Onrec: What were you doing before Voyager Software
Tim: once upon a time I was studying at university and working part-time at a shoe store. Working at Voyager Software was a breath of fresh air, literally, after working many unforgiving hours with smelly shoes in retail! Admittedly, I had a very different idea of what I wanted to do with my career, but the stars aligned and an opening at Voyager Software appeared. The rest, they say, is history!
Onrec: Do you have plans to expand globally?
Tim: Voyager Software are already a global player. From my region alone, we have customers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE, and India. From our perspective Voyager Infinity, our recruitment ATS/CRM solution, is fit for all types of recruiters across the globe. Our parent company in the UK have a vast presence in the Europe, Africa, and the Middle East so we have about two-thirds of the globe represented. In our view, expansion globally is part and parcel of supplying our solution to the many varied recruitment markets across the globe.
Onrec: What do you think will be the next big thing in online recruitment?
Tim: I think a lot of people will answer this question with “artificial intelligence” but I’m of the view that we’re still quite a way off making AI effective to the point that it will really shake up online recruitment. Personally, I think the candidate experience is likely to see greater changes.
Onrec: How many people do you employ?
Tim: our team in Sydney is made up of five. We’ve got two people covering first-line support and training, an implementation/second-line engineer, an accounts officer, and me covering the sales and support. It’s a balanced unit! We have a lot of fun around here (perhaps too much, at times!) but we’re proud of our ability to meet the needs of many fast-paced recruiters without the complexity of a large organisation. We’re effective because there are fewer channels of personnel to go through to get the answers our customers need.
Onrec: What makes Voyager Software different to your competitors?
Tim: the difference is simple – a lot of our competitors produce really impressive systems but that’s where it ends. Voyager is much more than just the software we provide; we like to go the extra mile and offer a team that have industry knowledge, top-notch training and consultancy, as well as advice about getting more out of the software. We’re not about being just another “off the shelf solution”, we’re the team behind our customers helping them succeed in the recruitment game.
Onrec: Do you have other business interests?
Tim: I’m always keeping an eye on what’s developing around the globe. You can learn a lot from the success of other businesses and industries if you’re prepared to do some reading and listening. I like to keep up with artificial intelligence, driver-less vehicles, and blockchain. In a broader sense, I’m also very well-read on the politics of Australia, New Zealand, and the wider region. It’s important to understand how different trade deals, changes of government, and border conflicts will impact the performance of the economy and, in turn, what might happen to the recruitment sector.
Onrec: What’s your biggest achievement?
Tim: we released Voyager Infinity, our flagship recruitment solution, about 5 years ago. Voyager Infinity’s predecessor was entirely “on-premise” and had begun to show its age. That means that there were no online components or hosting/cloud capabilities of the software. For a time, the Support team had to service a very old piece of technology along with having to learn to handle the newer solution in Voyager Infinity. Under no pressure from head office, I took it upon myself to set a target date to move all of customers from our legacy solution to Voyager Infinity (either on-premise or cloud). I’m proud to say this was achieved ahead of schedule. It has significantly streamlined our support and training processes, and ensured our customers all have a market-leading solution.
Onrec: What do you enjoy outside of work?
Tim: I’m a big rugby fan, and with the Rugby World Cup on now, you’ll have a hard time pulling me away from the TV! When I’m not focused on the rugby, I have a wonderful young boy, who is nearly a 1-year-old, that likes to explore the world around him. My wife and I are thrilled getting to watch him learn and grow.
Tim Berwick – improving recruitment through quality software and service
Regional Manager APAC at DSG – Suppliers on Dillistone Systems, Voyager Infinity and GatedTalent
