Makeovers rescue recruitment disasters
James Mitchell. Pic by: David Kapernik
Stereotypes are being smashed in the relentless pursuit for workers.
Accountants with pens in pocket protectors; thick lens-wearing computer programmers toiling in dark rooms; burly blokes belching while building; greasy mechanics with porn pin-ups - banish those outdated images.
Whole industries are staging makeovers, reinvigorating their image to convince new talent to give them a go.
With the unemployment rate bottoming out at 4.1 per cent last month, industries feeling the skills shortage are implementing media campaigns, education programs, try-before-you-join schemes and deal sweeteners such as short-term contracts.
Many industries are repositioning themselves as being female friendly -- such as recent efforts by the mining, construction and engineering sectors to make people aware of the flexible working arrangements.
The automotive industry is playing up new technology that turns servicing a car into a clean, computer-driven task rather than the stereotypical greasy endeavour of old. They have launched the website autocareers.com.au that helps potential new employees explore the industry's employment options.
The Australian Defence Force is breaking with tradition by offering short-term contracts to recent school leavers to entice some to take on a service career.
The ADF Gap Year program allows people to join the force for 12 months to get a taste of military life without being required to continue on in the service.
It is marketed as a way young people can productively spend their gap year - the year after high school where traditionally youths travel overseas or take time off before further study or getting a job.
Construction Skills Queensland chief executive officer Rod Camm says the industry is using the media and education campaigns to quash stereotypes.
"The traditional view is that construction is hot, you work in the sun and it's dirty," Camm says.
"The industry has grown more than 70 per cent in five years - civil construction has grown 200 per cent - so there is now actually a wide range of careers available. Lots still require manual labour but there are lots of jobs in different areas and skills," he says.
The industry is concentrating on convincing women and indigenous workers to consider construction by holding specialist expos and playing up "off-the-tools" jobs such as project management and estimators. There is also a heavy emphasis on "up-skilling" existing workers to do those roles.
"The problem in this industry at the moment is that they are not targeting (new worker markets)," Camm says.
"It's so busy. It's almost like employers are saying that we will find labour but (do not) know how I am to find it."
Buderim apprentice Trish Peters, 53, says she wished she had the chance to become a carpenter when she left high school. Instead, she was a jillaroo, worked in hospitality and ran a plant nursery.
Now, she is exactly the new worker the industry is targeting.
"I want to get my supervisor's ticket so I can supervise jobs on my own, to be a project manager," Peters says. "I decided to do an apprenticeship because I wanted qualifications - it's as simple as that.
"It's not just a blokey thing to do - although a couple of the guys are a little bit funny -but you get that in any industry. I get a lot of respect from the guys but I don't get any special treatment, either. I am one of the guys and that's it."
Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia chief executive officer David Doherty says leadership programs, creating and publicising a career path map and a series of seminars and breakfasts will reinvigorate that sector's recruitment chances.
A more structured training and accreditation scheme also will boost credibility.
"The freight and logistics sector is the one that is causing us most concern, because its image is that you wear a singlet and are covered in diesel fumes, and that image is not attracting the best candidates," Doherty says.
"Those in this career normally come to supply chain and logistics by chance. They come from different disciplines through which they are exposed to the career and then they decide to explore it further.
"We want to explain to people that you can choose it as a career. If you want to be the best forklift driver in the world, we can help you do that but, if you want to end up as a manager or in the boardroom, we can help you do that too."
Traditional desk jobs also are being made over.
Griffith University PhD student Jenine Beekhuyzen recently launched a book telling young women what exciting career paths are available in information technology.
"The perception of the industry is that it's all about programming, working alone in a room all day, that it is not social but that is not the reality of what the industry is," Beekhuyzen says.
"The internet has opened a lot of opportunities in terms of communication so now it's not just about having technical skills but about being able to communicate technology and teach skills to non-technical people.
"Every industry uses technology - it's everywhere - so there are new jobs and new career pathways. It's about creating technology solutions for business."
And don't ever call an accountant a nerd again.
Professional associations, Chartered Accountants, CPA Australia and businesses are all tailoring their marketing to emphasise the diversity of careers available to number crunchers.
KPMG national graduate recruitment manager Claire Strik says that, rather than being an orchestrated attempt to change the former image of pocket-protector wearing accountants, the image revamp push was a natural progression reflecting increased worker demand.
"Students always just seem to know about one area they could work in accounting," Strik says.
"That might be just doing tax returns and all that involves or doing BASs. They don't generally understand the breadth of opportunities that is available to them. Back 10 or 15 years ago, KPMG didn't recruit for the groups (jobs) they do now. We were only recruiting accountants for a couple of areas such as audit or tax. Now we have so many more business groups and there are so many more degrees that people can take."
She says popular streams include forensic accounting or work involving the internet.
"It's not about sitting in a room and putting numbers into a calculator. You can do interesting work, travel, work with great clients and have really fabulous stories to tell," she says.
Resources: Graduatecareers.com.au; cpaaustralia.com.au; icaa.org.au; techgirlsarechic.org; beconstructive.com.au; careerone.com.au
* Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia Changing Workforce Perceptions breakfast, 7am, April 2, Hilton Brisbane Hotel, from $50, sclaa.com.au
Days not so dreary
Dreary days spent in his dad's accountancy office convinced James Mitchell he did not want to follow family tradition.
"I think I wanted to be a sports star," Mitchell, now 22, says.
"My father was an accountant and I thought it was quite boring. I guess that was because he runs a small firm, adding and subtracting personal tax. Never as a child did I think I would become an accountant."
After having completed a double degree at Griffith University, he now is a graduate recruit at large accountancy firm KPMG, in Brisbane's city. The change of attitude came after a dose of soul searching in Year 12, where he spoke to people involved in the industry and to career guidance counsellors. He told them he wanted to be in business. They told him to try a commerce degree.
"I now view the accounting profession as an industry that performs a wide range of services, not just traditional tax and auditing. It sere it as providing opportunities," he says.
"I view it as a platform on which to build. I don't see myself involved purely in accounting at age 50. I will move into something else."
The Courier-Mail, Mar 29-30, 2008
Accountants with pens in pocket protectors; thick lens-wearing computer programmers toiling in dark rooms; burly blokes belching while building; greasy mechanics with porn pin-ups - banish those outdated images.
Whole industries are staging makeovers, reinvigorating their image to convince new talent to give them a go.
With the unemployment rate bottoming out at 4.1 per cent last month, industries feeling the skills shortage are implementing media campaigns, education programs, try-before-you-join schemes and deal sweeteners such as short-term contracts.
Many industries are repositioning themselves as being female friendly -- such as recent efforts by the mining, construction and engineering sectors to make people aware of the flexible working arrangements.
The automotive industry is playing up new technology that turns servicing a car into a clean, computer-driven task rather than the stereotypical greasy endeavour of old. They have launched the website autocareers.com.au that helps potential new employees explore the industry's employment options.
The Australian Defence Force is breaking with tradition by offering short-term contracts to recent school leavers to entice some to take on a service career.
The ADF Gap Year program allows people to join the force for 12 months to get a taste of military life without being required to continue on in the service.
It is marketed as a way young people can productively spend their gap year - the year after high school where traditionally youths travel overseas or take time off before further study or getting a job.
Construction Skills Queensland chief executive officer Rod Camm says the industry is using the media and education campaigns to quash stereotypes.
"The traditional view is that construction is hot, you work in the sun and it's dirty," Camm says.
"The industry has grown more than 70 per cent in five years - civil construction has grown 200 per cent - so there is now actually a wide range of careers available. Lots still require manual labour but there are lots of jobs in different areas and skills," he says.
The industry is concentrating on convincing women and indigenous workers to consider construction by holding specialist expos and playing up "off-the-tools" jobs such as project management and estimators. There is also a heavy emphasis on "up-skilling" existing workers to do those roles.
"The problem in this industry at the moment is that they are not targeting (new worker markets)," Camm says.
"It's so busy. It's almost like employers are saying that we will find labour but (do not) know how I am to find it."
Buderim apprentice Trish Peters, 53, says she wished she had the chance to become a carpenter when she left high school. Instead, she was a jillaroo, worked in hospitality and ran a plant nursery.
Now, she is exactly the new worker the industry is targeting.
"I want to get my supervisor's ticket so I can supervise jobs on my own, to be a project manager," Peters says. "I decided to do an apprenticeship because I wanted qualifications - it's as simple as that.
"It's not just a blokey thing to do - although a couple of the guys are a little bit funny -but you get that in any industry. I get a lot of respect from the guys but I don't get any special treatment, either. I am one of the guys and that's it."
Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia chief executive officer David Doherty says leadership programs, creating and publicising a career path map and a series of seminars and breakfasts will reinvigorate that sector's recruitment chances.
A more structured training and accreditation scheme also will boost credibility.
"The freight and logistics sector is the one that is causing us most concern, because its image is that you wear a singlet and are covered in diesel fumes, and that image is not attracting the best candidates," Doherty says.
"Those in this career normally come to supply chain and logistics by chance. They come from different disciplines through which they are exposed to the career and then they decide to explore it further.
"We want to explain to people that you can choose it as a career. If you want to be the best forklift driver in the world, we can help you do that but, if you want to end up as a manager or in the boardroom, we can help you do that too."
Traditional desk jobs also are being made over.
Griffith University PhD student Jenine Beekhuyzen recently launched a book telling young women what exciting career paths are available in information technology.
"The perception of the industry is that it's all about programming, working alone in a room all day, that it is not social but that is not the reality of what the industry is," Beekhuyzen says.
"The internet has opened a lot of opportunities in terms of communication so now it's not just about having technical skills but about being able to communicate technology and teach skills to non-technical people.
"Every industry uses technology - it's everywhere - so there are new jobs and new career pathways. It's about creating technology solutions for business."
And don't ever call an accountant a nerd again.
Professional associations, Chartered Accountants, CPA Australia and businesses are all tailoring their marketing to emphasise the diversity of careers available to number crunchers.
KPMG national graduate recruitment manager Claire Strik says that, rather than being an orchestrated attempt to change the former image of pocket-protector wearing accountants, the image revamp push was a natural progression reflecting increased worker demand.
"Students always just seem to know about one area they could work in accounting," Strik says.
"That might be just doing tax returns and all that involves or doing BASs. They don't generally understand the breadth of opportunities that is available to them. Back 10 or 15 years ago, KPMG didn't recruit for the groups (jobs) they do now. We were only recruiting accountants for a couple of areas such as audit or tax. Now we have so many more business groups and there are so many more degrees that people can take."
She says popular streams include forensic accounting or work involving the internet.
"It's not about sitting in a room and putting numbers into a calculator. You can do interesting work, travel, work with great clients and have really fabulous stories to tell," she says.
Resources: Graduatecareers.com.au; cpaaustralia.com.au; icaa.org.au; techgirlsarechic.org; beconstructive.com.au; careerone.com.au
* Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia Changing Workforce Perceptions breakfast, 7am, April 2, Hilton Brisbane Hotel, from $50, sclaa.com.au
Days not so dreary
Dreary days spent in his dad's accountancy office convinced James Mitchell he did not want to follow family tradition.
"I think I wanted to be a sports star," Mitchell, now 22, says.
"My father was an accountant and I thought it was quite boring. I guess that was because he runs a small firm, adding and subtracting personal tax. Never as a child did I think I would become an accountant."
After having completed a double degree at Griffith University, he now is a graduate recruit at large accountancy firm KPMG, in Brisbane's city. The change of attitude came after a dose of soul searching in Year 12, where he spoke to people involved in the industry and to career guidance counsellors. He told them he wanted to be in business. They told him to try a commerce degree.
"I now view the accounting profession as an industry that performs a wide range of services, not just traditional tax and auditing. It sere it as providing opportunities," he says.
"I view it as a platform on which to build. I don't see myself involved purely in accounting at age 50. I will move into something else."
The Courier-Mail, Mar 29-30, 2008
