A-Temp: Passionate About Placing The Right Person In The Right Role
The Big OE is still alive and well. It has always been a dream of most Kiwi’s to travel overseas and to gain work experience, travel to exotic places with the possibility of romance along the way. That’s exactly what happened to Alex and Justin. After working for a bank in Auckland, Alex headed north to London to continue her career in finance.
Justin grew up in South Africa and had the same ambitions, to travel and work overseas. This is where Alex and Justin met while working at J P Morgan and made a life for themselves for 12 years in London. Their first son Max was born in London. When he was two and half, they decided to move to New Zealand.
Auckland was the first place they settled and where their second son Hugo was born, but they really wanted to live in a more family-friendly environment. It was only after holidaying in Nelson for their wedding anniversary, that they fell in love with the place and decided to make the move.
Their first business in Nelson was operating Chelsea Park Motor Lodge for two years. During that time their daughter Madeleine was born, completing their family. Running an accommodation business is like having a fourth child so when they were approached with an offer to buy the motor lodge, an opportunity came up at the same time to buy A-Temp and from there the change made sense to them.
Not having been directly involved in the recruitment business before, was not a barrier at all. Both Alex and Justin had the business background and had worked with recruitment agencies in London. It was a dream come true, owning your own business in beautiful Nelson Tasman with young children, three National Parks, beaches and a great community.
Justin explains, “job roles in large corporates can be very insular, whereas A-Temp is an external third party with multiple clients and more layered. Its about working for people, matching candidates to roles, and developing long term partnerships, it’s very fulfilling.”
The core business is still temporary labour placements within the likes of food production and distribution and construction industries which for some clients, can lead to permanent placement. Another area of the business is placement of candidates in corporate or office roles which they both wish to expand having come from a corporate environment. With low unemployment, it’s about placing the right candidate with the right role so the company seeking staff is pleased. An obvious impact to the business has been the closed borders due to Covid, as Nelson Tasman relies on a lot of seasonal staff during the picking season. It’s a case of adapt, keep positive and moving forward.
A-Temp vacancies are advertised or various platforms; Seek, Facebook or Trade Me and their website. Print advertising is sometimes used when students return home for the summer and parents look for roles for them. They also rely on their strong database to get the word out there. I asked Alex and Justin what their point of difference is, Justin explains “It’s not about filling anybody to any role, its more about care placement, making sure that the person matches that specific role, knowing your client”.
We’ve heard that some people don’t get to even meet the recruiter, it’s performed over the phone only. At A-Temp, we interview every candidate in person. Ours is a personal touch, it’s a people industry and we care about our people. We, at A-Temp is quality focused, not quantity focused.”
It’s always fulfilling when New Zealanders and their partners return home to Aotearoa having experienced the world and gained masses amount of experience in different businesses across the world.
We are fortunate to have Alex and Justin as part of our Nelson business community as they both have all the above, especially passion and belief in what they do, connecting people to people that helps grow our Nelson industries.
“As business owners we understand how vital it is to have good staff and recognize the importance of placing the right person in the right role. Our previous business gave us a good understanding of how staff add value to a business and are passionate about supporting our clients through this process”.
A-Temp have a variety of permanent, contract and temporary positions available in a wide range of sectors and locations, get in touch and experience a more personal approach. Find them at 21 Buxton Square, Nelson.
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