Today we’d like to introduce you to Seda Bolulu.
Hi Seda, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have been a pet parent since infancy. I grew up in suburban Orange County with dogs, cats, fish, birds, and a bearded dragon, and always knew I wanted to do something with animals in the future. Back in the 90’s there was no defined “pet industry” as there is today. Petco and PetSmart was pretty much it those days. Today, an estimated 90.5 million US homes own a pet, up 5.6M in the last two years. Gen Z and Millennial pet parents are driving the demand for pet services, which leads to growth and the demand for talent across the board in pet sectors.
PackHire started a couple years back when I was in business school interested in doing an industry change. I had been in the legal recruiting industry for 8 years, spent 2 years doing in-house creative recruiting prior, and wanted to transition into the pet industry, which has always been my passion. Here’s the problem with trying to make that transition. The job search marketplace is split into two groups: employers and candidates. It is fragmented and monopolized by the name brands (Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter) which are created for the masses. Like many job searchers, I visited these major job boards searching for jobs that catered to my background in business development and recruiting but I was only interested in the pet industry. In short, the job search process was a mess, time consuming, and inefficient. None of the job boards even categorized the pet industry as an industry of its own which was frustrating, then you saw that some petfood, veterinary, and pet tech companies post on some job boards and not others, so then you are visiting 7/8 different job boards. Plus, the search results were often times completely irrelevant.
Employers, on the other hand, usually subscribe to numerous, expensive job search platforms to post openings, oftentimes with very high yearly subscription fees, or per posting fees (over $200/$300 for a single job posting) for each platform. After conducting primary and secondary market research, we knew there was a gap in the pet space job market (for job seekers and employers), and wanted to be the trusted resource that people turned to. We are proud to be a trailblazer in this fun, feel good market.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Building out our platform was expensive and time consuming. We went over budget which impacted some other areas of the business but the functionality, simplicity and our brand voice were key aspects of the PackHire platform we were not willing to compromise on. We wanted to create a one-stop shop, simple streamlined website that caters to professionals in the pet industry and that is what we built.
We’ve been impressed with PackHire, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As one of the founders, I head up the sales, recruiting and marketing for PackHire. My professional career prior to PackHire was in sales and recruiting (11 years)…25 if you count all those years selling girl scout cookies door-to-door. I have always enjoyed building relationships with people which naturally transitioned to clients and candidates in my professional career. My co-founder, Fadi Rasheed, is an employment attorney who helps business owners build and protect their companies against employment claims. We are also huge animal lovers, pet parents, and together we instill in our customers and candidates great value and trust. Creating a community for pet professionals to find their pack made sense to us.
PackHire’s competitive advantage is that we are a job board, recruiting service AND community for the ENTIRE pet industry. We do not just focus on one segment of the pet industry AND we do not take any jobs that are not specific to the pet industry. No noise just barks and meows accepted here. 😊
PackHire is free to use. Job seekers can make a candidate profile, search jobs, apply and post their resumes to our database (so employers can find them) at no cost. Employers can also make a free user account and can purchase a number of different job posting options (individual , one time package, monthly subscription). We are a vertical marketplace where candidates can search from thousands of jobs on one website. Employers significantly reduce their hiring time and costs. They also benefit from candidates who are passionate and dedicated to the industry leading to less turnover, better productivity, and higher reported job satisfaction. We supplement our job board with recruiting support from our expert recruiting consultants. We simplify the hiring process by handling the sourcing, screening, interviews, HR checks, and onboarding. Similar to LinkedIn, PackHire seeks to be a community just for pet people to connect, develop relationships, share industry trends, news, and employment opportunities.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
This is an exiting time for pets and pet people. The impacts of covid prompted people to seek out greater career satisfaction. As this $100B industry continues to grow, hiring will continue to surge in the pet space in the coming years. From pet tech, to veterinary, grooming, and retail, employers are struggling to hire and keep employees. While there are an estimated 2 million jobs in the pet sector today, experts predict that number will skyrocket as the global pet industry is slated for $202 billion by 2025. We hope to be the job platform where pet professionals can find their pack!
Pricing:
- Free to sign up
- $85/post
- $320 for a 5-post package
Contact Info:
Email: info@packhire.com
- Website: https://packhire.com/
- TikTok:@packhire
- Instagram: @packhire
- Facebook: @packhire
- Twitter: @packhire
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o3AiJP8_pE
Image Credits:
Luis Chavez
