Fellowfield and a custom Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in HubSpot

Efficient recruitment starts with a streamlined process. Fellowfield wanted to improve the way it recruited and selected people, but was working with several systems that did not connect properly. That cost time, created inefficiency and ran up unnecessary costs. Building a custom ATS inside HubSpot not only sped up the recruitment process, it also gave the team far more insight into performance and candidates. How did that integration change the way they work? Read on and find out how Fellowfield became a more efficient, data-driven recruitment machine.

The challenge: from scattered systems to one streamlined process

For a leading recruiter like Fellowfield, speed and precision are essential. Making the perfect match between a candidate and a vacancy means responding to opportunities and needs professionally and fast. But Fellowfield ran into a big problem: the recruitment process ran across several systems that did not connect properly. Valuable data ended up scattered, lead times grew and there was no complete overview of candidates and vacancies. That limited efficiency and it also undermined their ability to approach the best talent proactively.

A fully integrated Applicant Tracking System (ATS) inside HubSpot was the answer. It gave Fellowfield more control over the recruitment process, faster matching and better insight.

Why move to an ATS in HubSpot?

Fellowfield set clear requirements for the new system: recruit candidates quickly and efficiently and match them to open vacancies, manage all data in one platform, and make use of automated processes for vacancy alerts and forecasting. User-friendly connections with Outlook and LinkedIn were essential too. A custom ATS inside HubSpot meets those requirements and removed the dependence on external tools. The result is a more efficient process and significant cost savings in the long run.

How was the ATS built in HubSpot?

The new ATS was fully integrated into HubSpot CRM (Enterprise) and supported by the Marketing, Sales, Service and Operations Hubs. Some of the key custom solutions we implemented:

• Custom objects: candidates and vacancies are stored in a structured way in custom fields, which gives a much better overview. The standard HubSpot environment did not have all the properties that were relevant for this case, and these custom objects solved that.
• Automatic matching: candidates are linked to relevant vacancies straight away, so recruiters have less manual work to do.
• LinkedIn integration: candidates are imported into HubSpot directly, which speeds up sourcing considerably.
• Vacancy alerts: automatic notifications when new candidates match a vacancy.
• Sales outreach automation: automated cold email flows to approach passive candidates.

Thanks to these changes, Fellowfield can work faster and more efficiently without needing external tools.

What are the immediate benefits?

The new ATS brings Fellowfield several benefits:

• Time saved: fewer manual tasks and faster matching.
• Full insight: data-driven decisions based on recruitment performance.
• A better candidate experience: easy profile management and fast updates.
• Cost savings: centralising everything in HubSpot makes external tools unnecessary.

Plans for the future and further improvements

After the successful implementation, new extensions are already planned:

• Matching on distance: linking candidates based on their travel distance to the job.
• Focus groups: clustering potential candidates, even when there is no open vacancy.
• Scaling up the cold sales funnel to build a wider pool of candidates.

These improvements make the ATS even more powerful and more scalable, so Fellowfield can keep growing without giving up efficiency.

Conclusion: a game changer for recruitment

By moving to a custom ATS inside HubSpot, Fellowfield has completely transformed its recruitment process. More speed, more insight and a more efficient system have saved time and money, and they have also significantly improved the quality of the recruitment process. This success story shows how one strategic technology choice can make a big difference in the world of recruitment.

Ready for the next step?

Want to improve your own recruitment process? Book a free advisory session and find out what a custom ATS in HubSpot could do for your organisation.