Two senior roles in two months in a limited talent pool: Yaga's case

The challenge

Yaga had a clear understanding of the profiles they were looking for, as they had successfully hired similar roles in the past. However, the main challenge was not defining the roles, it was finding the right candidates.

In larger, more established companies with strong brand recognition, publishing a job description can quickly generate a high volume of applicants. In contrast, Yaga, as a smaller and less widely known company, did not benefit from the same level of inbound interest.

This was further complicated by the size of the Estonian market, which limited the available talent pool. As a result, sourcing the right candidates required a much more proactive and targeted approach, rather than filtering through large volumes of applicants.

The solution

TalentHub provided an end-to-end recruitment solution, acting as an extension of Yaga’s internal team.

1. Strong alignment from the start

TalentHub and Yaga began with a detailed kick-off, where the hiring team clearly defined must-have and nice-to-have criteria, as well as what a strong or weak candidate looks like.

2. Clear role definition and targeting

TalentHub worked closely with Yaga to define what a strong candidate looks like, including target companies, relevant backgrounds, and clear evaluation criteria.

3. High-quality candidate pipeline

In the first round, TalentHub delivered 3–7 candidates, with around 80% matching the required profile, showing strong understanding of the role.

4. Acting as an in-house partner

TalentHub operated as an embedded recruiter by maintaining constant communication, quickly responding to requests, and proactively solving issues throughout the process.

5. Full process management

TalentHub coordinated stakeholders, maintained fast feedback loops, and ensured continuous communication with candidates, helping to avoid delays and drop-offs.

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The results

1. Successful hires delivered quickly

TalentHub closed two senior hires in 49–54 days, faster than expected by the client.

2. Strong stakeholder alignment

TalentHub helped align multiple stakeholders across different teams, ensuring clear expectations and smoother decision-making throughout the process.

3. Faster and smoother hiring process

The hiring process was fast and smooth, with quick feedback loops and efficient communication throughout.

4. Improved candidate experience and retention

Through continuous communication and strong expectation management, TalentHub kept candidates engaged throughout the process, reducing the risk of drop-offs.

5. Enabling scalable hiring

The collaboration highlighted the need for a dedicated people function, showing that scaling the team effectively would not be possible without a recruitment partner or in-house hiring capability.