8 Hires in 45 Days
The Challenge
A Calgary tech startup had just closed a seed round and needed to scale from 6 to 14 employees in 60 days. They had no HR function, no recruiting process, and the founders were spending 30+ hours per week on hiring — interviewing unqualified candidates sourced from job boards and burning out their team with the distraction. Two key hires had already fallen through after accepting offers.
The Solution
Zirka stood up a complete talent acquisition function in 2 weeks: (1) Role definition — worked with founders to define clear job specs, culture fit criteria, and 90-day success metrics for each role. (2) Sourcing strategy — built a multi-channel sourcing pipeline (LinkedIn, referrals, targeted outreach) for each position. (3) Screening system — implemented a structured screening and assessment process that reduced unqualified interviews by 80%. (4) Offer process — created competitive offer packages and a candidate experience process that eliminated drop-off. (5) Onboarding framework — built a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan to set new hires up for success.
The Results
- 8 qualified hires completed in 45 days (2 roles still in progress at 45-day mark, hired by day 60)
- Founder time on hiring reduced from 30hrs/week to 4hrs/week
- 0 offer rejections after the screening process was implemented
- 87% of new hires still with the company 12 months later
- Saved estimated $40,000 in recruiter fees vs. traditional agency model
"We were drowning in bad candidates and wasting everyone's time. Zirka built a real process in two weeks and then executed it. We got 8 great people without destroying our culture or burning out the team." — Co-Founder, Calgary Tech Startup
