Attracting top-tier talent with the right mindset and mission fit
Candidates hired
9
Avg. time to hire
41 days
The story
SmartCap has operated since 2011 and manages two funds: the SmartCap Venture Capital Fund, which supports Estonian startups by backing VC funds, and the SmartCap Green Fund, which invests in Greentech-focused VC funds and companies. Notable start-ups in SmartCap’s investment portfolio include UP Catalyst, Bisly, Paul-Tech, and Cuploop, among many more. The VC Investment portfolio includes Plural Fund II, Antler Nordic Fund II, Superangel II, and many more.
The main hiring challenge was building a consistent pipeline of top experts from the startup and venture capital landscape.
SmartCap turned to TalentHub for hiring help because they needed to achieve clarity by mapping out their exact recruitment needs. This required pinpointing the skills and experience necessary for each role.
Roles hired:
Senior Investment Analyst, Junior Investment Analyst, Investment Director, Investment Manager, Risk and Compliance Manager, Executive Assistant, Legal Counsel, Head of Legal, and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
"TalentHub has been a very close and helpful partner managing the whole recruitment process - from clearly understanding our needs and expectations to helping draft the profile and role description for each position. TalentHub is also able to source top talent and manage the process from screening candidates to prepare us for the interviews."
Sille Pettai
CEO at SmartCap
Hiring process
1. Candidate profile refining
Before diving into talent sourcing, we worked with SmartCap to map out the ideal candidate profiles and craft clear job descriptions. For some positions, we combined targeted headhunting with a public job posting to reach the best candidates.
2. Sourcing candidates
We sourced candidates from both local and European markets, achieving a 60% response rate by using three touchpoints: LinkedIn, phone calls, and emails.
3. Screening call
The screening call was designed to evaluate the candidate’s key character traits and skills. For SmartCap, it was crucial that candidates demonstrated strong competency and experience in the financial sector.
4. Interview with hiring manager
SmartCap was satisfied with the level of the candidates we submitted throughout the process. In some cases, our recruiters helped SmartCap conduct interviews.
5. Case study
The remaining candidates underwent a final assessment during which they had to present their home task to the team.
6. Offer stage
The final step included making an offer to the selected candidates. We achieved a 100% offer acceptance rate in this project.
The results
Great candidate engagement
Our decisions between combining headhunting and publishing job adverts have proven successful. With a 60% candidate response rate across 9 roles, and a 100% offer acceptance rate we focused on quality over quantity and approached the right talent.
Efficient hiring process
Our hiring process has been simple yet effective. With everything carefully planned, from async collaboration, to interview scheduling and feedback loops, we achieved a time-to-hire of 41 days.
Strong cultural hires
We clearly communicated the growth opportunities and benefits of working in a smaller, evolving team. This approach ensured new hires had realistic expectations and were excited about their roles.
"Asset management is a niche market that requires thorough understanding of the core business, company culture and a well designed recruitment strategy to meet our needs and access top investment talent. Käthe-Riin made sure that TalentHub knows us and each hiring project well enough."
