Staffing a start-up in Silicon Valley isn’t the easiest job in the world, especially when you’re looking for top-notch technical talent and have no human resources function. SeatMe , a technology company in San Francisco that provides restaurants with online management tools had a great concept and a high-growth model, but still struggled with hiring. They didn’t have an issue with identifying their value proposition to potential employers:
“We’re not just building apps here. We’re building software that people rely on every day. From multi-master synchronization of disconnected mobile devices, to demand-based pricing, to designing highly intuitive user interfaces — we’re tackling tough problems head on.”
But they did have issues hiring top technical talent across the rapidly growing enterprise. Matt Behrens, a programmer tasked with hiring other technical whizzes, struggled with providing a good candidate experience, while also creating a back-end interface that his team could see and comment on. At the time that SeatMe started evaluating Applicant Tracking Systems, they were using gmail and Excel to hire team members. The executive team started by identifying what was important to them in talent acquisition software:
- Ease of use for non-recruiting personnel
- Email-based resumes and candidates were easier to track
- Minimal training required due to time constraints
- Elegant and universal code that would work with their existing website
- Affordable option built for small to medium businesses
“Our CTO wanted to ensure everything came through email and it was easy for applicants to apply,” said Behrens. “We weren’t looking for a cumbersome system that took forever. We just wanted to see the resumes.”
It’s typical startup behavior. Unlike corporate counterparts, hiring for a startup comes in fits and bursts, often dependent on funding and product development. Even the best workforce plan is difficult to apply to such a variable industry. Add all that to a city with both a plethora and shortage of technical talent and you want to create a simple, intuitive hiring process just to compete.
The Solution: Trakstar Hire
Hire allowed SeatMe to have simple job postings right on their website and offered them the opportunity to promote their job postings elsewhere whenever they chose. Having this ability helped with high demand positions, as well as those that were easier to fill or recurring. For new companies, filling empty spaces must be a matter of days, not months.
“The learning curve for Trakstar Hire was super simple,” said Behrens. Most of the hiring team caught on quickly and as Hire built new features into the system, they were woven seamlessly into the existing product without a need for cumbersome training.
Behrens said that candidates appreciated the ease of SeatMe’s hiring process, especially because it didn’t require them to “jump through any hoops”. The simple interface of Hire gave the entire team access and allowed those not trained in recruiting or hiring to easily collaborate and give feedback on potential candidates, a highly important process when cultural fit is just as important as hiring for skills.
“My CTO loved that it was email based so he didn’t have to log-on to an extra system.” said Behrens. “Not only that but we were able to switch from what we were using over to Trakstar Hire in just a few minutes.”
The Candidate Experience
While the SeatMe team enjoyed the benefits of Hire on the back end, the applicants were appreciative that common issues that plague teams new to hiring were no longer plaguing them. The hiring managers throughout the company were able to quickly respond to applicants when a job was filled and keep them informed when new opportunities arose.
“Because we were so organized, we cut way down on the time it took to interview,” said Behrens.
SeatMe states that rolling out Hire in their organization has increased their chances of long-term success and created a useful Human Resource and Talent Acquisition function where there was none before. As the company grows, Trakstar Hire continues to scale in performance and features, making it the ideal solution for SMBs.
Key Benefits:
- An ATS that everyone in the company can use from one seat increased the ROI
- Integrated solution that matched their company identity
- Intuitive interface allows maximum adoption and minimal training for the busy team
- Improved candidate experience and increased applications
- New features are rolled out in a non-disruptive way based wholly on client feedback