The inside story: How to get a job in community support and outdoor adventure

Ever wondered what hiring managers are looking for when they recruit for Australia’s most sought-after ethical organisations?

In this series, we interview the people who hire at the organisations where you want to work — and we’ll give you the inside knowledge you need to make your next job application amazing. 

This month we speak to Jennifer Petralia, Recruitment Partner, People & Culture at Fresh Hope Communities, an organisation that is providing conference and outdoor adventure experiences for school and community groups as well as quality support and lifestyle choices across retirement, residential and respite settings.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for chatting with us! To kick us off, can you tell us a bit about what Fresh Hope Communities does?

Fresh Hope Communities exists to create spaces that cultivate belonging.

Fresh Hope Communities was founded by the churches of Christ in NSW and ACT. For almost 90 years, we have been providing quality support and lifestyle choices across retirement, residential and respite settings, as well as conference and outdoor adventure experiences for school and community groups.

What are some of the things that might attract candidates to apply to Fresh Hope Communities?

The organisation aims to create a positive employee experience that focuses on the individuals wellbeing and cultivates the values of kindness, connection, optimism and integrity. 

We understand that employees need to feel valued and acknowledged and we offer support and the following benefits.

As a Public Benevolent Institution (PBI) we are able to provide salary packaging, which is a tax-free component of an employees remuneration up to the value of $15,900 per annum. In addition, a tax-free component of $2,650 per annum for personal meals and entertainment expenditures.

There are many learning & development opportunities, as well as staff engagement activities & well-being focus initiatives.

If an employee is having challenges in their personal life or issues at work, they can utilise our Employee Assistance program for support.

Fresh Hope Communities offers generous leave entitlements with paid maternity leave, community service leave, natural disaster leave, family violence leave and even birthday leave to free up employees to celebrate with friends and family

Finally, our organisation partners with other business to offer personal discounts across airfares, white goods, and pest control.

So walk us through the recruitment process at Fresh Hope Communities

We’re about to launch a new employee user system that allows applicants to easily view and apply for roles online. We understand applicants are busy and have made the process seamless.

If we’re interested in an applicant, we like to find out more about them and their expectations for a role by conducting a phone screen. If they appear suitable, we continue with an interview (in person and online).

The next step for a successful applicant is to send them a Care Advantage or Gallup Clifton Strengths online talent assessment. The results reveal a person’s fit for a role and how their natural talents can be utilised to succeed in the role. Reference checks are also completed at this stage, using our online Referoo system.

The final step is the most exciting, as we have the opportunity to welcome someone else to our team and watch them take the first step to a fulfilling career.

What are the top things you look for when assessing a candidate application?

It depends on the role but the key elements for me are education, experience and personality. Some roles, like clinical roles, require the applicant to have formal qualifications such as a Higher Education degree or a TAFE certification.

Then I look at a candidate’s suitability for a role based on their work experience. Lastly, I try to ascertain a bit about the candidates personality, which can be garnered from the style and presentation of information on the resume. Often people use a particular style on their resume, which may indicate they are creative or the way they format the resume can show that they have good attention to detail and excellent writing skills.

What’s the most common mistake you see candidates make in their applications?

Candidates forget to include contact details or list their suburb and this is key information that we require as recruiters. They don’t need to add their full address, but it helps to see which suburb or state they are located in. The reason being that I’ve noticed employees prefer to live close to their workplace as it creates better work life balance and improves their job performance because they are not stressed from being stuck in traffic for too long.

And if they make it to interview, who is a candidate most likely to meet on an interview panel at Fresh Hope Communities?

The candidate will usually meet with two people from our organisation. One being the manager of the team and either a team member from that department and/or someone from the People & Culture team (particularly for senior roles). We try to ensure fairness in our recruitment process by convening two staff members on an interview panel, as it is best to have two people consult on the suitability of a candidate for a role.

What advice would you give candidates to improve their interview skills?

We understand being interviewed for a role can be intimidating but try to be honest and present your best self. This is your opportunity to make a good impression and show the interviewer why you are the ideal candidate for the job. 

With your responses, be concise and don’t and provide examples but don’t go into unnecessary detail. Be aware of the time constraint and the fact that the interviewer may have a few questions for you.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to work at Fresh Hope Communities but perhaps doesn’t have the right qualifications or experience?

If someone is interested in working for us but doesn’t have the required qualifications or experience, we can guide them on where to obtain a certification and even offer work placements and internship opportunities.

Thanks Jennifer!