Thinking

Insights from the front line.

Real opinions from recruiters on the ground. No corporate filler. No SEO bait. Just what we're actually seeing in the market.

Market Signal

We Placed 3 DevOps Engineers This Month. Here's What They All Had in Common.

Three different companies. Three different stacks. But every hiring manager asked for the same thing, and it wasn't Kubernetes.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Deep Dive

Why the Best Candidates Aren't on SEEK

The talent you need most hasn't updated their profile in two years. Here's how to reach them before your competitors do.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Salary Pulse

Q2 2026: 14 Roles Changed. Here Are the 3 Biggest Moves.

Cloud architects up 8%. Product managers flat. And one role nobody expected just hit $300K.

Jordan Pearce · April 2026

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Client Spotlight

10 Placements in 12 Months at MiQ. Here's How.

When MiQ needed to scale their ANZ team fast, they didn't go to a big agency. They came to us. This is what happened.

Nick Squires · March 2026

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Unpopular Opinion

Your Job Ad Is Why Nobody's Applying

You listed 47 requirements, offered 'competitive salary,' and wondered why your inbox is empty. Let's fix that.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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Career Advice

The Resume Formula That Gets You Hired (Stolen From Google)

Google's X-Y-Z formula. 5 before-and-after examples for digital, media, and tech roles. Your resume rewrite starts here.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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Unpopular Opinion

What Cairns Crocodiles Taught Me About Recruitment

A 4-metre saltie on the Daintree River. 40 minutes of patience. And the best hiring lesson I've ever learned.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Market Signal

Your Competitors Aren't Replacing Headcount with AI. They're Hiring Around It.

AI/ML demand is up 245% since 2023. The companies winning aren't cutting roles. They're building new ones.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Market Signal

Victoria Just Legislated What Candidates Already Demanded

From September 2026, WFH is a legal right in Victoria. If your hybrid policy is still "manager discretion," you're about to lose people.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Deep Dive

Stop Backfilling the Org Chart from 2019

The media agency workforce fell 5.1% but vacancies climbed to 7.8%. The roles you need now aren't the ones you lost.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Unpopular Opinion

Hiding Salary Ranges Is Costing You More Than You Think

27% of employers say application relevance is their top challenge. Maybe stop hiding the one thing candidates care about most.

Jordan Pearce · April 2026

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Unpopular Opinion

Your $15K Employer Brand Video Is Being Outperformed by an iPhone Selfie

Employee-generated content gets 2x the click-through rate. Only 28% of companies have a consistent employer brand strategy.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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Deep Dive

The Skills Gap Is Partly a Screening Gap

370,000 digitally skilled worker shortfall. But your ATS just rejected a career switcher because their last title was "coordinator."

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Deep Dive

If Your Contract-to-Perm Strategy Is Really Just Fear of Commitment

Contractor rates are 50-100% above perm equivalents. If you're using contract-to-perm to avoid risk, you're paying more for less.

Jordan Pearce · April 2026

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Career Advice

Saying 'I'm Open to AI' on Your CV Is Like Saying 'I'm Open to Email' in 2005

80% of leaders would hire AI-proficient over more experienced. Here's the minimum fluency bar for digital roles in 2026.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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Career Advice

Your Safe Role Is Quietly Making You Less Employable

Over half of Australians plan to look for a new job in 2026. But if you haven't grown in 18 months, you're going backwards.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Career Advice

Your Application Isn't Being Read by a Human First

1 in 3 Australians feel unprepared for AI in recruitment. Here's how to structure your CV so the algorithm doesn't bin you.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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Salary Pulse

The Salary You Accepted 18 Months Ago Is Probably 15% Below Market

Advertised salaries are rising faster than wages. C-suite up 5.3%, ICs just 3.1%. Here's how to benchmark yourself.

Jordan Pearce · April 2026

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Career Advice

You Don't Need a CS Degree to Break Into Data or SaaS in 2026

61,000 digital professional shortfall in the public sector alone. Proof of work beats bootcamp certificates. Here's what gets you hired.

Jordan Pearce · April 2026

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Unpopular Opinion

Victoria Made WFH a Legal Right. But If You're Early Career, Should You Use It?

WFH is a right. But if you're in your first two years, the office is where you learn fastest. Controversial? Yes. True? Also yes.

Nick Squires · April 2026

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Deep Dive

Ask About Their Retention Rate for Women Before You Accept

Women are 29.2% of the STEM workforce. If a company "values diversity" but can't share retention data, that's your answer.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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Career Advice

You Applied to 40 Jobs Last Month and Heard Back from 3. Here's Why.

Spray-and-pray is penalised by AI screening. Applying to 8 roles properly gets more interviews than 40 lazy applications.

Ashling McGwynne · April 2026

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