Beely
Beely found the best solution by challenging his own assumptions.
Beely, a “car-as-a-service” concept, likes to think big—and admits it. Data-driven management, a strong focus on marketing, and an open-minded culture of experimentation have transformed the company into a combination of e-commerce and a platform business, which has made its operations profitable.
When Beely set out to hire a Lead Data Scientist, there wasn't time to sift through the enormous number of applications. To save time and ensure precision, Beely's Chief Digital Officer, Karri Durchman, turned to their recruitment partner, Nawia.
A large number of applications with no time to sort through them: Why bring in a recruitment partner?
Karri Durchman, Beely’s Chief Digital Officer, has over 17 years of experience at the forefront of digital business and e-commerce. At Beely, he combines technology and business—getting his hands dirty. The company offers car usage on a monthly subscription basis, but its perspective goes beyond the car sales business.
“We’re a 100 percent digital platform provider. We talk about cars, but we’re thinking about mobility in the bigger picture,” Durchman explains.
When the right kind of expertise was needed for the new pricing engine, a public recruitment process was not an option.
“I would have received hundreds of applications. I wouldn’t have had enough time—or necessarily the expertise—to sift through them all and find the right candidates. In cases like this, it’s best to rely on the most skilled professionals. It pays for itself in terms of time saved, and the accuracy is more likely to be close to 100 percent.”
Karri Durchman
Chief Digital Officer, Beely
The maker of the future plays with the whole deck
The collaboration between Beely and Nawia highlighted a broader shift in the modern talent market: narrow, specialized expertise alone is no longer enough.
“Multidimensionality is the key word. When it comes to coders, these days you have to understand both artificial intelligence and business. On the data side, mathematicians always need to take context into account in their work. We’re no longer playing with one hand or one card—we’re playing with ten, the whole deck,” Durchman sums up.
A demand is immediately followed by compassion, and that is also the message he conveys to his own team.
“No one necessarily knows everything, but everyone has the opportunity to understand something about everything. You don’t have to know everything, and no one expects you to. But it would be good to have at least some kind of understanding of the big picture.”
At the same time, he calls for courage and curiosity in the face of new technology.
“After all, just a few years ago, none of us really knew how to make the most of
artificial intelligence. But learning only begins when you dare to take the first step.”
Challenges and direct action: weeks, not months
Having purchased recruitment services in the past, Durchman knows what to expect from a good partner. The most valuable quality is the ability to challenge the client.
“I miss constructive and well-reasoned challenges. I don’t want us to always just go along with whatever the client feeds us. We should also think outside the box: ‘Hey, have you guys considered something like this? We’ve done a lot of projects like this, and in those cases we thought about it this way, and it turned out like that.’”
This is exactly where Nawia earned praise from Durchman. At first, Beely was strongly in favor of one candidate, but
as the recruitment process progressed, his view of the ideal candidate changed. In the end, the choice fell on a completely different type of candidate
.
Although Beely wasn't in a particular hurry with the process, the recruitment was still carried out efficiently without any unnecessary steps.
“From start to finish, this went pretty smoothly, efficiently, and quickly. It was an easy and pleasant process.”
At Nawia, the basic approach is to talk in terms of weeks rather than months when it comes to recruitment. There’s a lot of unnecessary work done in this field that unnecessarily prolongs the process, and speed and straightforwardness don’t necessarily mean poor quality.
Looking Ahead: Data Opens Up New Business Opportunities
The new Lead Data Scientist will start in the fall. Although the final results will be measured in day-to-day operations, Beely has great confidence in this new hire. He will be responsible for one of the company’s major new development initiatives, but the company sees the potential of data as even greater than that.
“Data brings many benefits to our existing business, but in the future, it could even open up an entirely new business area for us.”
Beely, which has turned a profit, has major initiatives in the works—from international expansion to deepening its technological expertise.
“Significant developments will take place in Beely’s history over the next few years. At that time, the creators will be expected to demonstrate the same qualities as the new team now getting started: curiosity, versatility, and passion,” Durchman concludes.
Learn more about Beely as a company and an employer
