Haystack - where we’ve been, where we’re at and where we’re heading

“To uncover, highlight and curate the most interesting opportunities in tech.” - the Haystack vision statementIt’s safe to say that this year has been crazy.

Since the conception of the initial idea for Haystack back in December 2019, we’ve more than doubled our amazingly talented team, tested and retested several versions of the Haystack app, made the shift from commuting to the office to commuting to the living room (and back again) and spoken to an enormous amount of extremely exciting North East businesses and techies that are working on some of the most cutting edge projects I’ve ever seen. It’s been humbling, a huge learning experience and massively fulfilling to see a collective idea twist and turn (sometimes u-turn) into a tangible product that I feel has laid the groundwork for the Haystack vision to be realised.

I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise to any of you when I say that tech recruitment is stuck in the dark ages. Endlessly scrolling through boring, uninspiring job boards, the same companies always being promoted, a complete lack of transparency around culture and values, techies being commoditised by recruiters at the expense of their career - the list goes on.

You know it, I know it, we all know it but no one has really done anything about it.

The Haystack homepage and messenger system _

_ We’re here to change that. Built for techies who are fed up with the age-old recruitment approach, Haystack is a data insights and careers marketplace that uncovers opportunities based on your interests, values and tech stack. We’re creating a completely level playing field for all, showcasing businesses that suit you and only you, no paid promotion, no shady practices, just all the insights you need to make the most informed decision possible. We’re ditching dull job boards, allowing top tech employers to passively build their employer brand and apply directly to techies - no more hiring bottlenecks. Every business is different and every techie has unique aspirations, now more than ever it’s time to free ourselves of the rigid hiring approaches we’re all accustomed to and move with the times.

“Haystack is going to accelerate how ION recruit tech talent. It unleashes the ability to meet the right people with the right attitude, and it puts our brand in their hand, anywhere.” - Rob Mathieson, Managing Director, ION

“At Opencast, our core mantra is ‘Build it Right.’ That means we champion TDD, good design principles and continuous delivery, and obsesses about writing clean, reliable code. As a company we are taking proactive steps to build our relaxed, friendly, supportive culture. One of the things we’re doing is partnering with Haystack to help us build our tech team of equally as passionate, obsessive people” - Lorna Madden, Head of Recruitment, Opencast

The workplace is changing, whether we like it or not. Tech teams are becoming more and more dispersed and businesses are looking further afield to find top talent. This has been a growing trend the past few years but has been propelled into the limelight by the recent working from home revolution. Now, more than ever, businesses and techies alike are having to adapt to changing attitudes around remote and flexible working. _

_ At Haystack, we’re all for adaptability. We’re lean, responsive and constantly listening to our users. We’ve built a solution that not only prides itself on shining a light on localised talent and businesses but also provides the flexibility needed when widening a job search into the realm of remote work. In other words, the world is your oyster with Haystack. We have aspirations to be the place that uncovers, highlights and curates the most interesting tech opportunities - and to be completely candid, we’ve worked our ar*es off to build the first version of a product that’s as close to that vision as possible. But we’re not there yet. Yes, we’ve laid the groundwork, we’ve done the research and we’ve built a product that we’re proud of - but ultimately, what comes next is dictated by you, the user.

So, where do we go from here? Well, if you’re a techie that’s looking for a career change or just curious to see what’s out there I’d absolutely love it if you downloaded the Haystack app, had a dig around and got in touch with any feedback or comments. If you’re a tech employer, you should say hello@haystackapp.io, we’d love to chat! To round it off I’d just like to say a quick thank you to the Haystack team for the many hours of work that’s gone into delivering this MVP, I can’t wait to see where we go from here. Cheers,Mike