HiringPeak: an ATS built for executive search
A focused applicant tracking system built for how boutique executive search firms actually work, with 70% faster candidate data entry from day one.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Product | HiringPeak |
| Built for | Boutique executive search firms |
| Status | Live with early customers |
| Early result | 70% faster candidate data entry |
Situation
Executive search is relationship work. Recruiters at boutique firms spend their days sourcing passive candidates, managing confidential searches, and coordinating within lean teams where everyone wears multiple hats. Their edge over larger competitors is knowing their talent pool deeply and moving faster on every engagement.
The tooling built for them rarely reflects that. The applicant tracking systems that dominate the market were designed for high-volume corporate hiring: inbound applications, screening questionnaires, career page builders, compliance modules. For a firm that never runs a job ad and treats every candidate as proactively sourced, most of that surface area is dead weight.
Challenge
Working closely with a boutique executive search firm, we watched the same inefficiencies compound week after week. Recruiters were spending roughly 20% of their working hours on administrative overhead: manually transcribing candidate data from LinkedIn, stitching together spreadsheets and email threads to track pipeline status, and re-engaging candidates a colleague had already spoken to because the system made coordination hard.
The workflows that actually mattered for this kind of work (tracking a candidate across multiple simultaneous searches, logging recruiter notes, filtering a talent pool by seniority, industry, and geography) were either buried or missing entirely. The firm was paying enterprise prices for features it never used and doing its real work in spreadsheets on the side.
Partway through that engagement it became clear we weren't building a one-off tool. We were building a product that belonged in front of every boutique search firm.
Santiago Beroch, Founder, Erio
Solution
HiringPeak is our take on what an ATS should look like when it is built around how boutique executive search actually works. A focused product, not a configurable enterprise suite.
Centralized candidate intelligence. A unified candidate database with 15+ filterable attributes: seniority level, industry experience, work area, languages, geographic location, and a recruiter star rating. One source of truth for the entire talent pool, searchable and filterable in seconds.
Automated data capture. A browser extension parses LinkedIn profile information and populates candidate records automatically. What used to take 10-15 minutes of manual entry per candidate now happens in one click.
Visual pipeline management. Each vacancy has its own board with customizable status columns that mirror the firm's actual selection process. Recruiters move candidates through stages, from initial contact to shortlist to placement, with full visibility into who is where across every active search.
Built for the team, not just the individual. Role-based access, internal comments on candidates, blacklist flags with documented reasons, and vacancy ownership assignments keep a small team coordinated without extra meetings.
Client and vacancy management. A complete CRM layer tracks client companies, contacts, and vacancy history. Each vacancy captures detailed candidate requirements (target seniority, industry, age range, languages, location), enabling faster and more precise matching.
Configurable by design. Every dropdown, status label, and workflow stage is configurable through an admin panel. When a firm's process evolves, the system evolves with it. No developer needed.
Results
Within the first 60 days of adoption, an early customer (a boutique executive search firm in Argentina) saw measurable improvements across their operation:
| Metric | Impact |
|---|---|
| Candidate data entry time | Reduced by 70% |
| Pipeline visibility | All active candidates on a single board view |
| Duplicate candidate outreach | Virtually eliminated |
| Time-to-shortlist | Reduced by ~20% |
| Adoption friction | Zero: productive from day one |
LinkedIn profile parsing replaced manual transcription, freeing recruiters to focus on sourcing and client engagement. The centralized board view eliminated the spreadsheet-and-email patchwork. Structured vacancy filters and rich candidate attributes enabled faster, more precise matching.
HiringPeak replaced not just the old ATS, but also the spreadsheets, shared documents, and ad-hoc communication channels that had grown around it. For a small firm where every recruiter hour directly impacts revenue, the operational gain was immediate.
HiringPeak is live with early customers. Learn more at hiringpeak.com.
