Talent Pitch is an AdNews initiative to help industry professionals, during COVID-19, to display their skills and experience. Contact AdNews at adnews@yaffa.com.au if you would like to be included.
Dexter Salamat is a talent and HR lead:
What’s your best skill to show off?
This is similar to the interview question “What are your strengths?”, which I try to avoid asking as candidates will typically tell you exactly what you want to hear. In my experience, as an experienced Talent Recruiter, I would rather ask “What has been your greatest achievement?”…Mine? I believe that’s been helping others get their start in this interactive, creative, high-energy, dynamic industry of ours. I’ve had the great privilege of giving fantastic talent their start in media and finding those people who are the right fit brings me a lot of pride. It’s really important to me that our community champions diversity and opportunity for all, I feel very privileged being in Talent Space where I can be at the forefront of this.
What do you like most about your work?
Being part of the "support crew" and making a difference is a genuinely fulfilling way to spend my 9 to 5 (or 8 till late!). Having spent several years of my career on the sales side of media, where the incentives like the humble commission, which looked good in the bank, I knew I needed more. With my greatest achievements in the industry related to giving someone else their start of a new adventure, it’s hard not to enjoy what I do. It’s even better when bread meets butter or peanut butter meets jelly/jam (PBJ controversial, I know) but in this case, it’s providing an opportunity to a candidate. No job is without challenges and there will always be difficult days but I pride myself on the attitude I bring to those around me, even during the harder times.
Examples of campaigns/work
Shifting into the Talent/HR space has given me a unique perspective in understanding various roles and responsibilities. A large part of recruitment is hunting out an up-and-coming young gun, finding that unique specialist and my all-time favourite, The Unicorn. Having worked on many internal initiatives, such as upskilling the modern media buyer to a hybrid role, organising agency-wide training, buddy and mentor programs to revamping the end-to-end onboarding process with inductions – the talent space has it all and I am proud to say that I have thrown myself into getting involved in all facets.
It can be easy to forget the huge teams we have across media that keep our industry going. Working from a satellite and collaborating with senior leadership on business matters can be a large task. Accountability, responsibility, trust – all whilst steering the ship, this isn’t always easy. Especially now, as we face a really challenging time, you have to give a shout out and hats off to all leadership teams. These leaders are making the difficult yet necessary decisions to move us forward towards recovery.
Something about yourself that few know
To be honest, it’s probably a bit of an open secret, but let’s get the cat out of the bag! I love my food. Dining out with friends, learning to cook something new, experiencing different cuisines and desserts… I’m very passionate about food! Luckily, I’ve been able to indulge this passion without my PT ever noticing a significant difference. My interest in food is married nicely with my appreciation for travel, which is hopefully something we can all get back to safely. I have a keen interest in property, but the most surprising thing about me is that I’m also an ex-hoon, but that’s a story for another time.
What did the pandemic do for you?
**Scratch tape, rewind** A week before lockdown, I was well on my way to securing a new adventure having unfortunately finished up with a role I loved. Then…cue COVID. It’s been painful to see how our industry has been directly impacted, with the amount of uncertainties a hard reality to swallow. All in all, I’m hoping for a speedy recovery for the whole industry as we adjust to the new norm. Though this has been really challenging, I’m often reminded of a saying a much-respected senior colleague learnt from her father; “find a bigger problem”. This resonates with me significantly and I’ve done just that. Being described as a bull ready to run out the gates, I’ve utilised this down time to assist colleagues and friends who have reached out for help finding their own new opportunity. This has included modifying CV’s, providing guidance to juniors trying to enter the industry and even reaching out to my key networks. Although faced with my own challenges, I can confidently say its has been a humbling experience to know my small contribution during this time has counted and made a difference. Being on the applicant side of recruitment in recent times has heightened my awareness of the importance of the candidate experience. It’s shown me exactly what type of Talent Leader I want to be. I guess this is my roundabout way of saying, if you’re an agency or company that is looking to hire better, then give me a shout. I’m available and bloody love what I do.
In five years, I want to be …
This time in five years, when we’ve all dusted ourselves off and 2020 is a distant memory, I will be excelling and pushing the boundaries in the talent space, championing workplace diversity, being a force for good and empowering others. I will have continued to grow my network and will have surrounded myself with influential, like-minded leaders who represent the best of what our industry has to offer. I hope to still be contributing in a mentorship capacity and giving back outside my role.
Dexter Salamat's LinkedIn profile.
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