely to be placed in a role where they don’t have the technical capabilities to thrive. Candidates appreciate and value a human touch throughout any recruitment process. Building a solid rapport, offering guidance and addressing candidates' concerns are crucial aspects that AI cannot fully replace. By fostering trust using empathy and understanding, recruiters can create a positive candidate experience.Striking a Balance: Embracing the Positive AspectsWith ChatGPT and AI’s growing ambiguity, recruitment agencies and employers must harness the positive aspects while addressing potential downsides. The key could lie in finding a hybrid model that marries the efficiency of AI with human interaction that delivers genuine relationships.Rather than drowning in a sea of 50 potential candidates, using AI to generate a shortlist of five based on skills requirements, availability, and salary match can save us all time and effort. This allows us to focus on essential human experience and truly understand the needs of employers and job seekers.To mitigate risk, employers can also clearly communicate with candidates about the use of AI in the recruitment process ­setting realistic expectations and establishing a sense of fairness. By doing so, employers can allow candidates to showcase their skills, experiences and personalities beyond the limitations of AI-generated content. Final Thoughts: The Ever-Evolving World of RecruitmentAs a Regional Manager at Beyond Recruitment, I’m witnessing firsthand the impact of ChatGPT and AI on the recruitment industry. It's a powerful tool that has the potential to revolutionise how we operate. However, it's crucial to tread carefully ­ensuring accuracy, ethical considerations, and a balance between AI and the human touch.While speed and efficiency are essential, we must always maintain sight of the relationships we build and the nuances we understand as recruiters. Clients and candidates still value the personal connection and the work behind the scenes. Remember, AI is a tool, but the people behind it make a difference. If you are seeking a New Zealand-wide recruitment partner dedicated to delivering talent solutions tailored to your organisation’s needs, let's collaborate to find the perfect fit for your team's success. Reach out to me at andrew.simkin@beyond.co.nz or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Published Date: 26th June 2023.​As an industry, recruitment rolls with the punches and adapts to market conditions and world events. Not too long ago, during the peak of the pandemic, we saw a scarcity of candidates because the borders were closed and immigration was paused. That led to talent shortages because we were only working with a limited pool of professionals who were moving around from role to role. There were plenty of jobs, but few qualified candidates.Now, New Zealand is heading towards an election and a new wave of COVID-19. We have open borders and plenty of people arriving, but fewer jobs available and more competition amongst job seekers.It’s times like this that we see frustration from Hiring Managers who are sifting through 50 or more applications to find a handful of people who might be a good match for the role.As a trusted New Zealand recruitment agency, we can help take some of that burden away from Hiring Managers so they can focus on their core functions. In this blog, I’ve listed out my tips for engaging and partnering with a recruitment agency so you secure the best talent in the market with ease.Step 1 - Get to Know Each OtherWe appreciate the working world has moved to online meetings and video conferences, but there’s something still to be said for a face-to-face introduction. If we’re going to be representing your organisation and your team, we like to scratch beneath the surface and truly understand your needs.Kicking things off with an in-person coffee can help build trust and rapport from day one. Hiring someone for your team is not all about matching technical skills. Following many years working in the industry, we know it’s also about matching personalities and ensuring motivational and cultural fit. Step 2 – Take a Deep Dive on the BriefJob titles can be ambiguous and job descriptions often too generic. We will want to take a detailed brief that really gets to the crux of how the new team member is going to spend their eight hours a day and justify their pay cheque.That involves a long list of questions, such as:What does your team look like?What are you all working towards collectively?Are you siloed or collaborative?Are you structured or agile?Do you have a hybrid, in-person or remote model?Which core skills are missing from your team?What do you consider non-negotiable?How much do you want to pay? How much are you willing to pay?What are the progression opportunities for the successful applicant? Do you have internal approval to recruit the role and budget signed off for the salary?How often do you want to be updated on the status of this role? Do you have any DEI quotas in place that we need to consider?These questions will all help us to build a better picture of what you’re looking for, and help match you with your ideal candidate. It also helps us when talking to candidates about your team and the role itself. We can uncover and address any concerns from candidates early on, or decide that an applicant isn’t going to be the right fit for your business.Step 3 – Agreed Timelines In the current market, where there are talent shortages and in-demand candidates, timing is everything. Chances are, if you think a candidate has great experience and is a good fit for your role, other people will too.A recruitment agency can help you reduce your time to hire significantly. Not only do we take the candidate attraction and sourcing off your hands, we will establish timeframes and expectations on your behalf. In our initial briefing stage, we can jointly map out some key milestones in the process such as submitting the first round of CVs, proposed interview dates and a project completion date. From our experience, we generally allow a two-week period for submitting resumes for permanent talent and 24 hours for contractors. We then suggest Hiring Managers aim to turn around interviews and make decisions as quickly as possible to lock in their preferred applicant.Step 4 – Leverage our ExpertiseOnce armed with all of this information, we can get on with doing what we do best. That’s the beauty of working with a recruitment partner ­ we know where to find talent and can do all of the initial groundwork on your behalf. By building a foundation based on trust and mutual respect, we will be able to represent your organisation and team in the best possible way. The same applies to our relationships with candidates, many of whom we support throughout their careers. They know we have their backs and will match them with roles that suit their individual career aspirations and personalities.Partnering With the Right RecruiterAs an employer working with a recruitment agency, there are several models you can explore ­including exclusive arrangements, retained and unretained. From my observations over the years, I believe most recruiters will put in the extra mile when working on an exclusive role because they know they are not competing for the commission or the same candidates.As a Hiring Manager, you are investing your time, energy and money into outsourcing your recruitment and want the best possible outcome. If you don’t find the right person first time around, we know there can be a real impact on you and your current team who feel overworked and under pressure. That’s why at Beyond Recruitment, we are all about building and maintaining trusted relationships with our clients based on a real understanding of their needs. If you’d like to talk to one of our team about your recruitment needs, please give us a call.

Published Date: 21st June 2023.​Specially created for our own ABCs - (Amazing Beyond Recruitment Contractors)​Being a contractor, you may miss out on corporate wellness initiatives and support in your organisation. Also, if you tend to work from home a lot, which can be great for the most part, missing out on workplace wellness opportunities can be a downside. For these reasons, many of the contractors I have spoken with so far have been interested in discussing options for improving their physical and mental wellbeing.With a potentially overflowing to-do list, incorporating new wellness habits into your schedule can feel overwhelming. To help you with this, I created the ABCs of work wellness that are easy and quick to implement. The secret to implementing positive change that sticks is to start super small and keep it consistent. Let’s take a look!A for Awareness, Not AutopilotFirstly, the ‘A’ you don't want here is autopilot. While doing some things on autopilot is essential, it can hold you back professionally and personally if being on autopilot is your default position. Don’t worry if this is you; we all do it to varying degrees! Your brain aims for habit creation and being able to do things without too much thought in order to protect its precious, limited energy reserve. There is absolutely a time and place for this, like getting to work, brushing your teeth and likely some elements of your job. However, this becomes a problem in your life when too many things are habitual, preventing you from making progress and creating the new habits you desire. These habits can be hard to change because our environment contains triggers that cause us to react quickly without thinking.Being aware of your habits and behaviour is crucial for making positive changes. Prioritising awareness allows you to start making new choices and do things differently. Another name for a similar process, that you might have heard is mindfulness, but that doesn’t start with A! In addition, mindfulness is more focused on being in the present moment and what's going on around you, while awareness is more guided towards your behaviour and how you personally engage with your environment. Practicing awareness then allows you to recognise when your responses are not in alignment with who you want to be and allows your brain’s CEO – the prefrontal cortex – to be more intentional about decision-making moving forward.Throughout your working day, start to become aware of how you do things. Take a pause before reacting and consider ways that you could respond differently. Over time, this will shift your neurology, increasing your awareness. Recording your observations of how you do things can be beneficial too.B for BreatheNext is breathe! I know you breathe already, but most of us don’t breathe properly and may actually be doing more damage to our wellbeing than we realise. This is honestly the first suggestion I make to anyone wanting to feel better.When you breathe under 'stress', in a shallow manner without awareness, physiologically your body responds in a way that it feels threatened or unsafe. This affects many things in relation to your health, such as sluggish digestion, heart problems, storing fat (because your body thinks it is trying to 'survive'), low energy, moodiness and more. Your brain also doesn’t get enough oxygen, so cannot function optimally – which is a big problem if you need to use your brain during the day. Learning to breathe in a healthy way will have so many incredible benefits to your mood, energy, health and, in turn, how you perform and feel in your work. You don’t need to take up meditation to get the benefits. Deep breathing, while it sounds super simple, actually creates a significant change in your physiology – altering your state from a sympathetic stressed state (fight or flight) to parasympathetic (rest and digest) and informing (tricks) your brain that you are ‘safe’ and well. Here are just a couple of tips to get you started:Use the 5-5-7 breathe technique. Breathe in deep (right down into your stomach) for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, then let out slower for 7 seconds. A slower exhale is another great way for you to release stress and remind your brain you are safe. Repeat a few times.Use this technique anytime you feel stressed or overwhelmed and at regular intervals throughout the day. You can even set a timer until you become more aware of when to use this. On the way to work or before an important meeting or presentation is also a great time.Taking deep breaths before eating lunch – to remind your brain you are safe and that switching on your digestive system is ok. Once you’ve taken some breaths, eat slowly and mindfully. Your food will be processed more effectively, and you’ll feel less sluggish in the afternoon – despite your choice of food. Improving the quality of your food can come later when you’ve nailed your ABCs.C for CelebrateAnd finally - Celebrate! Being aware of the good things that happen in your day can really change your whole perspective and feeling around how things are going. As contractors, you especially need to give attention to this as you may not have anyone around you letting you know what’s going well.Our brain, annoyingly, is wired to look for the negative and threats, in case there is a tiger in the bush nearby. But in this modern world, having the negative things outweigh the positive is not so helpful, especially for our mental state.The good news is that our brains can be changed. It takes a little work and a lot of awareness, but you can change your overall perspective and soon you’ll start to notice more positivity. In your brain there is a filter system called the Reticular Activating system (RAS) that filters out approximately 90% of your environment, to protect your brain from overload. The RAS is why when you are looking for a new car, suddenly you see that car everywhere, even in the colour you were looking at – they were always there, but now you are more aware of them. Let’s train your RAS to look for what you want to see or experience more. I’m sure you can now see how beneficial this can be for your mental wellbeing and seeing your experience at work from a more positive perspective.Now You Know Your ABCsHopefully you can see how all three ABCs work really well in tandem.Notice that none of the ABCs discusses actual diet and exercise habits. Firstly, you’re probably already so busy and potentially overwhelmed that adding something like that may take a little too much brain and willpower right now.Secondly, simply focusing on improving your energy and outlook with the ABCs will allow more space to up the ante a bit later on. The secret to implementing positive change that sticks is to start super small and keep it consistent. Laying the right foundation when initiating change helps those new habits to stick. You may also find that just focusing on this will elevate your mood to a point where you feel more ready and inspired to add some new healthy habits to your life.A Quick Review:Awareness: Being mindful of your current behaviours and habits that are on autopilot. Once you start using your more advanced prefrontal cortex part of the brain, you will be better able to make more conscious decisions.Breathe: Deep breathing allows your body and brain to feel safe and so all the things you need to be working effectively will be activated. Find time throughout your day to add this in for significant health benefits. It only takes a minute!Celebrate: Being conscious of looking for the good in your day and sitting with it for a bit will rewire your brain to allow it to be open to finding more of it every day.Ask yourself, what steps can you take right now to start incorporating the ABCs of work wellness into your day and ensure that it is consistent so that it becomes a habit?The team at Beyond Recruitment want you to be feeling your best. If you would like help with implementing your ABCs or anything else relating to your wellbeing or contract please get in touch. 

Published Date: 30th March 2023.​​As we near the end of Q1 2023, we have witnessed some extreme shifts in the recruitment market. Having gone from a job drought in March 2020, to an extreme candidate shortage in 2022 continuing into 2023. With this change in market conditions, we have seen Candidates, Contractors and Clients look at various ways they can plug the skills gap, find balance in life and maximise their earning potential.Plugging the Skills Gaps One of the key strategies that has arisen has been clients hoping to fill the skill gaps by looking to bring on Contractors, which is a highly credible way of reducing your risk, bringing capability into the business unit whilst buying time until, either the market changes or a more permanent resource is secured. Whilst this in principle sounds like a strong strategy, we have seen some recurring misconceptions that need to be addressed. Clients that are not accustomed to using contract resources seem to be looking to secure the skillset at the same budget as a permanent individual would have cost. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. The Demand for Contractors​Clients have been forced to look at hourly rate resources as the typical working holiday visas and returning Kiwis have failed to materialise. A number of employers have been looking to minimise their costs using fixed-term assignments with a pro-rata salary. This is not a bad strategy in a talent-rich market but we are in 2023, one of the most talent-short markets we have seen, at least in my lifetime. This strategy unfortunately fails to attract quality Contractors. They understand the reason behind the fixed-term proposal but in this market where there are so many hourly rate contract opportunities out there, many employers are having to make a number of sacrifices in talent, availability and suitability for positions by using this strategy. Skilled Contractors make a career out of Contracting. Some like the variety, some like the freedom, and some like the opportunity to run their own business. Contracting is a business. Contractors can be GST registered, make tax returns, and must provide insurance (Beyond Recruitment does provide that on behalf of Contractors). In fact, there are several expenses and costs Contractors take on board to provide their services that you must factor in. Factoring the Costs What this means is that when you are looking to secure the services of a Contractor, you must consider and factor these costs into their rate. Merely dividing the salary into an hourly rate doesn’t work. You are securing a professional individual for a specific task or purpose. You are not offering a long-term commitment. The contract may be extended, but the Contractor is only guaranteed the length of each contract. Other things to consider are; who is payrolling the Contractor, and how will this be financed? How do you secure the services of a contractor, through your network, direct advertising, or via an Agency? What is the cost of securing a short-term resource with no guarantee of ongoing work? Contractors do not accrue annual leave, sick pay, KiwiSaver, bereavement leave, birthdays off, etc. When you factor all these into account, you can now begin to see the additional costs that need to be factored into the budget to secure a reliable, skilled and effective Contractor. Contractors: A Business EssentialContractors are an essential part of the employment market, but we need to start to manage them as our business partners, as a skilled specialist that is solving problems and who will depart when the assignment has been completed, with little fuss, allowing you to get on with your business.If you would like to learn more about contracting opportunities or employing contractors for your business project, your next step should be to contact the specialist team at Beyond Recruitment today.​