How ‘TikTok for resumes’ startup Zapid Hire is revolutionising recruitment for the post-pandemic era

Aussie startup Zapid Hire is bringing the TikTok trend into recruitment, replacing lengthy online processes and traditional resumes with short-form videos.

Within just eight months, it’s attracted 300 businesses, and, according to co-founder and chief executive Andrew Dewez, this is just the beginning.

Founded by Dewez and Sam Price, founder of Mexican restaurant chain Zambrero, Zapid Hire allows employers or hiring managers to post job ads by video.

Job hunters can swipe on the roles they’re interested in and respond with their own short view resumes.

Initially, the pair built the tool to speed up Zambrero’s own hiring processes. Since using the platform, the chain has decreased its no-show rate for interviews by about 35%, and is able to fill positions up to five times faster.

“If you’re going to hire a developer you look at the code they write. If you’re going to hire a designer you look at their portfolio. But if you want to hire someone on the front line you want to look at their personality,” Dewez tells SmartCompany.

“Resumes from Indeed and Seek don’t show off communication and soft skills,” he adds.

The idea is to reduce hiring time for industries such as hospitality, retail, sales and food service.

On average, hiring for these roles takes 32 days, Dewez says. Currently, the average time to hire through Zapid Hire is six days.

Ultimately, the founder believes that can be halved again, getting the right workers into roles within just three days.

“We’re trying to literally be ten times faster,” he says.

Since launching eight months ago, Zapid Hire has onboarded about 300 businesses, including the likes of Betty’s Burgers, Rockpool Dining Group, some Subway and Pizza Hut franchisees, and FunLab, which owns Strike Bowling and Holey Moley indoor golf clubs.

The business is seeing revenue growth of 60-80%, month-on-month, Dewez says. When lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne start to ease, he expects to see that pick up considerably.

“Everyone is gearing up for reopening,” he says.

“Demand is just going through the roof at the moment.”

Has COVID-19 changed the way we hire?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused “probably the biggest shift in the labour marketplace ever,” the co-founder says.

Of course, workers in the hospitality and retail sectors were some of the worst affected.

Now, in parts of Australia at least, we’re seeing what Dewez calls “the great re-hiring”. Current systems are simply not built for the sheer volume of hiring required.

The pandemic has led to a huge shift in technology adoption, seen across all kinds of industries, but there has also been a shift in culture, too.

People are using their phones for more things, Dewez notes, so it stands to reason they would also use them for job applications.

Gen Z and young millennial applicants have also become very accustomed to the user experience of short video content.

“We wanted to give them something they were used to, not these outdated systems.”

Dewez believes the way businesses approach hiring is set to change on a huge scale. And, as is the case in so many sectors, he believes COVID-19 didn’t cause the shift, it simply accelerated it.

What’s next for Zapid Hire?

Dewez is already making a move in the US market, having signed on Park Hyatt Hotels in New York.

Now, he’s gearing up to raise some capital to fuel that expansion, and generally accelerate growth.

The team is also focused on improving the product, and getting average hiring time through the platform down to three days. That means implementing new tools, for example, allowing applicants to book a potential interview slot when they send their video resume.

That would take away admin time for scheduling, Dewez explains, and means some people could have their interview locked in within minutes of applying.

He wants to make the process feel “like magic”, he explains — the way people felt the first time they used Uber.

“We’re trying to create this idea of one-click hiring.”