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Wanted to put this together for long, and ever since the last International Women’s Day in March which had the #Balanceforbetter theme, was thinking to jot down a few lines on “Gender Parity”.

Gender Parity has come a long way and serious steps were taken to bridge the gap. During my career experience over the past decade, I have seen several social, corporate and federal initiatives in this regard, which were commendable.

The Australian Government is strongly committed to being at the forefront of efforts to empower women and girls and promote gender equality around the world. In 2015–16, Australia established the Gender Equality Fund ($55 million in 2019-20) to strengthen work on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the aid program.

Companies like EY has come up with initiatives like “Women Fast Forward” to engage their clients and communities to advance gender equality globally.

Global technology firms like TCS, HCL, Wipro, IBM, , Infosys and Deloitte, to name a few have come up with strong initiatives to address gender parity. This includes TCS’s renowned “GoIT Girls” program and programs like “‘ASCEND” and “stepping stones” initiated by HCL

Programs like Code Like a Girl, which is a social enterprise providing girls and women with the confidence, tools, knowledge and support to enter, and flourish, in the world of coding contributes to ensure gender parity is achieved.

There are various other initiatives like Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications [FITT] which is a not-for-profit network established in 1990 that encourages and supports women in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and forums to encourage women in leadership, Women on boards,The Australian Business Women’s Network (Herbusiness) to name a few.

Still, we have a long way to go to bridge the gap. The January 2019 labour force statistics indicated that there are 5,983,900 women employed in Australia whereas the number of employed men in Australia is currently 6,767,900. When compared to the total population of Australia where women outnumber men by 50.2%, this raises a question of opportunities and flexibility provided at workplace to encourage more women to be a part of the workforce. Another important aspect being gender pay gap – the difference between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time equivalent earnings. Australia’s full-time gender pay gap is 14.1%. 

#Some interesting facts and figures#

#Food for thought# On average, Australian women have to work an extra 56 days a year to earn the same pay as men for doing the same work

In the present scenario, our customer’s dilemma would be how to bring the gender parity without compromising on quality. As a recruitment firm, we recently helped one of our major banking clients in filling one of the positions by sharing equal mix of profiles who were equally qualified for the same role.

Companies like HSBC, BBC, and Google are applying blind hiring practices in order to hire talented candidates from different backgrounds. Blind hiring can be extremely effective to create diversity in the workplace.

As they say, “it all starts within you” so what can we do,as individuals, to bring about this change:

• Be open to possibilities and changes-make the conscious choice to grow from the pressure to evolve yourself to that next level.
• Ask for more, aim higher – Never shy out from asking
• Love what you do – look for opportunities closer to our interests and excel at them
• Network – To empower yourself, collaborate don’t compete. Success is never a one man job. One of the smartest ways to move your mission forward is to network.Look for mentors and like minded people and work on your social skills.

Here at Zone IT apart from supporting our clients in the selection process as a recruitment agency we also have a few initiatives to encourage and engage communities and individuals. We have a “back to work” program initiated to encourage and support women in IT who had a career break and looking to join back workforce, by finding them suitable positions.

If you are looking out for your next opportunity,we  would love to hear from you. Follow our LinkedIn page for industry news and the latest job opportunities. Also, you can reach out to us at careers@zoneitsolutions.com or call us  at 0468857408 or 0434189909.

Connect with us to share your thoughts, ideas or stories. Let’s stand together for a better balance, a better world.

You spend hours and even days crafting the perfect CV, writing the ultimate cover letter, finding the perfect vacancy and applying for a dream job. Eventually days and months pass by with the entire job seeking process seeming daunting and overwhelming with no idea on what went wrong. But when you partner with the right recruiter, you are sorted for your next career move and the entire journey will seem positive and exciting. Recruitment is a human activity- its success relies heavily on relationship building to get the best possible outcome. An experienced recruiter can be your best advocate to the client representing your niche skillset, negotiating your expected compensation and proposing your fit for the project.

An Insider’s View

Many positions are not openly advertised by companies on their websites. Recruiters are well connected to hiring managers of reputed companies and are able to get those positions not open to the public. Since Hiring managers trust them to fill those unique roles with specific requirement, this liaison is reason enough for you to network with a Recruiter. Moreover, Recruiters can help you prepare for the interview by providing specific insights into the company objectives, expectations of the hiring manager and client partner alike.  They can provide interview tips before the big day to make you effective and provide detailed information about the project to ensure it is aligned with your career goals.

Establish a Rapport

A recruiter-candidate relationship doesn’t have to be completely formal and transactional. You can always inject a bit of fun and add a humanly touch to it. Personalise your introductions on LinkedIn than just sending a connection request. Conversations are most effective as recruiters are busy people. So pick up the phone, introduce yourself and explain how you are a good fit for the role they have just advertised. Don’t shy away from catching up over a quick coffee with your recruiter. This helps you to garner their attention, present yourself in the best possible way and ensure that they remember you for the next job opportunity that may arise. A recruiter-candidate relationship doesn’t have to be completely formal and transactional. You can always inject a bit of fun and add a humanly touch to it. Personalise your introductions on LinkedIn than just sending a connection request. Conversations are most effective as recruiters are busy people. So pick up the phone, introduce yourself and explain how you are a good fit for the role they have just advertised. Don’t shy away from catching up over a quick coffee with your recruiter. This helps you to garner their attention, present yourself in the best possible way and ensure that they remember you for the next job opportunity that may arise.

Don’t Burn your Bridges

Often times I have observed candidates cutting out all lines of communication from the recruiter after the initial interview or at the time of offer. The reasons vary from securing a new position elsewhere or no more finding the position enticing. Such ghosting creates an impression for the recruiter and Clients that you are no longer trustworthy. In the long run, this not only hampers your reputation as a job seeker but also sabotages your chances of getting any potential roles from the Recruiter. Keep your recruiter in the loop with any changes in your circumstances be it a holiday planned, changes in contact details or your job search situation. Consider recruiters as your long term trusted advisors and partners in career. They are as much invested in your career as you. They are the ones you can turn to anytime for an overview of the job market, salary insights, certifications in demand, latest technology trends and upskilling advice.

Having your Best Interest in Mind

After your initial application for a role, it might be frustrating to not hear back from a Recruiter or be left in the dark. But isnt it worth waiting for the best role than to be put forward for a mediocre one. Recruiters always have your best interest at heart and want to you to succeed as much as you do. They have a lot of background work to do from assessing your skills and experience to matching them to the Client’s requirements. It takes time for them to pitch you to the Client and get interviews scheduled. You need to be patient and trust them to find them the perfect job. You should know that Recruiters are always accessible on phone, emails and social media and reach out to them for any concerns. After all, the Recruitment process is all about balancing a candidate’s interests to a company’s needs and find the right people for the right role.

Reap the Benefits

The Recruitment and hiring process is one giant maze in which the candidates often get lost. When done alone, it will be difficult for a candidate to reach out to all the employers seeking a perfect fit for their company. With the help and support of a recruiter, it is easier to navigate through. By building a relationship with a recruiter, you gain insight into potential career opportunities and interim advice that can help you progress in your career. The greatest benefit of candidate-recruiter relationship is the candidate getting the right job and for the recruiter satisfying their candidates and clients alike.

A good candidate-recruiter relationship is not just about filling one particular position but a long-term partnership. Build and nurture that relationship for a perfect, satisfying and successful professional career. We at Zone IT Solutions are heavily invested in building candidate relationships, engaging them in the recruitment process and giving them the care they deserve. We believe in putting the human back in the hiring and recruitment process and establishing a sincere connection with candidates to fulfil their career needs. If you are an IT professional considering a move or exploring your options in the IT market, reach out to me today for a confidential chat on +61 432128752 or you may also browse through our latest job openings.

Have you heard of Meetup? If you’re not utilising Meetup to your full advantage, then you’re missing out on excellent opportunity to network and boost your visibility to the larger employers, recruiters and peers who would lie you to work with them.

With over 45 million users globally Meetup is sure a melting pot for networking, hobbies and interest groups.  In Australia  alone there are thousands of Meetup groups and as member you can join as many you can.  So how can you

• Setup Your Profile: Your Meetup profile will be searchable on search engines, like Google, so it’s important to keep this page as professional as you would your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.  It’s update your profile to become more visible to recruiters and employers by using relevant keywords that relate to your skills, experience and industry
• Connect Locally: Join Meetup group relevant for your skill/interest

And the most important part is networking for these events. The usual networking courtesy and rules apply for most Meetup events, however some of these meetups might have specific engagement rules, so pay attention and prepare.

Carry your LinkedIn profile ready to connect: Ensure your LinkedIn and social profiles are easy to search and find or simply use LinkedIn QR Code.

Its about networking and not sales: Prepared with questions and topics to discuss for your meetup.

Follow up and connect: Meetups have a “Good to see you” feature and you can also request to connect on LinkedIn or to exchange emails so that you both can keep in touch beyond the Meetup group.

We would like to hear from you on your journey to seeking your dream job and also on how you prepare for your job hunts.If you are looking out for your next opportunity, I would love to hear from you. Follow our LinkedIn page for industry news and latest job opportunities. Also, you can reach out to us at careers@zoneitsolutions.com or call me at 0434189909.