Quality is essential when hiring, layoffs have very high costs.

A talk with Swapcard about importance in quality hiring for startups.

Category
Headquarters
Date
May 7, 2025

Swapcard is an event technology platform that helps companies create valuable connections between people, communities... though event.

Likewise, the company is responsible for simplifying and executing these events to achieve the greatest success. Now, it is a leading company in the sector.

We talked about how to choose and maintain that talent with Damien Courbon, one of its co-founders who also explained how this has been a key to success for Swapcard. 

‍

QUALITY VERSUS SPEED IN THE HIRING PROCESS

The companies' biggest challenge in terms of attracting talent began in 2021, when competition between technology companies began to grow at high speed. At the time, offsetting salaries against the budget was difficult for Swapcard. 

Now that the company has grown, the supply of candidates has also grown. After all, when you have a small company, you are the one who has to find the workers.

However, when acquiring a certain reputation, it is the talent that yearns to fill a position in your company. Therefore, the challenges are always changing.

For Swapcard, this now lies in finding the right talent to fill higher-ranking positions. “In a position with so much impact within the company, you have to be very careful not to make mistakes. It is also a position in which there is not a large supply of candidates who meet expectations, and it is usually very competitive. “The very good ones are always in a position, not looking for it.” Damien tells us. 

‍

In a position (COO) with so much impact within the company, you have to be very careful not to make mistakes.

‍

Another drawback is the time it takes for the company to select this type of job positions, as Courbon explains it to us. “When we hire, we really try to prioritize quality over speed and that's why this type of hiring can take a long time”.  

Time is always a factor to take into account in companies, especially if they are starting out, since it can be one of the points that differentiate it from the rest.

Therefore, it is important to balance quality with the speed of hiring, because it is also important that the talent acquired is what the company wants. “Hiring someone, of course, is not irreversible, you can fire someone and hire another, but the cost and damage are quite strong.clarifies Damien.  

“For me, when it comes to hiring for specific things, within the execution and things like that I prefer to take a little more time and do it right instead of rushing because it's very easy to get it wrong when hiring... and the cost is, honestly, higher than people think.”

‍

The cost of firing is, honestly, higher than people think

‍

However, there are cases in which, as soon as you interview or see the profile of a certain talent, you know that he or she fits perfectly into the team.

In that case, Courbon maintains that speed is important, and that there is no reason to continue looking for candidates when you can lose that key piece if you delay the decision to hire them. “Hiring well nor does it necessarily mean being slow, just making sure that time is not a decisive factor”. 

COMPANY CULTURE: THE CULTURAL VARIETY OF TALENTS

At Swapcard, company culture is essential.

Many times, they prioritize “soft skills”, the personality, attitude or mentality of the candidates, over “hard skills”, the more technical skills that talents may present.

Damien details why. “We believe that it is easier to train on technical skills than on values ​​or personality, so we will always prioritize, for example, the learning mindset, someone who really likes to learn, over an expert.” 

With this method, they have managed to form a team of more than 185 talents, where nationalities from between 40 and 45 different countries coexist. “Our culture is, by definition, a mix of cultures and I think it is something that is not for everyone but, for some people, it is very attractive”

‍

We believe that it is easier to train in technical skills than in values ​​or personality

‍

DIVERSITY, FLEXIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY, THREE SECRETS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS

Damien reveals to us some of his best secrets when it comes to acquiring the precise talent that the company demanded.

At first, Swapcard operated only in France, and its employees were local. When it wanted to begin its expansion, the company realized that there were many candidates with great qualities in the country, but who did not speak the local language, which made it difficult for them to find a job.

“Our first secret was to hire people who didn't speak French and who lived in France. Granted, France can be attractive for talents and sometimes, for personal reasons, there are people who arrive in a country very qualified, but they do not speak the local language, so it is very difficult for them to find a good job... It was a “A way to attract talent that, otherwise, it would have been too expensive for us to hire and, thus, very quickly we decided that we were a French company, but that we spoke English”. 

‍

Later, the company went digital, and started working online. And, here comes the second trick they used to obtain the talent.

“We became a company with remote work. Now it seems like something basic, but at that time it still wasn't, so for us, being able to attract people from anywhere and also being able to establish the people we hire can move, was a big competitive advantage. .

‍

Being able to attract people from anywhere and also being able to establish the people we hire can move, was a huge competitive advantage

‍

Currently, Damien tells us, “I think our culture is something that helps a lot, of course with retention, but also with hiring, we are a very transparent company, which includes being very transparent during the hiring process, and I think the candidates value it a lot because we are transparent with the performance of the company, with finances, with culture, with the ability for the candidate to talk to their potential future teammate and ask them whatever they want. And I think that helps candidates when it comes to understanding where they are going to commit, compared to a company where they do not have access to all of that.”. 

“I think that our culture is something that helps a lot, of course to retain, but also to hire, we are a very transparent company”

‍"The fact that we are a company distributed throughout the world makes it very flexible. It gives us access to a wide variety of talent from around the world, but it also helps us adjust as much as possible to budget expectations and that gives us more possibilities.” adds Courbon. 

A VIEW TO THE FUTURE FOCUSED ON IMPARTIALITY AND PERMANENCE

‍

At some point in hiring, it is definitely very difficult to avoid being too influenced by human biases.

‍

One of the main challenges that Swapcard has in mind is to reduce bias. Being a company with a diversity of cultures is something very positive, but it should be present in all companies.

He doesn't let Getting rid of prejudices, especially when hiring, is one of the company's future objectives.

They also aim to reduce this constant jumping, by many employees, from company to company. In this corporation they intend to create a tenacious and permanent team, offering them a very positive culture and growth that represents an important opportunity for them. “We try to build a company with a high level of permanence. I think it is one of our strengths and we try to maintain it.”

‍

Quality is essential when hiring, layoffs have very high costs.

Publication date:
May 8, 2025

Swapcard is an event technology platform that helps companies create valuable connections between people, communities... though event.

Likewise, the company is responsible for simplifying and executing these events to achieve the greatest success. Now, it is a leading company in the sector.

We talked about how to choose and maintain that talent with Damien Courbon, one of its co-founders who also explained how this has been a key to success for Swapcard. 

‍

QUALITY VERSUS SPEED IN THE HIRING PROCESS

The companies' biggest challenge in terms of attracting talent began in 2021, when competition between technology companies began to grow at high speed. At the time, offsetting salaries against the budget was difficult for Swapcard. 

Now that the company has grown, the supply of candidates has also grown. After all, when you have a small company, you are the one who has to find the workers.

However, when acquiring a certain reputation, it is the talent that yearns to fill a position in your company. Therefore, the challenges are always changing.

For Swapcard, this now lies in finding the right talent to fill higher-ranking positions. “In a position with so much impact within the company, you have to be very careful not to make mistakes. It is also a position in which there is not a large supply of candidates who meet expectations, and it is usually very competitive. “The very good ones are always in a position, not looking for it.” Damien tells us. 

‍

In a position (COO) with so much impact within the company, you have to be very careful not to make mistakes.

‍

Another drawback is the time it takes for the company to select this type of job positions, as Courbon explains it to us. “When we hire, we really try to prioritize quality over speed and that's why this type of hiring can take a long time”.  

Time is always a factor to take into account in companies, especially if they are starting out, since it can be one of the points that differentiate it from the rest.

Therefore, it is important to balance quality with the speed of hiring, because it is also important that the talent acquired is what the company wants. “Hiring someone, of course, is not irreversible, you can fire someone and hire another, but the cost and damage are quite strong.clarifies Damien.  

“For me, when it comes to hiring for specific things, within the execution and things like that I prefer to take a little more time and do it right instead of rushing because it's very easy to get it wrong when hiring... and the cost is, honestly, higher than people think.”

‍

The cost of firing is, honestly, higher than people think

‍

However, there are cases in which, as soon as you interview or see the profile of a certain talent, you know that he or she fits perfectly into the team.

In that case, Courbon maintains that speed is important, and that there is no reason to continue looking for candidates when you can lose that key piece if you delay the decision to hire them. “Hiring well nor does it necessarily mean being slow, just making sure that time is not a decisive factor”. 

COMPANY CULTURE: THE CULTURAL VARIETY OF TALENTS

At Swapcard, company culture is essential.

Many times, they prioritize “soft skills”, the personality, attitude or mentality of the candidates, over “hard skills”, the more technical skills that talents may present.

Damien details why. “We believe that it is easier to train on technical skills than on values ​​or personality, so we will always prioritize, for example, the learning mindset, someone who really likes to learn, over an expert.” 

With this method, they have managed to form a team of more than 185 talents, where nationalities from between 40 and 45 different countries coexist. “Our culture is, by definition, a mix of cultures and I think it is something that is not for everyone but, for some people, it is very attractive”

‍

We believe that it is easier to train in technical skills than in values ​​or personality

‍

DIVERSITY, FLEXIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY, THREE SECRETS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS

Damien reveals to us some of his best secrets when it comes to acquiring the precise talent that the company demanded.

At first, Swapcard operated only in France, and its employees were local. When it wanted to begin its expansion, the company realized that there were many candidates with great qualities in the country, but who did not speak the local language, which made it difficult for them to find a job.

“Our first secret was to hire people who didn't speak French and who lived in France. Granted, France can be attractive for talents and sometimes, for personal reasons, there are people who arrive in a country very qualified, but they do not speak the local language, so it is very difficult for them to find a good job... It was a “A way to attract talent that, otherwise, it would have been too expensive for us to hire and, thus, very quickly we decided that we were a French company, but that we spoke English”. 

‍

Later, the company went digital, and started working online. And, here comes the second trick they used to obtain the talent.

“We became a company with remote work. Now it seems like something basic, but at that time it still wasn't, so for us, being able to attract people from anywhere and also being able to establish the people we hire can move, was a big competitive advantage. .

‍

Being able to attract people from anywhere and also being able to establish the people we hire can move, was a huge competitive advantage

‍

Currently, Damien tells us, “I think our culture is something that helps a lot, of course with retention, but also with hiring, we are a very transparent company, which includes being very transparent during the hiring process, and I think the candidates value it a lot because we are transparent with the performance of the company, with finances, with culture, with the ability for the candidate to talk to their potential future teammate and ask them whatever they want. And I think that helps candidates when it comes to understanding where they are going to commit, compared to a company where they do not have access to all of that.”. 

“I think that our culture is something that helps a lot, of course to retain, but also to hire, we are a very transparent company”

‍"The fact that we are a company distributed throughout the world makes it very flexible. It gives us access to a wide variety of talent from around the world, but it also helps us adjust as much as possible to budget expectations and that gives us more possibilities.” adds Courbon. 

A VIEW TO THE FUTURE FOCUSED ON IMPARTIALITY AND PERMANENCE

‍

At some point in hiring, it is definitely very difficult to avoid being too influenced by human biases.

‍

One of the main challenges that Swapcard has in mind is to reduce bias. Being a company with a diversity of cultures is something very positive, but it should be present in all companies.

He doesn't let Getting rid of prejudices, especially when hiring, is one of the company's future objectives.

They also aim to reduce this constant jumping, by many employees, from company to company. In this corporation they intend to create a tenacious and permanent team, offering them a very positive culture and growth that represents an important opportunity for them. “We try to build a company with a high level of permanence. I think it is one of our strengths and we try to maintain it.”

‍