How Paraform brings more business for David and his agency
David owns and operates a recruiting agency called DRH Search. He has been operating his one-man shop for a little more than four years. Previously he was a recruiter in a few different agencies working
in multiple verticals.
How David got started in recruiting
Like most, I fell into recruiting while looking for “my real job” but ended up loving the challenges and rewards of the industry. I’ve always had an interest in the tech and startup scene, especially in Boston, and I wanted to partner with founders who were looking to make early hires. I started DRH Search in the fall of 2019 with that focus in mind. Because I target early-stage startups (often times pre-seed), I offer a very low placement fee. While I’ve certainly left some money on the table, the low fee has opened up a lot of doors for me with startups who generally don’t work with external recruiters, so the approach has been successful overall.
I’m always open to chatting with candidates, founders, and hiring managers regardless of the possibility of working with them. I genuinely enjoy networking and learning more about people’s motivations, career paths, and visions for their future.
What do you like about recruiting on Paraform?
I love the Paraform platform for a variety of reasons – the clients, the UI, the commission structure, and the communication from the founders.
Most of the clients are small, growing startups, which is my primary focus. These companies are usually working on some very interesting products or solutions that allow me to enthusiastically and genuinely present roles to potential candidates.
The platform itself is very easy to navigate, and the fact that I communicate directly with the hiring manager for the role allows to for quick and direct messaging.
The payment structure on commissions is great as well. Receiving the first third of the commission within 14 days is an awesome perk and is certainly appreciated. The fact that you reward partial bonuses for interview progression is also a terrific motivator for me.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the communication from John and the founding team at Paraform has been amazing. It’s been very easy to ramp up on there because of their help and the features they’ve implemented on the platform.
What was it like recruiting for Edvo
I enjoyed recruiting for the Database Engineer (Rust) role at Edvo. It was a bit of a niche role at a small company, so I really dug in to understand Edvo, their product, and their founders. Shireen (CEO and hiring manager) was always quick to respond, and her communication was clear and concise which allowed for a quick turnaround time. I submitted the candidate at the end of June, the offer was made at the end of July, and he started at Edvo in early August.
Have you ever recruited on other similar platforms before?
I have had some experience with other platforms, but they’ve been a bit different. For starters, a lot of the companies on those platforms are more corporate or larger companies with very few startups or smaller companies.
Some platforms have the communication to and from the recruiters go through the platform employees, rather than directly to the hiring managers. I usually do not actively source on those platforms, but will just browse them regularly in case there are roles on there for candidates I’ve met with.
I approach roles on Paraform as I do for roles with my direct clients. I research the company, the founders and hiring managers, and then I actively source and recruit candidates. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on Paraform and excited to see what the rest of 2023 will bring.
What do you like about recruiting for early stage startups?
Startups really interest me because of the dedication and the vested interest that founders and early employees have in that company growing and succeeding. Not that people at larger companies aren’t passionate about what they’re doing, but more often than not it’s more evident at smaller startups. I love the challenge of finding candidates who would make great, long-term hires at these organizations and it makes the job so rewarding when you succeed.
Ready to start recruiting and earning?
Apply to join Paraform today!