The challenge

Our client, a global leader in financial services and investment technologies, had recently announced the launch of an innovation and research center in Asia, focused on financial technologies. While still in ‘startup mode’, hiring targets were set – aiming to recruit as many as 50 high-level software, AI/ML and data engineers prior to the official launch.

While certainly very adept at working with IT candidates in Western Europe and North America, our client’s experience sourcing talent from Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Baltics was limited. Additionally, this was their first attempt at large-scale hiring for a relocation position.

Realizing the scope, time and effort required to familiarize their HR with the best practices of hiring in those regions, a decision was made to outsource the top-of-the-funnel pipeline to a strategic partner.

Our approach

Our team began the process with a thorough review of 12 Baltic, Central and Eastern European job markets. We examined the average cost of hiring per country, local labor laws regarding prior notice and relocation, and any cultural nuances that could impact the hiring process.

Using our databases, we measured the candidate pool depth per country. Based on this data, the expected engagement levels and number of suitable candidates from each region were communicated to the client. Sales Navigator was used to filter LinkedIn by keywords and geographies, allowing to us focus on quality profiles only.

We then compiled a list of online job boards specializing in software engineering positions, and calculated the running costs of advertising the position for 3, 6 and 9 months. This was presented to the client for review and eventual budget approval.

On the social media front, our team scouted for IT/software engineering job search groups on facebook and posted shorter versions of the job description as a ‘teaser’ to attract candidates.

Once the hiring campaign was ready to launch, we initiated direct outreach to candidates over Email, LinkedIn and Social Media, engaging with thousands of candidates and scheduling over 50 interviews to-date.

Process Overview

• 1

  Research and geo review
• 2

  Copy creation
• 3

  Email, LI & Social Media campaign
• 4

  Preliminary screening
• 5

  Interview scheduling

Tools and databases

• Candidates databases (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, LinkedIn Jobs, European job boards, Recruit’em X-ray)
  

• Scraping tools (PhantomBuster, RocketReach, Hunter.io)

• Outreach tools (Octopus, Dripify)

Results

Takeaways

• 1
  By taking the time to conduct an exhaustive survey of the Eastern European hiring landscape prior to launching the recruitment process, we were able to identify subtle, yet important nuances between the various job markets in each country, and to adapt our strategy accordingly.
• 2
  Additionally, the decision to leverage Social Media platforms such as facebook groups for expats as well as job-seeking groups, resulted in a significantly higher volume of quality applicants we were able to present to our client.
• 3
  Our client, facing tight internal deadlines, was delighted with both the scope of the outreach and the speed at which new candidates were introduced to the company – this is evident by the fact that, at the time of writing this study, the cooperation is still ongoing.