Meet the face2face Team
Charlene Gardiner
Finance and Operations Manager
Operations
Charlene, with a strong background in finance, professional services and recruitment, ensures face2face’s operations and processes run smoothly, efficiently, effectively and accurately.
Charlene Gardiner (Finance and Operations Manager)
Charlene (Charlie) has a strong and diverse background in finance, operations, professional services and recruitment.
As Finance and Operations Manager, she leads the way in creating systems, processes and procedures that ensure face2face runs seamlessly and efficiently.
In finance and operations, Charlie leverages her excellent attention to detail, well-developed time management skills and strengths in crunching numbers and figures.
Preparing accurate, timely and detailed forecasts, financial statements and business activity reports is essential. Also essential is analysing and reconciling cash flow, enabling face2face to move from strength-to-strength in a fast-paced, continually changing market, and with confidence.
Importantly, Charlie meets the myriad of legal requirements inherent in the multi-faceted recruitment industry. She provides proactive, evidence-based, strategic advice to the Managing Director. This includes recommendations from her research on new state-of-the-art, with innovation key.
Overall, Charlie does whatever it takes to make life better for the team at face2face and the employers and candidates it services.
Charlie is dedicated to getting everything done right the first time, and always on time. That includes paying employees and contractors.
Charlie is known for remaining calm under pressure. She always applies sound judgement and never skips a beat.
What does Charlie celebrate most about her position at face2face?
‘Streamlining processes, developing tools for efficiency and going all out to make it happen,’ says Charlie. ‘I’m motivated to do whatever it takes to streamline operations and make life better for our dynamic team, employers and job seekers.’
Cathy Benson
Office Manager
Operations
With over 20 years in administration, Cathy embraces the high-energy world of recruitment. As a productive team member, she shares a common goal of helping others, always with a smile.
Cathy is backed by more than 30 years of experience in administration and providing second-in-charge services to management. At award-winning face-to-face, Cathy embraces the high-energy world of recruitment.
At face-to-face, Cathy thrives on ensuring operational and administration matters run smoothly in Payroll and Administration. This includes handling a high volume of standard phone inquiries to provide information, redirect calls to Account Managers when needed, and solve problems. In doing so, Cathy streamlines operations and saves time for face-to-face account managers so they can focus on matching candidates to employer needs.
Cathy applies exemplary management skills to ensure backend operations are efficient and effective. She assists with payroll and timesheet management and supports the Finance Manager. She also supports Account Managers with daily recruitment activities, monitoring workflow and screening potential candidates for roles. Cathy also paces job advertisements on face2face’s social media accounts. Her role centres on sorting the small things on behalf of team members.
At face2face, Cathy’s experience is backed by her years as an administrative assistant in large organisations, and her sharp focus on quality customer service.
Teamwork is a hallmark of Cathy’s performance. She is self-motivated, energetic and has exceptional interpersonal strengths. Cathy is also fully collaborative and makes major contributions to a positive workplace culture.
Why is Cathy so passionate about her new career in recruitment?
‘I’m motivated by working in productive, high-performing teams that share a common goal of helping others and caring about how their days are going,’ Cathy says.
‘Building and maintaining strong and productive relationships with employers and candidates over the long-term, for the best understanding of their needs,’ says Carolyn. ‘It’s rewarding to place talent to desired positions, so everyone benefits.’
Dylan Macleod
Senior Account Manager
Business Support
A highly developed, outcome-focused consultant, Dylan specialises in government recruitment. With in-depth understanding of recruitment, he sources the best solutions.
Dylan Macleod (Senior Account Manager)
Specialising in government recruitment, Dylan is a highly developed, outcome-focused consultant. He is passionate about building strong working relationships and partnering with organisations to achieve their business objectives.
At face2face, Dylan leverages his extensive experience as a recruitment consultant and Senior Account Manager to work collaboratively with employers to gain an in-depth understanding of their needs. Key is understanding business needs in detail. Armed with this knowledge, Dylan then gets to work sourcing talent to support organisations to drive their all-important goals.
Before recruitment, Dylan was a General Manager of an ICT training company for 11 years. As the external face of the company, he developed strong relationships and his exemplary people-engagement skills. Dylan, in this role, created and provided solution-based results for the Australian Government and state and territory government departments. He also achieved this for large private sector corporations and small business employers.
Dylan brings to the recruitment world a passion for people, relationships, and personable, excellent service – all essential attributes when finding employers quality staff and candidates valuable roles. He genuinely cares about helping candidates to achieve their career aspirations and is inspired by the opportunity to positively impact their lives.
How is Dylan energised by recruitment?
‘Being able to recognise the differences of every one of us is hugely important.’ says Dylan. ‘So too is understanding diversity, which helps build rapport, better communication and trust.’
Lisa Whitehorn
Account Manager
ICT
Extensive ICT knowledge sees Lisa exceed expectations for both employers and candidates in this specialised recruitment area. She builds strong relationships for quality results.
Lisa Whitehorn (Account Manager)
Lisa is a professional in the information and communication technology sector, with a wealth of experience gained from diverse and extensive experience in diverse roles across both the public and private sectors.
With a combined Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Science, specialising in Psychology and Social Research Methodology, Lisa brings a unique blend of analytical skills and human understanding strengths to her reputable recruitment services.
Throughout her career, Lisa has held roles in information technology (IT) project management, including at senior project management level. Lisa holds a Prince2 Certification and Diploma in Project Management, supporting her to successfully deliver large, complex IT transformation projects. At face2face Lisa also leverages earned proficiency in service management and quality management.
Lisa, as Account Manager, ICT, is dedicated and committed to fostering strong relationships with employers and candidates to uncover needs, conduct sophisticated searches for quality talent and ultimately delivering top-notch recruitment solutions. Her commitment to recruitment excellence is unwavering.
In the fast-paced world of recruitment, Lisa supports employers and candidates through active listening, clear communications and a pursuit of quality outcomes.
Ultimately, what inspires Lisa about ICT recruitment?
‘Understanding the needs of employers and candidates, establishing strong working relationships and finding the perfect match,’ she says.
Emma Pointon
Account Manager
Business Support
Emma leverages excellent time management, coordination and customer service skills to secure the right skills for the right positions, helping organisations excel with a motivating approach.
Emma Pointon (Account Manager)
With excellent time management and coordination skills, Emma Pointon is a perfect match for her Account Manager role at face2face.
Emma loves working with people and applies her excellent customer service skills to the hectic world of recruitment. She thrives on helping jobseekers find stimulating positions and employers secure the best talent for the role at hand.
Why is Emma so passionate about recruitment?
“It’s a real buzz to secure the right skills for the right position,” says Emma. “This helps organisations be the best they can be.”
Zarn Forner
Account Manager
Business Support
An analytical thinker and problem solver, Zarn adopts a detailed, methodical and creative approach to recruitment when seeking positions for candidates and talent for employers.
Zarn Forner (Account Manager)
Zarn is an analytical thinker and natural problem solver who diligently leads and manages major projects and accounts and high-performing teams – all great skills with recruitment.
At face2face, as Account Manager, Business Support, Zarn applies his go-getter attitude and strong interpersonal skills to nurture relationships and secure new recruitment business. His flair for stakeholder engagement, combined with his methodical approach and attention to detail, leaves no stone unturned as Zarn seeks positions for candidates or talent for employers.
Zarn meticulously executes face2face’s detailed methodology in his senior recruitment role, ensuring end-to-end recruitment and top-shelf customer service. He excels at sourcing and screening talent, building candidate relationships, securing talent, building trust, and successful hiring-manager partnerships.
At home in the fast-paced recruitment environment, Zarn works productively in a high-performing team. He has in-depth recruitment experience with the Australian Government, including with Defence, and in the private sector.
Zarn’s strengths include project delivery. He is thorough, detailed and driven to enhance operational efficiency, comply with strict legislation, policies and regulations. This includes in fast-paced and ever-changing environments where meeting deadlines is essential.
Throughout his career, Zarn has been highly effective in assessing and analysing employer needs, using knowledge gained to develop and deliver the best services possible. He takes a calculating approach to recruitment, ensuring all variables are carefully considered before action is taken.
Why is Zarn so passionate about recruitment?
‘I thrive on taking a personal, yet professional approach to matching talent to business needs,’ says Zarn.
Ana Hicks
Account Manager
Business Support
A customer service superstar, Ana is an Account Manager of a major national government account. She is a skilled multi-tasker who problem-solves with confidence.
Ana Hicks-Clarke (Account Manager)
Ana is a customer service superstar who brings 10 years of experience gained in the competitive and demanding hospitality industry to the face2face Business Support team.
As the Account Manager of a major national government account, Ana works with precision to manage high volumes of recruitment needs. With high-quality customer service skills, Ana thrives in this role, supporting employers to source the best talent and candidates to discover their potential when searching for their dream jobs.
At face2face, Ana executes multi-tasking skills to complete the many steps involved in effective recruitment, in both an accurate and timely way. As an Account Manager, Ana provides end-to-end recruitment services, following face2face’s 15-step methodology.
Ana’s role involves setting up new jobs, creating job overviews for candidates, screening candidates, placing job ads on relevant platforms and conducting candidate searches on the face2face national database, Recruit Wizard database and SEEK Talent Search.
Other responsibilities essential to successful recruitment include completing reference checks, ongoing communications, answering queries, facilitating contractor onboarding and organising general contract extensions.
Ana continues building her knowledge and refining her capabilities through Business Administration studies.
Clear and concise, Ana maximises excellent communication skills to drive organisational goals, prioritising heavy workloads and working to tight deadlines without compromise.
What inspired Ana to make the career change to recruitment?
‘I thrive on working with a dynamic team that is passionate about matching candidates to positions,’ says Ana. ‘A successful match is rewarding for everyone involved.’
Urvish Kahar
Senior Service Delivery
ICT
Urvish specialises in ICT roles, applying a deep understanding of Australia’s complex job market (public and private). A lateral thinker, Urvish works creatively on all recruitment.
Urvish Kahar (Senior Service Delivery ICT)
Urvish’s education includes a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development and several professional recruitment certificates. An experienced recruiter with more than 6 years in the industry – working nationally and internationally – Urvish now focuses on ICT roles at award-winning face2face.
As Senior Recruitment Support, ICT, Urvish applies his deep understanding of Australia’s complex job market (public and private sectors). A lateral thinker and problem-solver, Urvish works with passion to support candidates to land their dream roles. In doing so, he proactively provides candidates with valuable career guidance and pinpoints diverse opportunities. Urvish excels in building relationships and connecting with candidates at all levels and across all industries. He gets a buzz out of meeting such diverse talent.
Urvish also excels at providing employers with dedicated support, so they fill the roles required for organisational success as efficiently and seamlessly as possible.
Resilient, positive and customer-focused, Urvish is also dedicated to continual professional development. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) and a Master’s Degree in Supply Chain Management and Project Management.
Before focusing solely on the dynamic world of ICT, Urvish built deep knowledge and experience in recruiting in the areas of Accounting and Finance, Administration and Office Support, Government Policy, Program and Project Management, Human Resources, Business and Business Analysts, and Procurement. With the Australian Government, he recruits across all APS, EL 1, EL 2 and SES roles.
What drives Urvish’s enthusiasm?
‘I find immense fulfillment in helping candidates secure positions that suit their skills and personalities,’ says Urvish. ‘It’s a joy to help every candidate shape their future.’
Vicki Ferrett
Finance Officer/Scribe Coordinator
Operations/Recruitment Solutions
Vicki is passionate about recruitment administration, services and scribing. Backed by strong administration skills, she ensures seamless delivery that adds value every step of the way.
Vicki Ferrett (Recruitment Solutions Coordinator)
Vicki is passionate about her roles in recruitment administration, recruitment services and scribing. At award-winning face2face Recruitment, Vicki’s professionalism, attention to detail and reassuring demeanour adds tremendous value.
Throughout her career, Vicki has developed strong administration skills, including as an Executive Assistant in Defence. She works quickly and efficiently in the fast-paced recruitment environment at face2face. With scribing, Vicki leverages her skills to support the Scribe Manager and ensure seamless delivery.
“Scribing is an inspirational service,” says Vicki. “It plays a key role in helping employees find star talent and candidates find dream jobs. It’s a privilege to be part of such an important process.”
Mikala Cornwell
Recruitment Solutions Consultant
Recruitment Solutions
A dedicated, results-driven professional, Mikala brings energy and enthusiasm to her role as Recruitment Solutions Consultant, Recruitment Solutions, and extensive experience in the training industry.
Mikala Cornwell (Recruitment Solutions Consultant)
Mikala Cornwell excels at efficient time management and problem-solving, key attributes required in the detailed, multi-faceted recruitment industry.
At award-winning face2face, as Recruitment Solutions Consultant, Recruitment Solutions, Mikala leverages extensive experience in training. She is a meticulous administrator who informs sound decision making with accurate, timely data entry and analysis.
Mikala is clear, concise and fully accountable when supporting face2face to drive recruitment solutions. Coordination is a core competency.
Mikala thrives on establishing productive stakeholder relations, with employers, candidates and team members at face2face. She continually exhibits a professional, refreshing and friendly approach.
With best-practice communications, Mikala works at a senior level to maintain excellent client relations. She is responsible for scribing, outsourced recruitment services and unbundled requests.
Mikala, with scribing—a key requirement in public sector recruitment particularly—ensures face2face follows best-practice in line with Australian Public Service merit principles. She quality assures scribe reports, monitors scribing processes, and build the face2face pool of talented, experienced scribes.
Training skills and experience come to play as Mikala mentors team members on important industry information, so face2face is on top of its game.
Motivated and with strong and impressive interpersonal skills, Mikala contributes to a positive workplace culture, enabling face2face to share its energy with all stakeholders. She is proactive, enthusiastic, strategic and creative.
Why is Mikala so passionate about recruitment and scribing?
“I thrive on ensuring compliance with the complex requirements of both recruitment and scribing roles, on behalf of employers and scribes,” says Mikala. “It’s all about successful and rewarding results.”
Neil Valecha
Recruitment Support
Business Support
Neil has a Bachelor of Business Administration and exceptional customer service strengths. In Recruitment Support, he provides quality support to Account Managers sourcing the best talent for employer needs.
Neil Valecha (Recruitment Administration)
At award-winning face2face Recruitment, Neil backs Account Managers with detailed, quality support, as they focus on sourcing the best talent for employer needs, often on an urgent basis.
High-level customer service and superior coordination and organisation skills are core competencies Neil brings to the table in his role as Recruitment Support in Business Support.
With attention to detail, Neil prepares job descriptions, formats resumes, completes reference and other checks, organises interviews and facilitates contractor onboarding. He also writes and places ads on various platforms to attract the widest possible talent pool and conducts candidate searches matching talent with positions.
Neil, throughout his career, has developed a sharp customer focus, across diverse industries including in sales, retail, and advertising and marketing.
Backed by a Bachelor of Business Administration, Neil has worked in project administration on 2 large-scale transport projects (in New South Wales). He demonstrated strengths in handling multi-faceted requirements to tight deadlines and showed initiative in driving new processes. A key achievement as Business Administration Coordinator, SIEMENS Mobility, for example, was building an automated timesheet system that saved up to 5 hours a week and significantly reduced discrepancies.
Neil is a dynamic and productive team player with exceptional interpersonal skills. He is a proactive listener, a clear and concise communicator and highly motivated to drive the best recruitment results at face2face. He is flexible, adaptable and professional through and through.
Antony Austin
Recruitment Support
Business Support
A motivated and outcome-driven professional with a background in recruitment, Antony excels in finding the right talent for the right positions in the right way.
Antony Austin (Recruitment Administration)
Antony is strategic and detailed with every recruitment exercise at face2face, providing solid advice and meticulous implementation. In Recruitment Support, Business Support, Antony is a dynamic team player, supporting an Account Manager in running major accounts.
Core capabilities include research, time management, attention to detail, and fostering robust stakeholder relationships. In his important Recruitment Support role, Antony works methodically to set up new recruitment jobs, prepare job descriptions, complete reference checks, write job overviews, and organise client interviews.
Antony relies on his exemplary communication skills to onboard selected candidates into new positions, saving employers time and effort. He also generates contracts and extensions.
At face2face, Antony operates with confidence in a fast-paced recruitment environment, ensuring no steps or deadlines are missed. He is a superior multi-tasker who excels under pressure.
Antony is a Law Graduate with a Master’s Degree in International Development. Before joining face2face, he gained legal experience as a Contract Analyst and spent rewarding years developing customer service skills in events and hospitality.
Experience also covers roles in higher education, at the University of Canberra, including as Domestic Student Recruitment Advisor. Antony, at the university, was also a Coordinator of Oceania and Emerging Markets, where he managed a portfolio of agents to drive targets and meet key performance indicators.
What inspires Antony about the world of recruitment?
‘I’m a curious person who loves new challenges and experiences in an environment like face2face that is solely focused on helping candidates and employers find the right fit for one another,’ Antony says.