Nicole Cain’s early career was spent as a corporate librarian, followed by business research for firms like Ernst & Young, McKinsey, Cap Gemini & Deutsche Bank, before she made the shift to finding people in the executive search sector. She shared how her past experiences as a librarian and knowledge manager has shaped her approach to sourcing. Nicole will talk about best-practice referral sourcing at the Sourcing Summit.

Q. Can you shed some light on your background and how you stumbled into sourcing?
I’ve always had a passion for learning, sharing knowledge and a desire to help people so a career in librarianship and information management was a natural fit. I knew I wanted to apply my skills in a business context and access the latest tools and technologies so I spent the earlier part of my career honing my skills as a researcher supporting client-facing teams within professional services and management consulting firms. Seeking a change in direction and wanting to be closer to the coalface I made the transition to a research role within executive search four years ago. It was then I discovered that sourcing was developing as a viable and rewarding profession.

Q. How has your past experience as a librarian affected how you approach sourcing? Are there lessons we can learn?
My experience as a librarian has certainly influenced how I approach sourcing. Whilst my training was in librarianship and information management I chose to work initially in corporate libraries and later as part of a business research teams within large global businesses. When I started out corporate libraries were going through significant change and were shifting to a more proactive service offering with researchers starting to sit directly in the business and work more closely with client service teams.

In terms of past experience I’ve found that having a sound discipline around the research process and combining that with a broad knowledge of relevant sources has been of value when planning any search. Knowing where to go to find the information you need so you’re maximising time spent and then ensuring that you’re managing the capture and storage of that information also plays a critical part in how effective you are as a researcher. Understanding the information needs of clients and being in a position where I’ve been able to exercise judgment has also affected how I approach sourcing.

I think the main change has been that previously I was searching public and subscriber-based sources of news and business information and now I’m in a position where I can complement that by leveraging new media and engaging directly with people in the market to gain real insight and that is where I find both the challenge and the satisfaction.

Q. As a researcher in executive search how have you seen the growth of sourcing, in particular Internet research, affect research practices?
The growth in sourcing as a profession has followed the growth of the Internet, which has accelerated even further through shifts towards more user-generated content and rapid uptake of new technologies. From a research perspective the internet has put the world at our fingertips, fast-tracking the name generation process and in many instances granting us direct access to what was once considered hidden or hard to find talent. It’s important to remember however that Internet research can only take you so far. Qualified referrals continue to be one of the most effective sourcing channels as they provide greater context to potential candidates’ backgrounds. Recruitment remains a relationship driven business and the ability to engage confidently with talent and form long term relationships is key to becoming a successful researcher or sourcing specialist.

Q. What will you speak about at the Sourcing Summit?
I will be speaking about how referrals are a critical part of any sourcing strategy. I’ll also be sharing best practice on establishing networks and developing trusted relationships to source referrals.

Jason Timor, a Badu Island man from the Torres Strait, is an accomplished recruiter with significant agency and in-house experience under his belt. He currently assists Qantas with their aboriginal recruitment strategy. We caught up with Jason to discuss about his personal journey, his current project with the aboriginal community and the stories he will be sharing at the Sourcing Summit.

Q. Tell us a bit about your background and how you ended up in your current role?
I grew up in a small regional town in Queensland and soon found there were limited opportunities for me and decided to study for a short period before moving to Sydney. I wasn’t quite sure what it was I wanted to do but I knew it had to be people focused. After a few customer service and sales roles, I landed into recruitment and did my ‘apprenticeship’ with Hays before moving on to Engineering desk with Hamilton James and Bruce and then onto an in-house role with Caltex.

What I found most rewarding in recruitment was the aspect of changing someone’s life offering them the opportunity they might otherwise would not have come across. As a proud Indigenous Australian and my drive to give back to my community I now have a great opportunity to make a real difference and contribute to Qantas’ Reconciliation Action Plan.

Q. You are currently advising Qantas on indigenous recruitment, can you shed some light on the state of employment in the indigenous community?
It is more a case of the state of unemployment within the Indigenous community being three times higher than non-Indigenous. Its also important to note that 29% of young Indigenous Australians are not employed or studying compared to around 9% of young non Indigenous people. At Indigenous Careers @ Qantas, we have a strong emphasis on the Education to Employment journey and invest alot of our efforts in our School Based Trainees, Cadetships and other entry level roles across our businees.

Q. Is it hard to find indigenous talent? What are the main challenges facing employers who wanted to increase their indigenous headcount?
Indigenous talent is an untapped resource that has numerous commericial benefits for any business beyond a philanthropic message. This talent is not hard to find provided you have multi-faceted approach to this market.

Challenges facing employers wanting to increase their Indigenous headcount can vary but it is very important to engage with the Indigenous communities coupled with traditional sourcing strategies. It is vital to have strong contacts in the Indigenous communities where you recruit so be prepared to get involved rather than just recruiting behind a desk.

Q. What sourcing channels do you find most effective in your experience?
One of the surprising channels that has been quite successful for us has been our Indigenous Employee Network – We capitalise on this network to send our job alerts and we find these get forwarded on to Indigenous communities/organisations/agencies . Our Indigenous staff are very passionate and pro-active in getting involved and as Indigenous people, we have a strong sense of family and community which allows a far reach into this unique candidate market.

I run information/ pre-assessment sessions for bulk recruitment for areas such as Cabin Crew, Ground Crew and Airport staff to prepare Indigenous candidates before they enter into the mainstream recruitment process – Indigenous staff who are actually in the relevant role eg. Indigenous Flight Attendants attend to co-facilitate a Q@A session and give realistic job previews. These sessions are run even when we do not have those particular roles live as our aim is to get these candidates ‘job ready’ for when the opportunities become available.

Careers Fair complement our long term strategy of Education to Employment and Classroom to a Career as the Indigenous population is getting younger, we take Qantas on the road and present a full range opportunities from School Based Traineeships, Cadetships and direct entry roles.

Q. What will you be speaking about at the summit?
I wanted to really highlight the great work Qantas is doing as an Indigenous employer and what strategies we have adopted to increase our Indigenous headcount from Employer Branding to Community Engagement. I also am keen to share what we have learnt along the way and challenges we face in this rapidly evolving area.