How Bloom Helped Versett Cut Time to Hire by 40%
Versett is a highly creative consultancy and needs a very particular type of talented person (ps — they are hiring!). For years, that meant the leadership team handled recruiting internally, but the company was growing at a pace they couldn’t keep up with. In the end, they trusted Bloom to help them grow and couldn’t be happier. Doug van Spronsen, the founder of Versett, explained more about the unique process they use to hire and how working with Bloom helped cut time to hire by 40% while still placing the right candidates.
The challenge: a unique interview process and limited internal capacity
Versett had always handled their hiring in-house, but finally reached the best kind of breaking point: they were growing so quickly and still needed to increase headcount by 15–20%, so their internal capacity hit its limit.
“Our interview process is unique, spanning up to five stages for senior leadership,” said Doug. “We knew it would be a complex task, but we didn’t have the internal capacity for it so we looked to partner with a recruiter.”
While he knew he needed to outsource, Doug was hesitant to give up the reins. It’s not just that Versett’s recruiting process is unique, it’s that the process is reflective of the company’s culture. Handing that off to a third party, said Doug, was going to require a lot of trust. Bloom came highly recommended by the tech and creative communities, so Doug was open to a conversation.
Doug was delighted to find significant values alignment not just in how Bloom’s team thinks, but also in how Bloom partners with growing companies. Leveraging an embedded recruiting partner model, Doug felt confident that the Bloom team would act as extensions of Versett, not just a third-party recruiter angling for a finder’s fee.
Working with Bloom: fast-paced with rapid changes
Doug had a tall order for Bloom: hiring six people across multiple senior levels, all in 3–4 months.
Bloom got to work immediately, focusing on a variety of elements as an embedded recruiting partner:
- Job description and role guide design: Communicating what’s so unique about Versett to draw in the right candidates.
- Initial screenings: Coordinating all candidates and ensuring they matched Versett’s standards.
- Facilitating outbound reach outs: When there was someone Doug really wanted to chat with, Bloom “a lot of the heavy lifting” to get a conversation started.
- Process facilitation: As top-tier candidates made their way through the process, Bloom dealt with all the administration so Doug and his team could focus on getting to know the candidates.
“The Bloom team was great at handling the complexity and iterations of our recruiting process,” said Doug. “I really felt like they were a partner with us on this journey, and took the pressure of our internal team.”
A powerful outcome: 40% reduction in time to hire
Despite multiple iterations and changes along the way to match Versett’s unique culture, the Bloom team delivered exactly what Doug and Versett needed: multiple talented people at an incredibly fast pace.
Working internally, Doug estimates Versett’s time to hire is between 12–15 weeks. Working with Bloom, each candidate was placed within about 8 weeks, resulting in a 40% reduction in time to hire. And to Doug’s happiness, all candidates that Bloom sourced were strong, making it easy for Doug and his team to find the absolute best fit.
“Working with Bloom, we placed critical senior talent almost twice as quickly as our normal process,” said Doug.
Recommending Bloom to anyone
One of the things Doug loves most about working with Bloom is their inherent flexibility. Instead of only working on a finder’s fee model, Bloom’s embedded recruiting partner offering meant that when the process needed to change, Bloom was right there with them. That meant Bloom was a true partner with Versett, which Doug loved as an entrepreneur.
“The Bloom team showed a lot of intention and commitment to helping Versett grow,” said Doug. “The team was creative, effective, and kind. Those are all incredibly valuable attributes when you’re putting your trust in a third-party, and Bloom exceeded all expectations.”
