Jan Lowe, Managing Director, Aston Mannam

Aston Manam's specialist defence and aerospace recruiter Jan Lowe is the type of person who can make you feel positively lazy. Melbourne-based Jan is on the go for what seems like 28 hours out of every 24. She did however stop for breath and a chat with ADM managing editor Judy Hinz in Brisbane recently about the specialised nature of her recruitment tasks for many of Australia's leading defence industry companies and her views on the state of the local industry. Jan has been specialising in recruitment in the defence and aerospace sector for more than a decade.
ADM: How did you come to specialise in recruitment in the defence and aerospace sector?

Jan Lowe: A number of years ago a client of mine was having difficulty in getting the right service - there was no one specialising in the defence or engineering area. I had done recruitment previously in defence. It's an area of recruitment that needs someone who understands the industry, so I worked very closely with my clients and learnt about their needs. I also listened to people coming out of the defence forces wanting opportunities.

ADM: Over the decade or more that you've working in recruiting for the defence industry, what changes have you seen?

Jan Lowe: It's much more challenging career-wise now for people coming out of the defence forces.

ADM: Would you say there's no comfort zone now?

Jan Lowe: There are fantastic opportunities to work for the major contractors but there's no comfort zone. If a person wants to sharpen their skills and move forward in their career, it's brilliant. They're also going to face the added challenge of working in the commercial sector for the first time.

ADM: You're talking about people moving out of defence, particularly uniform people, and moving into defence industry companies. When people are seeking to make that cross-over, do you find generally that their qualifications are sufficient?

Jan Lowe: Yes, they are. They are very, very qualified across many areas. Obviously in the area of management skills, they get training comparable with the private sector.

ADM: If defence applicants perceive that they are really well qualified, do they then have unreasonable expectations of what they can achieve in terms of salary and conditions?

Jan Lowe: Some people do. It can happen now and then and I think my job is to talk to them and say 'be realistic'. I've had some people come out of 20-25 years in the military, they've taken a retirement package and then automatically expect an executive level salary. Those opportunities may not always be there. So they need to be realistic and start off at a lower level and move up because sometimes people say, 'well, you haven't had the outside exposure so you can't be that good'. I encourage people to take on a more junior role than they expect they should be in and prove how good they are and then move into the higher managerial roles.

ADM: So is it sometimes hard to convince your defence candidates of this?

Jan Lowe: Obviously sometimes you get a situation where the market doesn't perceive a candidate at the level they're requesting. Sometimes expectations are not so much related to salary but to benefits. And I say to them, that when you leave you've got to understand that those things are taken away. In senior management or project management or an active role, there are very good salaries. Most companies will look after those people. But there's always the first six months as a proving period. I undertake regular market surveys on salaries and skill levels across Australia to help me understand what the market is paying.

ADM: We've seen in some defence industry companies people being taken on clearly for the value of their contacts made during their defence career. Is this as valuable as companies perceive it to be?

Jan Lowe: If companies do this, they are only thinking short term. They should instead focus on future opportunities and what the person's skill sets will bring to the company in the long term.

ADM: If you're advising someone coming out of defence, do you alert them to difficulties they may have adjusting to the civilian workplace?
Jan Lowe: It depends how long they have been in the military. It's important they give themselves time to adjust and realise they're on a new learning curve. In some cases, they won't find the team environment they've been used to. They have to give themselves time to get into the thinking of a private sector company and the different pressures and accountability of their roles.

ADM: If, for example, they haven't applied for a job for 10 years or more, do you have to school potential candidates in interview techniques and restructure their CV?

Jan Lowe: Most people coming out of the military are very well skilled on interview technique. Because I recruit in the defence sector, I prefer a CV that hasn't been 'de-militarised'. They prepared by the individuals themselves, in their own words. Yes, take guidance from an outside person but they should do it themselves. When I interview potential candidates, I usually take people through the skills we're looking for and ask them, in return, what they're looking for and what they're goals are. Flowing from this, the candidate prepares a synopsis about where they want to be and what they want to do. This helps me to find the best fit for the candidate and the company.

ADM: Is there a shortfall in expertise? Have you found it difficult in some instances to find an Australian applicant for defence industry jobs?

Jan Lowe: We have a shortfall of very talented project leaders and young engineers. This has been a major problem for many years in Australia. I carry out international searches for ex-patriots to come back. However, there are still significant shortfalls in specific areas such as systems engineers, software engineers, communications engineers, satellite engineers and structural/fatigue engineers.

ADM: The reason you want an Australian, I assume, is the security aspect?

Jan Lowe: Yes.

ADM: What about the probity issues of a defence person moving from a project directly into a contractor's team? Are there particular requirements?

Jan Lowe: It's not a good scenario but it can be good for the candidate - it's an easier transition. Speaking of transition, it's acknowledged that long term career employees have difficulty moving into a new career stream. They sometimes have two to three different jobs very quickly because they're getting used to a new work environment.

ADM: We've seen a current slowdown in the defence industry, because of a delay in decision making on projects. What's your perception of the impact on employment in the defence industry? And is it difficult for companies to hold on to skilled people while they're waiting for decisions?

Jan Lowe: It's had major impact on opportunities for sourcing the talent required for specific projects. Prime contractors find that by the time the project is ready to start, the hunt for the people to staff the project has to start again because, in the meantime, people targeted for jobs have taken other opportunities. Inevitably the same person is regularly sought by a number of companies. The winner is the company with the project ready to roll. This can lead to compromises in certain circumstances.

ADM: But then if a company brings a team together and then they find out from defence that contract signature been moved down the track six months, it must make it quite difficult to keep the team together.

Jan Lowe: It's very difficult and there's no easy way around it but a company needs to show some sort of commitment. I'm talking to candidates all the time and there's major frustration and so, inevitably, they go overseas and our national skills base suffers.

ADM: What about the length of time that ex-military candidates spend in their first civvy jobs? It's often short isn't it? Does it have implications for the way you get to know the candidate and what they really want?

Jan Lowe: They've come from a comfort zone and perhaps haven't done the necessary research about the first job they take on. It can even be that the job and/or the company has been misrepresented. To overcome this, all my interviews are fairly informal. If you have a formal interview with someone they're going to tell you what they think you want to hear. I find it's important to know what the candidate really wants and then to match that. On the other hand, I think it's important that the company nurtures and mentors the new employee. If a company has spent a lot of money recruiting that individual, they must mentor that candidate.

ADM: Do you get very involved in that post-appointment period?

Jan Lowe: Yes. Some large companies would rather that you just find the person for them and then walk away. But I like to continue to be involved so then you can actually see something happening and alert the client. I believe an external, independent view can be valuable so I keep in touch with most people I place.

ADM: And, finally, what changes to do you see occurring in employment opportunities in the defence industry in Australia in the short term?

Jan Lowe: I think it's going to be interesting with ongoing opportunities as new projects are awarded. But it will be very competitive. I believe the next five-ten years are going to be a very challenging period. What we really need is to have the commitment by the Government to the projects. And that those projects go ahead in the nominated timeframe. In the current environment, industry is looking for growth and stability, which means it's a major attraction to help bring ex-patriots back to Australia. This would reverse the brain drain we've seen over the past decade.