Human resources and marketing

Recruitment consultants are responsible for a range of activities, including:

• placing job advertisements
• managing candidates, including screening resumes and shortlisting, conducting telephone and face-to-face interviews with job applicants and conducting reference checks
• briefing candidates about the responsibilities, salary and benefits of the jobs they’re interested in/applying for
• negotiating pay and salary rates and finalising arrangements between clients and candidates
• advising clients and candidates on pay rates, training and career progression
• making sales calls and servicing an existing client base
• developing professional and ongoing relationships with new clients in order to grow business
• reviewing recruitment policies to ensure selection techniques and recruitment programs are effective
• using applicant tracking systems, job boards, blogs, social networks and recruiting websites.

The skills and experience that will help get you started in this role include:

• excellent interpersonal, communication and networking skills
• strong customer service and sales skills
• ability to compromise, be persistent, negotiate and to offer solutions to problems
• a good understanding of how the employment market operates
• excellent note-taking skills and the ability to follow up with client and candidates
• strong administrative skills and advanced writing skills
• good analytical skills
• leadership skills
• ability to work to tight deadlines, lead projects and see them through to the end.

‘For this role, you’ll need certain qualifications and need to meet certain requirements, which may include:

• undergraduate qualifications in HR, public relations, psychology, business or marketing
• Certificate IV or Diploma of Human Resources
• Diploma of Management, Diploma of Human Resources Management or similar
• experience facilitating training sessions
• Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training
• experience in sales, customer service or in an office environment
• temporary work in recruitment.

There are many employers in this area, in both in the public and private sectors. Perhaps the largest employers are private recruitment agencies. Many of these agencies specialise in specific areas, such as construction, education, health or hospitality. Sometimes they seek to employ recruiters who have experience in these areas, but this is not always necessary. Examples include Randstad, Hudson and Hays.

OH&S officers perform a variety of duties, including:

• participating in safety consultancy work within different industries
• building safety knowledge through on-the-job learning and through further research and training
• following the procedures of the workplace in regards to safety activities
• conducting workplace health and safety checks
• conducting basic risk assessments
• helping employees with incident investigations
• developing occupational health and safety systems, including policies, procedures and manuals
• organising the provision of first aid services
• acting as a fire warden.

The skills and experience that will help get you started in this role include:

• knowledge and understanding of WorkCover legislation
• ability to ensure that all compliance procedures are followed
• ability to create and facilitate behavioural, safety and leadership coaching programs
• strong facilitation skills and the ability to ensure that learning outcomes are achieved and transferred to the work environment
• ability to contribute to occupational health and safety plans and decision-making processes
• ability to promote and influence a safety culture within organisations
• ability to use communication technology, including media and equipment to talk to emergency management services
• ability to work in a systematic way and to pay attention to detail
• ability to work independently as well as part of a team
• excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, including the ability to interpret detailed policies and reports.

For this role you'll need qualifications and requirements, which may include:

• undergraduate qualifications in HR, psychology or similar
• Certificate IV or Diploma of Human Resources
• Diploma of Management or Diploma of Human Resources Management
• Certificate III, Certificate IV or Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety
• Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training
• experience facilitating training sessions
• first aid certificate.

There's a huge range of employers in this area, both in the public and private sectors, including WorkSafe.

Organisational development roles largely revolve around change management and can often involve the training, mentoring, coaching and development of staff within an organisation. This is an area where consultants are often employed. Responsibilities in this field include:

• determining organisational development needs
• developing procedural changes within organisations and evaluating the change process from start to finish
• developing and implementing communication plans
• leading organisational design projects
• providing expert change management services across businesses
• working with organisational development budgets
• providing training and development for teams and individuals.

The skills and experience that will help get you started in this role include:

• experience working within another area of HR, for example recruitment, OH&S etc.
• ability to design and implement learning programs
• experience facilitating training sessions
• leadership development capability
• excellent communication skills with the ability to network and build strong relationships with a range of key stakeholders
• ability to understand and apply the principles and practices of change
• ability to develop, maintain and improve systems and procedures
• strong project management skills
• demonstrated initiative, accuracy, attention to detail, and ability to plan, meet deadlines and solve problems.

For this role you'll need qualifications and requirements, which may include:

• An undergraduate degree in HR, psychology or similar
• Graduate Diploma or Master of Human Resources and Organisational Development or similar
• Master of Strategic Organisational Development or similar
• Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training.

There's a wide range of employers in this area, both in the public and private sectors. Many of the individuals who work in this field are considered to be organisational development specialists and they largely work as consultants. Some examples of consulting firms where specialists work include:

• Deloitte
• Cubic Consulting
• Morgan Consulting.

Marketers generally work in the private sector. They deliver market research projects in a range of areas and provide thought leadership, strategic insights and growth recommendations. Research techniques include focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Areas of responsibility could include:

• collecting, organising and interpreting data
• coordinating and executing research projects
• administering research projects, including any follow up work
• preparing reports that communicate the findings of market research
• using data to prepare charts and reports and identifying key insights to benefit the organisation.

The skills and experience that will help get you started in this role include:

• experience carrying out both qualitative and quantitative research
• excellent attention to detail and high standards regarding data quality
• strong project management skills, including monitoring of schedules and planning project tasks
• an understanding of brands and the impact of advertising
• an ability to manage projects and deadlines, work with clients of varied backgrounds and be highly organised
• excellent communication skills both written and verbal and well developed interpersonal skills
• excellent analytical skills.

For this role you'll need qualifications and requirements, which may include:

• undergraduate qualifications in marketing, psychology, HR, or business
• experience in using SPSS (Statistical Packaging for the Social Sciences).

There’s a wide range of employers in this area, both in the public and private sectors. Many market researchers are employed through recruitment agencies or directly through market research companies. Examples include:

• The Social Research Centre
• Smaart Recruitment.

People who work in this area are generally known as brand, product or marketing managers. They’re involved in researching target audiences for products and services and developing advertising and promotional materials based on this research. Specific duties include:

• product design, brand development and management
• developing and implementing marketing strategies and digital marketing plans
• coordinating campaign communication to relevant stakeholders
• assisting with the communication and management of all external suppliers and agencies to ensure successful campaign implementation
• assisting with the development and implementation of media strategies, working closely with all agency partners and suppliers
• managing the media and production expenditure forecast and overseeing the processing of campaign administration
• conducting market research, reporting and analysis.

The skills and experience that will help get you started in this role include:

• ability to 'think outside the square' and work creatively
• excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• strong team orientation
• strong project management and organisational skills as well as considerable attention to detail
• highly developed analytical skills, initiative and proactive problem-solving ability
• expertise in working with complex data analysis, plus relevant modelling tools (experience in propensity modelling)
• ability to work with ambiguous, uncertain or incomplete datasets.

For this role you'll need qualifications and requirements, which may include:

• undergraduate qualifications in a business discipline (preferably with a marketing or psychology major), PR, journalism, media or psychology
• qualifications within mathematics, statistics, and/or operational research
• some previous work experience, such as customer service or hospitality.

Possible employers in this area include any organisation with a marketing department, or any advertising or creative agency. There are hundreds of major marketing agencies in Australia, along with many small advertising and marketing consultancies.