Passion..... you gotta love it

Hi, my name's Dan, and I'm quickly becoming an addict for certain varieties of Reality TV shows. No, not the grab the spotlight, Big brother wankfests of the worlds. But the talent show ones. Maybe I'm getting softer as I'm getting older, but how can you watch people hunting and catching their dreams, their passions and not be moved by it.

Sure there is the "look at me, look at me" contestants who just want their heads on TV, and yes, everyone in line will say that, that particular skill is their passion. BUT, those that seriously have that passion, those that can't do anything else, those that are working at their craft even when it isn't paying for them... now that is passion.

I was lucky enough to go to a show the other night. I saw someone I've known for almost 20 years, Gary Pinto someone my wife grew up with (and yes she even had a crush on this guy as a teenager, I am a dead man for writing that) launch his first solo album. It was an amazing night, firstly my wife and I don't get out a lot since bub number 3 came along, so a grown up night out together was a blessing, but then to see him on stage. It took me back in my mind to 1993, it was one of my now wife's and my first dates, we went (with a whole lot of her family and friends) to see Gary, his brother and 2 other best friends (CDB for those old enough to remember) perform at a local Dandenong pool. All of us fresh faced skinny 18 year olds or younger. And here we are 17 years later, and he is still following his passion and loving it. I felt humbled to witness it.

It's an easy thing to say, you know, "yes, doing this is my passion" It is a widely over used term in my humble opinion. I'm not convinced that everyone can find their passion, their calling. It changes sometimes with circumstances, with time and with maturing. I know many people still searching for it. So it is so great to see people who obviously have found it, and see them persevere, through everything that life throws at them (as it does with everyone) and make things happen.

However, it rarely happens on their own, in the majority of cases I've truly seen this there is a strong support network behind, no... around the individual. The families, friends, business associates, mentors, confidants, and just great people, these people share in the journey, share the pride in the success, but stay in the background.

I may regret writing this later, but kids, Zach, Talia, Lexie, I'm saying this now, if/when you can find your passion, your calling, whether that be in the Arts, sports, academia, business, or just plain life, raising a family, your mum and I... well, we have your back. Know you have that support base, not just us, your parents, but our families, our friends, they'll all be there for you. We're packed now and ready for the journey.

As a Recruiter, or someone who works in the field of employing people, we have a honoured role in sometimes making dreams come true. Have you ever hired a grad? It's their first every job, seen the look on their face? oh that's the good stuff. even better, ever been there when they have told their parents? Seen the tears of pride well in the parents eyes. Oh yeah.. gimme some of that everyday please. Have you ever hired someone, or placed someone who had been out of work for ages, seen their savings whittle down, seen their eyes when you tell them you have an offer for them? To see the pride restored, Oh I love that. Sometimes you get the other side, breaking them down a bit with relaying a rejection, yes I've also had parents ring me up begging almost on behalf of their kids (that does break your heart). Don't take this role lightly people, it has a real effect on lives.

Not many people I know chose to get into Recruiting, and I've known hundreds who have gotten into Recruiting and couldn't wait to get out. I think Recruiting chooses you. You can see the ones who are in the industry, not just those who hold jobs in the industry, those that are IN the industry. You know who they are, when you talk to them, there is nothing in the world better than Recruiting, they live it, they breathe it, they talk about it out of office hours, and yes there are even silly ones, who blog, add content, join forums, run radio shows etc, all in their own time. I'm not convinced all this effort makes money for them, but they love it.

I hope, if your reading this, you get to find and live your passion too. Please share with me if you are, I am getting soft in my middle age..

Back to the dark side or my report from my first two weeks away from an in-house role

Wow.... Just a quick check in to my first two week or so at Peerlo. To quote Usher... "OMGosh"

Firstly everyone was so welcoming, this wasn't surprising, I'd known Riges and Kelly and had communicated with Andrea previously, so luckily enough it wasn't a huge culture shock.

Well that was just the "hello's". Then the technology opened up... I mean toys, no.. sorry productivity tools. Dan has finally entered the current day technically. I am now armed with an iPhone4 a new iMac and access to a great Talent tool. Building on top of this is some of the more amazing Boolean strong I've seen, and some little tips have just made my mind spin. Although I thought I'd broken Google, when it stopped displaying my searches!

I"m not shy in my abilities, but, wow, I'm not sure I thought I would be learning this much. It is very busy at the moment, so I have to catch on quickly (fingers crossed).

I've struggled to get used to the not so corporate attire requirements, but I"m settling in well. That said, I suited up for the first two days, on the third I went a little more casual, and that day, everyone else was suited up. ahhhh a conspiracy I tells you.

It's been interesting leaving the in-house world after so many years, the reaction I've received from people has definitely given me pause to think. Most of it has been positive, I've been lucky enough to work with some amazing people over the years and the support and encouragement I've receive is something I have been really thankful for. There was however one interesting email which gave me pause to think. The whole email was around the "fact" that apparently over the years I had been publicly mean to this one agency guy, and that now I've left DWS I should atone for my apparent sins. uuummmm OK, not. I don't publicly insult, undermine or insult anyone, never seen the point. More of a case of guilt by association I think. But oh well, I won't be joining your LinkedIn group anyways.

I"m really interested to see how the market pans out. There is so much on, just focusing on the core needs is keeping me more than busy. I"m also really interested at the movement rate of the IT industry. Seriously a lot of the profiles I looked at (of which there were HEAPS) most had moved jobs in 2010, this astounded me. Well, we hypothesised that is would happen, and well, we were definitely right.

Exploring the Social media scene in a more fuller way has really opened my eyes as to how things could and should be done. The strategy and focus behind it, sounds straight forward, common sense, but to actually work with people who live and breathe it, wow, just takes it up a whole other level. I spoke to a former colleague of mine who has stepped into a new role recently, about the use of Social media and sourcing in their organisation. She tole me that there was someone there who she called a guru in the area, and then added "like you". "Lots of room for improvement there then" I though

That'll do me for now. Just checking in, in short, having fun, learning lots, now to make it really successful. The potential is there, I can see it, now to reach it.

Giddy up explorers.

From Cradle to Cot

It's been an interesting few days... sitting here in Limbo, a week without a worry. No job to worry about, to check in on, or wonder if they are going alright without you. Yes, there is a heap waiting in the new role, but that isn't feeling real yet.

Gives you some time to think. And that my friends is a dangerous thing when it comes to my blog. For those who keep up with my ramblings here, you'll know I draw a lot of inspiration from my family, draw heaps of comparisons from daily stuff I get with kids and Recruitment. I have another for you :)

My youngest daughter, Lexie, now just over 4 months old, graduated from her cradle to the cot in her own room overnight. It was a big step for her, and us. But a step which will be good for her and for us in the long run. More room to grow, opportunity to play with more toys, and get some personal freedom.

When thinking about this, something hit me (and surprisingly it wasn't my wife :) love ya babe). There are similarities I am sharing with Lexie at the moment in my life. You could say I am moving from the cradle to the cot myself.

From the safeness and security of a job I've had for 8 years. I've grown and developed in it. I knew my job, I could do it in my sleep, some people may say I sometimes did. (Well I did fall asleep for a second, in an interview ONCE, but that's a different blog post) And now I get the chance to grow, but still have that safety barrier around me. There will be new technology, techniques and toys to explore and learn. It'll be a big new world for me, lots to explore and try, yet I'll still have the security that I know this stuff, I know the people I'll be working with, and you know what? It's part of my natural evolution.... from Cradle to Cot

Well, That's that then

It is with mixed emotions that I announce today that I have, after 8 years, worked my last day with DWS.



It has been an amazing period of my life, a period I will always look back at fondly and with pride. Much has changed at since I walked into the DWS doors 8 years ago. DWS has grown from 110 people, purely in Melbourne to now having over 550, across every major city in Australia. I too have changed, grown, professionally, I managed to manage a national function with people not only locally reporting to me, but people interstate too. I learned and implemented lots of initiatives, both successful and not so successful. And personally, in that last 8 years, each one of my 3 kids has been born.

I'm thankful for the opportunities afforded me at DWS. I was given the freedom to try things, within reason, and I learned an amazing amount from the people around me.

But after 8 years, things had run their natural course and it is time for something new.

It is now time to see if I can walk the talk I have been evangelising for the last few years. This is something that really excites me. I am now formally embracing all aspects of the Talent Acquisition world with Peerlo, an innovative, free thinking organisation, with some amazing people. I am super excited about this and cannot wait until I can really get my teeth into this.

As I step into this next chapter of my career, I'd like to thank DWS and all the amazing people I met in my time there. I've had some amazing times and I wish you all well in the future.

So, I'm Dan from DWS no more. Keep watching this space world.... here I come!

Working without the ball

Wow, it's been a month since I last blogged. Amazing how time flies.

Recently, watching the World Cup, I was inspired by something that was said from one of the commentators. He said something along the lines of "It's just as important to work hard when you don't have the ball as it does when you have it."

I translated that to my world, and no, I'm not that sporty any more, although I kind of resemble the ball.

What this said to me is that the right activity is king. You need to have activity. During the GFC (you know, those times that won't be discussed again) my team and I did not have much in the way of open requirements, our company was pretty full of people, and attrition was at an all time low. What does a Recruitment team do? We had no resumes coming in, we had no advertisements on any job boards.

Well, we worked. We knew that we were either on the swing or the roundabout, and that things change. We also knew that the speed in which things change had traditionally caught us off guard and behind the eight ball, causing the business pain due to lack of people. We spoke to people, we put people through our process with the expectation being that when things turned around, we would call them straight away. In short we talent pooled, and we talent pooled hard.

Talent pooling was a tough idea to sell to my team. There was resistance. In house Recruitment teams don't do that. "It's too agency" they said, "we're wasting people's time" they said, "It's not honest" they said. It's interesting, I rarely use the "because I said so" card at work. But I did for this. I explained that as long as we open and honest, explained to people what we were doing and why, that it would be fine, people would be fine with it, and if they weren't, then we move onto the next one.

Begrudgingly, they went along with it. And I went into sell it to Management mode.

Then after a while, the expected happened. Our market turned.

Picture this. Here's me sitting quietly at my desk when the business (figuratively) ran up to my desk panting. "Dan, Dan, we need your help. The market has turned, we are in dire need of people. And guess what? We need them now, or yesterday if possible. Please fire up that Recruitment machine and get things happening please." I turned to my team, who produced a print out of all the people, and skillsets we had ready to sign, and asked "which ones do you want?" The smile and disbelief was priceless. And PROOF, that work done without the ball, pays off when you get it back, you'll simply be in a better position!