Matthew Hollingsworth wants to bring executive recruitment into the modern era

When you work at a startup and the word “operations” is in your title, it usually means you work on everything – because, well, early-stage companies don’t really have proper operations. They’re often a dynamically-moving-jungle-gym of activities, changing daily. Fortunately for founders, some people have a knack for helping them navigate these neverending mazes of miscellaneous tasks. Matthew Hollingsworth is one of those people.

“I did a bit of hiring, HR stuff, marketing, ops – whatever ended up coming my way,” Hollingsworth tells Victoria Tech Journal about his five-year work history. “And that's kind of how I've somewhat built my career – doing things that, you know, people don't want to do every day.”

Hollingsworth is a master of getting people on the same page, and has held a diverse collection of roles – from a payroll accounting job at Victoria’s Ottavio bakery, to working as chief of staff at Stamped, a loyalty platform. You might say his habit of working on tasks that others shy away from has foreshadowed his latest endeavour.

Three weeks ago, Hollingsworth launched Align, a recruitment agency focused on bringing together remote companies and executive talent.

Recruitment refresh

The idea for the firm can be traced back to his most recent job at Stamped. When Hollingsworth was tasked with building out a number of teams, including hiring the executives to run them, he used a traditional recruiting agency. The experience left much to be desired, he recalls: “It just kind of sucked, honestly.”

“It wasn't apparent to me that there was any additional value that they brought, and it was really expensive, and I didn't really understand it,” he details. “I worked at WeWork Remotely [an online remote work community] as well and helped run that business for a number of years, so I've been in HR tech before. And I just thought I could do it better by removing a lot of the unnecessary meetings and unnecessary stuff that was involved in executive recruiting.”

Talking transparency

Align sets itself apart in a number of ways according to Hollingsworth, including how it sources, interviews, and recommends candidates. The key word is “asynchronously”. Align does all the work, including recording interviews, writing detailed candidate profiles, and outlining recommendations for clients –– and focuses on ensuring its clients review and spend time with only the best candidates.

Since all the applicant calls are recorded, another key benefit has been that clients can evaluate how Align is representing their brand, Hollingsworth explains. It’s something he wishes he had back when he was in the hiring manager’s shoes. “I didn't know if our story was being told properly. I didn't know how we were being presented at all,” he remembers.

Given the tight talent market, employer brands are more important than ever, Hollingsworth says. Executive or rare talent needs to be sold on working at your company. “You have to pitch to them what you're doing, and you have to pitch the company, the mission, and where it'll be in five years.” For this reason, clients are especially conscious of how their business is being talked about, and Align’s videos give them an opportunity to share feedback. “So, it's just more transparent,” Hollingsworth believes.

Shifting attitudes

While still a very young company, Align has worked with around a dozen companies, including Tiny, Thrive Digital, Shopwell, and Overstory Media Group (the parent company of Victoria Tech Journal). And since its public launch three weeks ago, Hollingsworth says he’s heard from a number of people interested in Align’s services, including companies that are looking to hire and people that are looking for work. For candidates on the hunt for their next opportunity, Align has a free service called Leadership Community to discover unpublished jobs and member-only content. “It's a platform for people that are like-minded to come and share resources, and network, and learn from each other,” he explains.

Hollingsworth recognizes the role that the pandemic has played in shifting attitudes toward remote work and hiring, and how that may play out for his new company. “Anybody in the space will tell you that COVID accelerated these two-plus years. And very quickly. So [the business] wasn't COVID generated, but it certainly has helped us along in sort of breaking down that hesitation that I think a lot of companies had originally.”