Hired

Hired operates as a curated talent marketplace with a focus on connecting technology and sales professionals with companies. Founded in 2012 by Matt Mickiewicz, Douglas Feirstein, and Allan Grant, the company initially launched as DeveloperAuction before rebranding. The founders, all serial entrepreneurs, identified a significant inefficiency in the traditional recruitment process for technical roles and aimed to create a more transparent and candidate-driven platform. Mickiewicz previously co-founded successful ventures like 99designs and SitePoint, while Feirstein was a founder of LiveOps. Their collective experience in building online marketplaces and addressing market pain points directly influenced Hired's development.

The platform operates on a dual revenue stream model, primarily generating income through both subscription fees and placement fees. Companies pay for access to a pre-vetted pool of candidates and advanced recruitment tools, including AI-powered matching algorithms and communication platforms. A placement fee, typically a percentage of the candidate's first-year salary, is also charged upon a successful hire. This model evolved from an initial transactional approach to a subscription basis to foster long-term client relationships and provide more predictable revenue. Hired serves a range of clients, from startups to established enterprises like Dropbox and Peloton, by streamlining their hiring process and reducing the time spent on sourcing candidates.

Hired's core service is its reverse recruiting marketplace, where companies apply to candidates rather than the other way around. This empowers job seekers by providing upfront information on salary and benefits. The platform is highly selective, reportedly accepting only a small percentage of applicants to maintain a high-quality talent pool of professionals in fields like software engineering, data science, and product management. To further enhance the hiring process, Hired offers features like custom technical assessments and tools designed to reduce unconscious bias, such as removing names and photos from initial search results. In November 2020, Hired was acquired by Vettery, a talent marketplace owned by The Adecco Group. This acquisition led to the combination of both platforms, expanding the talent pool to include sales and finance roles and creating a more comprehensive AI-driven talent marketplace. As of June 2024, Hired has been integrated into LHH Recruitment Solutions, further expanding its service offerings.

Keywords: talent marketplace, tech recruitment, candidate sourcing, subscription model, placement fees, reverse recruiting, skills assessment, hiring platform, AI matching, workforce solutions