Recommend a friend to us and if they get a placement with us for six months or more we will give you $500

• BusinessAnalyst - (closing 29 June)
• Project Manager - (closing 29 June)
• Mainframe CoolGen Developer - (closing 1 July)
• Business Analyst - (closing 1 July)
• .Net Developer - (closing 1 July)
• GeospatialData WarehouseAnalyst - (closing 1 July)

Canberra IT contracting market is reasonably large, considering that this is the hub of the federal government. There are more than 140 different federal government agencies and departments based in Canberra. Most of IT work that is done by federal government is done here in Canberra. We provide IT contractors for a number of federal government departments.

In order to work for the Australian federal government as a contractor you need at minimum the following:

• Legally permitted to work in Australia. For certain positions you have to be a citizen
• Police clearance and/or security clearance (this will be organised once you are offered a position)
• Relevant qualifications
• At minimum two referees that can substantiate your claims

Federal government has an ever increasing demand for IT professionals. While most of the work is done by public servants during the peak demand or on large projects there may not be enough IT professionals that particular departments or agencies have in which case they will approach their preferred IT providers (us) to help them meet that demand. We and other IT recruitment companies than advertise, select and put forward best candidates that we can get. Departments and agencies then select the best candidates (experience, qualification, value for money etc) for an interview. The best candidates are selected and then offered a contract position. Contract durations vary, but they are usually from 3-12 months with the possibility of an extension.

Our management fee is $4/hr

Once you find a job that you are going to apply for the next most important thing you have to decide is which recruitment agency to go through. Unfortunately most recruitment agencies when you approach them will not tell you which federal government department or agency the job is at. Reason is that they simply do not want to you to cherry pick recruitment providers. For example when a department has a need for an IT specialist then recruiters A, B, C, D and E (who happen to be selected IT providers for that department) will advertise that position. You may come across this position being advertised by all five recruiters on various job web sites. But which one do you go with is the question. There is usually only one thing that matters and that is the price or the cut that IT recruiters take. IT recruiters usually charge a percentage of your hourly figure (this can be anywhere from 4%-20%). You may think that there is more to it than just a price, but there usually is not. All of the recruitment providers that have been selected to provide IT contractors to the federal government have been through a very strict selection process and they all have to meet the relevant criteria else they would not be selected.

For example

Department is willing to pay $100/hr for a senior IT specialist. After the IT recruiter takes their cut you will end up with anywhere from ($80 -$96) in your pocket, the rest goes to the recruiter (cost of running a business, profit margin etc). There is little in terms of service which differentiates IT recruiters, they all have to meet the necessary requirements in order to be selected to do business for a particular department or agency. So it is really in your interest to work out how much your recruiter will charge you and to shop around for the best deal.

Why is this important

As a simple exercise if on average in a given year you work 1840 hours whether you get $80/hr or $96/hr makes a big difference to your bottom line. It is a difference between $147 200 and $176 640, which is almost $30K difference. Remember you are costing the department $184 000 per year. Whether you go for an expensive recruitment agency or not is entirely your decision. The only difference is whether your recruiter charges large or small commission. Obviously it is in your interest to go with the recruiters who charge smaller commission.

It is basically pretty simple. It boils down to the quality of the candidate and the price. We cannot do much about the first one, if we do not think you are the right candidate we will simply not put you forward. What is the go with the price you might say.

As mentioned in the previous section, whether your recruiter charges $4/hr or $40/hr makes a big, big difference. Imagine you say I want to get $100/hr for a particular position. In the eyes of federal government department whether an identical candidate costs $104/hr or $144/hr makes a lot of difference, especially after the Gershon review where government departments have become very price sensitive. Which one do you think they will pick?

Therefore you have more chance of securing that position with the recruiters who have the smallest recruitment margin. This ensures that you get the most bang for the buck (more money in your pocket), and also you make yourself more affordable for hire and for the future contract extension.

We are 100% transparent with you. You already know our margin and there are no other hidden fees and surcharges. We also do not force you into an exclusivity contract unlike some other recruiters, this means that if you are not happy with us you are simply free to leave. There is also no small print stuff with us, we tell you all things up front. We like to keep it nice and simple!

We will also give you $500 if you recommend us to your friend and they get a placement with us for 6 months or more.

Lastly, even if we do not have any positions for you right now do send us your cv so we can let you know when opportunities that might suit you come our way.