X
Client case study Talent marketplace · Skills shortages

Hired1st — Specialised talent, hired first.

Hired1st is a global marketplace and community technology platform that connects verified, qualified and industry-specialised talent to areas facing skills shortages. Transformation Works helped shape the product, community model and go-to-market so employers can hire the right people, locally or globally, without the noise of generic job boards.

Talent marketplace
Skills-shortage sectors
International mobility
Location: Global Experience: 10+ years Focus: Nurses · Mining · Accountancy · Financial Services · AI
01 · Context

Who is Hired1st and what did they need?

Hired1st is a marketplace and community technology platform that helps organisations tap into specialised talent as individuals upskill or complete qualifications. With growing skills shortages across regulated, high-stakes sectors, they needed a scalable way to connect verified talent with employers without relying on noisy, generic job boards.

Client overview

Hired1st focuses on bringing together specialised talent and employers where skills gaps are most acute — from nurses and mining through to accountancy, financial services and AI. As more people trained and qualified, the platform needed to keep them engaged and visible for new opportunities.

  • Global marketplace for skills-shortage and specialised roles
  • Strong focus on regulated and high-compliance industries
  • Community-driven model as talent upskills and moves roles
Talent marketplace Specialised skills shortages International mobility

The challenge

Attracting specialised talent requires a different approach. Traditional job boards generate volume, but not verified expertise — and leave employers with applicant overload and slow, manual screening.

  • Need for verified, specialised talent without generic job-board noise
  • Faster, more accurate matching based on skills and qualifications
  • Global reach into markets where shortages are most severe
02 · Approach

What Transformation Works delivered.

Transformation Works delivered Product Owner services and end-to-end technology build management for a game-breaking marketplace platform. We designed a multi-marketplace model that enables seamless talent sharing and growth across interconnected marketplaces worldwide.

Product ownership & discovery

We worked with Hired1st’s founders and partners to define how the marketplace should operate — from talent communities and partner roles through to commercial models and compliance requirements.

  • Defined multi-marketplace vision and operating model
  • Mapped journeys for employers, partners and talent communities
  • Aligned product backlog with regulatory, revenue and partner goals

Marketplace design & implementation

We then designed and delivered the core marketplace technology — with a focus on AI-driven matching, a structured talent community model and scalable experiences for every user type.

  • Sophisticated AI matching and profiling to connect talent instantly
  • Structured talent community model that builds engagement and trust
  • Scalable ecosystem with tailored experiences for employers, partners and talent
03 · Outcomes

What changed for Hired1st.

With the marketplace live, Hired1st and its partners could source pre-verified talent faster, at lower cost and with significantly less manual work across registration and hiring flows.

Sourcing solutions
+100%
Growth in pre-verified Talent Community partners worldwide, expanding access to specialised candidates.
Recruitment disruption
-90%
Flexible pricing and white-label marketplace models that dramatically reduce the cost to hire.
Automated workflows
+100%
End-to-end automation of candidate registration and the employer hiring experience across markets.
04 · Engagement snapshot

How we worked together.

Phase 1 · Product discovery & scoping
Transformation Works + Hired1st founders
Defined the marketplace vision, mapped user journeys for employers, partners and talent, and scoped the core platform and community model.
Phase 2 · Build & marketplace design
Product, design, engineering
Implemented AI matching, talent communities, workflows and admin tools to support multi-marketplace growth and cross-market talent sharing.
Phase 3 · Launch & go-to-market
Transformation Works + Hired1st GTM team
Created and rolled out a white-label partner model with flexible revenue share and pricing — including recruiter networks, talent community partners and marketplace partners with employers.

“By moving to a specialised marketplace model, we now connect the right talent to the right roles in a fraction of the time. Our partners see lower hiring costs, a deeper pool of verified candidates and a far smoother experience for everyone involved.”

— Hired1st leadership team