SEEK Expert Panel

The following expert panel has contributed to the SEEK Career Resources.

Assyl Haidar is CEO of LIVE IN australia.com (est. 2001), a world leader in the provision of expert immigration advice through its award winning website www.liveinaustralia.com. With headquarters in Melbourne and an office in London, Assyl is passionate about Australia and what it has to offer anyone interested in making Australia their home. The LIVE IN australia.com office can be reached on +61 3 9691 7777.

Barrie Green spent more than 10 years as a manager in the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. He now practices as a registered migration agent. (Reg. no 9901613). Barrie is based in Melbourne and can be reached by email or by telephone 61 03 9571 9260 (international 61 3 9571 9260).

Bill Bennett is a freelance technology writer based in Sydney. He has successfully edited a number of popular bookstand magazines and written a best-selling computer book. Recently Bill was the editor of PC Magazine Australia and the Australian Net Guide. Bill’s interest in IT employment issues stems from an experience which saw him recruited by an IT company and made redundant, all before graduation.

Bruce Phillips is a consultant in training and human resource management. Based in Melbourne, he operates throughout Australia and the Pacific region. His practice has been established for over 10 years, providing services and systems in competency based training, project management and cultural change.

Belinda Richardson is the principal of Richardson Consulting Group. As a project manager for Melbourne area consultative committee Jobs East, she recently managed a state-wide conference for 150 senior human resource manangers, which examined the impacts of our ageing population on future recruitment and employment practices. She has five years experience in human resources in the education and manufacturing sectors. She can be reached by email at Jobs East or on 0413 826 593.

Bernadette Schwerdt is a trainer and journalist, who has worked in TV and print media. She also leads seminars on resume preparation and job search skills. She is based in Melbourne.

Crusader Hillis is a writer, editor and events coordinator of 10 years experience. He has edited two books on dance practice and history for Ausdance, was the Publications Editor for Melbourne Festival for several years and has written feature articles for publications around the world, most recently for The Age newspaper. He is based in Melbourne.

Christine Khor is the founder of Market Partners, a sales and marketing recruitment agency established in 2001. After many years in senior marketing within multi-national organizations such as Kraft, Simplot and Hallmark cards, she saw a clear opportunity for people who were expert sales and marketing people to recruit for sales and marketing roles. Most recently Christine was recognized by the Women Chiefs of Enterprise as the 2004 Small Business Owner of the Year.

Christine Nagel is a freelance journalist and editor specialising in lifestyle, SOHO issues and informational publications. She writes for a wide variety of trade publications, government agencies, consumer magazines and corporate publications and is also a literary agent and manuscript assessor.

Christopher Paterson is a consultant psychologist with Innovative People Solutions (IPS). IPS is a leading Australian supplier of assessment and counselling services to major corporations. It has specialist experience in assisting some of Australia's leading organisations with their graduate assessment programmes.

David Cohen is an experienced freelance journalist working in both news reporting and feature writing on a variety of subjects. He writes for major metropolitan newspapers around Australia. His special interests are books and publishing, education and the real estate industry. He is based in Perth.

Glenda Beecher is a solicitor at Herbert Geer & Rundle. Glenda advises clients on a range of employment-related matters including anti-discrimination law, wrongful and unfair dismissal, employment contracts and staff policies and procedures. In addition, Glenda provides tailored training seminars for clients on areas such as anti-discrimination and sexual harassment.

Gail Dollimore is an experienced career and business coach,who has been providing people with the tools to transform their lives for over 10 years. She has a business background in marketing, enterprise development, training, recruitment and course design in diverse industries in Australia and abroad. Gail established her own consultancy, whatworks, in 1989.

Gail lectures and teaches programmes in career development, small business development and personal development for universities,local and federal government, private organisations and the general public. Contact Gail by email to find out more about Whatworks career and business coaching services.

Jacqui Tomlins was a teacher in London before settling in Melbourne. She joined La Trobe University's Equity and Access Unit, where her responsibilities including delivering training to university staff on a broad range of recruitment and selection issues.

Having completed a Graduate Diploma in Professional Writing, Jacqui now works full-time as a freelance writer and has been published in a range of media, including in The Age, the West Australian and Pacific Way. She is currently working on her first book, a travel narrative based on a recent trip to East and Southern Africa.

Kenneth Gaffey has a human resources and staffing career of over 15 years. This column was written for the Electronic Recruiting Daily, a daily US-based column about the recruiting industry, written by leaders in the field. The column is published via email by the Electronic Recruiting Exchange, which provides services and resources for recruiters. You can subscribe or read archived columns at the ERE website.

Karen Gair is a freelance journalist and public relations consultant specialising in industrial relations and health reporting. She writes for a wide variety of trade publications, newspapers and corporate websites and is also a media adviser for business clients.

Kate Juniper answers your '@ Work' questions about your day to day interactions at work - things like getting a promotion, handling your boss or just surviving your work life. Kate's a registered psychologist with Allworth Juniper and has over eight years consulting experience.

Lorrin Maughan is the recruitment and HR manager at Microsoft. She has national recruiting responsibility across all positions from sales and marketing to consulting and support. Lorrin sees hundreds of resumes every week. Microsoft has an extremely rigorous interview process that looks beyond the traditional interview focus on experience to the candidate's core competencies. Before joining Microsoft, Lorrin worked in the recruitment industry, specialising in the financial services and IT sectors.

Lorrin believes that many candidates never get to interview because they don't know how to present themselves effectively via resume or portfolio. She also sees otherwise good candidates sometimes passed over because they didn't understand how to work most effectively within a behavioural type interview setting, or simply because they didn't read their customer (the interviewer) well. She can offer insight into what stands out for a recruiter, hiring manager or recruitment consultant.

Linda McGregor is one of Australia's best known mentoring facilitators, and a regular public speaker on the subject. Linda's company, Dolphin Dynamics, develops mentoring schemes in many of Australia's leading corporations.

Lindy Stirling is a happy modular worker with her main interests in the areas of education. She has published several books and educational works and currently enjoys massage, bicycle instruction, desktop publishing and educational administration as ways to pay for golf, holidays and other hobbies. She lives and works in Melbourne.

Mark Gallagher is a consultant psychologist with Innovative People Solutions (IPS). IPS is a leading Australian supplier of assessment and counselling services to major corporations. They have specialist experience in assisting organisation through mergers and acquisitions processes.

Mike Hoare is a director of IT Global (Melbourne) Pty Ltd. IT Global provides national and international personal business management to contractors in the marketplace, creating a global business network for IT contractors.

Martin Jorgensen has a strong interest in the job market, significant experience in online recruitment and manages SEEK Advertiser and Career Resources. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and little girl Frederique.

Marcus Letcher is a consultant and author of Making Your Future Work. He has a modular work pattern. He is based in Melbourne.

Peter Folino is an employee relations consultant specialising in industrial relations and human resources management. He has worked with the State Department of Business and Employment, the Australian Chamber of Manufacturers and the Federal Department of Industrial Relations. In the latter role, Peter assisted over 50 organisations in the planning, implementation and certification of their federal employment agreements. He currently lives in Melbourne.

Philip Garside answers your job-seeking and interview questions. Philip is a trainer and consultant who works for some of Australia's largest corporations in areas such as preventing discrimination and harassment in the workplace, negotiation skills, conflict resolution, mediation and managing diversity.

Robert Gerrish is the solopreneur behind Flying Solo - a resource for those going it alone in business. Sample many more practical tips, along with other useful resources by visiting www.flyingsolo.com.au.

Rachel Rose is a journalist and PR practitioner, she has written for management magazines and trade publications and managed diverse client publications. She has a particular interest in emerging technologies and their impact on managers' roles and business environments.

Samantha McDonald is a personal, career and business coach, and owner of Dare Coaching & Seminars (www.darecoaching.com.au). She answers your questions on work/life balance, climbing that corporate ladder, and setting up your own business.

Sue Simons joined Drake International in 1992. Her contribution to Drake saw the rapid growth of Drake Jobseek, the division of Drake International, specialising in providing employment services to the unemployed through government contracts. Sue has also been instrumental in representing Jobseek with government, the media and as guest speaker at many functions.

Sue has directly and indirectly contributed to the placement of thousands of people into employment and is of the firm belief that there is a "right" job out there for everyone.

Simone Szalmuk-Singer is a senior associate at Melbourne law firm Herbert Geer & Rundle. Simone advises clients on a range of employment-related matters including anti-discrimination law, wrongful and unfair dismissal, employment contracts and staff policies and procedures.

Tom Hannemann does regular resume makeovers for SEEK users. As principal of Advance Yourself Career Services, Tom has been helping people sell themselves to prospective employers since 1993. His experience as a human resources specialist and management consultant puts him in a unique position to know how to build a resume that wins interviews.

Urszula Dawkins is a freelance writer, reviewer, editor and project manager for both print media and the Web. She is Event Programs Editor for Melbourne Festival, and has worked for many other organisations in the arts, government, higher education and corporate sectors. Her fiction writing has been published in a number of anthologies in Australia and overseas.