We’ve been testing a new service at OfferZen for the last few months. It’s called OfferZen Embedded and it involves supporting companies with end-to-end recruitment services.
Hundreds of companies use our self-service talent marketplace to make thousands of hires – and for most, OfferZen works beautifully. But there have always been a few companies that totally bomb on the marketplace because:
- Their hiring process sucks
- They don’t have the time necessary to source and interview candidates
- They don’t have the in-house expertise for technical recruitment
- There’s a misalignment between the recruitment team and hiring managers
It’s always been frustrating to me that we can’t help these companies – but there’s nothing we can do for them. Right!?
Earlier this year, a fellow founder and friend reached out to tell me that his company would stop using OfferZen. This guy had been a customer for many years…so this was a pretty big deal.
The conversation went something like this:
Him: Dude – we keep losing our internal recruiters! We’ve lost 3 folks in the last 12 months. I can’t take it anymore. I’m just going to outsource the whole damn function.
Philip: Wow that sucks. How can I help?
Him: Well, here’s the thing. The company we’re outsourcing to doesn't want to use OfferZen because they charge fees on placements.
Philip: Well damn….why didn’t you ask me if OfferZen would take on the recruitment service?
Him: I didn’t think there was any chance you would…would you?
Philip: I don’t know! But maybe? What would you want us to do?
Him: If OfferZen was doing it…Basically I would need someone to log onto the platform, shortlist candidates for our open roles and then reach out to them on our behalf.
Philip: Right, so you want access to OfferZen candidates without actually needing to use the platform?
Him: Exactly. But I also want you to run the screening call and then schedule interviews in my calendar with the top candidates. Obviously, it’s also really important that the person doing this work understands exactly what kind of culture fit we want.
Philip: That seems kinda reasonable – assuming you’re willing to onboard the account manager upfront to your company?
Him: Absolutely. Oh they also need to help with background checks and references. I know you guys do super thorough references for candidates that you hire, so I want that too.
Philip: Haha! Let me think about it…
A week of thinking turned into “let’s do it!”. We realised there would be other tech leaders who would rather be building products with their teams than doing hiring admin. This new service would become known as OfferZen Embedded.
Unlike our standard self-help offering, Embedded provides end-to-end recruitment support. We help customers refine their job descriptions, benchmark salaries, source and screen candidates, and conduct thorough background checks. And for companies that want it, we’ll also do OfferZen-grade reference checks and advise on hiring process design.
One of our beta customers had been outsourcing their development and wanted to build an in-house team in South Africa. The only problem was that they signed up to OfferZen in October and wanted to make all their hires before the end of the year. Through Embedded, we worked closely with them to streamline their hiring process and move ridiculously fast on hiring thanks to the right level of buy-in from their company. Our success with Embedded obviously requires us to fill roles, and while we take on a lot of that responsibility, we still need the company to be serious about collaborating with us.
There’s still a lot to figure out and we’re currently in the beta phase testing Embedded with a small group of customers. Each new Embedded customer is teaching us a lot and we’re excited to see how this offering evolves.
If you’re facing similar challenges in tech hiring and are interested in being part of our beta program, make sure to join the waiting list.