‘This is a doozy’: Recruiter fires up at detail in government job ad

A former government recruiter has fired up over a detail in a job ad posted by a Sydney council, claiming it points to a much wider issue.

A Sydney council has been criticised over a detail in a recent job ad that a former government recruiter claims points to a broader issue within the Australian public sector.

The advertisement from the City of Ryde for a customer service officer recently caught the attention of Tammie Christofis Ballis.

Ms Ballis is a specialist recruiter and career coach at Realistic Careers, however, she used to work as a recruiter in the government sector.

Because of her background, a particular detail in this job ad caught her eye, and she was quick to call it out online.

“I have got a doozy of a job ad and you government workers keep proving me right,” she said in a recent TikTok video.

The ad was for a full time customer service role with the City of Ryde, offering an annual salary of $67,737 to $85,910, dependent on experience and qualifications.

Ms Ballis described the role as a “typical customer service corporate job”.

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She then pointed to a line in the ad that noted the successful candidate would need to have “previous experience working in local or state government or have an understanding of the services provided by local Councils”.

“What they are saying is, we only hire our own. They should have just said ‘must have previous government experience’,” the recruiter said.

“I know why you want your own, you don’t want someone from the private sector with all of their new ideas to come in and change things.

“You wouldn’t want someone with a good work ethic to make you all look bad, isn’t that right?”

In a statement to news.com.au, the City of Ryde said its recruit process is “merit based”, with the process focused on assessing candidates based on their skills, experience, and qualifications.

“If any of our job advertisements gave the impression that local government experience is a prerequisite, this was not our intention,” a spokesperson said.

“We actively encourage applications from individuals with transferable skills, a strong work ethic, and a commitment to our community’s values.

“We recognise that relevant knowledge of a sector or industry is commonly regarded by most employers as an advantage or highly desirable. However, it is not a requirement for working with us, and we remain committed to attracting and welcoming talent from diverse professional backgrounds.”

The spokesperson said the council had taken the feedback received via social media on board and will continue to refine its approach to attracting talent.

“It is incorrect to suggest that the City of Ryde exclusively hires from within. In fact, of the last 30 roles filled in our Customer Service team, only two employees had prior local or state government experience,” the spokesperson continued.

“The majority of successful candidates came from the retail sector and other private sector industries. In addition, Council has been using the services of professional recruitment agents to help us find suitable skilled staff to fill roles, many of these staff have come from other professional industries.”

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Tammie Christofis Ballis hit out at what she says is a common theme in government job ads. Picture: Realistic careers

She said there is a mentality of “it’s just how things are done here”, noting there is a stark difference between the way things operate in the public sector compared to the private sector.

The recruiter said that, in the private sector, “everything is a business”.

“You’ve got to make money, you’ve got to make sales or support the sales team, whatever it is,” she said.

“They don’t have that in government. Yeah, they have got to keep to their budgets, but there is no urgency.”

Ms Ballis said that when she was recruiting in the public sector there was a point where she was told to “slow down” with her work so as not to make the other employees “look bad”.

“It is people that have been there for 20 or 30 years that don’t like newcomers coming in, because this is the way we’ve always done it, and this is the way we’ll keep continuing to do it,” she said.

Ms Ballis’ video quickly gained dozens of comments, with people from both the government and private sectors weighing in on her claims.

Multiple people claiming to work in the public sector were quick to defend the wording of the ad and why it is better if an applicant has prior government experience.

“Private sector doesn’t understand how we work. We do hire you sometimes - but govt hires govt for good reason. Need people that understand the system and the constraints of the system. We have to work to our constraints,” one person said.

The video sparked a heated debate. Picture: iStock

“Coming from someone who works in local government, I can see why they’ve put this. Sometimes it’s easier to train someone who already has the experience,” another said.

However, Ms Ballis hit back at claims that hiring someone with experience in the sector makes it easier as they already know the systems.

“If they have the basic skills, can work on the computer, can talk on the phone, you can teach them these systems. It’s not hard,” she told news.com.au.

Other commenters said they have experienced the culture within the government sector referenced by Ms Ballis in her video

One person said this type of wording is common across the government jobs they have been looking at.

“Makes it not worth even sending in the application if I’m not going to be considered,” they said.

Another person who claimed to have previously worked in a government role said their workload was “so low” that she finished a week’s worth of tasks in one day.

“I was then told to work slower because you’re making us look bad,” they said.

However, there were some people claiming they had landed government roles with no prior experience.

“I was the exception to the rule, no experience in Gov but just started my first Gov role last week! So far I’m absolutely loving it,” one person wrote.