2012 Game Changer: Sean Fahey

After being charged with the task of hiring 200 people for a Canadian insurance company, Sean Fahey thought he could make the hiring process more efficient.

“I just realized that if I was going to do it the old-fashioned way—by looking at résumés, doing phone calls and meeting people in person—it was going to take forever. I needed a tool that would filter, rank, sort, video interview and check the references of my candidates” in order to streamline the hiring process and identify top talent quickly and easily, Fahey says.

The process he developed to carry out the task of hiring 200 people became the foundation for VidCruiter, which develops video recruiting software and other hiring platforms.

VidCruiter’s hiring process filters, ranks and sorts applicants for clients in order of most qualified, just like any other applicant tracking system, says Fahey, 32. But he says the difference between traditional applicant tracking systems and his process is that VidCruiter allows companies to brand their job applications with informational videos that engage the applicant and focus on selling the company to the candidate.

Fahey also says his product can help employers locate that elusive “perfect candidate” faster than traditional applicant tracking systems, which he thinks filter too much and eliminate qualified candidates. With VidCruiter, “it’s not like if you don’t say the magic word your résumé won’t show up, which is what a lot of systems are based on,” Fahey says.

VidCruiter’s hiring platform isn’t the only thing driving the company’s success, Fahey says. The CEO attributes much of his company’s success to persistence and innovation, which he seeks to engender through various tactics such as a hands-off, minimal management style and fostering what he calls a learning culture.

“If I feel there’s a book you should read that would be beneficial to your learning and improving, I’ll pay you to read the book,” he says.

Max Mihelich is Workforce’s editorial intern. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.

Workforce Management, December 2012, p. 24 — Subscribe Now!