Hays Office Support
January - March 2012
Hotspots
Small to medium companies will be looking for candidates with MYOB or SAP technical skills as well as client liaison skills. They want all-round candidates and will consider candidates from different industries as long as their current skills are transferable.
Sales Administrators, Project Administrators and Contracts Administrators with SAP, CRM or Visio knowledge are sought as more projects are signed off and employers require additional administration support.
As companies try to increase their market share and push for increased sales, there is a higher demand for skilled Sales Support Administrators who can provide assistance with client management as well as reporting and analysing sales figures and budgets.
Good Data Entry Processors are always in demand to support projects and assist with the maintenance of key business processes. Generally these are short-term or fixed-term assignments.
Team Assistants are needed. In particular, employers want candidates who can provide support to several areas of the business such as Finance or HR. Although an increase in the number of jobs available is expected in the first quarter of 2012, employers are still working with streamlined teams and therefore a candidate who can cover a variety of disciplines is highly valued.
Experienced Executive Assistants and Personal Assistants are sought in our booming resources states, and we are beginning to see a shortage of candidates with strong EA experience. These states also need Project Administrators with specific project administration experience, and specialist Logistics Administrators.
Career Receptionists are also highly sought after since employers look for an experienced candidate who is committed to the role long-term. Senior level Office Managers are needed.
Overcoming skills shortages
Employers are becoming flexible in their requirements, as opposed to waiting for a candidate with exact systems knowledge. Those employers that are flexible in areas like software experience, without compromising on quality, often secure a better candidate in terms of skill set, aptitude, location and personality fit, since technical skills can be learnt.
Employers who can see the potential in candidates with transferable skills are also benefiting by recruiting someone they can train and develop. For example, strong Administrators and Team Assistants can be considered for PA support roles as their transferrable skills will meet most of their requirements.
To overcome skills shortages and headcount restrictions employers are turning to temporary support. Such assignments often lead to longer term opportunities for the candidate and a candidate in a temporary assignment can often be utilised as a resource across several areas of a business, thus allowing them to grow and develop new areas of expertise.
We advise employers to act swiftly when interviewing and selecting for permanent positions to ensure they secure their preferred candidate. Likewise, working interviews for temporary candidates are a good solution.
The coming quarter
The New Year offers greater opportunities for permanent positions as employers increase productivity and look at the resources required to meet their annual targets. This year, activity will also be fuelled by the lifting of permanent freezes and new budget approvals.
In addition, the traditional post-New Year move is common in this sector and so we expect to see a high level of candidate movement and replacement hiring as a result.
This quarter we expect the temporary to permanent market to remain a highly effective way to recruit staff into a business as employers monitor productivity and growth areas.
Those organisations involved in the resources industry will have strong hiring intentions, in particular for professional temporary staff, such as experienced Administrators who can add value to a business by easing workloads.
Executive recruitment
Very experienced Executive Assistants and Personal Assistants are in strong demand as are Document Controllers with proven experience setting up procedures.
Employer trends
Employers have responded to multiple offers for the top candidates by moving quickly when recruiting. If candidates impress an employer, they will usually act immediately to avoid losing that person to a competitor. This can occur within three days of a job being registered since employers want to secure the good talent. This speed is also evident in the temporary market, where employers move very quickly and where candidates are not on the market for long.
However those employers that continue to experience budget restrictions or headcount freezes are seeing their recruitment process lengthen and are therefore losing out to businesses who act swiftly to secure their preferred candidate.
While employers continue to demand very specific IT skills, with a focus on analytical, report writing and presentation skills, most are now willing to provide training to the right candidate who is otherwise a perfect fit for the role. They understand that technical skills can be taught.
For this reason, they are also willing to consider junior staff and will provide in-house training.
As the number of temporary to permanent jobs increases, employers are looking for candidates with a broad range of skills who see temporary work as an opportunity for development and growth into a business as well as who can add value to their existing workforce.
While most salaries remain stable, employers will consider offering higher salaries for skills in demand. Employers are also demonstrating work/life balance flexibility, such as employing receptionists in a job share arrangement.
Candidate trends
The first quarter of the New Year is traditionally an active one as candidates pursue a new role for the year ahead. In addition to this domestic candidate movement, there has been a recent influx of temporary candidates from overseas on working holiday visas. Many have fantastic resumes and can make a positive contribution. They have a great work ethic and love working in a different environment and culture.
Receptionists continue to move after two years, either internally or to a better position with another company.
The number of candidates looking for training and development opportunities has increased as they want to continue learning and up-skilling. They also prefer opportunities close to home with more flexible working hours. We have also seen an increase in candidates searching for part-time work.
In Darwin, there has been an increase in candidate levels in response to both redundancies and people moving to the area.
