The Challenge

The client is a prominent and well-known not-for-profit organization in India, founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

Their exact requirement was to hire 3 Odoo developers, 2 React.JS developers, and 2 Python developers. The primary challenges of the client were:

1. The client did not have a tech recruitment team with enough experience to source the right talent for recruitment.
2. As a not-for-profit organization, they had limited budgets for hiring. Thus, they were hesitant to approach IT staffing agencies that were charging a percentage of the developer’s annual salary as hiring fees.
3. The client had limited resources for technical evaluation, and they were concerned that they might not be able to make the right hiring decisions for tech talent sourcing due to a lack of the tech recruiters’ ability.
4. The requirement was for developers who could also provide support to the client over the weekends.

The challenge for TaAp Exchange was to source multiple developers and help the client hire the right developers while keeping in mind the limited budgets.

The Solution

A Recruit-a-thon was proposed to the client to meet their requirement of multiple developers within the budget without compromising on their skills through a virtual hiring event. 

A Recruit-a-thon is a virtual event where several candidates from the same tech stack are evaluated on the same standards to shortlist the best performers. The evaluation is in the form of a competition with cash rewards apart from the prospect of a job opportunity. This format attracts a high number of eligible candidates and also helps in faster evaluation.

For the multi-tech recruit-a-thon, the following evaluation framework was employed.

1. Initial screening and verification 
2. MCQ-based aptitude tests designed by industry experts to assess reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities
3. Custom MCQ-based tests designed by MAANG experts to assess technical skills in Odoo, React, and Python.
4. Coding simulation test to assess the coding skills as required for the job profile
5. Soft-skills assessment to test communication skills and cultural fit
6. Technical interviews by the client’s tech team
7. Final interview with the client’s HR team

The Groundwork

The goal was to get at least 80 developers to participate in the recruit-a-thon. For this, TaAp Exchange needed to reach out to approximately 800 developers so that this goal was met. The team at TaAp Exchange carried out social media campaigns and used existing exclusive talent networks to spread the word and contact eligible candidates, informing them about the event. LinkedIn, Slack, developer communities and forums, internal hiring resources, and more were used to reach out to the candidates. /p>

All registered candidate profiles were verified as genuine, and their resume skills and qualifications were validated to ensure their eligibility for the job roles. A team of 2 technology recruiters from TaAp Exchange worked on sourcing and verification, collectively spending over 70 hours on the activity.

The Event 

The Recruit-a-thon was conducted over 3 days.

Day 1 Agenda

Time	Activity
9:00 – 9:30	Welcome note and agenda
9:30 – 10:00	Common MCQ-based aptitude tests for all candidates
10:00 – 10:15	Break
10:15 – 12:15	Custom MCQ-based tests for Odoo, React, and Python for the relevant candidates
12:15 – 13:15	Break
13:15 – 14:45	Common MCQ-based assessments for soft skills administered to all candidates
14:45 – 15:30	Client presentation to give the company brief and talk about work culture
15:30 – 16:00	Q&A and interaction with client

The relevant tests could be taken by the candidates simultaneously, thanks to the platform that was specially developed for this purpose. The test results were also automatically collated for all candidates.

This saved the time and effort of evaluating a high number of candidates since all tests could be taken on a single day. Candidates were shortlisted for Day 2 according to test performance, and were accordingly intimated.

Day 2 Agenda

The Odoo, React, and Python developers participated in the respective coding assessments simultaneously. All candidates were given scores based on their performance and they were further shortlisted for the technical interviews. 

Day 3 Agenda

Day 3 was held 2 days after Day 2. This was the day technical interviews were conducted. Since the client did not have enough resources to conduct technical interviews, TaAp Exchange supplied technology experts to join their hiring managers on interview panels. Separate interview panels were set up for Odoo, React, and Python.

Post-event support

We collated the results of the recruit-a-thon and shortlisted the candidates into 4 groups as below.

Group A: 99 to 100 percentile (Top 1%) 

Group B: 95 to 99 percentile (Top 5%) 

Group C: 90 to 95 percentile (Top 10%) 

Group D: Above 90 percentile

SPOC from TaAp Exchange helped with scheduling interviews and provided support till the time onboarding was completed. 

Highlights of the event

109 candidates participated on Day 1

Odoo – 35 candidates

React – 38 candidates

Python – 36 candidates

65 candidates were shortlisted and participated on Day 2

Odoo – 22 candidates

React – 22 candidates

Python – 21 candidates

28 candidates were shortlisted on Day 2 for technical interviews on Day 3

Odoo – 10 candidates

React – 10 candidates

Python – 8 candidates

Out of the 25 candidates interviewed, 17 were selected for the HR round

Odoo – 6 candidates

React – 6 candidates

Python – 5 candidates

The client was able to fulfil their need for 7 developers. 

Pricing model offered to the client

The client had a limited budget and was hesitant to pay a large sum upfront. TaAp exchange offered them a flexible pricing model where they would pay a fee of $2500 for the event, and for every successful hire, TaAp Exchange would charge a success fee of 2% of the annual CTC of the candidate. The regular hiring success fee stands at 2.5% of the annual CTC. However, since the client is a not-for-profit organization, a discount was offered.  

For 7 successful hires, this worked out to $2,150 in addition to the event fees. The client ended up paying $4,650 for the event and the successful hires. The client was also given an option to pay the fees in two installments.  

The Results

The client was provided with high-quality talent as per their needs  

Due to the multi-layer evaluation, the client got access to top talent with demonstratable skills. Our tech and HR teams worked to ascertain that the selected candidates were a good fit for the client.

Cost to hire was reduced by 45%

The average salaries of remote developers with 2-6 years of experience for Odoo, React, and Python are:
● Odoo – $10,500 annual CTC
● React – $20,000 annual CTC
● Python – $18,000 annual CTC  

Agencies charge an average of 8% of the candidate’s annual salary for non-profits. For 7 developers in total, this commission fee to agencies with a traditional recruitment process would have cost the client about $8,500

With the flexible pricing model proposed by TaAp Exchange, the client paid only $4,650, saving about $3,850 in total. This helped them reduce their hiring costs by 45%.

Hiring time was reduced by 50%

The average time to hire 7 developers from multiple tech stacks would have usually taken the client 90 days. The recruit-a-thon helped the client in selecting candidates in just 1 week.

There was some delay in issuing offer letters due to approvals pending on the client’s end. However, they issued all offer letters within 30 days of selection. Due to the delays, 1 candidate did not accept the offer. TaAp Exchange helped the client select another candidate from those who were interviewed. We helped fast-track the HR process, and the client could onboard resources quickly.

All candidates were selected and issued offer letters within 45 days bringing down the time to hire by 50%.

Client satisfaction score of 9.1

The client was pleased with the quality of the candidates shortlisted for the interviews. They were also satisfied with the hassle-free process and the SPOC support till the point of onboarding. They rated the experience at 9.1 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Candidate satisfaction score of 8.8

The candidates enjoyed the coding competition and the fast-paced, fun format of the event. They rated the experience at 8.8 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Why Recruit-a-thon?

Taking into account the challenges in hiring tech talent without spending a lot on agency charges, TaAp Exchange recommended a Recruit-a-thon for attracting the right talent. 

Through solid groundwork, TaAp Exchange was able to source eligible candidates to participate in the event, which was a huge success. Due to the format of the tech recruitment activity, which was pitched as a competition, candidates were more interested and invested in the process. 

With the help of our dedicated team members and SPOCs, the entire event was conducted without any hassles.