Yoonew.com is a radically different way of using the web to score sporting event tickets. The site works like a financial exchange where people speculate on, and buy or sell tickets at their true value. What sets Yoonew apart from traditional ticket brokers is its “Fantasy Seat” feature, which lets die-hard sports fans name their own low ticket prices for a big game well ahead of the actual event. The site’s name is a play on fan loyalty as in, “you knew they were going to make it.” If the fan’s hunch pays off and their team makes it to the championship, they get their seats at the quoted price. If the team doesn’t perform the money they put up for the seats is lost. Fans also have the option of selling their Fantasy Seats or tickets at any point before the game. Played right the reward can be huge, literally saving thousands on tickets for major events.
CHALLENGE
Based in New York, Yoonew’s potential candidate pool is both deep and wide, but the company faces challenges when it comes to sourcing quality hires. First, the business is very seasonal. Depending on the time of year Yoonew’s office has to staff up to meet demand, as is the case during football season, or curtail hiring for the slower summer months. Second, although the business sounds like a lot of fun it’s not for just any sports fan. Yoonew requires a certain type of person who thrives in an environment where there’s a lot of mathematical modeling for risk management. Add high-level analytical skills, the energy of a retail broker or stock trader who like sports and has also bought tickets, and you have a fairly specific and probably rare group of truly qualified Yoonew candidates.
“We’ve been around since ’04 and we’re still growing. The go-go-go nature of our business always kept us from putting a lot of resources into hiring, even though our company’s biggest assets go down in the elevator every night. It’s been a critical soft spot for us since our launch,” said Gerry Wilson, founder and CEO, Yoonew.com.
SOLUTION
Yoonew needed a way to streamline its hiring during seasonal ups and downs, brand itself to attract the “right” kind of employee and save money which otherwise would go to recruiters needed to source people with skills specific to Yoonew’s business. They turned to Standout Jobs, a leading provider of web-based tools to power companies’ online recruiting efforts and its recruitment communication platform for help.
“Since we’re light on HR resources the easiest thing for us to do was to put all the job postings into Standout Jobs and wait for everything to come in,” said Wilson. “The unique thing people get to see is the wider variety at the company—blogs, jobs, personality—they can make a better impression as a candidate to Yoonew. Prospects read our blogs and really try to tailor themselves to the company. That’s made a huge difference in the quality of candidate coming through the system.”
RESULTS
Since starting with the Standout Jobs Yoonew has filled six high level positions, saving more than $50-$60,000 in recruiters’ fees according to Wilson’s estimates. Yoonew has also sourced interns through the interactive career site, saving the company even more money, time and effort.
Wilson and his team actually use Standout Jobs as a business barometer; it measures how many positions the company has available and how many resumes Yoonew receives for those openings. That information makes it easier to scale the business during cyclical ups and downs. Yoonew has the flexibility to quickly hire if the business demands it, or fill the candidate pipeline for future hires during slower months. Further, Wilson and his executives now have a formalized process for vetting candidates.
“We love the collaboration features. There are usually four of us who receive resumes and Standout Jobs makes it very easy to coordinate, leave comments and make hiring decisions. It would normally take days to get all of us together to discuss a candidate, so we’ve seen a huge savings in time and effort on that front, and we’re more nimble because of it.”
Standout Jobs also plays a strategic role in how Wilson builds the business. “It takes a little time for us to get to know a candidate, and for them to get to know us,” he said. “We have a good sense for what’s in the pipeline; you can model where you take the company based on the positions you’re creating for the business. If you have a candidate with the right skill set then you can do whatever you want with the company.”
Using Standout Jobs recruitment communication platform has made Yoonew’s innovative business highly competitive in a commoditized market and more likely to be the employer a high-value candidate chooses when they have multiple options. “We let the application do everything and we just grow with it,” says Wilson.
