JJP Talent Solutions

29/08/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJwa5CgVhi0&t=143s

Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions, talks to Holly Stearnes from Ticker TV about:Why a company's people are so importantHow to discover if they ar...

29/08/2021

https://www.smartcompany.com.au/opinion/women-tech-bro-culture-gender-diversity/

The "bro culture" of the tech industry, which can manifest as overt or unconscious, is the leading cause of women leaving the industry.

17/06/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLTIeb2VIG0&t=11s

"Women empowerment is not going against men. I love men!" is my favourite quote from Dr Padma Gadiyar, Founder of Smilo.ai in the latest "Spotlight on Software Development" video.

Men have as much to gain from empowering women as women do. Therefore, men & women must stand together shoulder to shoulder to improve the ratio of female leaders. Bringing a women's perspective to the table brings a different angle. An approach that is much more people centric which is particularly demonstrated by how differently male & female leaders have handled the current pandemic.

Padma discusses how she believes that women have a place at every table. She tells a story of how as the only women in the room, she was asked "Do you think that you deserve to be at this table?" No men were asked this question!

The question is how, after over a hundred years of struggle, can we better empower women & increase female leadership. As a women & the mother of two daughters, this is a central question for me personally. However, I do believe that it is of importance to everyone. It is not about being radically feminist or being against men or just being fair, it is about making the world a better place!

What are your thoughts? How can we improve female leadership? Why do you think it is important?

"Women empowerment is not going against men. I love men!" says Dr Padma Gadiyar, Founder of Smilo.ai as she talks to Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solu...

12/05/2021

Character, Craftmanship & Collaboration – these are the core values Ken Auer looks for when building high performing teams.

Ken Auer is the Founder of Role Model Software in North Carolina. In the latest episode of the podcast “The Spotlight Series – Don’t Just Survive, Thrive”, I talk to Ken about his passion & commitment to software craftsmanship.

As a teenager, Ken’s main passions were baseball & maths which lead him to a degree in Computer Science specialising in software & management. In the 80s, he was introduced to GUI & OO programming including Smalltalk, the father of all OO languages. In 1997, he founded Role Model Software.

Ken started various workshops including the Software as a Studio Discipline which was the first world leading extreme programming studio. We talk about the benefits of situated learning and sustainable software.

There have been various highlights during his career including been introduced as "the father of software craftsmanship" at the inaugural Software Craftsmanship North America conference, mentoring young people who have gone on to do great things as well as his Lightning framework for designing custom SaaS products.

Ken’s advice – be humble, get rid of your ego, learn from everyone and serve others.

To listen, go to link in comments.

27/04/2021

How can smartphone & blockchain technology help smallholder farmers in developing countries lift themselves out of poverty?

In the latest "The Spotlight Series - Don't Just Survive, Thrive" podcast, I speak to David Davies. David is the Founder of AgUnity & has a fascinating story! He grew up in Outback Australia & his interest in tech took him to Hong Kong & the UK, time in West Africa & 12 years working in investment banks in Japan & Singapore. During his adventures on a UNESCO project in Africa, he came to understand the challenges of smallholder farmers (as well as being shot at, working on fields with land mines & been circled by hyenas - life is never dull with David!).

David explains how AgUnity happened by accident when he competed in a hackathon to win the prize of Singularity University & was introduced to the Gates Foundation. AgUnity is a simple concept whereby blockchain allows transactions to be recorded securely & giving the farmers smartphones leads to trust, co-operation & collaboration to create a more level playing field. We discuss the dangers of how blockchain can be abused & lead to human trafficking.

Link to listen to David's amazing story in the comments.

06/04/2021

Testimonial Tuesday!

I love it when I receive fantastic feedback from satisfied candidates! Nathan was a delight to deal with and it was a pleasure to help him secure his next software development role in Brisbane. Although we were living life on the edge for him to get over the border from New South Wales to start his next career opportunity a few months ago!

What do you like most about receiving client feedback? What stories do you have to tell about overcoming the border closures? Over the last year, many of my clients and candidates have been affected one way or another but we have made it happen anyway!

If you are software developer who is interested in new career opportunities, then please give me a call on 0499 773546 or message me directly. I have several senior and mid level .Net software development roles for a client based in the Northern suburbs of Brisbane.

In addition, I am building a software engineering team for a new fintech startup in Fortitude Valley. You would be working on greenfield projects with Google Cloud, native mobile and serverless applications.

Please give me a shout if you would like to hear more....

06/04/2021

What advice would you give to new graduates and people transitioning to new industries?

The ACS Deloitte Digital Pulse report revealed that an additional 150,000 tech workers would be required in Australia by 2025. The question is how will Australia achieve this target when there will there be considerable less migration due to border restrictions. Employing new IT graduates is an obvious solution as is transitioning people from other departments or industries into IT. The question is how do they attain these entry level IT jobs or make the transition into IT.

In the latest "Spotlight on Software Development" video, I speak to Matt Holme from YouPay about his advice about attracting the attention of tech decision makers. He suggests contacting your ultimate employer in a space that you are passionate about and say that you will work for them for 3 months with no commitment. The ideal scenario is at the end that you leaving would be detrimental to the business so they offer you the role. However, if this doesn't happen then you have had real world experience and the opportunity to trial the industry to see you actually like it as well as a new industry connection and a brilliant reference - it's a win-win!

Matt did not complete his degree but he advises that students should finish uni because it demonstrates that you are committed to a challenge over a period of time and demonstrates loyalty.

01/04/2021

How does artificial intelligence differ from actual intelligence?

In the latest podcast episode, I speak to Mike Seidle who is Co-Founder of PivotCX, a company based in Indiana in the US which delivers awesome candidate experiences & saves recruiters time with live, human-to-human communication.

Mike is a serial entrepreneur who has founded 6 businesses. Last year, he had to reinvent his company very quickly when his revenue dropped by 85% & PivotCX was born.

We talk about the importance of human to human interaction in the recruitment process. How it speeds up the process whilst improving the candidate experience. We talk about when it is best to use chatbots and when a human is better. Chatbots are best for yes/ no questions but are terrible at carrying on conversations because they lack empathy, humour etc. His solution was to have live human conversations via text which is both efficient & inexpensive.

When building his teams, Mike looks for exceptional communication skills, a love of learning & shared values. His advice to entrepreneurs is to ask questions & really listen to the answers & also keep your ego in check!

His final piece of advice comes from Jack Welch - "Know the facts & act on them"!

To listen, go to the link in the first comment.

29/03/2021

The final topic discussed in the ACS & JJP Talent Solutions Panel Event about "Building High Performance Tech Teams" was how to compete & retain your company's top performers. Here are some snippets from each of the panel:

Jane Humphreys - ensure that people join for a career rather than just a job. Invest in career paths & an internal career framework. Offer more than just financial incentives.

Lynne Cawley - really talk to your teams and discover what motivates them. Everyone is different. Do this consistently.

Arthur Poropat - ensure both parties are aligned on what achievement is. Pay market rates but don't compete just on money & focus more on value.

Scott Lawry - in the public sector he could not trade on money so he made it his personal commitment to help his teams progress their careers.

Faith Rees - her company's exceptionally high flexibility as to where teams could work was the main differentiator pre-COVID. Recruit really smart people so they can learn from each other. Be radically transparent.

Michelle Cowan - understand your rights & obligations as an employer. Ensure your policies & procedures are professionally written rather than an off the shelf template.

What do you do to compete & retain your top performers?

Video in comments.

24/03/2021

What do you do when team members are low performing?

Last month, ACS & JJP Talent Solutions hosted a panel event about "Building High Performing Teams". The 3rd topic discussed about improving low performers. Here are some snippets:

Arthur Poropat - Define what is good performance in the first place. Remember that you are dealing with the whole organisation - treat them unfairly & good bye to the team's psychological safety; don't deal with it and it sends the wrong message to the team.

Faith Rees - Give direct & honest feedback in the moment. Enable & support people when promoted but if they can not step up & accept feedback they self select out.

Scott Lawry - Discover the underlying cause of poor performance. Have a weekly team temperature tool so can act quickly. Have meaningful conversations.

Jane Humphreys - Understand the root cause - is it attitude or capability. Use I statements rather than "you" statements so less accusing. Ask what they need to be more successful. Have courageous conversations!

Lynne Crawley - Gave great case study about turning someone around from low performance. Deal with it early & don't let it pass.

Michelle Cowan - Have care based conversations. Seek advice before termination. Have regular conversations not just annually.

16/03/2021

How can we improve diversity in tech?

In the last ACS Deloitte Digital Pulse Report, it was revealed that the tech workforce will increase by 150,000 by 2025 which is excellent news! However, what is of grave concern is the lack of diversity in tech in Australia - only 29% of the tech workforce are women and only 15% are older workers.

In the next "Spotlight on Software Development" video, I talk to Pauline Fetaui, General Manager of River City Labs about her real life experiences. She reveals how she has faced a lot of biases particularly because she is a female of colour. She has had to present herself differently because people in tech want to see themselves in other people.

Pauline believes that one of the main barriers to entry is that the environment is set up so more diverse groups feel that they cannot be themselves. For example, beers and pizzas are the norm in the tech world; it is where many of the conversations and deals are made. However, for women with kids this is not a viable option so they are not involved in the conversation. Pauline believes that the only way to change the numbers is to accept that women are different so they should be approached differently.

How do you think we can improve diversity in the tech world?

15/03/2021

On Friday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the River City Labs Women Inventors Network. It was fantastic to hear the stories & insights from Megan Avard, Faith Rees, Ami Bateman & Sian Murray.

Megan is Founder of SurePact, an enterprise SaaS solution that concentrates on contract risk identification & mitigation. Megan's story is one of sheer determination! She is a non tech founder of a software company which has grown significantly in the last 3 years. Megan announced that she had just received a $2 million investment deal that day and the investors were deliberately seeking female founders.

Faith is Founder of SixPivot, an IT consultancy & Cloud Ctrl, a multi-cloud service management platform. Faith founded both companies over 6 years ago. Another story of sheer determination! Faith is values driven in her approach and hiring strategy and is focused on providing flexible working for everyone in her team. She explained how she bought out her own business partners and decided not to seek funding because she felt that the terms were too high.

Ami and Sian founded Pleasant State just over a year ago. Their focus is on "people and planet over profit"! We heard how they have gone down the crowdfunding route and sweat equity. Ami's top tips include look for a co-founder who is different to you and surround yourself with good people.

With only 2.3% of funding going to solo female founders in 2020, it is great to hear successful women making a difference.

If you would like to see the video from the IWD panel event on Monday evening, click on the link in the comments