About us

Premium ICT recruitment at a fair price.

Recruitment Hive is a highly experienced specialist ICT recruitment company that provides ICT Legends to Federal Government and associated industries.

When asked to describe the culture of Recruitment Hive, the range of words used by our employees included:

Our Mission Statement

Our mission is to enable our clients by sourcing high-quality ICT professionals. We are committed to being market-leaders and driving positive change. We dare to pop the Canberra bubble through our unique brand of Canberrability.

Our Values

Focus on providing great service & value to both Clients and Contractors
Open, honest and transparent, respectful & reliable in all our dealings
Let your own self shine in the office, casual is fine, be your best professional self out of the office (always look your best)
No-one is left behind, everyone succeeds, everyone has the chance to grow
Team is everything & communication strengthens the team, involve everyone, act to enhance trust
Healthy and fun competition that drives everyone to do their best
Celebrate success, learn from mistakes
Authority from experience not hierarchy
We’re grateful

Meet our people

Ben Ashman,
Chief Executive Officer

Hiver since 2012

Enjoys playing guitar(s), and gardening.
Passionate about making a positive difference anywhere and everywhere, but particularly in regards to land regeneration, permaculture, soil, microbes, bacteria, and mycelium.

Amanda Castano,
HR Manager

Hiver since 2021

Adores all things art – creating, viewing, admiring – favourite artist is Jackson Pollock. Is passionate about charity work, and destroying the existing stigma and promoting the importance of mental health.

Ivy Kong,
Chief Financial Officer

Hiver since 2022

Enjoys swimming, skating, and playing the piano. Taking care of my family and achieving career goals. Is passionate about travelling with her whole family once a year and providing excellent service to stakeholders to achieve optimal business outcomes.

Lucy Pajaczkowski,
Executive Officer

Hiver since 2023

Likes reading obscure fiction, participating in trivia nights, watching documentaries, and indulging in High Tea. Passionate about being a lifelong learner and keeping the little grey cells active.

Matthew Fallon,
Recruitment Team Leader

Hiver since 2018

Enjoys swimming, becoming fit as possible, learning new things, helping people, watching live stand-up comedy and live music. Wants to open my own business one day. Passionate about Family, Career, Friends, Philosophy (in particular Stoicism), Sport, Politics, Exercise, Cooking and Karaoke.

Alison Cousins,
Recruitment Lead

Hiver since 2018

Likes being an aspiring property developer. Passionate about family, working hard and helping others.

Coral Whitmore,
Contractor Services Team Leader

Hiver since 2023

I try to travel to a new destination once a year. My passions include travelling and learning about new cultures and exploring new places.

Leah Astle-Monahan,
Contractor Services Team

Hiver since 2023

I love the gym, and anything in relation health and fitness. In addition to meditation, nature, reading non-fiction, art and all types of music are all the things that inspire me!

I am passionate about helping people. I love listening to life stories and learning about an individual’s life experiences, then offering my help to the best of my capabilities.

Maddison Wade,
Contractor Services Team

Hiver since 2022

Likes listening to music, yoga, gardening, being outdoors camping/at the beach/ hiking & spending time with my children and animals. Very passionate about self-care/development and investing time and care into developing deep lifelong personal relationships (friends and family).

Albert Diao,
Financial Accountant

Hiver since 2023

Enjoys photography and day-trips around Canberra.

Passionate about attention to detail, time-management, multi-tasking and self-study.

Bowen Li,
Finance Manager

Hiver since 2022

Likes to cycle, play tennis & basketball, and travel.
Passionate about continuous learning, strategic planning, resolving issues, also risk management.

Kayla Harper,
Finance Officer

Hiver since 2023

Interested in self-care, being with my family and friends, walking and exploring new places. I am passionate about providing high levels of customer Service with assisting and supporting candidates in the most effective way possible.

Ben Cousins,
Recruitment Consultant

Hiver since 2016

Likes travelling, sport, food and a good sleep. Passionate about promoting business ethics.

Jon Bennett,
Recruitment Consultant

Hiver since 2022

Enjoys keeping fit, cooking, hiking around Canberra and watching Arsenal FC NOT winning trophies and the English cricket team NOT winning the Ashes. Passionate about being a good dad, being respectful, thoughtful, empathetic and spreading goo JuJu throughout the world.

Eric Fallon,
Recruitment Consultant

Hiver since 2021

Likes to Travel, play rugby & coach rugby. Passionate about culture, sport, family.

Alex Robson,
Recruitment Consultant

Hiver since 2021

Enjoys cooking, NRL, gaming and his pets. Passionate about being a decent human and helping others, freedom of speech and cooking amazing food.

Andy Eyers,
Recruitment Consultant

Hiver since 2017

Likes swimming, rock climbing, cooking & baking. Passionate about his family, travel, entrepreneurship, gaming and etymology.

Connor Smith,
IT

Hiver since 2022

Interested in anything tech and programming. Learning to play guitar. Passionate about continuous learning and overcoming the challenges presented by complex technology problems.

Our Hive History

2012

Founded by Ben & Karen Ashman in a small Queanbeyan main-street office that shook like an earthquake as trucks rumbled by. Zero air-conditioning, zero contractors and zero Federal Government ICT Contractor Panel memberships, realising it is a fine line between courage and stupidity. Wet towels over our heads on 40 degree days.

2012

2013

We were ecstatic to be accepted onto the Dep. Of Human Services ICT Contractor Panel – great sighs of appreciation! We had 3 ICT contractors engaged. Still no air-conditioning.

2013

2015

20 engaged Federal Government contractors. We could pay our bills, feed our children and dream of the future with confidence.

2015

2016

• Moved to the Mill House in Queanbeyan. Ben Cousins became our first team member, often explaining that he was not Ben Ashman and then the next few minutes explaining that he was not “that" Ben Cousins and had never played in the AFL, nor been arrested shirtless on a highway in Perth.

• Accepted onto the Digital Marketplace.

• Donated $15 000 to Home@Queanbeyan after achieving 50 ICT Contractors in 18 Federal Government Clients in Canberra, NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.

2016

2018

• Released our Fair and Disclosed ICT Contractor fee strategy to banish opportunistic fee setting from our business. It was a resounding success. Both Candidates and Clients responded positively and our growth accelerated.

• Our internal team grew to 5 as Ben Cousins had invited his sister, Alison, to join us. The year prior had also seen Andy Eyers (the barrister from the coffee shop downstairs at the Mill House) join us and he had helped recruit his old school friend Matt Fallon into our team.

2018

2019

• Having outgrown the old Mill House in Queanbeyan we moved to Yass Road and plastered our signage everywhere. Giant 3D hexagons and “How are you placed for Tomorrow” greeted people as they drove through the Capital of Canberra on their way to the coast.

• We wrapped buses and airport billboards with “Canberrability” and embarked on our first brand marketing campaign that included making our own puppets for some of the weirdest advertising to ever hit the screens of Canberra.

2019

2020

During the pandemic, we supported struggling local Canberra artists with our CoVideo Virtual Gigfest. The pandemic stopped local performers in their tracks, so we offered up to $800 for performance videos, then hosted them on a custom site. We also offered $1500 in prizes to local Canberra region musicians in our Dance Music Creator program for soundtracks for our three Recruitment Hive puppet videos.

2020

2021

• By the end of 2021, and the pandemic, we had grown our ICT Contractor numbers by 92% and had to grow our internal team to 11. We were starting to run out of room in our new office…again!

• We were accepted as members to the Defence Industry Security Program(DISP).

• At the end of the year we were fortunate enough to be able to donate $40 000 to 25 Canberra region charities including Canberra Rape Crisis Centre & RoundAbout Canberra.

2021

2022

• After much debate we moved to the city. Coincidentally our new office in the AMP Building was the same building that our founder, Ben Ashman, first started his recruitment career in way back in 1998. *

• We won additional Federal Government panel memberships and achieved 332 working ICT Contractors by the end of the year.

• At the end of the year we were fortunate enough to be able to donate $50 000 to 15 Canberra region charities including Home@Queanbeyan & SleepBus.

2022

2023

• 18 internal team members, well over 300 working ICT Contractors in over 40 Federal Government clients in every state and territory of Australia except the NT.

• We decided that It’s time to pay Long Service Leave for federal government ICT contractors by establishing casual employment, and long service leave (LSL), as ‘best recruitment(labour-hire) practice’ for long-term federal government ICT contractors.

• We described this in detail through The Recruitment Hive LSL Manifesto

• At the end of the year we were fortunate enough to be able to donate $50 000 to 15 Canberra region charities including Palliative Care ACT & Stella Bella Little Stars.

2023

Client testimonial

I have a profound respect for their understanding of the IT local industry and business wisdom and deeply appreciate his advice. I do not hesitate to recommend Ben (and his team) to assist anyone trying to find new positions in Canberra.