Case Studies Near Cuts Time-to-Hire by Over 50% with Criteria

Challenge

Near is a staffing firm that connects US companies with Latin American talent. They source remote talent across a wide range of roles, including marketing, finance, sales, operations, engineering, and more. As a staffing firm, Near’s goal is to deliver high quality candidates to their customers. Their biggest goal was to reduce time-to-hire and quickly deliver top-tier talent so that they could continue to grow their business.   

Solution

Near started using Criteria’s assessments both to hire new staff at their own growing company, and to find talent for their clients who are seeking to hire employees in Latin America. Depending on the role, Near used several of Criteria’s assessments, including the CCAT, UCAT, EPP, and SalesAP.

1. The CCAT, or Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test, is a cognitive ability assessment that measures critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to learn and apply new information.
2. The UCAT, or Universal Cognitive Aptitude Test, also measures cognitive ability but is ideal for international candidates.
3. The EPP, or Employee Personality Profile, is a general personality assessment that measures a wide range of behavioral traits associated with particular roles.
4. The SalesAP, or Sales Achievement Predictor, is a personality assessment that focuses on identifying candidates that can succeed in a sales role.

Near used the assessments to help determine which candidates to invite to an interview.

Results

By using Criteria’s assessments, Near was able to dramatically reduce their time-to-hire, delight their customers, and grow their revenue.

75% Less Time Spent on Interviews

Before using Criteria, the recruiters at Near were spending a lot of time interviewing candidates that were not qualified for the role. They would need to interview at least 12 people per position in order to make one hire. Each interview would take 30 to 45 minutes. So, in total, the recruiters would have to spend around 540 minutes (or 9 hours) on interviews to make one hire.

After Near started incorporating Criteria’s assessments into their screening process, they found that they were quickly able to identify the most qualified candidates before inviting them to the interview. The assessments provided a reliable and predictive signal about which candidates were most likely to succeed. By using Criteria’s assessments, Near now interviews about 2-3 people per position in order to make a hire. Conservatively, they now spend about 135 minutes (or a little over two hours) on interviews to make one hire.

This represents a 75% decrease in the amount of time that the Near team has to spend on interviews. In other words, the assessments helped Near identify and deliver high quality candidates to their customers, faster.

53% Faster Time-to-Hire

Because the assessments increased Near’s hiring efficiency, it enabled them to fill their customers’ roles much faster.

Before using Criteria, Near’s time-to-hire was around 45 days, similar to the global average. After they started using Criteria’s assessments, they were able to reduce their time-to-hire to an average of 21 days. This represents a decrease of 53%.

Greater Revenue

For Near, time-to-hire is directly related to their bottom line. According to Near, “filling roles faster allows us to take on more roles and take on more business.”

After Near started using Criteria, they were able to achieve a 50% increase in the number of placements they were able to fill for their customers. This not only enables them to serve more customers but also to increase the pace of their own growth through greater revenue.

And because Near is able to advertise and deliver on an average of 21 days to hire, they are able to attract more business and gain repeat, satisfied customers.

Delighted Customers

Criteria’s assessments enable Near to deliver high quality candidates to their customers. According to Near, they hear from customers that “they are just delighted with the candidates we hire, and that’s why they keep coming back.”

Criteria’s assessments also helped Near reduce churn and attrition by placing employees who are more likely to be successful in their roles and who will stay in those roles for a long time.