The client, a Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) provider, faced a critical bottleneck in expanding their backend engineering team due to niche expertise requirements in VoIP Asterisk development. After six months of unsuccessful recruitment efforts and prior agency disappointments, our team successfully filled the role in 40 days through targeted sourcing and stakeholder alignment. Below is the detailed breakdown of the engagement.
Client Background
Industry: Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)
Objective: Expand their backend engineering team to enhance their cloud-based contact center platform.
Initial Challenge:
- Required Asterisk VoIP platform development expertise with proficiency in C programming.
- Limited talent pool actively working on voice platforms.
- Previous agencies failed to grasp technical requirements or source qualified candidates.
Recruitment Challenges
Niche Technical Requirements
- Asterisk’s telephony framework demands specialized experience in call routing, IVR systems, and SIP protocols, which are rare in general software engineering talent pools.
- Candidates needed hands-on experience with C-based Asterisk module development, further narrowing the search.
Extended Vacancy
- The role remained open for 6 months prior to engagement, delaying platform upgrades and feature rollouts.
Distrust in Recruitment Partners
- Previous agencies submitted mismatched candidates, wasting time and resources.
Solution & Strategy
Stakeholder Collaboration
Conducted workshops with the CTO, Software Development Director, and SRE Director to map:
- Technical requirements (e.g., Asterisk module customization, latency optimization).
- Team dynamics and cultural fit (e.g., remote collaboration, Agile workflows).
Targeted Sourcing
- Identified top CCaaS competitors and telecom providers to pinpoint engineers actively working on Asterisk VoIP systems.
- Focused on passive candidates with 3+ years of C/Asterisk development and open-source contributions to Asterisk projects.
Screening & Validation
- Technical assessments included code reviews of past Asterisk modules and scenario-based troubleshooting (e.g., call drops, SIP trunk configuration).
Results & Metrics
| Metric | Value | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Candidates Sourced | 252 | Broad net for highly specialized role |
| Candidates Submitted | 3 | Precision-matched to technical needs |
| Time-to-Hire | 40 days | Reduced vacancy period by 83% |
Avoided Costs:
- Saved 5+ months of additional recruitment efforts and lost productivity.
- Prevented platform development delays affecting customer contracts.
Outcome
- The hired developer integrated seamlessly, contributing to a 20% faster deployment of a critical call analytics feature.
- Client feedback highlighted the alignment of technical and cultural fit, leading to a long-term partnership for future niche roles.