Why are good Maintenance Managers still so difficult to hire in NSW? Maintenance Manager recruitment in NSW remains challenging. The broader hiring market may be getting softer, but Maintenance & Reliability leadership remains a very different story. One of the clearest themes from the current Engineering & Operations market is that Maintenance Manager recruitment remains challenging, with businesses still competing heavily for experienced Maintenance Managers and Reliability leaders. And I think part of the challenge comes down to what businesses are actually looking for. The [ Read More ]

Marketing Recruitment: What Makes a Good Marketer Move?In marketing recruitment, ask someone what would make them consider a new role and the first answers are usually predictable: salary, progression, flexibility and title.All matter. But from the conversations I'm having across the Marketing market, they're rarely considered in isolation.More often, candidates are asking: is this genuinely a better move for me?Reputation carries weightA strong brand can get attention, but company reputation and word of mouth can outweigh almost everything else.Candidates talk. They hear which businesses develop people, which [ Read More ]

Marketing Recruitment is where Hannah Bulmer has built her career, with 10 years of recruitment experience across the UK and Australia.. Next month marks the end of my tenth year in recruitment, which feels like quite a milestone. Back in 2016, I somewhat stumbled into the profession under the pretence that I could talk to people all day, be professionally nosey and somehow get paid for it. It sounded like the perfect fit. What’s kept me here is the thousands of people I’ve met and [ Read More ]

AI Fluency: What Boards Now Expect From C-Suite Leaders What boards are screening for in 2026 and how senior leaders can close the gap. THE SHIFT IS NO LONGER THEORETICAL AI has moved from an IT agenda item to the centre of executive accountability. Two-thirds of CEOs now name AI a top-three strategic priority, and 72% see themselves, not their CTO, as the primary decision-maker on it. Half say their own job stability now hinges on getting AI integration right this year. The demand signal from [ Read More ]

Before You Brief: What to Consider When Hiring for a Senior Role A few things worth pausing on before the brief goes out A senior vacancy usually gets treated as a task to close out: write the brief, run the search, make an offer. Before any of that starts, it's worth thinking through a few things — not because the process is wrong, but because what you decide here shapes who you end up hiring. What's actually driving this vacancy? Is this a straightforward backfill, or [ Read More ]

  Recruitment Scams in Australia: What Senior Professionals Should Look Out For Category: Career Advice | Audience: Job Seekers Recruitment scams and fake job offers are becoming an increasing concern for jobseekers across Australia. Scammers may impersonate recruitment consultants, recruitment agencies or hiring managers and contact candidates by email with fake job opportunities. In some cases, scammers may also direct candidates to other services, such as resume consultants, in an attempt to obtain money or personal information. At Blackbook Executive, we are aware of a growing [ Read More ]

The State of the Executive Market in 2026: What Leaders and Employers Need to Know Category: Career Advice | Audience: Senior Leaders & Executives The executive recruitment and hiring market in Melbourne and Sydney has changed shape over the past twelve months. It isn't frozen, but it is more selective, more deliberate, and more shaped by economic caution than it was even two years ago. For candidates weighing their next move, and for organisations planning their next senior hire, understanding these shifts is the difference between [ Read More ]

Executive Recruitment Australia: How to Land a Senior Leadership Role Category: Career Advice | Audience: Senior Leaders & Executives  Navigating executive recruitment in Australia is competitive, nuanced, and relationship-driven. Whether you're a C-suite leader eyeing your next move or a senior manager stepping into your first executive role, the path to landing the right opportunity rarely follows a straight line and that's true whether you're based in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, or anywhere in between. At Blackbook Executive, we work with senior leaders across engineering, operations, [ Read More ]