How Synertek Streamlined Recruitment and Enhanced Candidate Experience with Teamtailor

Léa Cullen-Robitaille, Director of Human Resources at Synertek, plays a key role in shaping the company’s recruitment strategies amid a highly competitive talent market. Synertek, a leader in machinery manufacturing, specializes in sheet metal transformation and prides itself on delivering high-quality, turnkey solutions with a seamless customer experience.

Synertek's vision is to be a trusted leader in the industrial machinery manufacturing sector by delivering high-quality, precision-engineered metal transformation solutions. They accomplish this by integrating cutting-edge technology, exceptional craftsmanship, and a commitment to reliability and innovation—made possible through a hiring strategy that attracts, develops, and retains top talent.

Can you tell us a little about Synertek?

Since 2004, Synertek has been offering a turnkey service for transforming sheet metal (steel, stainless steel and aluminum) into highly sophisticated, aesthetically pleasing products. Our transformation services include cutting, welding, bending, crimping, polishing, assembly and electrostatic painting. We have a plant in Lévis, from which we serve customers throughout Quebec, Canada and the rest of North America.

How is Synertek revolutionizing the industrial machinery manufacturing sector?

At Synertek, the impeccable quality of the parts we produce sets us apart. Our customers appreciate our reliability: meeting our commitments, whether in terms of quality or on-time delivery, is very important to us! Day after day, the Synertek is proud to produce parts that meet our customers' highest quality standards. What's more, we offer several metal processing services under the same roof, so our customers have access to an integrated offering to produce their most complex parts. The experience we offer our customers can be summed up in three words: simple, easy and worry-free.

What are the recruitment trends and challenges specific to the manufacturing industry?

Unemployment in our region is very low, and has been for several years! Specialized positions such as welders and electromechanics are particularly difficult to fill. Recruiting takes time, because even though we're experiencing a labor shortage, we still want to hire candidates who will adapt well to our culture. 

In the past, we hired workers who were already trained: press brake operators, operators, painters, etc. The labor shortage has made it difficult for us to recruit the right people. The labor shortage has forced us to review our requirements, and we are now open to hiring people with no specific experience and training them in-house.

Quality talent in the industrial machinery manufacturing sector seems to be in high demand. Have you noticed this in your recruiting and how has it affected the way you recruit?

It's a very competitive market! Good, qualified candidates don't stay on the market very long. This forces us to be very quick in our hiring process.

What were your recruitment processes and challenges before Teamtailor?

Before Teamtailor, we had an ATS integrated with an HRIS. However, the HRIS software was not specialized in recruitment, and there were a number of less user-friendly functions. Previously, we had an in-house ATS, linked to our intranet. This worked quite well, with basic functions. However, the difficulty was that we still had to invest time with our developers every time we wanted to integrate an enhancement.

Why did you choose Teamtailor?

Right from the start, we found Teamtailor very easy and intuitive to use. What's more, there are many built-in functions. The knowledge base is also very practical, as is online chat when we have questions.

How has your experience with Teamtailor been so far?

Our experience with Teamtailor has been excellent. The recruitment process is much smoother and more transparent than before. It's easy to find your way around, and extremely user-friendly :) As we use Teamtailor, we discover many nice-to-haves and details that have been well thought out and create a really great user experience!

I should also mention customer service, which is one of Teamtailor's strengths. Whether through chat or our CSM, it's easy to talk to someone and get clarification when you have questions.

What impact has Teamtailor had on your company?

Teamtailor has saved our recruitment team a lot of time, thanks to the numerous automations and templates (e.g. messages, interview grids, pipelines).

Teamtailor also creates a really pleasant candidate experience, which helps Synertek promote itself to candidates. The career site creation functions enable us to create an attractive, up-to-date visual, the application submission process is simple, scheduling telephone interviews is super-simple and easy thanks to the tool integrated into Teamtailor, automatic e-mails keep candidates engaged in the process, and so on.

Which Teamtailor feature do you use most and why?

My favorite Teamtailor feature is the integrated video interview software, which records the interview, generates an automatic report, automatically fills in the interview grid and creates a transcript. I don't use it for every recruitment process, as the telephone remains the best option for certain positions we need to fill. I do use it for certain administrative or management positions, as it saves an enormous amount of time and allows me to concentrate on the discussion with the candidate, rather than on taking notes. A real game-changer for me! The software also lets you take notes directly from the candidate's file during the interview. It's well thought-out and really practical!

How did you first hear about Teamtailor?

Teamtailor seems to be a well-kept secret, since it was through a human resources software selection consultancy that we first heard about Teamtailor.

What would you say to other companies thinking of switching to Teamtailor?

Teamtailor is a real gold nugget for recruiters. It's packed with great features, which really makes you want to do more recruiting! All in a visually pleasing package. The Teamtailor team is also very dedicated, and their customer service is quick to respond, making the experience even more personalized. In short, Teamtailor offers the same customer experience as Synertek: simple, easy and hassle-free.