Scaling Recruitment to Meet Surge Demand
Background
In 2023, DFP was appointed by a large government department to provide recruitment and search services under a national recruitment contract. Since then, DFP has delivered high-volume end-to-end recruitment campaigns to support ongoing and non-ongoing workforce requirements across Australia.
In 2025, the department required an experienced recruitment partner to support a large-scale intake of APS3/4 service delivery personnel across identified and non-identified recruitment positions. The project required rapid assessment and progression of significant candidate volumes while maintaining candidate care, assessment quality and compliance with Commonwealth recruitment requirements.
Our Approach
DFP partnered closely with the department to deliver an end-to-end recruitment solution, leveraging a scalable recruitment model, experienced National Account Team and established assessment methodology to efficiently manage significant candidate volumes while maintaining seamless delivery within compressed timeframes.
Key activities included:
Managing candidate care and communication across large-scale national recruitment campaign.
Application assessment, shortlisting and candidate progression activities.
Delivering online assessments and one-way video interviews, including platform management and candidate evaluation.
Facilitation of work sample and assessment activities.
Interview scheduling, panel member representation and support.
Scribing services.
Reference checking
Candidate progression within the department's erecruitment system.
Reporting and candidate feedback services across APS3/4 recruitment processes.
Recruitment analysis and reporting to inform continuous improvement of future campaigns.
Outcomes
DFP's surge recruitment capability facilitated the efficient assessment and progression of candidates through multiple recruitment stages while maintaining quality, consistency and candidate care:
Managed over 14,000 applications across APS3/4 service delivery recruitment activities.
Facilitated 9,900 one-way video interviews to support efficient candidate assessment.
Completed 4,900 reference checks to support merit-based recruitment decisions.
Progressed 4,400 candidates to the merit pool following assessment and screening activities.
Delivered end-to-end recruitment services while maintaining compliance with Commonwealth recruitment requirements and a strong focus on candidate care.
