Last night we hosted a room full of engineers at our offices listening to the author Grantlee Kieza discuss the subject “Was John Monash Australia’s Greatest Ever Engineer?” It was a fascinating discussion about how Monash applied his engineering skills to a make very significant contributions to our country.
The past quarter has generally been a strong one for us. We’ve experienced lots of demand for staff from new and existing clients and we are currently involved in the embryonic stages of some exciting projects which will provide opportunities for engineering & technical professionals. Having said that, we’ve noticed a slight dip in demand in the past few weeks. Clients have recently been slow to make hiring decisions – we suspect (hope) some of this is related to the Easter break.
Following are more specific observations of some of the key engineering and technical markets in which we operate.
Author Stephen Noble, Managing Director, Australia Wide Personnel
I went to Monash University, I drive on the Monash Freeway and go through the City of Monash almost daily. Yet I had no idea who John Monash was, beyond a vague concept that he was a general. Continue reading
In the past quarter we have experienced a marked increase in new enquiries across the board in engineering, especially for product design engineers, CAD drafters and software engineers. Requirements in the manufacturing sector are not as high but they are steady, particularly in the trades sector with many companies looking for fitters and electricians. We believe the new Melbourne underground rail system will have a huge requirement for engineering and trades talent, and will ramp up significantly from March this year.
We are very excited about the prospect of 2017 being a year of increased demand for professionals in all engineering / technical areas. Continue reading
Author Stephen Noble
I’ve always felt that our company has been a reasonable bellwether of the health of manufacturing – I run a recruitment company called Australia Wide Personnel which has been a substantial supplier of both professional technical and blue collar labour hire staff to the manufacturing sector both Melbourne & Sydney, since 1979. If manufacturers have confidence and orders, they’re usually recruiting staff.
As we move close to Christmas, these are my observations about manufacturing over the past 12 months:
We are pretty confident that this strength in manufacturing will continue into 2017.
Have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
Generally, the demand for the recruitment of engineering and technical professionals has been progressing quite well over the past quarter, without “jumping out of it’s skin.” Companies in most industry sectors appear to feel comfortable making investment decisions which will lead to hiring. Interestingly, a 117% increase in the coal price over just 3 months is expected to add 2% to national income over the current financial year, boost the federal budget by $7 billion and re-start wages growth – this is a significant event which should have positive implications for hiring across many industries in Australia. Continue reading
Author Stephen Noble
A couple of weeks ago, the Association of Professional Engineers Australia (APEA) called on Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton to remove engineers from the Skilled Occupations List. They argue that the Government continues to allow companies to source engineers from overseas when thousands of Australian-based engineers struggle to find work – the government first needs to address underemployment of Australian graduates and overseas born engineers.
I run a long-established recruitment company specialising in the recruitment of engineers. There are areas where there are very severe shortages of engineers but often these shortages are only there because of the extremely narrow parameters which companies are willing to accept in the candidates they will consider.
I would largely support the stance taken by APEA. For many years now, graduates have had a really tough market in which to find their first engineering job. And too frequently we see resumes of overseas educated and trained engineers who have been in Australia for years and can’t get that first break. What happens when the large car companies stop manufacturing here soon – will employers have open minds to retraining and utilising some of the great experience they have? I do think that too often the employers of engineers (our clients) just want candidates with exactly the same skill set or experience as they require in their company. There doesn’t appear to be a huge level of interest or commitment to employing base skills, and then training the very specific stuff. I suspect that a large part of the answer is because there’s been a continual focus on reducing corporate costs since the GFC, and anyone coming into an organisation needs to be instantly productive. If the Australian government removes engineers from the Skilled Occupations List, should they concurrently introduce a 6 month training subsidy for the employer?
Author Guenther Hartig
Check out the article below on the development of the Apple iCar.
Apple are recruiting a large number of engineering and software specialists to develop some new and revolutionary technologies to be included in their secretive development of a new type of car.
They are looking to hire talent from diverse backgrounds and on a global scale. If this development goes ahead thousands of professionals will be needed to deliver his project. Identifying and sourcing talent on this grand scale will be a challenge to the technical recruiters involved.
“How the Apple iCar could crack the automotive industry
by Greg Kable from autocar.co.uk
Tech giant Apple has ambitious – but secretive – plans to create a car which will revolutionise personal mobility
Billions of dollars in research operations, more than 1000 developers, mysterious workshops – the Apple iCar looks set to revolutionise personal mobility, bringing with it technologies that promise to alter the way we have traditionally used and perceived the car.
Behind a heavy veil of secrecy, it has now progressed to what insiders describe as committed project status. Autocar outlines the electric car every established automotive manufacturer secretly fears. ” Read More…
Author Steve Brennen
There are 3 things I look for in any candidate for any job. They are symbiotic, forming a self-fueling engine of greatness. So first things first let’s start with the egg, or the chicken or whatever.
Let’s talk about the passion!
Now I know what you’re saying, isn’t passion just dog whistle for “I want you to kill yourself for pennies”. Let’s not be negative nancy, let’s take it at face value. Continue reading
Author Guenther Hartig
Technical recruiters use LinkedIn extensively to find suitable talent for our clients in the engineering and manufacturing sector. LinkedIn is a great tool to effectively and quickly locate anyone who would potentially fit a certain search criteria.
The most common way to contact people is via LinkedIn Inmail. Inmail allows recruiters to send the potential candidates a personalized message to which the candidate can then anonymously respond to. This is important! All communication via InMail is anonymous as it doesn’t disclose your personal contact details. Continue reading
