Style: April 06, 2018

STYLE | promotion 97
SUCCESS Story
From Left: Sally Fitzsimmons, Brigette Burton,
Jane O’Connor, Lauren Stevenson, Camilla Mehrtens
and Sophie Dennan.
Managing Director of Core People, Jane O’Connor, explains
how the right people can lead to success.
Photography Charlie Rose Creative
Why did you start Core People?
I always wanted to own my own business, having worked in
recruitment for a number of years in large global and smaller
local agencies. After the earthquakes I decided I could do it
better. I compiled what I knew were the successful proven
elements of recruitment along with my own customer service
ethic under the Core People brand. I wanted to establish a
boutique offering where service is key to both clients and
candidates.
What does it mean for you to run your own business?
I’m proud to be an employer and supporting my team with
their careers. I have selected staff whom I trust and empower
to engage with our clients and candidates. As a boutique
agency we offer flexible solutions to our clients and we are
nimble enough to manage this. We gain exposure to some
of the region’s most incredible organisations who are doing
truly innovative things with talented people – supporting these
organisations with recruitment and HR projects is what makes
working in our business really exciting.
What do employers most often get wrong when recruiting?
Often it’s time pressures when sourcing staff, this coupled
with inexperience and lack of due diligence on prospective
candidates can lead to an unsuccessful hire. With difficult to
fill positions, we often have to search out the talent in the
marketplace and this takes time and resource.
Equally we ensure our candidates feel the opportunity is the
right “fit” for them. This can only be done by engaging with
people on a personal level.
What is something people may not know about your
business?
We offer experienced specialist consultants covering niche
areas of the market including sales/marketing and customer
services; accounting and finance; office support (including
legal and medical); human resources and managerial positions.
We engage with candidates when they are actively seeking
employment but also when they are at the “passive” stage
of their employment cycle. We offer both temporary and
permanent recruitment services along with HR support from
our established office in Christchurch and with an evolving
presence in the Auckland market, plan to have an office
established by the end of the year.
Core People, 1/150 Office Road, Merivale, Christchurch
03 974 1094
corepeople.co.nz