Zabota

Rebuilt the applicant tracking system so the founder could finally see where candidates stalled.

Where Zabota was stuck

Zabota staffs talent from Central, Eastern Europe, and Latin America for Western-based businesses, typically running 5 to 8 active client roles per month. Ben built the original applicant tracking system in Airtable, but it wasn't optimized: candidates moved between stages without anyone tracking how long each one took, recruiters were doing manual data entry to intake new applicants, and there was no way to see where the pipeline was getting stuck. As Ben planned to bring on more recruiters, the lack of visibility became the single biggest blocker to scaling.

What we built

We rebuilt the entire ATS from the ground up. Stage-by-stage time tracking shows exactly how long candidates sit in each step, from initial contact through internal interview to client offer. Automated forms intake new candidates so recruiters stop typing the same fields by hand. One-click contact buttons fire emails and Telegram messages directly from the candidate record. The reporting layer surfaces average velocity per client and per recruiter, so Ben can see the pipeline's choke points instead of guessing.

What happened next

Within two to three weeks of launch, Ben had real data on average recruitment time per stage and per client. The visibility unblocked his hiring plan: he can now confidently bring more recruiters into the company knowing he can monitor whether work is actually moving. The same systems mindset Ben uses to staff for his clients (75+ hires placed since founding) now protects his own scaling. When the next round of operational gaps appear, the relationship is in place to fix them quickly.