Case Study: Supporting Hiring Waves at Absorb
About Absorb:
Absorb is a leading learning platform, helping organizations develop and engage their people through modern, scalable learning experiences. Trusted by thousands of organizations worldwide and supporting millions of learners, Absorb enables teams to onboard, upskill, and grow talent with confidence.
The challenge
Absorb was scaling its Sales team across North America, with an immediate focus on hiring Account Executives and Account Managers. The need was urgent, but the longer term scope did not justify adding permanent recruitment headcount.
At the same time, Absorb needed support to start quickly, integrate into an existing interview process, and manage a high volume of candidates without compromising on quality. The team was clear on what good looked like and was not willing to settle, even under time pressure.
“Working with HighlightTA felt like having extra teammates who could jump in exactly when we needed them because they understood our business. They added capacity, brought fresh market insight, and kept our hiring momentum going even as things shifted week to week. Their embedded model gave us flexibility without the long-term overhead, and it made scaling our hiring feel a lot more manageable. As Absorb continues to grow, this model allows us to move faster, stay aligned, and maintain momentum, regardless of shifting hiring demands.”
Key challenges
Meeting urgent hiring needs without adding long term overhead
Managing high volume screening within a rigorous interview process
Supporting internal teams while maintaining momentum
Scaling up and down as hiring demand fluctuated
The delivery
HighlightTA embedded a Senior Talent Partner directly into Absorb’s team to provide end to end recruitment support.
Embedded recruitment support
The Talent Partner joined the team within a week, quickly getting up to speed with Absorb’s systems, scorecards, and interview process. This allowed for seamless collaboration and minimal disruption to existing workflows.
High volume, quality focused screening
Using Absorb’s predefined criteria, the Talent Partner conducted screening at scale to support hiring urgency while maintaining a strong quality bar. Over 175 Account Manager screens and 45 Account Executive screens were completed, ensuring only aligned candidates progressed.
Talent mapping and market insight
In parallel with delivery, HighlightTA supported talent mapping and provided market and compensation insights that Absorb used in conversations with leadership. These reports helped ground decisions in real time market data while reinforcing internal alignment.
Tools, process, and ongoing partnership
Working across multiple roles and pipelines, the Talent Partner supported Absorb in maintaining structure and momentum during a period of increased hiring demand. In parallel, HighlightTA provided guidance on scalable recruiting tools, supporting Absorb as the team began planning for future ATS needs.
Beyond day to day delivery, the partnership included regular conversations with HighlightTA’s talent leaders. These sessions focused on current hiring trends, market insights, and evolving best practices, helping Absorb stay informed and confident in their talent decisions.
“Having Fractional TA support from Highlight has been a standout factor in our hiring success over the past year. We deeply appreciate their flexibility, agility, and dedication as they adapted with us through evolving growth needs and became a genuinely valuable extension of our team.”
“The recruitment process was A+!! I’m a question asker and all of my questions were answered immediately. I couldn’t have asked for a better recruitment process!”
The impact
HighlightTA supported Absorb through a sustained period of hiring, delivering multiple hires while building a strong pipeline of qualified candidates.
Beyond the immediate hires, Absorb gained a flexible, embedded talent model that extended beyond recruitment execution. The partnership delivered market insight and operational support, adding capacity and perspective as hiring scaled.
The embedded model provided continuity across hiring cycles, preserving process consistency and momentum as demand shifted.
As Absorb continues to scale, this approach provides a repeatable way to access senior talent expertise, adapt to hiring spikes, and support hiring growth without long-term overhead.