Recruitment and jobs blog

When it comes to safeguarding classified information and critical resources, the Australian government employs a rigorous screening process known as Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1). NV1 is a security clearance level within the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency's (AGSVA) framework, designed to assess the honesty, trustworthiness, maturity, tolerance, resilience, and loyalty of individuals seeking government positions with access to top secret information and resources. In this article, we will explore the significance of NV1 and its role in ensuring a suitable security clearance for government job applicants. Understanding Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) Negative Vetting Level 1 is a security clearance level essential for government job positions that involve handling classified information and accessing resources up to and including classified and secret. Sponsored by the Australian government, NV1 is administered by the AGSVA, the country's official government security vetting agency. The clearance process involves a comprehensive evaluation of an applicant's background, character references, employment history, financial and criminal records, and their overall suitability to hold a security clearance. The Role of NV1 in Safeguarding National Security Protection of Classified Information: Negative Vetting Level 1 plays a crucial role in safeguarding classified information from unauthorized access or disclosure. By subjecting security clearance holders to stringent background checks, the government ensures that only individuals with the highest level of integrity and trustworthiness are entrusted with classified and secret information. Continuous Review Process: To maintain the integrity of the security clearance, NV1 undergoes regular reviews and assessments. Security officers from the AGSVA review clearances at regular intervals to ensure that individuals still meet the required standards of honesty, trustworthiness, maturity, tolerance, resilience, and loyalty. Australian Citizenship Requirement: NV1 clearance is available only to Australian citizens, emphasizing the government's commitment to entrusting sensitive roles solely to individuals with a strong allegiance to the country. Significance of Negative Vetting Level 1 for Government Job Seekers Enhanced Employment Opportunities: Possessing an NV1 clearance expands employment opportunities within government departments that require individuals to handle classified and secret information. It demonstrates the candidate's eligibility for positions demanding a security clearance level and highlights their commitment to upholding national security. Trust and Public Confidence: By adhering to a comprehensive vetting process, the Australian government strengthens public trust in its recruitment procedures. The inclusion of NV1 ensures that individuals in sensitive government roles have undergone stringent background checks, fostering public confidence in the protection of classified and secret information. Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) is a crucial aspect of the Australian government's commitment to safeguarding classified and secret information, critical resources, and national security. The vetting process administered by the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA) ensures that candidates seeking government positions with access to classified and secret information possess the necessary qualities of honesty, trustworthiness, maturity, tolerance, resilience, and loyalty. By implementing NV1, the government emphasizes its dedication to maintaining a secure environment while providing enhanced employment opportunities for Australian citizens. Aspiring government job seekers should be familiar with the requirements and implications of NV1 to strengthen their chances of securing positions requiring a security clearance.

When it comes to government jobs in Australia, baseline security clearance is a vital requirement for certain positions. The baseline security clearance ensures that individuals entrusted with sensitive information possess the necessary integrity, trustworthiness, maturity, tolerance, resilience, and loyalty. In this article, we will delve into the world of baseline security clearance, exploring its significance, eligibility criteria, and the process involved in obtaining it. Understanding Baseline Security Clearance: Baseline security clearance is the initial level of security screening required for individuals seeking employment in government agencies or departments dealing with classified information. It serves as a foundation for higher levels of security clearances and is essential for protecting Australian government resources and maintaining the integrity and security of sensitive information. Eligibility Criteria for Baseline Security Clearance: To be eligible for baseline security clearance, applicants must meet certain requirements set by the Australian government. While the specific criteria may vary depending on the agency or department, the following general guidelines apply: Citizenship: Applicants must be Australian citizens or possess permanent residency status, ensuring loyalty to the nation and its government. Background Check: A comprehensive background check, including a police check, is conducted to verify personal and employment history. This screening ensures the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness, and resilience. Character Assessment: Applicants are evaluated based on their character traits, such as maturity, tolerance, and loyalty. Personal conduct, reputation, and adherence to laws and regulations are considered during this assessment. Legal Obligations: Individuals must demonstrate a willingness to comply with legal obligations, including confidentiality agreements, security protocols, and the protection of classified information. This highlights their commitment to the Australian government's protective security policy framework (PSPF). Process of Obtaining Baseline Security Clearance: Obtaining baseline security clearance involves several stages, typically including the following steps: Security Clearance Application: Candidates interested in government positions requiring baseline security clearance must complete the appropriate security clearance application form and submit it along with supporting documents. Employment Screening: The employing agency or department conducts a thorough employment screening process, which may involve interviews, reference checks, and assessments of the applicant's access to information. Levels of Security Clearances: Based on the access requirements and sensitivity of the position, individuals may be subject to different levels of security clearances. Baseline security clearance is the initial level, followed by negative vetting 2 (NV2) and positive vetting (PV). Australian Government Security Vetting: The security vetting agency, known as the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA), evaluates the candidate's eligibility for baseline security clearance. This assessment considers the applicant's background, character, and potential vulnerabilities. Decision and Notification: Once the assessment is complete, a decision is made regarding the individual's eligibility for baseline security clearance. The candidate is then notified of the outcome, either granting or denying the clearance. Baseline security clearance is a crucial prerequisite for government jobs in Australia that involve handling classified information. It ensures that individuals entrusted with sensitive data possess the necessary honesty, trustworthiness, maturity, tolerance, resilience, and loyalty to protect Australian government resources. By understanding the eligibility criteria and the process involved, aspiring candidates can navigate the requirements effectively and increase their chances of obtaining baseline security clearance, opening doors to a rewarding career in the Australian government's protective security domain.

We are excited to announce our First Nations Project Partnership with indigenous IT professional services group Yirigaa. The First Nations project is a collaborative partnership aimed at raising awareness for indigenous culture, upskilling indigenous talent with critical IT skills, and improving their employment opportunities and outcomes in Australia’s technology sector. Yirigaa is an aboriginal-majority-owned and managed information technology and cyber professional services company. They familiarise organisations with the importance of indigenous culture and kindship, and create learning, internship, and employment pathway opportunities for indigenous, diverse and under-represented groups in Australia’s IT industry. Like Ignite, Yirigaa is an Australian Defence Industry Security Program (DISP) provider, allowing them to sponsor candidates for Australian Government security clearances in technology. They also train and certify talent with industry recognised credentials through their Cyber Security Training Academy. Ignite is a diversified talent business that specialises in IT recruitment, managed services and career training. Our commitment to diversity & inclusion, particularly for indigenous Australians, is something we are very passionate about. In 2018, we were the first non-indigenous recruitment agency to have an endorsed Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). We also developed an indigenous recruitment strategy that helped first nation talent access more roles within Australia’s Federal Government. The First Nations Project Partnership will see Ignite and Yirigaa become First Nations Reconciliation Cultural and Kindship partners.  Yirigaa will be Ignite’s First Nations digital technology, training academy, managed services and SECOPS partner. Ignite will leverage its strong public and private client relationships to raise awareness of indigenous culture and deliver improved employment opportunities and outcomes for Yirigaa’s network of indigenous technology talent. Ignite and Yirigaa are both passionate advocates for educating and employing Australia’s first People to fill the rising skills and resources gaps in Australia. Together, we will help build self-sustaining and culturally aware inclusive industry workplaces and improve employment outcomes for indigenous talent in Australia’s rapidly growing technology industry.

We are delighted to welcome Michael Megally as Director of IT Consulting at Ignite. Michael will lead the IT consulting arm of our Technology and Talent Solutions team, which uses cost efficient and vetted technology squads to drive technological solutions for business problems as-a-service. Michael has worked in the technology industry for over 20 years and is a highly experienced delivery and transformation executive. He has assisted a wide range of multinational enterprise organisations on their IT transformation journeys. Michael has strong capabilities in program management, IT operations, service delivery, customer onboarding, product management, negotiating complex outsourcing deals and business transformation. All of which will be essential to our technology-as-a-service offerings. Michael is also an entrepreneur who has setup and run multiple businesses. He knows how to develop companies from inception to profitability with strong governance, innovation, and digitisation principles. He is also involved in several not-for-profit organisations and is passionate about helping neurodiverse people have meaningful careers and creating opportunities for indigenous Australians in technology. Michael said “my role at Ignite is to lead the IT consulting arm of the business, powered by team Ignite to provide innovative solutions to business problems. Project by project, Ignite has curated the best talent, skills, expertise, and availability to deliver direct access to world-class vetted technology squads to deliver solutions for clients on-time and on-budget”. We are delighted to have Michael on-board who brings advanced knowledge and technology expertise that will help our Technology and Talent Solutions team thrive.

Employers want talent with the right combination of hard and soft skills to add value to their business. While hard skills detail what you can do, soft skills highlight how you do it. In many cases, soft skills are the great differentiators between top talent. In this blog, we share 10 soft skills that impress employers looking for technology talent. 1. Communication Effective verbal and written communication enables information flow across a business and its diverse stakeholders. Solution architects translate complex ideas. Data scientists communicate key data insights. Software developers explain how their products and services work. Across all jobs in technology, communication is a vital soft skill you need to master. 2. Problem solving IT Jobs exist to solve one or multiple problems faced by a business. Testers fix software. Cyber security specialists fix system vulnerabilities. Project managers address critical business problems. As such, no matter your technology specialisation, your ability to identify, approach and solve problems are key soft skills that employers are looking for. 3. Creativity Creative thinkers produce the ideas and solutions that drive business innovation. They think outside the box, approach problems differently, and yield ingenious solutions. This approach enables a business to keep pace with technological change, which is key to survival in the modern working world. It’s why major technology companies spend millions to foster a creative work environment for their teams. 4. Time Management Time management is an important soft skill to have in technology. IT Jobs are typically complex and require high cognitive ability to manage multiple moving parts. Consequently, such roles can quickly become overwhelming and damaging to both the individual and the business when not managed effectively. Employers want talent who they can trust with their digital assets. This means people who are methodical, organised and effective with their time. 5. Willingness to learn Technology talent must continually upskill themselves to remain relevant in such a fast paced sector. This means learning new skills that the business needs most. Your willingness to learn will signal what type of professional you are. A DevOps consultant with data analytics skills is impressive. As is a web designer with digital marketing expertise. Or a program manager with a finance background. Talent who is passionate and willing to improve themselves, is far more attractive to a prospective employer than someone who is simply in it for the pay cheque. 6. Leadership All businesses crave leadership skills in their teams. Good leaders motivate others through their actions boosting engagement, productivity, retention, and performance of all employees. These benefits make talent with leadership capabilities a valuable commodity for any business. If you can highlight times your leadership led to business success, this will make you look highly impressive in the eyes of employers. 7. Teamwork Teamwork is the ability to work cohesively with others towards a common goal. Employers must determine if your addition will enhance or disrupt their team dynamics. It will be a key question that determines your employability. In response, it is important to demonstrate how you operate in a team during a hiring process. Employers are impressed by people who are capable, dependable, trustworthy, honest, committed and loyal to their team. These soft skills will inform employers that your integration into their business is more likely to be seamless. 8. Adaptability The future world of work will face considerable disruption and change. The impact of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, internet of things and robotics on jobs will be profound. Consequently, adaptability is an important skill. It makes talent more resilient to change and increases the likelihood that they'll remain valuable to your business now and into the future. 9. Attention to detail Talent with attention to detail are less likely to make small mistakes. In technology small mistakes can be costly. A coding error can break key systems, incorrect data analysis can affect key business decisions, inefficient cyber-attack incident response can be crippling. In a world of increased reliance on technology and rising cyber threats, attention to detail is a soft skill that employers desperately want from the technology talent they hire. 10. Work Ethic Work ethic refers to the dedication, dependability, productivity, and discipline of talent in a job. Someone who is willing to go over and above in their position to get more done. Talent with a strong work ethic tend to be highly efficient and effective in their job, which adds to their overall value proposition. Employers want dedicated and committed talent who will deliver the best job possible. Soft skills are important in the modern workplace. They are the traits that differentiate top talent. In technology, these soft skills will give you advantage while navigating the competitive IT jobs market. At Ignite, we specialise in IT & Digital recruitment, and are always on the lookout for technology talent with strong combinations of hard and soft skills that will impress our diverse range of private and public clients.

Demand for skills in Australia’s Federal Government is soaring but supply of available talent is struggling to keep up. Departments and agencies are looking to attract and retain top talent with hard-to-find skills they desperately need. In a candidate short market, employers need to understand what talent wants the most and align their EVP accordingly. In this blog, we share 10 benefits that Federal Government talent wants the most. 1. Work-Life Balance The most popular benefit that government talent looks for is work-life balance. They want clear separation between their professional life and personal life, and seek out employers who enable them adequate time for both. This means they don't want to work late nights and through the weekend. They want to do their job and live their life away from work. Delivering and communicating this benefit in your EVP is what government talent want the most. 2. Job Security Job security refers to the long-term stability and sustainability of a particular position. Safety is a fundamental human need that secure employment satisfies because it directly determines the quality of life individuals and families are able to have. Jobs and companies that don't exude stability and security (e.g. high turnover, leadership changes, poor reputation) are unappealing to government talent seeking job security. 3. Open and Effective Management Management significantly influences the employee experience. Good managers attract top talent whereas bad managers repel them. In Government, open and effective leadership is even more crucial because teams are typically working on complex and important projects that impact many. Openness and effectiveness are two qualities that government talent look for in leader, which is why communicating these through your EVP is important in talent attraction and retention. 4. Colleagues and Culture Employees spend more time collaborating with their colleagues than with their own families, making culture and colleagues a valid component of the employee experience. Strong culture motivates and good colleagues inspire, both making work far more palatable. These features also correlate with improved mental health, physical wellbeing, productivity, engagement and performance which are highly sought after attributes that benefit all parties. 5. Flexible work arrangements Flexible work arrangements are opportunities for talent to stray away from traditional working models to accommodate their needs. Flexible hours, compressed work weeks and job sharing are notable examples. Demand for flexibility has unsurprisingly boomed in recent years with many professionals forced to work remotely during COVID-19. In response, some government agencies have already adopted more flexibility into their working models to appeal to talent. This is a key point of difference for some agencies when attracting and retaining talent who value flexibility. 6. Salary and Compensation  Salary and compensation refers to all financial benefits offered by a company. From base wage to bonuses, superannuation to commission, government talent wants to make money for the work they do. Traditionally, government agencies have struggled to match the financial compensation offered by private sector counterparts. Yet, the remuneration an agency is willing to offer remains a key part of an effective EVP in the government space. 7. Challenging and purposeful work For about a third of government talent, the challenge of government work itself and the purpose behind it is extremely important. Government agencies and employees undertake a broad range of complex and impactful work. This includes health, tax, education, defence, welfare, employment and much more. As such, some talent are highly motivated by these challenges which gives them a strong sense of purpose in the work they do. Communicating the importance and challenging nature of a particular position is a great way to persuade these people. 8. Inclusivity and diversity Many government workers value an inclusive environment that accepts people from diverse backgrounds. After all, Australia is a multinational country where the government is tasked with representing everyone within it. Communicating a clear commitment to diversity and inclusivity is an attractive benefit for talent seeking belonging and cultural representation in their public sector career. 9. Training and development Training and development refers to the ongoing learning that a company provides to upskill or reskill their employees. This could be any form of structured training, coaching or mentoring programs. Simply put, entities willing to invest in the development of their staff are perceived as far more valuable than entities that don’t. In a candidate short market, training is a useful way to build your talent when buying the right talent is more challenging. Furthermore, training also helps engage talent increasing their likelihood of joining or staying at a particular enterprise. 10. Career Progression Most employees, to varying extents, want to rise the hierarchal ranks within their respective agency or department. Promotions usually mean more money, more responsibility and more benefits which have already featured in this blog. Departments and agencies that present clear pathways to progression for all talent are more attractive to individuals that harbour high levels of professional ambition. If you want to attract and retain top government talent, understanding what these people want is crucial in building an effective EVP. We've shared 8 areas of focus that could help you reach you recruitment objectives moving forward. At Ignite, we specialise in Federal Government recruitment and can help you find top talent you need to help you thrive.