Recruiting Local and Interstate Talent for Cross River Rail

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About Cross River Rail
Cross River Rail is one of Queensland’s highest priority infrastructure projects, working to unlock a bottleneck at the core of our rail systems.

This project will allow more trains to run more often, easing pressure on our roads and keeping SEQ’s transport network moving. It will change forever how we travel, the shape of Brisbane as a city and the whole region. It was our pleasure to support the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority to attract the right talent.

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Finding the right type of talent in a competitive market

Cross River Rail required our help to recruit a number of critical roles, and they need it done swiftly. The greatest challenge was finding the right type of talent in a competitive market.



Due to the significant projects that hired similar functions during this time, there was a talent shortage. This meant that the search for the right candidates would need to be extended further across Queensland, interstate.

The Hiring Requirement

Kingston Human Capital was appointed on an exclusive basis Cross River Rail to recruit a number of key appointments.

Roles We Hired

Precinct Lead Project Manager Economic Development Lead Program Managera

Channels We Used

Facebook, LinkedIn, Seek, Indeed, KHC DataBase, KHC Search Algorithms, customised micro-site, market-mapping and Rail Network.

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The Challenge

How did we overcome this challenge?

Kingston Human Capital was able to overcome this by utilising our nationwide market map to identify relevant individuals to whom we made direct approaches.

This was in addition to the development of a comprehensive recruitment and search process that worked to engage and attract potential candidates.

The Process

A full search and selection process with multi-channel attraction
Learn more about Kingston Human Capital Recruitment Process

As multiple roles needed to be filled at the same time, Kingston Human Capital approached the recruitment project using both traditional and contemporary techniques. To find the right talent, we executed a full search and selection process, with the inclusion of multi-channel attraction.

How Kingston Human Capital helped Cross River Rail find the right candidates?
  1. We conducted a 'needs-analysis' to understand the roles and requirements from the client.
  2. We developed a specialised search strategy and multi-channel attraction strategy that would appeal to passive and active talent.
  3. We leveraged our expertise in networking and referrals, searching nationwide for the right talent.
  4. We completed candidate evaluation and psychometric-testing and presented a candidate shortlist to the CEO.
  5. We designed a high impact interview strategy and facilitated the discussion as to who was the most value-adding candidate for each role.
  6. We supported Cross River Rail to extend offers and develop an onboarding plan for each role.

The Result

4 key appointments hired within 5 weeks

Kingston Human Capital was able to find the right people for each of the four roles, in a tight timeframe, despite the challenge of talent shortages.

We were able to commit the entire search team to the recruitment of these roles, because Cross River Rail saw the commercial sense in engaging us on an exclusive basis, allowing for the evaluation of more candidates. In turn, this meant that we were able to find high-quality candidates in a short time, leading to 4 new appointments hired within 5 weeks.

A graphic showing the number of candidates in the pool , total candidates screened , and total candidates interviewed.
What did Cross River Rail value most about Kingston Human Capital's Recruitment Services?


Cross River Rail measured value by outcomes and valued the delivery of these outcomes in a short time-frame. Kingston Human Capital worked to ensure the right people were found for each role as quickly as possible.

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We help recruit great executive talent
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Meet Gerard Kerr

Gerard Kerr is Co-Founder and General Manager of Search and Selection at Kingston Human Capital.



With more than 20 years’ experience in recruitment, Gerard has deep networks and extensive expertise managing complex search and selection projects across a range of sectors including local state and federal government, statutory authorities, government-owned corporations and ASX-listed companies.

Discover how Kingston Human Capital are different and give you a competitive advantage.

We work as an agile team across retained recruitment projects, ensuring we can commit the time and effort of our entire search team. This allows us to reach further into the market, which means we get to evaluate more candidates and get high-quality results.

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