Calgary · working coast to coast
Recruiting, done by people · Canada
Nobody should have to become a number to find good work, and nobody should have to read three hundred resumes to find one good person. So we take the time to understand both sides, then move quickly without losing the person in the middle. We are small on purpose, and we intend to stay that way.
Either way, a person reads it. If we think we can genuinely help, we call you. If we don’t, we tell you that instead of leaving you waiting.
“If people are our greatest investment, let’s get it right the first time, then invest for a lifetime.”
William Toussaint, Founder
We phone references ourselves. Two former managers, a real conversation, never a form to fill in.
We say no to searches. If a workplace does not hold up, we would rather lose the fee than send someone into it.
The person behind Merit
Somewhere along the way, hiring became applications, keywords, quotas and inboxes. I have been on both sides of that. I have hired people, led teams, been a candidate, and built the recruiting systems companies run on.
I have also watched what happens when we optimise the process so hard that we forget the people inside it. Someone leaves a job they spent ten years building, moves their family, takes a real chance, and gets a form letter back.
So I built Merit. Small on purpose. If you work with us, I want you to know who you are talking to, who is running your search, and who is accountable for how it turns out.
What we believe
Someone might be changing careers. Leaving a company they spent ten years building. Moving their family across the country. Trying to prove themselves again after a hard year. Taking a chance.
On the other side, a company might be hiring the person who will lead a team, build the product, win the client, or quietly change where the whole business ends up.
Hiring shapes a team for years and a person's career for longer. That is worth taking seriously, and it is why we refuse to treat either side like a number. We will not run a search we do not believe in, and we will not send someone we have come to know into a workplace we would not recommend to a friend.
Sometimes the right search is the one we don't take.
We look at retention, how long leaders stay and whether people are paid fairly before we accept a search. If a workplace does not clear that, we decline it. We do not raise the fee and take it anyway. Turning down the work is the only version of this that means anything.
Move fast, look hard, and never let either one cost someone their dignity.
Start here
We work both sides of the table, and the two conversations are nothing alike. Tell us which one you are, and the rest of the site speaks to you instead of past you.
I’m hiring
You are hiring, and you do not want another stack of resumes. You want someone who can actually do the job, fit the team, and still be there in two years.
I’m looking for work
You are looking for work, and you are not interested in becoming another application number. You want someone to understand what you are good at and where you want to go.
01 · How we get to know people
Not just the resume, the title or the keywords. We want to know what you are actually good at, what you have built, why you are leaving, and where you want to go. Then we phone two people who managed you and have a real conversation about it. Anything a referee asks us to keep private stays with us.
We ask the company the same kind of questions. What are you really trying to build? Who succeeds here, and who has not? What happened to the last person in this seat? What is the pay, honestly? Who makes the decision?
And then we make a call. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes it is no, on either side. That is part of the job, and we would rather say it out loud than quietly waste your time.
02 · If you are looking for work
We talk to people. We learn what they are good at, what they are looking for, where they are willing to go, and what kind of place brings out their best. If we do not think we can genuinely help you, we will tell you that. If we can, we keep your profile close and come back to you when the right thing comes along.
It takes a few minutes to start, and it costs you nothing, ever. How we work with you.
03 · What we stand behind
If a placement ends within six months of the start date, we run the search again at no further fee. It is written into the agreement, so you can read it before anyone signs. We also hold ourselves to ten searches at a time, because a promise you cannot service is not a promise.
We check in on every person we place at three months, six months and a year. Partly to keep ourselves honest, mostly because we would like to know how they are doing.
How we use software
Evidence
And then the numbers, which are ours, not borrowed.
How selective we actually are about who we put forward, and how long the people we place tend to stay.
Concurrent searches
10
The eleventh search is declined or waitlisted, never quietly absorbed.
Replacement protection
6 months
If the hire does not last six months, we run the search again.
Supervisor references, called live
2
Two former supervisors, on the phone, in a real conversation.
We publish these numbers from the same system we use to run the studio.
No pitch deck, no drip campaign. A conversation with someone who actually works here, and an honest answer about whether we can help.
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