About us

At Steady Hand Recruitment, we were founded on a simple belief: experience should be valued, not sidelined. Too many seasoned ICT professionals, still at the peak of their careers, face bias in hiring. We exist to change that.

We connect employers with professionals who bring 25+ years of proven expertise, a commitment to continuous learning and AI literacy, and the calm, respectful presence that strengthens delivery teams. Our candidates don’t just fit into your organisation, they elevate it.

Our mission is clear: to challenge age bias, to champion career longevity, and to show that the right blend of deep experience and modern thinking is the real driver of business resilience and success.

Our story

The idea for Steady Hand began more than a decade ago, when a close friend, let’s call him Sam, lost his senior technology role shortly after turning 50. I assumed with his skills and reputation he’d be back in work in no time. Instead, he spent two and a half years struggling to even get a response to his applications. It didn’t make sense: here was someone at the peak of his career, overlooked purely because of his age.

Eventually, Sam found a role, his career progressed as it should. But the experience stayed with me. Over time, more friends and colleagues went through the same cycle: redundancy, struggling to re-enter, dismissed despite their depth of expertise. It became clear this wasn’t bad luck. It was bias.

Why we exist

Steady Hand Recruitment was founded to challenge this bias and prove what we’ve always known: seasoned professionals aren’t winding down, they’re still building, adapting, and delivering.

We connect employers with ICT talent who bring:

  • Deep experience that delivers outcomes from day one

  • Maturity and respect that lift team performance and reduce conflict

  • Continuous learning as a core discipline, including AI literacy

  • Calm under pressure when projects face complexity or crisis

  • Passionate about meeting new challenges, as demonstrated by learning commitment

The bigger picture

Industry research confirms what many of us have seen first-hand:

  • HR professionals are classifying workers as “older” earlier than ever, often from age 50. [1]

  • Despite a majority of organisations facing hard-to-fill vacancies, over half show reluctance to hiring those over 50, reducing significantly for those over 65 [1]

  • Employers admit to preferring younger hires, even when older candidates perform equally or better in AI-enabled roles. [2]

  • Older workers who do adopt AI tools often become the strongest performers in their teams. [2]

    Both Australian and international reports highlight the same truth: organisations that fail to harness the skills of experienced professionals are limiting their own resilience, innovation, and diversity.

[1] The Older and Younger Workers report, jointly produced by the Australian HR Institute and the Australian Human Rights Commission (Older-Younger-Workers-Report-2025-FINAL.pdf)

[2] The Generation Report (AgeProofingAI_Generation_FINAL.pdf) surveyed 2,610 employees and 1,488 employers in France, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States during May and June 2024

Our Mission

At Steady Hand, we believe experience and continuous learning are not opposites, they’re partners. By connecting seasoned ICT professionals with organisations that value depth, adaptability, and outcomes, we’re not just filling roles. We’re proving that age diversity is business strength.