HireCanvas, a new recruiting tool linking students and employers, has begun to hit its stride following their spring win at the 2014 NYU $200K Entrepreneurs Challenge. Having used their $75,000 in winnings from the New Venture portion of the competition to build a field-ready prototype, co-founders Kevin George and Scott Holand look back on their eight-month Accelerator experience with insight for the latest Challenge participants. HireCanvas was part of a panel discussion held at the Challenge kickoff a few weeks ago focusing on student entrepreneurship and the Challenge.
“NYU provided great resources in the form of training and mentors, and we constantly got feedback along the way,” HireCanvas co-founder Holand said. “It was a huge learning experience, and much of our success was the result of the feedback we received as we went through the program.”
In fact, Kevin and Scott encourage future Accelerator participants to optimize every moment they have in the program. They shared how they nurtured relationships at almost every opportunity. If they ever had a meeting with a mentor, they followed up with an email. If they had a chance to receive feedback on their pitch, they were there.
Kevin and Scott hope HireCanvas will change the way campus recruiting is done. Currently, recruiting events are inefficient from both the perspective of the re-cruiting employers and the students attending. Because of the overwhelming number of participants at career events and the cumbersome reliance on physical resumes, the HireCanvas co-founders identified a need for greater organization at the event and more efficient information exchange between recruiters and students.
“HireCanvas is a career fair management tool with digital student sign-in at company booths and features tools for recruiters and students to take notes on each other in real time.,” Holand said.
Currently, the company is partnering with universities to integrate the platform into actual events. According to co-founder Kevin George, they worked with five clients this fall to slowly introduce HireCanvas into the market. They are now working with NYU to run an entire recruiting event using the platform. It will be fully integrated at the event and allow all participants to have the opportunity to engage with HireCanvas and see its practical value.
“Our goal is for HireCanvas to better engage the student body, as well as improve the employer experience,” George said.
Winning the competition wasn’t the end for HireCanvas; it was only the beginning. Empowered with the funds to build the important field prototype, they now are applying to their startup the same discipline they feel led them to win the competition.
“Every meeting is important; you may have 19 exhausting meetings that don’t directly pay off, but the 20th one could be key, making the preceding 19 all worth it,” explained George. They continue their approach of optimizing every opportunity, mentioning that many of the relationships they made during the NYU Accelerator program are still in contact today.
“After the competition, it was back to business,” Holand said. “It was a great experience, but we realize there is still lots of work to do.”
To learn more about HireCanvas or contact them about using the platform for a recruiting event, go to www.hirecanvas.com or contact the team at info@hirecanvas.com.
