Recruitment and jobs blog

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.

We are delighted to announce the board appointment of Cameron Judson as Independent Non-Executive Director of Ignite. Cameron is a highly respected senior executive with extensive experience in senior executive roles inside and outside of the recruitment industry. Between 2005-15, Cameron held a variety of executive roles including CEO and Managing Director at previously publicly listed recruitment agency. In addition to this, he has also held a number of senior executive roles outside of the recruitment industry within the employment services, education, community services and real estate sectors. Cameron’s commercial and recruitment expertise will be a key addition to the Ignite board. He holds an MBA, a bachelor of Arts  and is a member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors. He will greatly complement the existing leadership team at Ignite in the midst of our growth journey. Ignite Non-Executive Chairman Garry Sladden said, “Cameron is a highly respected and proven leader who brings a significant skillset to the Board and Ignite, and will no doubt add significant value to the Ignite business as it continues its progress under the leadership of Tim Moran and his executive team.” Cameron said, “Having closely watched the significant restructuring and cost reduction that has been undertaken at Ignite over recent years, I’m excited to be joining the Ignite Board at a time when the focus will now be on solid growth and the creation and implementation of strategic initiatives to position Ignite as a serious player in the Australian recruitment sector.” We are delighted to welcome Cameron to the Ignite family and are excited for what lies ahead.

Name: Judith Bailey Position: National Contracts and Compliance Manager Location: Sydney, NSW Ignite Tenure: 12.5 years Nobody personifies Ignite’s core values of connection, courage, ingenuity and understanding more than Judith Bailey. For 12+ years, she has gone over and above to support her colleagues, contractors and clients with all their problems, queries and requirements. From a part-time data entry role to a full-time National Contracts and Compliance Manager role, Jude’s Ignite journey is truly remarkable. We recently interviewed Judith to find out more about her Ignite journey. Jude, How did you get started in recruitment and why did you choose to join Ignite? My career began in the UK on a graduate scheme for an Australian computer manufacturer. I did everything from building to selling computers. This was a great experience and useful starting point into the world of IT recruitment. In 1995, I moved to Australia and joined a leading agency in the IT recruitment market. I had a variety of roles in this business including resourcing, account management, team leadership, contractor care and operations management. This gave me a strong breadth of experience. In 2009, I made the decision to join Ignite (previously Candle) in a part-time data entry role. Ignite was a major competitor of my previous business with a very strong reputation in the IT recruitment market. They held a large number of preferred services agreements with companies I’d worked with before, so I knew it would be a good fit. During my interview process, I met some fantastic people who demonstrated a strong internal culture that I wanted to be a part of. To this day, the people and culture remain one of Ignite’s key strengths. What do you love the most about your job at Ignite? I get immense satisfaction working with people from all walks of life on a daily basis - my colleagues, contractors and clients. My job is to provide solutions for all their problems, queries and requirements and contribute to their professional success. I love being a part of a national team underpinned by strong internal relationships and an overarching desire to collaborate and support each other. This has been achieved under the guidance of an exceptional leadership team who are supportive, encouraging and passionate about Ignite’s people and culture. Our team works hard and plays hard, and they have become like a second family to me over the years. My role at Ignite strikes a perfect balance of support and autonomy. I know my team is there when I need it, but I also know they trust me to perform at a high level. They also understand my family commitments, and allow me to balance my professional and personal life accordingly through flexible working conditions. Finally, I’m very appreciative of the opportunities that have been provided to me during my tenure. I began in a part-time data entry role after returning from maternity leave. I then moved into a contractor care role and now I have recently been promoted to National Contracts and Compliance Manager. I am so excited by this challenging opportunity. What Ignite values resonate with you and how do they guide you in your role? My key values are honesty, openness, trust, respect, teamwork, loyalty and accountability. Which has a strong overlap with Ignite’s core values of connection, understanding, ingenuity and courage. This alignment enables me to focus on my key deliverables, safe in the knowledge I’m working in a respectful environment where everyone shares similar values. These values guide and empower me to consistently deliver high customer satisfaction and excellent service delivery in my role. What is your advice for someone in a junior role looking to progress to a more senior position? I think career progression is all about attitude and willingness to learn. You need to have a good work ethic, commitment and focus on your role. In my case that was maintaining a customer focus in everything I do and working hard through the ups and downs of recruitment. You need to be able to accept constructive criticism and learn from the mistakes you’ll inevitably make. I also highly recommend finding a strong mentor and shadowing what they do, as it has greatly helped me through my career so far. Just remember that success and progression doesn’t come overnight. It took me over a decade to get where I am, but perseverance does pay off. The best advice I can offer is work hard, have fun and enjoy what you do, then the rewards will eventually come. From a compliance perspective, what are some of the key trends you are seeing in the current market? The regulatory environment across all sectors is undoubtedly tightening. As an ASX-listed business, compliance is an essential part of our business and something we put major focus on internally with our national contracts and compliance team. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly influenced the compliance landscape in recruitment. We now have policies and processes in place to validate candidates’ vaccination status for our clients that have mandated such policies. We’ve also had to develop processes for work-health safety for contractors working remotely to ensure they have had a safe and comfortable workspace. In today's recruitment world, maintaining compliance whilst simultaneously providing an outstanding customer experience is crucial to success. How do you work with your colleagues to ensure all compliance is met? We explain the rationale behind each compliance requirement and the implications of what happens when they are not adhered to. We listen to feedback from our teams and provide alternative solutions where viable to support them. The secret is being available, listening, being flexible where possible, regular communication and training. This keeps standards high and compliance at the forefront of everyone’s thinking. What advice would you give to clients and candidates from a compliance perspective to flourish in this market? Honesty and transparency is extremely important from both parties. Candidates need to be honest with recruiters about what roles they’re applying for so clients can be kept informed. Conversely, clients need to stay connected and engaged with their contractors to remain competitive in a talent-driven market. Furthermore, clients need to be agile in their end-to-end recruitment or will miss out on the best people. They also need to be on top of all compliance-related matters in an increasingly complex regulatory environment to avoid any future scrutiny. Jude’s Ignite journey is a testament to the notion that hard work pays off. She has risen the corporate ranks to now be in a national managerial role at Ignite. She is passionate about helping her colleagues, candidates and clients, making her they type of person that anyone would want to work with every day. Fortunately, you can, because we are currently looking for exceptional people like Jude to join the Ignite team. Visit our career page now and ignite your potential.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of John Murphy into the role of NSW IT & Digital Recruitment Manager. John will manage our NSW IT & Digital recruitment team within our Specialist Recruitment business. John brings over 16 years domestic and international experience in IT recruitment. He has worked with some of Australia’s top recruitment agencies and brings significant experience across technology, finance, fintech, defence, MSP and project services industries. These capabilities align particularly well with our core technology specialisations. John also has a proven track record in building and managing high performance IT recruitment teams, and is very excited by the prospect of joining Ignite. John said “Ignite is one of the true original pioneers in the Australian recruitment market. It is currently going through an exciting growth phase in its long and rich history. I am excited to play a key role from an early stage in this growth and make an impactful contribution to the business.  You can see the business has made strong statements over the past 6-12 months with multiple senior level appointments. These individuals are all respected, trusted and proven leaders in the recruitment industry, and I am excited and motivated to work alongside them. I am delighted for this opportunity to grow Ignite’s reputation and performance in the NSW IT & Digital recruitment space” These words were echoed by our NSW General Manager Bernt Schindler, who said “We’re so excited to have John on board. His dedication and wealth of experience in our core markets, combined with his genuine care and leadership ability to grow high performing teams is exactly what we’re looking for at Ignite. I personally look forward to working with and learning from him in our journey together”. From all of us at Ignite, we would like to welcome John to the Ignite family, and we are excited for what lies ahead as we continue to ignite our potential together.

Name: Michael Higgins Position: Senior Recruitment Consultant, Specialist Recruitment, Engineering Location:  Sydney CBD office Ignite Tenure: 16.5 years Michael Higgins has been a key pillar of our NSW Specialist Recruitment business for the best part of two decades. You could not meet a more passionate, dedicated and consistently high performing company man. Michael’s journey began in engineering, after completing a structural engineering diploma at TAFE. He worked at Sydney Water for 13+ years and was exposed to a wide range of engineering disciplines and characters along the way. He then moved into hospitality, where he was fortunate enough to own some successful restaurants and bars. For over a decade, he experienced firsthand the importance of recruiting the right people into the right roles to achieve sustainable business success. After a short career break, he recalls reading the local Sutherland Shire newspaper and seeing an advert in the classified section for a “recruitment consultant”. Excited by the potential of working close to home and being rewarded with an “uncapped commission”, he successfully applied and joined the Ignite business. Sixteen years later he is still here, combining his background in engineering and hospitality to be a very successful senior engineering recruitment consultant in our NSW Specialist Recruitment team. We sat down with Michael to find out more about his Ignite journey and remarkable success so far. Why did you choose to work for Ignite? Initially, I was excited by the convenience of working close to home and being rewarded with uncapped commission. I didn’t realise how valuable the experiences I had in engineering and hospitality would ultimately be in my Ignite career. I remember my first placement, and how genuinely excited the candidate was to be offered his dream role. It was very special and still is to this day. Another reason I chose Ignite was because of the great leaders and mentors I’ve had through the journey, who taught me the art and science of recruitment. How to identify opportunities, how to talk, how to listen, how to learn from disappointments and overcome obstacles. The opportunity to learn always excited me, and it is something that Ignite continues to provide me with today, which is one of the reasons why I continue to choose Ignite. What are some key market trends shaping engineering recruitment right now? I see the same trends across all businesses in all industries. Hard work is rewarded. Passion drives success. There are good and bad days, but tomorrow is always a new one. Talent is scarce. The smart operators hire the best people. The best people want to work for employers that empower them, provide opportunity and reward results. And finally, talent wants more work life balance and flexibility than ever before. The pandemic has created so much uncertainty in the job market, yet you are having one of your best years to date in terms of performance, what do you attribute this to? I am very selective with the clients I invest my time and expertise with. You need to work with clients who treat you as an equal. They take your calls, listen to your expert opinion and treat you with respect you’ve earned over time. These are the types of relationships that endure through hard times (like a pandemic) and are the type of relationships I’ve cultivated through my career. These relationships have allowed me to flourish even in challenging periods. But the pandemic has helped me in unexpected ways. It’s highlighted the importance of being adaptable and willing to work differently. For example, transitioning to remote work was initially a major challenge for me, but with support from the Ignite leadership team and exceptional tools put in place I was able to adopt this new way of work seamlessly. During this period, our team forged stronger connections despite forced separation and had uplifts in productivity as well.  Now, remote work has become second nature to me and this willingness to adapt has helped me thrive in a period where others may have struggled. Michael, you have a strong reputation for building and maintaining long-term relationships with your clients, how have you achieved this and what are your top tips to help clients in your market? Recruitment is all about relationships. When it comes to clients, the strength of your relationships is dependent on the quality of candidates that you can deliver consistently. At the end of the day, clients want to fill roles, and source talent they can’t find on their own. So, the challenge is delivering this consistently and at a high standard even when the market is not in your favour. Achieve this, you can create a mutually beneficial bond with people that lasts for decades. So, my tips for clients are to invest time and energy into people and build a great environment for them where they want to come and work for you every day. Secondly, invest even more time identifying, attracting and rewarding people who want to join and stay on your journey. The best advice I can give is to share in your successes, learn from your failures. Support talent in both their professional and personal endeavours. Prioritise family, have fun and enjoy what you do! What are your top tips to help aspiring engineering talent? Work with an employer that genuinely cares about YOU. Someone who is willing to invest time and energy into YOUR career. Someone who takes an interest in what YOU do in and away from work. Someone who follows through with what they say. Trust your instincts. Listen to the people you trust. Learn from your mistakes. Be open to new experiences. Prioritise family. Have fun. Enjoy what you do! (sounds familiar). What are the things you love most about working at Ignite? The best thing about working at Ignite is the people I get to work alongside every day. Our colleagues, our leaders, our clients and our candidates. Ignite has provided me an environment for many years where I feel genuinely supported both professionally and personally. They care about me, my family, my development, my success and my journey. I feel incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunities, the skills, the tools and the environment to follow my dreams and be successful. Additionally, no two days are ever the same in recruitment. I am constantly learning 16 years in. Furthermore, it gives me the opportunity to play a small but critical role in helping people successfully reach their dreams, both clients and candidates, which is hard to replicate. At Ignite you can have lots of fun, enjoy the wins and share it with some great people. What sets Michael apart as an employee is his unrivalled passion for his role, for the people around him and for the broader Ignite organisation. His experience, knowledge and consistency for almost two decades has made him a true leader in our business that all staff look up to and enjoy working with. If you want the opportunity to work alongside exceptional people like Michael Higgins, visit our website career page today and join the Ignite journey.

Name: Surabhi Mishra Position: Account Manager, IT & Digital, Specialist Recruitment Location: Canberra, ACT Ignite Tenure: 7+ years Surabhi has been working in recruitment for well over a decade, specialising in IT recruitment and account management with both Technology and Federal Government clients. After completing an engineering degree in Mechanical and Automation, she began her career as an IT professional working with major tech companies like Infosys and IBM for over five years. In 2008, Surabhi moved to Australia. While on the hunt for local IT roles she came across our current ACT General Manager Laila Billberg, who introduced her to the world of recruitment. Since then, she has been applying her trade as an IT Account Manager at Ignite. We recently sat down with Surabhi and asked her some questions about her Ignite journey so far and picked her brains about the local Canberra recruitment market. Why did you choose to work at Ignite? I was attracted to Ignite because of their strong reputation in the local Canberra market. They are an ASX-listed leader in specialist recruitment and have long-established relationships with a broad range of federal government clients. They also have other specialisations in Canberra including Business Corporate and Talent Solutions which all complement each other really well.  I was also impressed by the leadership team, particularly my direct manager who has been extremely supportive since the beginning. Ignite also offered me an environment where I was able to learn and grow in my role. What are some key market trends shaping IT recruitment? In Canberra, there is currently a significant shortage of technology talent. Federal Government clients want security cleared candidates with increasingly hard-to-find skillsets. This rise in demand has seen contract rates for some talent rise exponentially, which I don’t believe is sustainable long term. Fortunately we have well-established talent pools built over decades to support our clients in finding the talent they need. What tips do you have for clients in your market? In the current candidate-driven market, clients need to be agile and make offers quickly to secure the best talent. End-to-end procurement timelines needs to be faster to keep pace with talent movements. More and more candidates want flexibility in their working environment, which is something clients now must consider or risk missing out. Finally, clients need to explore more ways to relieve talent shortages in the market, for example by sponsoring more security clearances. What tips do you have for candidates in your market? Now is a great time to be a candidate, but it’s important to be organised in your job search and consider long term prospects when interacting with recruiters and employers. Candidates need to ensure they communicate well with recruiters about other interviews they have in hand so we can provide the assistance they actually need. Also, commitment is another tip that candidates should be aware of to maximise their long-term prospects. What do you love most about recruitment? I love building relationships with people, having the opportunity to coach and mentor them to optimise their career. I like to build trust with my clients so that they know I can be relied upon to find them the best possible talent. Everyday in recruitment is different which keeps things interesting and enjoyable. What do you love most about working at Ignite? Ignite has a unique culture that I love being a part of. The teams’ spirits are always high, and everyone is working towards a common goal. We celebrate people within the team and support them when they need it. I also have lots of independence to do my job without any micromanagement, and I am given the flexibility I need to accommodate my lifestyle. At Ignite, we have some amazing people who have been working with us for up to 35 years. If you would like the chance to work with someone as passionate and dedicated as Surabhi, visit our career page today and check out some of our exciting internal opportunities.