HR Tech Startup Launches a Recruitment Revolution
LANDING PADS CASE STUDY
The founders of HR tech startup myInterview want to revolutionise
recruitment. With support from the Landing Pads program, they are well on
their way.
When the founders of Australian startup myInterview left high school and
began university, they didn’t expect to have such a hard time finding a
part-time job. With many people applying for each role, Guy Abelsohn and
Benjamin Gillman found it impossible to differentiate themselves through a
traditional resume.
This sparked the idea for myInterview, which they launched in 2014.
myInterview helps employers hire the right people with a customisable
one-way video interview solution.
Abelsohn and Gillman’s goal is to transform the recruitment process by
bringing candidates’ applications to life and showing the people behind the
paper, while making the whole process faster and more efficient.
Employers post ‘interviews’ on myInterview’s secure platform, including a
company video, a role description and up to 10 text or video questions.
When applying for a role, candidates have 30 seconds to review each
question before recording a response. myInterview also delivers a Video
Apply Widget that authenticates cover letters by giving candidates the
opportunity to pitch themselves for a job in person.
In 2016, Abelsohn and Gillman began planning a research and development
centre in Tel Aviv to underpin further technology development and business
growth. To support this endeavour, they applied for the Tel Aviv Landing Pad as part of the Landing Pads program.
‘There’s so much tech going on in Tel Aviv, it’s quite mind-blowing,’ says
Gillman, who is currently basedin the coastal city. ‘We wanted to tap into both the talent and the
investment, as well as the time zone, which makes it easier to do business
with Europe and the US. The Landing Pad was a great way to do that.’
As part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda, Austrade has
established five Landing Pads in Berlin, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore
and Tel Aviv. Landing Pads supports market-ready startups/scaleups to go
global.
Participants are given an operational base at a Landing Pad for up to 90
days, where they benefit from Austrade’s extensive global network of
contacts and tailored business development assistance.
A world-leading startup ecosystem
In November 2016, the myInterview team arrived in Tel Aviv. Gillman was on
the ground full-time for 90 days while Abelsohn visited throughout. They
were housed at SOSA (South of Salame), a vibrant four-storey space and
community founded by a group of innovation stakeholders, including some of
Israel’s most prominent angel and venture capital investors.
Abelsohn and Gillman arrived with a clear plan to access expertise from key
advisors, investors, CEOs and CTOs that would allow them to refine their
business model and technology. They wanted to take things to the next level
and ensure their technology was cutting-edge.
‘SOSA is an amazing resource,’ says Gillman. ‘There’s a huge buzz around
it. We had the German Government come through last week and the President
[Frank-Walter Steinmeier] was here. It’s really one of the greatest hubs in
this country.’
myInterview had access to an extensive range of experts and events, as well
as onsite value creation associates who connect startups with valuable
contacts. They also received one-on-one support from the Austrade Landing
Pad Manager, Omri Wislizki.
‘Omri basically acts as your business development guy,’ says Abelsohn. ‘We
call him “the super connector”, because he can open doors into all types of
companies. Without that support it probably would have taken us six month
to familiarise ourselves with the landscape.’
Forging powerful connections
Through the Landing Pad, myInterview connected with major global tech
companies, potential corporate partners and venture capitalists, and raised
enough capital to expand its R&D efforts.
‘I had a casual chat with about 20 venture capitalists in the space of two
months, which is huge,’ says Gillman. ‘Those meetings usually take months
to get, and here I could sit down and speak to them in a matter of
minutes.’
The myInterview team has since launched a new line of business, which
involves using analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to
rank candidates based on factors including what they say, their tone of
voice and their confidence level.
‘We would never have taken this new direction without the influence of the
people we met through SOSA and the Landing Pad,’ says Gillman.
They also hired three people, two based in Tel Aviv and one in the Ukraine,
taking their team to five.
Going global
In the months after completing the Landing Pads program, myInterview was
accepted into the 12-week Slingshot HR Tech accelerator program, supported
by recruitment giants Seek and Hudson.
Abelsohn and Gillman are focused on continuing to develop their technology
and enhancing its capabilities to integrate with HR management software.
This will allow them to access a global customer base.
‘The Landing Pad is an opportunity that enables you to look at the bare
bones of your business and be able to see what is needed to go global,’
says Gillman. ‘You get access to people that you couldn’t get access to
otherwise. Ultimately we’re in a much stronger position from participating
in this program.
‘I’d recommend people take the opportunity because it can really accelerate
your business.’