Codebridge founder Konstantin Karpushin: “Based on Corezoid I created the system of search for abnormally talented employees”

Konstantin Karpushin, Codebridge founder

How was the idea of the product born?

Until March 2021, I was a Partner at KPMG. I managed the practice of transfer pricing and tax dispute resolution. The idea was born there.

What is transfer pricing?

Imagine that there are several companies that are somehow related to each other, for example, through the owner. Thanks to the transfer pricing rules, they can agree among themselves so as to redistribute the profits of these companies (i.e. the group) in favor of entities who work in jurisdictions with more favorable taxation. The Tax Service usually doesn't like this. And companies are required to prepare detailed explanations for their distribution models in order to avoid fines and additional charges. Such explanations are prepared with the help of highly paid professionals.

Sounds complicated.

Yes. Transfer pricing specialists are expensive. But we found a way at KPMG to find abnormally talented interns.

What have You invented?

We came up with the idea of an Olympiad contest. In fact, it was a huge “engagement funnel” that allowed us to attract the attention of 3,000 participants (students and graduates of economic universities), and then select the best from them.

We promised the winners of the Contest three iPhones of the latest model and an invitation to a paid internship at KPMG. At the final stage of the contest, I could not help smiling. These students were geniuses. They were able to answer super-difficult questions and also learn fast. We hired a few interns as the result of the contest and in a couple of weeks we already were able to allow those students to communicate directly with the clients.

At the final stage of the contest, I could not help smiling. These students were geniuses.

They were smart young people with a phenomenal memory. They grasped complex transfer pricing information on the fly.

So the secret sauce is to learn how to quickly process a lot of candidates through the funnel?

Yes. Now at Codebridge we fill our own vacancies for IT developers with the help of such automated funnels based on Corezoid. For example, recently we automatically reviewed 2670 candidates for the position of UI\UX designer and invited 17 people to the final interview. They are extraordinarily talented specialists.

Example of the CV funnel from different sources

Can you please share the details of how it works?

We chose Huntflow as the front-end. Back-end processes we built on the Corezoid platform.

At the beginning of the funnel I get candidates from 20 sources like Work.ua, Rabota.ua, Headhunter, Jooble, Dou, Djinni and other job boards. At the first stage, we are not interested in the person's resume at all. We thank the candidate for his or her interest in the vacancy and suggest subscribing to Codebridge on social networks (and become our followers).

In the next step of the funnel, we do a “CV swap”. In order to be able to work with properly structured data, we send the candidate a letter with a link to a web form that must be filled out.

In this web form, the candidate answers a number of key questions: city of residence, work experience, whether he or she wants to work in an office or remotely, the desired salary, willingness to complete a test task (paid or free).

We receive all this data in Corezoid and customize the further processing of the data. For example, if the candidate does not speak English, then we immediately send a polite e-mail with a refusal. Also a red flag is the situation when junior specialist doesn’t want to complete the test task. I believe that an experienced designer can show good portfolio, but beginners should accept the challenge and do a test task.

What is a “red flag” in terms of a funnel?

We calculate such an indicator as the "relevance index". This parameter can be changed in the settings depending on the position. Each stage has its own “relevance index”, which is based on combinations of certain conditions. If a person's “relevance index” falls below a predefined level at some stages of the funnel, such a candidate does not go further.

What happens if a person at some stage of the funnel forgets, for example, to fill out a questionnaire?

We send a series of automatic reminders to e-mail, sms.

What other stages does your funnel have?

There is a stage of automatic testing for knowledge of the English language. A link to the online test is sent to the candidate, and we receive the test result in Corezoid.

If the person is doing well with English, the next step is to invite the candidate to do the test task. As soon as the test task is completed, we automatically send it to an experienced specialist to check it.

Please note that up to this point, a recruiter never interacts with a candidate. Until this point, all e-mails, sms, instructions, reminders, etc. are sent automatically.

Example of the questionnaire with basic questions

What happens after You check the test assignment?

Codebridge professional goes through the checklist with 10 items. If everything looks good, the candidate moves on to the next stage of the funnel. If there are problems with the test assignment, then our expert marks the relevant check-boxes, for example, “bad colour selection”, “uneven indents”, “poor fonts selection”.

Example of the letter to the recruiter with a request to check a test task

All these reasons for rejection are inserted into an accurate email template and sent to the candidate. In total, we have created 80 personalized templates that are sent to candidates at different stages of the funnel.

What happens in the last stages of the funnel?

At the last stage of the funnel, I get engaged as the head of the company. We built a Corezoid integration with Calendly and a candidate who has reached the end of the funnel can sign up for a free slot for an interview with me and HR.

What statistics is available?

All statistics for each stage of the funnel is available in real time in Corezoid. Corezoid also makes it easy to change the business logic at any stage of the funnel.

Corezoid-dashboards with real-time statistics

How can companies start using your solution?

You can contact me personally, for example, on social networks and agree on a pilot project. The solution is deployed quite quickly in the Corezoid.com cloud or on the client's accounts in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, in their own data center.

Example of Corezoid processes that are used to manage the funnel

I am confident the solution will be useful for fulfilling the so-called "Mass hire positions". For example, if we talk about “Big 4”, then this solution is ideal for recruiting auditors, consultants, interns, etc. Wherever you need to quickly go through a large number of candidates to select a few of the most talented.

I believe that in today's business, the companies that attract the most talented people gain a competitive advantage. As the founder of Codebridge, I spend 80% of my working time looking for such abnormally talented employees.

As the founder of Codebridge, I spend 80% of my working time looking for such abnormally talented employees