Team Up Recruitment

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of recruitment for Europe and Africa for Lovisa. We’re a high street retailer that sells fashion jewelry. We have about 250 in Europe and 850 globally. Our European support center is based in Warsaw.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team Up IT Recruitment?

Our support center was built in Europe two years ago, and we only had two people. Many teams were being built in Europe to serve Europe and global teams. We had many new IT roles, including 12 crucial positions. 

At the beginning of March 2023, we started recruiting by ourselves, but it didn’t go well. We approached people on LinkedIn, but it was slow and didn’t get us too far. We then went to another IT recruitment company on our agency list. They said they could fill these roles without problems. Months later, they hadn’t had any interviews.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Team Up IT Recruitment specializes in IT recruitment. Initially, we had a robust contracting process. Whenever we give them a project, they get the full job description and direct contact with the hiring managers. They brief the hiring managers and have ongoing discussions with them. Team Up IT Recruitment sources the candidates, and once we decide they’ll join us, they step off.

We began using Team Up IT Recruitment as a recruitment supplier, but then we had a different problem. We had several junior IT roles that were time-consuming to fill. We couldn’t get them from advertising; we needed to sit down and proactively approach candidates. We asked Team Up IT Recruitment if they could give us a recruiter as an intern for a period just to clean those roles and go across.

Since then, we’ve paid Team Up IT Recruitment a fixed monthly term to come in and act internally to clean up roles. We’ve given them more and more roles, and they’ll probably finish with them in February 2024

What is the team composition?

We’re in contact with Sebastian (Co-Founder & Head of Client Success), Anna (RPO Manager), and Daria (IT Recruitment Consultant).

How did you come to work with Team Up IT Recruitment?

They were recommended to us by one of our existing staff. Sebastian met with our CEO, who happened to be in Warsaw that week. He gave Team Up IT Recruitment the approval to come on board and signed the contract to have them fill out roles for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve paid about 400,000 Zloty (approximately $101,000 USD) on the recruitment side. We also pay 20,000 Zloty (approximately $5,000 USD) per month on the RPO side.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in June 2023, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In the first couple of months, we had some offers that went badly because they were still learning about the marketplace. We had some problems with the salaries we were paying and our employment conditions. We wanted direct employment with the candidates, but many resources in Poland’s IT market didn’t want that for tax reasons. We also offered a five-day week in the office, and many people wanted to go hybrid.

In the beginning, we were really struggling to find people. Eventually, Team Up IT Recruitment convinced us to change some of our policies. We’ve taken on people B2B, which we would’ve never done previously. Additionally, we’ve increased salaries. It took some time to convince us to change to get things going. Since then, everything has gone well.

We hope we get to a stage where we’ll stop working with Team Up IT Recruitment because there’ll be nothing left to do. They’ll complete the job and fill every role we’ve got.

How did Team Up IT Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver well on individual tasks; the results have come slightly slower. However, it had to do with the working conditions we were employing. In general, if they say they’ll do something by a certain time, they do it.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Sebastian made the first impact on our CEO, which made the partnership possible. He was credible from the beginning.

Additionally, Anna is universally respected. Her shared skills and ability to proactively communicate have been fantastic. Overall, we feel really positive about Team Up IT Recruitment.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility is outstanding. We went to Team Up IT Recruitment with business problems, and they’ve been open to finding ways to solve them, even if it means doing something slightly different from what they usually do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were very polite about telling us what we needed to do differently to be able to hire. They could’ve been a bit tougher from the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Having high business heads as key contacts is quite important. I suspect that if we were left with junior teammates, the engagement probably wouldn’t go as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the people manager at an IT company managing and creating tools to help with data visualization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We had a challenging market in terms of IT roles. As a result, we reached out to Team Up IT Recruitment to help us find IT candidates. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We share our specifications for the candidates we’re looking for, including all the must-haves, features, and scripts we need to develop. Team Up IT Recruitment shares the summary of the sprints and the recruitment process from their perspective every week. 

That way, we know who is responsible for specific projects, how many candidates they reach out to and have conversations with, and how many candidates are moving forward in the recruitment process. 

What is the team composition?

One representative cooperates closely with us, and at least four people work on our projects. Our main point of contact is Team Up’s head of client success. 

How did you come to work with Team Up IT Recruitment?

Our project manager established a partnership with them. I followed up and continued the collaboration with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in October 2022, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Team Up IT Recruitment has found one candidate for one role, and he’s signed a contract with us; he’ll start working within a month. 

How did Team Up IT Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

Every Friday, we conduct a catch-up call to discuss obstacles, changes to roles, and anything else new. Team Up has been great at communicating, and they respond quickly. I can always call them if I experience any trouble. Moreover, they ask important questions to candidates. 

We communicate via our applicant tracking system. They upload the CV of the candidates to the system, which makes it easy for us to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I enjoy our routine sprints every other week, and their communications are well-organized.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’d appreciate having more candidates from their city because we have a large office in there. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Reach out to Team Up, and they’ll take care of the rest. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work in HR at a mid-sized E-commerce Leader B2B in Poland

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Team Up IT Recruitment?

We had a lot of HR projects, so we needed help in recruitment of IT specialists

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We considered multiple firms online, looking at their reviews. In the end, we chose this firm because we liked their comunication style and clear terms of cooperation.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Initially, TeamUp IT's recruiters started with requirements gathering to understand exactly what and who we need. They sent recommendations of matched candidates very quickly. We very much appreciate that the candidates not only met the technical requirements but were also matched with soft skills

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I was working with Recruitment Project Manager, along with 4 recruiters from Team Up.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Team Up was able to send us resumes that meet our needs and requirements within a few days. In less than 3 weeks we have closed recruitment for the position of Windows Server Systems Administrator. Thanks to Team Up, we also hired a Senior PHP Developer with knowledge of Magento.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The quality of the workflow between us was extremely effective - we communicated with them nearly every day.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What made the biggest impression on us was big engaged recruitment team. Moreover, their flexibility, communication, openness to change, and fast-paced recruitment process have impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

EG is specializing in software development for vertical markets. I involved in the development of WEB site for construction industry. I'm heading small R&D team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Team Up IT Recruitment, and what were your goals?

Our project was under-staffed for the plans we had to materialize. We were looking for full-stack developers and mobile developers in the range of mid to senior levels. The recruitment goal was to find "a few good men" with passion for software development and interested in long term full-time employment.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

TeamUp was recommended by former recruitment specialist, which whom our company had long lasting successful relation. The relation ended because of personal recruiter reasons.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started with discussion about our development procedures, technologies used, and candidate soft skills required and nice to have. We have established the basic rules of communication between us and proceeded with recruitment. Each presented candidate had the same interview flow. At the end of interview, we gave the feedback to recruitment agency. The feedback was either a job contract or explanation why we cannot make an offer to the candidate.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We were in contact with one person from TeamUp - hiring coordinator.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We are very satisfied with the candidates recommended by TeamUp. All candidates fit our project/bussines profile and 50% of them were offered the job contract. From our hiring practice this is remarkably high sucess rate.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

TeamUp send us the email with candidate CV and summary from recruiter. Summary gave more information about the candidate then the CV alone. We conducted meeting with TeamUp hiring coordinator using Microsoft Teams and other communication was done using email messages.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

TeamUp really listened to us; the fact that there were no misfits among their recommendations is remarkable by itself. We never had the impression that we are presented with candidates just known to the TemaUp - quite opposite, all candidates were carefully preselcted, so our interview process went smoothly and effectively.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No - everything went as expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the staffing and resource management lead for Fusion Consulting Poland, a consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TeamUp Digital?

We needed someone to provide recruitment services for our Eastern Europe entities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TeamUp Digital recruits qualified consultants for specific clients and projects. We send them a list of requirements and qualifications our clients are looking for, and their team screens and vets candidates that best fit our needs.

They’ve recruited over 13 professionals, and we’re still working with them for further requests.

What is the team composition?

There are two recruitment specialists who we’re in touch with.

How did you come to work with TeamUp Digital?

They were recommended by someone who had worked with them before.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $22,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’re very responsive, especially regarding some of our immediate demands, and they’ve successfully provided us with high-quality candidates while adhering strictly to our requirements.

It’s quite hard to find candidates nowadays, so they’ve been a huge factor in helping us connect with highly qualified professionals.

How did TeamUp Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very receptive to our feedback and requests and are always on time when it comes to delivering their tasks.

We typically communicate weekly through email and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their responsiveness and ability to deliver verified candidates.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they need to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To get the most out of your engagement with TeamUp Digital, I would advise you to be clear with your requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of a branch of a US investment firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We engaged Team Up to help us hire C++ developers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had three open positions for which Team Up provided a good flow of candidates. Before we started with the recruitment process, we discussed with Team Up our expectations from each candidate and what background, technical skills, and education we were looking for in each one. They then sourced and reviewed resumes, screened applicants, and conducted initial interviews.

I can’t provide the specific number, but Team Up was able to forward between 10–20 qualified candidates across all three positions. We’ve hired one developer already and are in the process of filling the other positions.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with two people from Team Up.

How did you come to work with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We came across them online and decided to try out their services. They came across as very professional compared to the other providers that we’ve worked with.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost per position field depends on how much we’re paying for that particular position.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them last March 2022, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The candidates Team Up has provided are of high quality and are well-matched to what we’re looking for. We have a very high standard for our programmers, and they have no trouble finding people who can meet that. The team doesn’t simply forward us any resume, either; they really study each candidate and even present us with a summary of their qualifications based on the screening and initial interview. 

How did Team Up IT Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

Team Up is meeting our expectations in terms of the candidates screened. They promptly and regularly update us via email, and I feel that I’m being informed well throughout the recruitment process. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Thus far, they’ve done better than the other recruitment agencies that we’ve worked with. The candidates they’ve provided are a better match for our available roles, and I believe this is because they have a much better screening process. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I do wish that we could hire more people or hire people with higher qualifications, but the market is difficult. It’s especially more challenging since the roles we’re looking to fill require the employees to work at the office. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay in close contact with Team Up throughout the hiring process. From describing your expectations to providing feedback for each candidate, communicating frequently is a good way to ensure your success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of a UK based venture capital start-up studio. We invest in new technology start-ups, and help them build their business & digital platform/goods.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Team Up IT Recruitment?

We needed to hire fullstack Javascript developers and QA engineers to augment our existing capabilities and teams.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

We spoke to a number of recruitment firms before deciding that TeamUp were the right fit for us. They were always willing to go the extra mile for us, and were extremely professional but friendly all the way through.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They provided us with plenty of great quality CVs, almost all of which we took to the next stage with interviews. They had already done all the hard work of dilligently screening out those who wouldn't fit well for us, so when it came to the interviews we were confident every candidate was a real potential next employee.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Very simple from our side. We talked about our requirements, the large demand in our area at the moment, and the best way to tackle that. We gave the job descriptions and in return we got plenty of high quality CVs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

We have managed to find candidates to fill all of our roles. So far it has been very successful, and we hope to continue with many more with TeamUp.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely effective. We had good contact with weekly updates, and regular emails. Never felt like we had to chase anyone up for updates. Would highly recommend them for their friendly but professional manner.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The willingness to listen and try help a business set themselves up in a new country. They give plenty of great advice and always go that extra mile to help us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing that comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT development and operations at Expereo. We’re a worldwide internet provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We brought them on for recruitment services. We needed to fill eight positions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Team Up IT Recruitment works within the IT market to find us candidates. Our needed positions included developers, security officers, DevOps, and engineers. Their team handled the first assessment of the candidates and executed the entire recruitment process. Once a candidate was vetted, our internal team performed content meetings and interviews to make our decision.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Sebastian (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We found them through online research. Our team found a few recruitment agencies and started cooperating with three agencies at the same time. However, Team Up IT Recruitment was the best one and provided the most value.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality of their recruiting is high. The profiles they provide are always very good and adjusted to our needs. We’re very pleased.

How did Team Up IT Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication and cooperation are very good. We communicate through phone calls or email. Their team is responsive and reacts very quickly to demands. They’re very flexible. Project management is good. They utilize a scrum methodology for performing the recruitment process. Their team provides ongoing feedback and adjusts as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive, flexible, and have great customer experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d push them to keep growing. Currently, they’re mainly in Central Europe. They should try to become a worldwide recruitment agency. We’d love to cooperate with Team Up IT Recruitment in different markets as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be proactive and cooperate with them in a flexible way. Rather than focusing on formalities, focus on communication.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT recruitment lead of CSHARK, a software house. We have our own profile on Clutch.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We needed help with recruitment for two vacancies, namely Golang backend developers with Kubernetes skills.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had two recruitment processes with Team Up IT Recruitment, the first one being for the two Golang developers. One of the vacancies was fulfilled by our internal HR department and the second one by them. That candidate is starting next Monday.

For the second engagement, we were looking for two full-stack developers with Golang and React.js skills, but our client resigned in the middle of the process.

What is the team composition?

They assigned three recruiters to our project. I only had contact with their principal.

How did you come to work with Team Up IT Recruitment?

They sent a very specific email at a time when I wasn’t looking for recruiters. It had a lot of details about their services. I decided to respond to the email, and we started talking. I found out more about their company and decided to try a collaboration.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ll invest 24,000 Polish zloty (approximately $7,000 USD) if the candidate stays with our company for a minimum of three months.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from September–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I’ve worked with a lot of recruitment agencies and what distinguishes them is that they prepare great reports about their work. These reports detail what they’ve done so far, what they’re working on, what is the market feedback for our company, and insights about the technologies we’re looking for.

What’s more, when they recommend candidates, they also prepare candidate previews next to the CVs. The documentation they gave me was high quality, and I could send it straight through to the client.

How did Team Up IT Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. We had weekly meetings with their principal where she updated me on what was in their pipelines, how many candidates they’d contacted, and so on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The fee could always be lower, but Team Up IT Recruitment was great when it came to communication and collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an outsourcing company specialized in game development. Most are web-based, using technologies like JavaScript and PixiJS.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We were looking for experienced game developers that were skilled at both JavaScript web development and game development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Team Up IT provided us regular and senior game developers as well as one manual tester specialized in websites and web games.

The expectation was that they would be able to deliver good-quality code with minimal supervision from me, and that the code would be flexible and easily-maintainable. They needed to focus on software performance, especially on mobile browsers.

We started with the manual tester role, and this went quite fast. I got a lot of CVs, I picked eight of them, and we organized face-to-face interviews together with Team Up IT.

The JavaScript situation was a bit more complex. The position wasn’t easy to fill, but we had plenty of time. We picked three candidates and sent them one-week assignments, also with Team Up’s help. I and my team reviewed the results, after which we had the second, face-to-face interviews with the candidates.

How did you come to work with Team Up IT Recruitment?

We found them through a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their services was around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Team Up in 2019, we had the final interviews in January or February 2020, and everything was wrapped up by March.

Our initial plan was to hire more people, but that changed a bit because of the pandemic. I plan to reach out to Mateusz (Co-Founder) if we need another candidate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Team Up IT is really good at finding IT candidates, and I’ll definitely recommend them. They understand the tech side, and they were professional. I was sure that I wouldn’t need another recruitment agency because the team would do the work, and they did. We trusted Team Up IT one hundred percent, and they didn’t fail.

How did Team Up IT Recruitment perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a very informal atmosphere, and we could have friendly, offtopic conversations. I didn’t need any tools, and I don’t know whether Team Up IT offers them. 

They worked in two-week sprints, and they gave us reports with summaries of all candidates and how many of them were in process at the end of each one. This was enough for me, and, if I wanted more details, I could always call Mateusz. We also had meetings to discuss candidate profiles.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really good in the IT area. Team Up IT understands the tech world. I’ve collaborated with a lot of recruiters, and many of them were unable to find good profiles based on my requirements. I didn’t have this problem with Team Up IT. They deliver the best candidates, compared to other recruitment agencies, and I have friends in other companies that can confirm this.

I also liked the friendly, informal atmosphere. I could always call them and ask about the status, and our business meetings were more like friend-to-friend ones. Both sides preferred it that way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Team Up IT steered clear of everything the agencies I worked with before them did badly. I can’t think of anything they could’ve improved.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s important to prepare a good job assignment, explain the needs to Team Up IT, and not hesitate to call or write them about details or extra questions for the candidates.

I will often ask Mateusz what he thought based on industry standards, and he always helps me make a decision.