A full-service staffing and recruiting firm, HireVergence specializes in finding top tier cybersecurity professionals. Founded in 2012, the company has quickly developed an enviable reputation in the recruiting sphere and is using Herefish to take time-consuming busywork off of recruiters’ plates.
To me it seemed like there were a lot of manual processes for recruiters to keep track of their candidates in their own time. The onus is on the recruiter to do everything. There wasn’t any automation at all.
The Challenge
As HireVergence’s business grew, the systems, procedures, and technology it relied upon were struggling to keep up.
Shirk is a recent arrival, having been at HireVergence for a bit under a year. But as soon as she was settled she noticed the need for a review of the firm’s systems and procedures. “To me, it seemed like [there were] a lot of manual processes for recruiters to keep track of their candidates in their own time. It’s basically just on the recruiter to follow up with them, to put reminders on their own calendar of who’s coming off contract. The onus is on the recruiter to do everything. There wasn’t any automation at all.”
Organizations are realizing that relying on humans to complete such tasks can be a recipe for chaos. Shirk found that candidate communication was wildly inconsistent in its frequency, its content, and the points outreach in the candidate journey. “Overall they were just inconsistent and very manual processes,” she surmises.
Shirk worked with Aaron Boldt, HireVergence’s Digital Marketing and Sales Specialist, who saw the need to “make our company more scalable; as we add on more people, [we needed to] have more consistent processes in place.”
The Solution
Utilizing recruiting automation technology to take care of day-to-day routines not only increases efficiency and consistency, it also allows the business to scale up.
In order to tackle the challenge, HireVergence outlined four major goals.
- Evaluate the candidate experience: Put processes in place that would allow the firm to build strong relationships with candidates from which valuable insights could be gained.
- Gather information on clients: Leverage these candidate relationships to gather information on clients, in the hope of better anticipating the client’s staffing needs, and to help future candidates succeed in their placement.
- Make candidates more redeployable: Increase redeployment numbers by engaging with the candidates, staying abreast of their changing wants and needs, offering training where appropriate, and having firm processes in place for consultants whose contracts are coming to a close.
- Increase referrals: Better understand which candidates to ask for referrals, and when and how to ask them.
As it turned out, the solution to HireVergence’s challenges, the key to achieving all of its goals, came down to two simple words: candidate engagement. And to that end, HireVergence found a happy ally in Herefish by Bullhorn.
The choice of engagement tool wasn’t an easy one, but to Shirk, Boldt, and the team at HireVergence, they consistently saw Herefish standing out from the pack. “The email builder and addition of surveys was probably the top reason we went with Herefish. It meant consistent engagement. Knowing that there’s an email going out to this person at this time, instead of just hoping. It meant guaranteed engagement at certain milestones.”
Consistent automated engagement also dealt with many of the inefficiencies that had plagued the growing firm. “It was on the recruiters to put reminders in their calendar and actually follow up. They didn’t do this, and we really weren’t tracking it, so we looked to Herefish. Now, that responsibility is taken off them. There’s an email that’s being sent automatically on their behalf—they don’t have to type it out; our surveys go out on certain milestones—recruiters don’t have to remember to call the consultant 60 days out from the end of their contract.”
Having seen what Herefish is capable of, the team is already looking to push this consistency and efficiency far further into other areas of their business process.
It was on the recruiters to put reminders in their calendar and actually follow up. They didn’t do this, and we really weren’t tracking it, so we looked to Herefish. Now, that responsibility is taken off them.
The Future
HireVergence have seen their success with Herefish by Bullhorn as just the tip of the iceberg —there’s plenty more to be found under the surface
When asked what the future might hold for HireVergence, Shirk was quick to offer up some ideas. She hopes to use recruiting automation to continuously update candidate records, which will allow her to get a gauge on activity levels and data consistency.
But the firm understands that successfully tracking those metrics will rely on cleaning up its Bullhorn ATS & CRM and re-engaging candidates is the most effective way to do it. Shirk sees Herefish playing a role in that too. “We’re currently planning monthly newsletters to start re-engaging people. One of the goals for this quarter is outlining our content calendar and build out additional segments which is exciting for the team. ”
The firm is in the process of upgrading its website, candidate portal, and client portal, and the improved tech will open up a wealth of ways to leverage Herefish—more recruiting automation, more consistency, and more engagement. “Once we begin the process of building those things out, I think Herefish will be immensely helpful,” says Shirk.
Herefish has taken manual, often-neglected processes and made them automatic, it has allowed the company to scale up its internal systems and procedures in line with its healthy growth, and it has seen both candidates and clients enjoying a level of attention and care that they haven’t had before.
HireVergence specializes in security. But these days that security focus extends beyond the day-to-day recruiting activities. With the help of Herefish, the company is now securing its own future.
We're currently planning monthly newsletters to start re-engaging people. One of the goals for this quarter is outlining our content calendar and build out additional segments which is exciting for the team.