We talk to Bayside Group Senior Consultant Paulina O’Hagan about career pivots, what engineering and technical employers can do to address the candidate shortage and what she’s looking forward to most in the New Year.

Paulina, tell us a bit about your professional background and how you came to work at Bayside Group?

I moved from Canada to Australia in April 2012, and my background was working within the healthcare industry. My initial plans were to study nursing after completing my Medical Office Diploma, but after arriving in Australia I decided to hold off on nursing. Instead, I applied to an Admin Resourcing role with the Bayside Group before moving into a Consultant role, and haven’t looked back since!

That’s quite a career shift. What made you want to enter into recruitment?

I’ve always enjoyed helping people – hence why I wanted to become a nurse! But I was also really interested in helping people achieve their career goals, while also assisting businesses in finding the right people to grow their organisation. It’s very rewarding to be a part of that process.

Learning about the engineering industry has been fascinating, not to mention the benefits of meeting some incredible people along the way!

And what do you enjoy about specifically working in the engineering and technical sectors?

I enjoy working in a collaborative team environment – both internally with the Bayside Group and externally with our clients, on-hired employees and job seekers.

Our engineering and technical clients have unique and diverse teams consisting of a range of roles that are incredibly interesting. I’m fortunate enough to work alongside individuals who are shaping our world socially and technologically. Helping these professionals build on their craft and develop their careers is very fulfilling.

2021 proved to be an interesting year for the employment market. At the start of a new year, what do you expect some of the challenges and opportunities to be for employers?

Given the candidate-short market, I feel most employers are conscious of the fact that there will be many opportunities available for their high-performing employees. And even if staff are only passively considering opportunities, they may have already been approached by other companies.

Last year, we witnessed a major shift; many employees were moving jobs to pursue new career opportunities, chasing larger infrastructure projects they wanted to be a part of, and relocating whether interstate or from cities to regions, which may not have been an option pre-pandemic. A big trend we saw was also employees leaving jobs for higher salaries, which is something I’m expecting to continue seeing throughout this year.

For employers to decrease turnover and maintain their top talent, it will be beneficial to consider upskilling their current workforce and strengthening internal relationships through team building. If some employees might like to consider moving interstate, most employers will now accommodate the shift to ensure they retain their staff. On a positive note, it’s been great to see a lot of organisations adopting changes, such as the WFH model, to create a more sustainable future for their organisations.

What would be your top advice for employers looking to hire engineering and technical employees in the current candidate-short market?

It certainly has been a challenge for many organisations to find the right talent in such a competitive market! As a result, I would suggest employers be more open minded about hiring those candidates who might not necessarily tick all the boxes, but will have the propensity to learn quickly.

You can always train someone in technical skills who is motivated to learn, but it’s much harder to train someone to have the right attitude and be the best cultural fit within an organisation. I’ve seen employers who have decided to offer incredibly high salaries for a candidate who seemingly ticks all the boxes, but by doing so they’ve alienated their existing employees who have then quit to look for higher salaries elsewhere.

If you could give job seekers one piece of advice going into a job interview, what would it be?

During a job interview, I would suggest taking their time and really giving truthful responses – not just the most common answers or the one they think the interviewer wants to hear.

Always be authentic and don’t exaggerate your skills. The employer will eventually find out your strengths and weaknesses if you’re successful in acquiring the job, so it’s best to highlight what you’re skilled in and admit where you might need training, if asked.

What are you most looking forward to at Bayside Group this year?

I look forward to working collaboratively within the family-friendly culture of my team – near and far! We’re so fortunate to work with incredibly smart and passionate people at the Bayside Group who are committed to their field of work right across Australia.

If you’re looking for engineering and construction staff, or for a job in the industry, you can contact Paulina O’Hagan on 07 3221 6822, or the Bayside Group engineering team here.