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We’ve turned 4!

What a year it’s been down at Onset HQ in Surry Hills, Sydney. Thank you to all of our clients and candidates, local supports, and brilliant team who have contributed to the business this year and cheers to many more!

The Onset – the technology recruiter of choice for Sydney’s startups and high growth businesses
Onset 4th Birthday Press Release

2019 marked Onset’s 4th year in operation and its most successful year to date.
FY19 has been highlighted by an outstanding new office space, significant senior consultant hires and affirming the agency’s position as the leading specialised technology recruitment agency in the country. With annual revenue of over $10M AUD, even in the saturated recruitment market, Onset’s directors have proven there was space for a business that values a commitment to customer service and excellence. 

Since inception Onset has placed over 800 technology candidates into the Australian market with over 100 clients. Onset’s customer-led model has ensured rapid and robust growth for the company with strong loyalty and referrals. Clients trust Onset’s outcome focussed approach and their ability to secure them talent when they critically need it.

Over the last 12 months, Onset has grown from 18 to 25 full-time employees. Through unique branding and a culture of accountability and ownership, Onset has been successful in attracting experienced and specialisation driven consultants to its philosophy. Aaron Williams, Managing Director commented “Our team is now one of the most experienced and deeply capable collectives of specialist technology recruiters in the region. We are a team committed to excellence in everything we put our hands to. Our culture of autonomy, trust and empowerment, coupled with a significant investment in ongoing training, and individual coaching, has enabled us to attract and secure high-impact recruiters from across the globe.”

Onset has established itself as the agency of choice for organisations who have technology at the epicentre of their growth. Sean McCartan, Commercial Director adds “our deep level of vertical specialisation and importantly our understanding of how these specialisations work together allows us to build teams and businesses. With such a strong team under one roof, we are relied upon to deliver permanent, contract and project resources across a range of high demand technical verticals such as Software, Embedded and Platform Engineering, Product & Design, Information Security, Infrastructure & DevOps, Data & Analytics, Sales & Project Services.

It’s made building trust with our customers a strength, as we are proven and increasingly are working with brands exclusively, and often being retained across some of the toughest recruitment sectors in today’s market”

Growth in people has led Onset to expand to a new flexible office space fitted out by the renowned Architect and Design team Shed Design and Space Control, in the heart of the startup community in Surry Hills. The new space extends on the brand promise, offering a creative and collaborative environment. Clients and candidates are frequently welcomed to work onsite with the space being designed with meetups and community events in mind.

In 4 short years, Onset has become the go-to for specialist technology requirements from startup through to enterprise with significant tenders won in the FMCG, Enterprise and Consulting spaces. This was largely due to the success of the specialisation model.

Onset has seen significant growth within it’s Executive practice, specifically within engineering and product in Sydney’s startup ecosystem. Contract recruitment has remained a key growth area for the business with the engagement of 3 senior Contract specialists alongside dual desk recruiters. Ronny Haughton, Co-Founder, observed “Our investment into contracting services has led to significant growth in our contract numbers and our specialist team have augmented Onset’s ability to deliver on larger scale project agreements. I expect our contract business to double over FY 19/20 based on our current run rate.” 

This year, after an extensive global product review, Onset has invested in a new recruitment technology platform, Vincere. Russell Gallagher, Co-Founder commented that “selection of the Vincere platform was made due its demonstrable strength in enabling the business to scale current performance, its sophisticated analytics, and aggressive product development roadmap.” 

2019 also sees the establishment of Onset’s advisory board including industry veterans, Jane Beaumont, and Phaedon Stough, with a view to providing further leadership depth and commercial rigour. 

As Onset has grown our focus on supporting the startup community has increased. Amy Skinner, Brand and Community Manager commented that “…we’re proud to now support Incubate of the University of Sydney, where a range of team members and leaders provide training and advice as part of the programs regular curriculum. This grassroots contribution to the next generation of tech startups is a great way to give back!”

Future growth of Onset is being considered via expansion into other local geographies, most likely being a Melbourne office in 2020 and continued consideration of a US footprint, with company Directors Williams and McCartan again heading to the USA in early 2020 to continue partnership exploration with a number of Joint Venture contacts.