Introducing Amanda Vanderkolk, Director & Founder of Narrative Talent

We’re taking the opportunity for our first chapter in the series to learn a little more about Narrative Talent’s very own Founder and Director, Amanda Vanderkolk, uncovering her motivations to start her own consultancy, and what life’s like balancing motherhood and a busy career.

What motivated you to start Narrative Talent?

Working for arguably one of the best specialist talent consultancies in Singapore was hugely instrumental in shaping how I approached talent challenges and partnered with my clients. And so after returning home during the pandemic after 12 years overseas and becoming a mother twice over, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on how I wanted to take what I had learned and continue shaping the talent acquisition (TA) experience for clients personally at home and abroad.

Issues surrounding the hiring and retaining of great talent are industry agnostic and remain universally challenging, yet the sentiment surrounding recruitment, or more specifically, recruiters, remains mostly negative. I believe as an industry there’s a huge opportunity to continually change the way we partner together and add value beyond just filling vacancies at a great expense.

I believe great recruiters should be treated as key business partners, which is why our advocacy philosophy is the foundation on which we partner with our clients, enabling us to work collaboratively and curate meaningful solutions.

How do you want to add value to your clients?

While connections in the industry are important if you’re looking to make a quick hire, what I’m offering, in addition, is a holistic approach to TA, ensuring our clients have sustainable practices in place.

Preparing for changes in our client’s teams is an essential part of business continuity, succession planning, growth, and new skill set requirements. Reactive hiring can be costly, but often inevitable in the agency industry, so to avoid this, I want to help clients move from a reactive model of recruitment to one that actively continually seeks the next generation of talent and keep them engaged, so when they are ready to hire, the time it takes is greatly reduced.

Other than building pipelines of talent, it’s also important to start conversations around employer branding efforts and candidate (employee) experience, as these tactics affect reputations and therefore their ability to hire the best people.

Can you tell us more about your expertise?

Narrative Talent offers both premium recruitment and talent consulting services in the PR & Communications industry. While we are based in Auckland, we offer our services across New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, connecting our clients with the best talent in the industry.

I have always loved being surrounded by creative people which is why I started my career in PR and advertising. This industry knowledge and experience has helped inform everything I advise on, from recruitment, talent pipelining, candidate experience and employer branding, to career advice for those seeking guidance.

It’s also helped inform the industry we focus on which is the full spectrum of PR and Communications, including Corporate, PR, Crisis, Internal, Public Affairs, Government Relations, and Media Relations. We also help agencies diversify their offerings across Digital Communications, Digital Media, Digital Strategy and Planning, Performance Marketing, Business Development, Social Media and Analytics.

What are your views of the current market?

My life shifted gears over the past two years as I stepped away from work to look after my young family while the business world transformed exponentially. While my days felt long, the weeks flew by quickly, yet it provided me with the opportunity to view the communications industry from the sidelines. I believe one of the biggest silver linings over the past two years has been the business and cultural mindset transformation we’ve experienced, enabling more employee flexibility and autonomy. The acceleration in TA and employee experience (EX) transformation has been really exciting to see with businesses now more than ever having to prioritise authentic ways to entice the best talent in order to thrive.

The pandemic shifted the hiring demand to a candidate-driven market, highlighting the need for employers to find more meaningful ways to meet prospective candidates’ expectations and create the perfect work setting. Candidates, particularly millennials, have a stronger voice and have helped shape recruitment and company policies to meet these expectations.

But with inflation issues becoming more evident, and layoffs sadly a reality, it will be interesting to see how the market adapts, assuming we’ll see a more conservative approach across the board.

Who Inspires You?

I am lucky to be surrounded by talented women who I get to call my best friends. They work tirelessly on their own businesses while making time for their young families, and friends. Culturally, New Zealanders are known for their entrepreneurial pursuits, whether it’s through running their own business as their main source of income or a smaller side hustle, so returning home and witnessing my friends design their work to suit their lifestyle has been the inspiration I needed to create for myself.

What do you love to do in your spare time?

I’m most happy when I’m spending time with my young family and friends doing ‘kids dinners’. While this summer hasn’t been the greatest in terms of weather (Auckland’s currently experiencing mass flooding), I’ve loved spending time outdoors and getting the girls out to the beach. Becoming a working mum I’m starting to learn how to switch off from work and just enjoy being in the moment, but I know I have to do a better job of putting my phone down and disconnecting from the online noise.