The Hunch Issue No. 1
Who really looks after people in recruitment?
A hand-picked review of Australian recruitment agencies that do something different. Not paid placements. Not sponsored rankings. Just a gut feeling, backed by 25 years in the industry.
Why The Hunch
A free voice on recruitment
The Hunch exists to give everyone a free voice to talk about their experiences with recruitment agencies — good, bad, and indifferent. No gatekeeping, no paid placements, no sanitised marketing copy. People get to comment as they choose.
Under a spotlight, agencies are accountable — and they should be. I've started with four of my own, agencies I've dealt with directly and rate highly. As more experiences come in, the list will grow, and in time it will include the ones where the experience wasn't so good.
The Hunch Files
I was hacked. This is what I saw, and what I can't prove.
Years of compromised mailboxes, sign-ins from places I've never been, devices that weren't carrying what I was told they were carrying, and one breach notification that arrived in a mailbox which had been silent for six years. I'm not an IT person. I've thrown out the false positives. What's left is on the record.
Standouts
Agencies that pass the hunch test
Hulk Labor Services
Glenferrie Road, Malvern, VIC
A family-feel labour hire team that treats clients and contractors with equal care. Above-board pay, on-time wages, a money-back guarantee if the first hour is late, and a genuine willingness to give people a second chance when suitable.
Read the full profileThe Hunch StandoutTalent Flow
Sydney, NSW
Greg runs a boutique Sydney agency so specialised in ServiceNow that unless you live in that ecosystem, you may never meet him. Those who do benefit from a rare, savant-level memory for faces and candidates.
Read the full profileThe Hunch StandoutGibson Quai International
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide
A national ICT and telecommunications professional services firm whose consultants are so kind that even a ‘no’ feels like good news. They look after their team and contractors with unusual consideration.
Read the full profileThe Hunch StandoutTranscend Managed Services
Hampton / Brighton area, VIC
A mum-and-dad operation in the Hampton/Brighton area that looks after steel fixers, welders, and construction trades like family. Temps are welcomed into the fold, not treated as disposable labour.
Read the full profileThe Hunch StandoutSMAART Recruitment
Australia-wide
A full-service recruitment agency where process, technology, people and pace are treated as one discipline. I have to declare a bias: I was a former director here. But that also means I know the floor, not just the pitch. James in particular is as good as they come — shrewd, funny, across every moving part of the job, and still standing after two decades.
Read the full profileThe editor
From Stu Holmes
After 25 years in recruitment — including time as a director of SMAART Recruitment and running the social enterprise The Green Collar — I've seen enough agencies and enough people to know when someone is offering something special.
The Hunch is where I share the agencies that stand out. The ones that pay staff on time, that look after contractors, that build fairness into their terms, and that make you feel like a person rather than a placement.
Have a hunch of your own?
If you've worked with a recruitment agency that did something different — good or bad — send it in. The Hunch is built on lived experience, and yours counts.
Write in to The Hunch