How Viva scaled talent acquisition and cut time to hire by 75% with Typeform

Startups move fast. Luckily, Viva, a subscription-based executive assistant (EA) service for C-level startup leaders, knows how to keep pace. Viva helps founders and executives reclaim their time while increasing productivity and improving work-life balance by pairing them with highly skilled EAs.

"Our EAs are trained to support leaders with calendar and email management, team engagement, meeting support, and travel and expense support. Where we take it to the next level is through operational support such as process improvements, data analysis reports, and special projects," said Viva Talent Acquisition Manager Grace Castro. "Whatever companies need to reach their business goals, we're there to help."

With thousands of applications rolling in every month and pressure to scale quickly, Grace and the rest of the Talent team hit a bit of a roadblock: growing fast without overwhelming recruiters while still delivering an outstanding candidate experience.

Legacy systems offered low visibility

Grace had worked with her fair share of clunky legacy systems that slowed down even the most nimble teams. When Grace joined Viva, she inherited Typeform and it was love at first sight.

“Before I started using Typeform, we were a data mess. The tools we used felt like they were built 40 years ago, so functions, integrations, and data visualization were all limited. The forms were outdated and hard to use for recruiters and candidates,” Grace explained. “Without access to good data, we couldn’t see where people dropped off or how to improve the experience for candidates.”

Using Typeform to build a better, faster, and more human hiring experience

Seeing the opportunity in front of her, Grace and her team got to work. They redesigned Viva’s entire application process in Typeform, making each touchpoint more candidate-friendly.

1. Shorter, smarter forms that drive completions

By tapping into Typeform’s analytics, Grace and her team uncovered some clear friction points:

• Top-of-funnel forms took up to two hours to complete
• Many candidates started the application process but dropped out partway through
• As a result, completion rates were very low

The candidate experience didn’t quite hit the mark, which reflected poorly on the business. One of the things Typeform delivered was visibility, which helped the team get to the heart of the issues.

“We finally understood why completion rates were low and why candidates were bouncing. Our application was just too long,” Grace explained. “We could see which questions caused people to drop off.”

Using those insights, the team shortened the application form, leveraged conditional logic to show only relevant questions, gave the UX a glow-up to be more attractive and user-friendly, and ensured it was fully responsive so candidates could easily apply on any device.

“It’s a very easy experience now,” Grace said. “The visuals of the design are customizable, so candidates can apply quickly on their phone or laptop, then return later to complete evaluations.”

The team also split the original form into two parts: a short initial application and a separate screening form that candidates could complete later.

Their efforts paid off:

• Application completion time plummeted 93%, from two hours to just nine minutes
• Completion rates jumped to 50%

2. Extending a great experience beyond hiring

Viva knows talent acquisition doesn’t stop at an offer letter. Once Grace and her team understood what a difference Typeform made during the hiring process, they quickly expanded its use across the entire employee lifecycle, including:

• Candidate feedback surveys at multiple stages of their journey
• Onboarding forms to collect documents and references
• Training surveys and performance reviews
• Staff engagement surveys throughout the year
• PTO and leave requests
• Customer satisfaction forms for clients using their EA service

“We use Typeform for employees and customers to get feedback and understand their experience,” Grace said. “You might think CEOs and CFOs wouldn’t have time for surveys, but that’s the incredible thing about Typeform: You can make forms as short or as quick as you like, so they actually do it.”

Thanks to Typeform’s flexibility and customization, each form feels like part of a singular, seamless Viva experience. Whether you’re a candidate, new hire, or customer, the interaction is consistent, smooth, and, most importantly, human.

3. Automating workflows to save time and cost

After optimizing the frontend, Grace shifted the team’s focus to automating manual processes that bogged down the team. The team cut time-consuming follow-ups and other administrative work by integrating Typeform with tools like Slack, Google Sheets, Notion, and Zapier. It was like a magic wand, enabling them to scale recruitment without hiring more recruiters.

Now, when someone submits a form, the right person is automatically notified in Slack. Data flows straight into Google Sheets, databases update in Notion, and basically any other automation Viva can dream up.

“Everything happens automatically in the background, reducing the manual workload and making sure nothing gets left behind,” Grace commented.

This automation revolution helped cut the time to hire from 20 days down to five. Great candidates don’t wait around, so the faster hiring speed gives Viva a real edge in securing high-quality candidates before competitors do.

4. Maintaining a human touch at scale

Viva now handles a staggering 48,000+ applications a year using Typeform. “Most tools don’t have the capacity to take on so many applicants,” Grace remarked.

At that scale, it can be hard to prevent the hiring process from resembling a series of soulless transactions. Fortunately, Viva hasn’t lost what makes their Talent team unique: a genuinely human and empathetic recruitment process. No candidate wants to be a number in a crowd. They want to be treated like human beings, and Viva has found a way to maintain their core values even as their applicant volume skyrockets.

“Typeform has allowed me to keep that human touch that we don’t want to lose," Grace shared. “Of course, we want to keep growing as a company, onboarding more customers and building a bigger team, but never at the cost of quality or losing that human connection. What’s great about Typeform is that it lets us keep that personal touch at all our different touch points, staying true to who Viva is."

That dedication to the personal touch elevates the entire process. It creates a top-tier hiring experience while reflecting the kind of company culture candidates can expect when they join the team.

Typeform: the tool talent teams have been waiting for

For any HR team struggling with candidate drop-off, drowning in manual tasks, or making decisions without the right hiring insights, Grace has a clear message:

“Other tools just don’t compare. Typeform is cost-effective, easy to use, and gives you the data you actually need. I wouldn’t lead another recruitment process without it.”

Viva’s biggest wins come down to two things: speed and visibility. Smooth integrations with a wide range of popular apps fuel a faster, more efficient process that allows them to scale recruitment without scaling costs. And with deeper insights across the funnel through Typeform's built-in reporting capabilities, recruiters know what’s working — and where to focus where it really counts.

“Typeform gives us visibility on data, and understanding the drop off points, completion rates, and completion times has helped us improve the candidate experience," Grace said. “Partnering with Typeform was definitely the best decision. What it’s done for my team is incredible.”

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