Superus Careers, which operates Mortgage Career Exchange as its specialized mortgage industry division, announced Wednesday that it has partnered with HEXA Ventures on a $1 million technology initiative aimed at supporting the recruiting company’s next stage of growth.
The partnership, which has spent nearly two years in development, combines Superus Careers’ recruiting expertise and industry relationships with HEXA’s capabilities in product strategy, software development, artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, automation and commercialization.
The $1 million commitment is a line of credit from HEXA to Superus Careers to fund technology development. As part of the agreement, HEXA will also receives an equity stake in Superus Careers, CEO Larry Silver said in an interview with HousingWire ahead of the announcement.
In a statement, Silver said the intention isn’t to replace relationships, but rather to transform Superus Careers and Mortgage Career Exchange into a high-tech, high-touch experience.
“This $1 million commitment is about building the technology foundation for the next stage of Superus Careers and Mortgage Career Exchange. It will give our team better information, remove unnecessary friction, and create more time to focus on the needs of our clients and candidates,” he said.
Scalable recruiting platform
Silver said the companies began discussions about two years ago after he was introduced to HEXA founder and global managing director Maan Hamdan. HEXA’s technology ecosystem, he said, includes about 50 human resources technology companies and tech developers around the world.
“As we were building Mortgage Career Exchange, I started to see different ways that we can engage the marketplace, both on our client side as well as the talent side, to help make that matching a little bit easier,” Silver said.
The companies plan to develop a scalable recruiting platform that initially will support Superus Careers and Mortgage Career Exchange. The technology road map includes talent intelligence, confidential career exploration, intelligent matching, recruiting workflow automation and employer-facing tools.
Silver said the goal is to use technology to streamline the recruiting process without removing the human element.
“You’re never going to avoid the human element, but finding ways to use technology, automation, sometimes now AI, to really get the parties to understand each other at a deeper level, and sometimes before you actually connect them directly,” he said.
The platform is expected to include a 24/7 virtual career marketplace where mortgage companies can showcase their organizations and prospective employees can explore opportunities anonymously. The technology also will include tools for resume development, LinkedIn profile reviews, AI-powered interview practices and industry education, Silver said.
The anonymous component is intended to allow mortgage professionals to explore opportunities before they are ready to make a move, he said.
“The key is, can we engage them earlier in the process so that they can really get a chance to understand what’s going on out there, what companies are building, what career opportunity might make the most sense for them?” Silver said.
Continued focus on recruiting, staffing
Mortgage Career Exchange provides recruiting services, career connections, talent programs and industry expertise for mortgage companies and professionals.
HEXA will support the initiative through product planning, technical architecture, software development, AI strategy, data infrastructure, workflow automation and commercialization guidance. Superus also will be able to use existing HEXA technologies and customize them for its needs, allowing the company to bring capabilities to market more quickly, Silver said.
For Superus, the partnership represents more than an effort to improve its existing recruiting operations. Silver called the move a “technology play,” adding that the company ultimately intends to become a technology organization while maintaining its focus on recruiting and staffing.
The company plans to use automation and AI to handle parts of the recruiting process that can create friction, while allowing recruiters to focus on relationships and decision-making. Silver said the technology also could help address turnover in the mortgage industry by improving the match between companies and employees, including cultural fit.
“The key is to be a technology platform that actually allows people to match up with organizations … to be able to understand what’s out there before you have to make the decisions,” he said.
Hamdan founded HRsmart in 1999 and developed the company into a multinational provider of cloud-based talent-management technology before its acquisition by Deltek in 2015.
“Superus Careers has the foundations strong technology companies are built on: real industry experience, established client relationships and a clear understanding of the problems employers and professionals are trying to solve,” Hamdan said in a statement.
