Are you a unicorn? What employers are looking for in the Hunter Region

Clare Ferguson is looking for unicorns.

The founder of recruitment agency Verve Partners, who goes by the title chief energy officer, spoke with Newcastle Herald to share her inside knowledge of the Hunter job market.

Celebrating ten years in business and nearing 30 years in recruitment, she is certainly well placed to comment on what employers want, and right now she is looking for unicorns.

According to Ms Ferguson a unicorn is someone who has a very specific skill set that is highly sought after for a particular project or within an industry.

"What organisations are looking for is people with those highly specialised skills," she said.

"They're getting rid of the transactional stuff, AI is taking away those parts of roles. So we're always looking for the unicorns because that's what our clients are looking for.

"It could be specific, like a person with experience in multistorey residential. We're just about to have the tallest multistorey residential building from here to Brisbane built in Wickham. Ten years ago we didn't have anyone in Newcastle building those high-value projects. Newcastle's growing, those high rises are increasing and those specialised roles are needed."

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in February the number of employed people grew by 49,000. Part-time employment rose by 79,000 people, while full-time employment fell by 30,000 people. While this nationwide view may give a picture of volatility, Ms Ferguson believes candidates have "a seat at the table" when it comes to the Hunter Region job market.

"They have more choice than ever," she said.

"They're in a strong position to ask for what they're looking for, especially in industries where there is a skills shortage.

She said the IT market was a "hot sector" at the moment with a multitude of roles in the mid to senior professionals range, particularly in cyber security, cloud engineering and enterprise systems.

"It's a really exciting time to be in construction, but it is candidate short across all the roles," she said.

On the flip side the executive market is "really tight right now".

"There's an oversupply of candidates in the executive market. So organisations are being really, really selective and it's very competitive. But what we're seeing is organisations looking for people that have delivered transformational programs."

And while the ability for flexible work arrangements has forced Newcastle businesses to provide salaries that are more competitive with Sydney roles, she does believe employers are starting to wind back some of these remote working arrangements.

In February new data was released from JobLeads, an online job search platform, analysing 296,185 Australian job postings. It found that of the Newcastle offers listed in that timeframe, 11 per cent offered flexible work arrangements compared to Sydney's 17 per cent.

"I think the pendulum is swinging," she said.

"It was heavily offered for many years and now we're seeing a lot of organisations try and get people back into the office. But employees are fighting it. They want to be able to work from home. They want this flexibility and they want the trust."

And Ms Ferguson has a candid warning for employers and prospective employees when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence in the recruitment process.

"People are being disadvantaged when they've not got a mainstream CV coming through an AI system," she said.

According to Ms Ferguson people such as skilled migrants often get vetted out by the AI bots because they don't have the Australian terminology for certain roles on their CV. Women returning to the workforce after taking time off on parental leave are also disadvantaged by the AI systems that filter out people with a missing employment period on a resume. Even contract workers who go between several jobs are being unnecessarily vetted by the AI services.

"When we go out and see clients and partner with them to recruit for roles, the first thing that always comes up is culture fit," she said.

"AI could never, ever test for culture fit."

At the end of the day she said networking and reaching out human-to-human is always the best way to make connections and ensure candidates are the right fit for any role.

Grants open for port communities

Local organisations doing important work across the Hunter are being encouraged to apply for up to $5,000 in the latest round of Port Authority of NSW's community grants program.

Funding is available to support eligible projects that strengthen community connections, promote sustainability, or enhance the wellbeing of people living and working in port communities.

Last year, the program funded nine community-led projects across six port communities in NSW, including free swimming clinics run by in Yamba, Newcastle and Maitland, as well as the Making Waves program in Newcastle, to support at risk youths learn maritime skills and build confidence.

Grant applications are open until May 5, successful recipients will be announced early July.

For more information or to apply for the program, visit Community grants | Port Authority New South Wales.

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