Consultative Approach and Sharp Strategy Help Client Land Specialized Talent

The Client
Part of a $9B, 60-year-old company that offers scalable business solutions for companies in all industries and of all sizes, this client’s division is the leading provider of services and solutions to the car dealership industry. The client focuses on developing products and services that concentrate on helping dealers reduce their overall spend, drive revenue and increase profitability by integrating technology with all areas of dealer management.

The Challenge
As a division of a large, multi-billion dollar company, the client is often subject to direction from the corporate office with little opportunity for input. In this case, the client received directives to increase the security of their internal systems, which would require a very specialized skill set, while adhering to the strict headcount constraints being enforced across the company.

To further intensify the situation, the division leader was made aware that the group had received corporate sponsorship to execute the increased security request. However, the sponsorship funding had a firm start and finish date, which was made apparent about three months into the funding time period, thus reducing a 12-month down to a 7-month window.

The client was then left with a tall task: meet the corporate mandate for increased security, which meant locating high-level, hard-to-find talent, and successfully execute the project within a shorter timeframe than usual to ensure funding.

“EdgeLink spent time upfront to ensure they fully understand the requirements of the project. This due diligence resulted in excellent sourcing of qualified candidates and meeting our expedited timeframe requirements. - Client

The Solution
The client immediately determined that they would need to engage with an outside firm to expeditiously fulfill their task of locating specialized talent within a short window of time. To start, EdgeLink met with the client and followed a disciplined approach to determine the exact skill sets and requirements they needed, as well as any subtleties of the position that would help focus the search. In addition, EdgeLink took the time to run a few “test candidates” past the client to determine whether their parameters for the search were on track. This allowed the client to fine-tune their requirements and EdgeLink to pinpoint their search to specifically meet the client’s unique needs.

EdgeLink didn’t just match “A’s” and “B’s;” they took the time to get a deeper understanding of the full project to find the best people in the shortest amount of time. As a result, a partnership was developed between EdgeLink and the client where a back-and-forth style of communication was established throughout the search process to ensure that only the highest-quality candidates who met the specialized requirements were submitted.

“What I was looking for first and foremost was quality—making sure that the candidates submitted were the right fit. We did not have time for mismatched candidates and EdgeLink took every step to make sure that did not happen. The candidates they sent through were well-screened. I was pleased with the way our contact at EdgeLink constantly reaffirmed the requirements, followed up with me and became my partner in identifying the talent we needed,” said the client.

The Results
As a result of the partnership that EdgeLink established with this client, they were not only able to identify and place the highly skilled and specialized candidates required for the project, but they were able to do so quickly—which was key to the success of this engagement. The candidates placed were able to ramp up rapidly and hit the ground running, as well as effectively integrate with the client’s existing team.

Based on the success of the initial engagement, the client was able to acquire additional funding for subsequent phases of this specialized project and chose to continue partnering with EdgeLink to fulfill the staffing needs. The ability to secure additional funding is dependent on the success of each phase, and to date, the project is still underway.

“EdgeLink is effective. They take time to understand the needs of their clients and confirm that their understanding is correct. And they are innovative. Their procedures for sourcing and interviewing candidates are good and resulted in excellent candidates,” said the client.

About EdgeLink
EdgeLink is a boutique technology staffing firm with offices in Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado. EdgeLink recruits the industry’s best mid- to executive-level technology professionals on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct-hire basis. Since the company’s inception in 2003, EdgeLink has earned recognition as the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon by Oregon Business Magazine four years in a row: 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007. In addition, EdgeLink was recently named to Inavero’s inaugural 2010 Best of Staffing List presented by CareerBuilder to recognize exceptional client service in the staffing industry. EdgeLink also received the Inavero Platinum Service Excellence Award in 2009; and the Portland Business Journal named the company one of the Top 25 Technology providers in 2009, one of the Top 25 Staffing Firms in 2008, 2006 and 2005, and one of the Fastest Growing Private 100 in 2010, 2009 and 2007. To learn more, please visit www.edgelink.com.

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