For startup CEOs, every hire can make or break the company's trajectory. Ken Rees, CEO of Texas-based Covered Care, discovered that partnering with Spherion Staffing & Recruiting was the key to building his team efficiently while maintaining the quality and culture fit that early-stage companies desperately need.
When Time is Money (And You're Running Out of Both)
Covered Care provides patient financing to people declined by prime lenders—serving the roughly 50% of Americans who lack access to affordable healthcare financing. As a fast-growing fintech startup, they faced a common challenge: how to scale quickly without drowning in the recruiting process.
"Recruiting is a huge drain on time," explains Rees, who has over 20 years of experience running high-growth businesses. "Having a recruiter that could get the pipeline and make sure that we weren't wasting our time with a lot of unnecessary interviews was very important."
Finding the Right Partner
When Covered Care's CTO reached out to his network asking "who can help me get the quality of candidates that I need to see," multiple contacts pointed him toward Spherion. The recommendation proved to be exactly what the growing company needed.
The Numbers Don't Lie
The results speak for themselves. In just a couple of months, Covered Care needed to add six or seven people to their team. Working with Spherion, they interviewed nine candidates and successfully hired six—a remarkable hit rate that impressed even an experienced CEO.
"It's pretty good," Rees notes with obvious satisfaction. "I'm used to a very different ratio than that, where I'm lucky to get one out of five or six interviews that I'll actually make an offer to. And not only did we make an offer, we were able to hire them."
Beyond the Job Description
What sets Spherion apart isn't just the quantity of quality candidates—it's understanding what early-stage companies really need. The candidates Spherion provided weren't just technically qualified; they were adaptable and growth-oriented.
"In an earlier stage company, you've got to be able to stretch," Rees explains. "The candidates that we've hired from Spherion have been people that have been able to be moved into other areas. That's more than what we asked for, but certainly important to have people that can stretch and grow both for their own purposes—for career development—as well as to support the evolving needs of an earlier stage company like ours."
The Spherion Advantage
The secret to this success lies in Spherion's approach to understanding each client's unique needs. "Spherion does a good job listening to our needs, getting a sense of both technically what we're looking for as well as the culture that we're trying to hire into," Rees observes. "And so we have a pretty high hit rate."
For startup leaders like Rees, this comprehensive understanding translates directly to business impact—less time spent on recruiting means more time focused on growing the company and serving customers.
The Spherion Difference
At Spherion, we know that for growing companies, every hire matters. We don't just fill positions; we take the time to understand your business goals, your culture, and your growth trajectory. Whether you're a startup looking to scale or an established company expanding into new markets, we're here to make sure you get the right people at the right time.
Stories like Covered Care's remind us why we do what we do—helping businesses grow by connecting them with talented professionals who can adapt, contribute, and thrive alongside your company.
Ready to improve your hiring hit rate? We'd love to hear about your staffing challenges and goals.