Having recruited for Auckland’s IT market since 1997, and worked at many of NZ’s top IT recruitment firms, it is fair to say Ash is something of a legend in the tech recruitment sector. So, when it came time for him to seek out a different approach to providing his exceptional IT recruitment services to businesses, we were delighted when Ash chose to join our JOYN community in 2023.
Since then Ash has worked on a number of key, technical hiring projects for corporate IT teams, software consultancies and tech scale ups, finding and placing into positions ranging from Junior Engineers and Programmers, Technical Account Managers and Data Analysts, through to Cloud Engineers, Operations Managers and Heads of Technology.
He must be doing a good job too, with an average client rating of 9.67 / 10 he has already built up a book of happy JOYN customers for whom he is now their go-to technology recruiter. Also running his own contracting business, Logical Consulting, alongside his JOYN work, Ash is a busy recruiter! Nevertheless, we recently managed to pin him down and ask him a few questions for this JOYN Profile piece:
Firstly, tell us about your recruitment journey.
I’ve always loved technology and I worked for 6 years as an Electronics Engineer before my first recruitment role, recruiting telecom engineers for global mobile network projects. When I moved to NZ in 1997, I specialised in IT recruitment. I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some of the best IT recruitment companies in NZ, managed teams of recruiters, met many hundreds of employers & thousands of potential candidates. For the last 4 years I’ve worked in exclusive recruitment relationships only. I use all my experience, skills and understanding to work on a smaller number of roles with detailed searching and much better outcomes for clients.
What is the most rewarding part of the work you do and why?
It’s the feedback I get years after an assignment. When you’ve completed a job, that’s great, and you feel satisfaction, but you swiftly move on to the next task at hand. I’ve recently had 2 separate candidates I placed as junior engineers 20 years ago come back to me as clients. They’ve remembered and appreciated my service long after I’ve forgotten. That is really special.
What are you currently working on with JOYN?
A range of IT related roles, SaaS Technical Consultants, SaaS Technical Account Managers, ITSM Operations Manager, End User Support Engineer, Cloud and Infrastructure Engineer.
How does working as a JOYN Consultant fit into your life?
I have my own recruitment company where I tend to concentrate on IT contract placements. With JOYN my experience is that the client has really bought into the JOYN philosophy, which mirrors my own, and they want to work in partnership with their recruitment provider. This allows me to work for short but intense periods of time with a client then move on to other projects. I fit all my recruitment work around my lifestyle which means prioritising time for health and fitness. There are no set hours but of course success is measured by the outcome. I find myself highly engaged with the client and the candidates and the hours tend to fly by so I must be enjoying myself!
What do you believe is important for employers to consider when hiring in the current market?
Now is a great time to hire however the task is about managing a large number of applicants in a timely manner and recognising the A+ candidates early and getting them through the recruitment process swiftly. There are lots of candidates but not many A+ stars.
Working with JOYN
JOYN is a freelance worker platform designed specifically for Recruitment and HR professionals. We combine technological smarts with human expertise to enable businesses to make better hires at less than half the usual cost. Deliver your recruitment or HR expertise to a range of interesting clients and earn great hourly rates with truly flexible working. You can utilise our cutting-edge tools and technologies to do your best work.
Please get in touch here if you’d like to learn more about building up your portfolio of varied and interesting recruitment or HR gigs.
