High volume, no filter
A long list of applicants with no consistent way to compare them against each other or against the role's real requirements.
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Case study | Recruitment Process Design | Southeast Asia
IT Recruiter
Hundreds of applications, no clear way to choose. We built the process that solved it.
overview A growing company expanding into Southeast Asia needed to hire an IT Recruiter to lead their hiring abroad. They had no shortage of applicants, what they lacked was a fair, structured way to tell who was actually right for the role, in a market neither side had operated in before.
Outcome
Hired
offer accepted
Timeline
23 days
incl. holiday period
Finalists
4
advanced to case study
Service
Process Design & Mgmt
Region
Southeast Asia
The Challenge
Plenty of applicants. No way to choose between them.
The client was setting up a team in Southeast Asia, a market they had no prior presence or experience in, and needed an IT Recruiter to lead the effort. This hire was critical to the success of the entire expansion. They posted the opening and received a long list of applications, but quickly hit a wall: without a clear roadmap or evaluation framework, narrowing the list down to the right person felt impossible.
Given how much rode on this hire, and how unfamiliar the local market was to the client, they brought in meet minds to design and manage the recruitment process from the ground up.
No evaluation framework
The client had no structured interview process or assessment method tailored to what an IT Recruiter for this expansion would actually need to do.
An unfamiliar market
Neither the client nor their existing team had operated in this region before, raising the stakes on getting the local hiring lead right.
How We Ran It
Our approach.
We started by listening, understanding exactly what the client needed from this hire and what success would look like in this new market. From there, we identified the core skill sets the role demanded and built a tailored set of interview questions around them.
Every long-listed candidate was evaluated against this framework. Based on the interview outcomes, four candidates advanced to the next stage: a case study exercise designed specifically for this role and this market.
Process
1
Stage one
Needs analysis & tailored interviews
We mapped the skill sets the role required and built custom interview questions around them. Every long-listed candidate was evaluated against the same framework, ensuring a fair, consistent comparison.
2
Stage two
Custom case study
The four strongest candidates were given a case study built specifically around the client's situation, testing recruitment strategy development, market awareness, hiring dashboard design, and talent sourcing. Each candidate presented their solution.
3
Stage three
Evaluation report & decision
We delivered a detailed report on each candidate's strengths and areas for improvement, giving the client an objective, data-driven basis to make the final call.
Outcome
Result
IT Recruiter hired to lead operations in a brand new market, in 23 days.
A long, unstructured list of applicants became a clear, data-backed decision. The entire process, from kickoff to signed offer, ran across the year-end holiday period and still landed in just 23 days. The client filled a critical leadership role in a region they had never operated in before, and walked away with a repeatable evaluation framework for future hires.
FAQ
Common Questions
We already have applicants, do we need a full search?
No. This case is a good example: the client already had a long list of candidates. What they needed was a structured process to evaluate and choose between them. We can step in at exactly this stage, designing the framework, running assessments, and delivering a clear recommendation.
Can you run a process in a market you haven't worked in before?
Yes, this case is a direct example. The client was entering Southeast Asia for the first time. We built the evaluation framework and case study around the realities of that market, even though it was new territory for both sides.
23 days seems fast for this kind of process, how?
The structure is what makes it fast. Because the evaluation framework and case study were designed up front and applied consistently, there was no back and forth or re-evaluating decisions later. Even running through the year-end holiday period, the process stayed on track.
What does a "case study exercise" actually involve?
We design a scenario based on the client's real challenges, for this role it covered recruitment strategy, market analysis, dashboard design, and sourcing. Candidates prepare a solution and present it, giving the client a direct view of how each person thinks and works.
Do you only design the process, or do you manage it end to end?
Both, depending on what's needed. In this case we designed and managed the full process, from interview design through to the final evaluation report. We can also hand off the framework for the client's team to run internally.
