At Magnetic, we intentionally recruit for two purposes – for today’s needs and tomorrow’s opportunities.

In a world where industries are shifting rapidly, and adopted technologies are reshaping the way we work, the old way of hiring – based solely on skills and experience just isn’t enough.

That’s why we’ve developed our Future-Ready Talent Strategy: a recruitment approach designed to help businesses future-proof their teams, and candidates realise their full potential.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

1. We always look beyond the CV

Talent isn’t always obvious on paper.  Too many times have we seen great candidates that we’ve uncovered, be written off by others on first glance.  Traditional recruitment practices often reward familiarity, whether it be favouring certain schools, companies, or job titles.  Many of these things unintentionally exclude brilliant candidates who don’t fit the “usual” mould.

As a result, we’ve worked hard to embed ethical, bias-aware recruitment practices into every step of our Future-Ready Talent Strategy.  We train our team to consciously identify, and counter, common biases that creep into hiring decisions, including:

• Affinity bias (preferring people who look, sound, or think like us)

• Name or background bias (where unfamiliar names or overseas experience may be unfairly discounted)

• Recency bias (focusing only on the most recent role, ignoring long-term growth potential)

We go much further than CV and keyword matching; we evaluate each candidate holistically, focusing on:

• their adaptability and learning agility

• their personal values and alignment with the client’s vision and culture

• their interest in growth, and desires for their future contribution

We use structured interviews and evidence-based assessment frameworks that help us remove subjective shortcuts and ensure every candidate is given a fair, consistent opportunity.

Additionally, we purposefully seek out talent from underrepresented backgrounds – for example, migrants, career changers, returners to the workforce – who may bring fresh perspectives and untapped potential.

This approach ensures we can open up true potential..  Diverse, future-ready teams are proven to outperform those built on “safe” or familiar hiring patterns.

2. We ask our clients to think ahead

Acting as strategic workforce advisors, we aim to partner with clients to look beyond their immediate needs and toward the future of their industry. Our conversations with clients aren’t just about who they need right now – we ask deeper questions:

• Where is your industry heading in the next 3–5 years?

• What emerging technologies or regulations could reshape your business?

• Which roles will become mission-critical as your company evolves?

We constantly monitor shifts in key sectors—such as automation, deep tech, infrastructure, and sustainability—and proactively bring these insights to our clients.

In practice, this means we:

• Provide market intelligence on future in-demand roles

• Identify skills adjacencies – where candidates can grow into future needs

• Advise on succession planning and building talent pipelines for evolving positions

This consultative approach empowers our clients to stay ahead of change, reducing costly hiring gaps, and strengthening their long-term workforce strategy. We want to empower New Zealand’s leading industries by helping them know what is around the corner, and prepare for the adaptation that may be required.

3. We support continuous growth

Recruitment doesn’t stop at the point of placement. Focusing on helping businesses and professionals grow together is where the secret sauce is.

We actively identify candidates who demonstrate curiosity, adaptability, and future-focused thinking – traits that will become increasingly essential as industries evolve and continue to embrace future technologies. But we don’t stop there.

We see a future where recruitment and professional development are deeply intertwined, and we’re laying the groundwork for it now. We’re developing partnerships with upskilling providers and future-focused education platforms to ensure that the professionals we place have access to ongoing learning opportunities. We aim to include emerging areas such as automation and robotics, advanced manufacturing processes, digital project management, leadership for hybrid workplaces, sustainable business practices, as initial examples.

By embedding these connections into our recruitment process, we help businesses close future skills gaps before they appear, retain employees who feel invested in and supported, and build agile, future-ready teams that thrive through change.

We also aim to provide proactive advice to clients about emerging skills their industry will likely need in the next 2-5 years, allowing them to plan ahead with confidence.

4. We Prioritise Values Alignment

Yes, technical and professional skills matter but we believe personal values matter just as much. The best recruitment outcomes happen when there’s a deep match between a candidate’s personal values and a company’s culture, purpose, and future vision.

Every candidate we recommend has been carefully assessed for both technical fit and cultural and strategic alignment with our clients’ future direction and strategy, and it is embedded into our search methodology.

We work closely with our clients to truly understand what drives their business – whether it’s innovation, sustainability, collaboration, or resilience – and we use that insight to guide candidate selection. Our recruitment process goes beyond qualifications and experience to explore:

• What motivates this candidate?

• How do they approach change and challenge?

• Will their mindset help our client thrive in a fast-evolving market?

We’re not seeking some vague “culture fit”. We want to identify people who will actively contribute to shaping a company’s future, while feeling a genuine sense of belonging within the organisation.

We openly discuss values during the recruitment process with both candidates and clients ensuring there are no surprises later. This helps to foster long-term success by ensuring expectations, working styles, and aspirations are aligned from the start. This results in stronger engagement, higher retention, and teams that typically perform better together.

We see it as recruitment with genuine intention.

The Bottom Line:  The future doesn’t wait. Companies that prioritise future-ready talent now will lead tomorrow.

Recruitment should do more than fill a vacancy. It should strengthen your business for what’s ahead.

Our Future-Ready Talent Strategy is designed to help businesses build teams that grow with you, adapt to change, and drive long-term success, and enable candidates to identify career changing opportunities that leverage their past, present and future.

If you’re ready to shift from reactive hiring to strategic talent planning, we’re here to help.