Dan Sawyer

Background

About Dan Sawyer

I have worked in recruitment since 1989 - years of working with organisations to find them the best possible employees. and no two days are the same. In April 1989 I walked into Alfred Marks Personnel in Auckland looking for a job, and the next thing I know I was recruiting. I was told during my initial training that Recruiters are the second-oldest occupation after Soldiers. When one caveman wanted to take over another cave, he sent out recruiters to hire his army. Or so they say. Recruitment is a game of hit and miss. It’s like fishing too. Baiting the hook with a fantastically worded advertisement designed to lure the perfect candidate used to be the way to source, but nowadays people don’t care what you write. Writing a job advertisement was a craft that I fine-tuned, but alas, times have changed! I have interviewed well over people and placed over of them into work. Recruiting a CEO or General Manager is just as important to me as recruiting your Accounts Clerk or Receptionist. You see, I am a Matchmaker. I love my job and have been fortunate to get it right most of the time. People can surprise – and disappoint you. Taking from Forrest Gump, candidates are like a box of chocolates, outside they might be all sweet, but inside is anyone’s guess. But I see my role as sorting the Turkish Delights from the Mixed Nuts. I am an identified Māori from the Tainui / Maniapoto tribe, so I am passionate about inclusion, diversity and belonging.