Agilus and Credivera create a people-centric business by employing Microsoft Entra Verified ID

Finding the best candidate is stressful enough for everyone involved in the process. Piling on the time-consuming work of verifying credentials—training certifications and other qualifications—is an extra hurdle for both job seekers who must submit their records repeatedly for every job application and recruiters who must verify them. As a recruitment organization specializing in placing highly skilled workers, Agilus Work Solutions understands the pain felt by both sides. So as a people-first company, Agilus protects employers from the risk of hiring candidates who use invalid or incomplete credentials and, at the same time, creates an efficient and expedited process for credentialed candidates who want to get employed quickly.

Agilus partners with Credivera, a leader in workforce management and digital identity, to help ensure complete credential verification. Credivera, in turn, bases its solution on Agilus’s deep recruiting expertise. Combining this synergy with Microsoft Entra Verified ID streamlined a recruiting process designed to optimize the hiring process for everyone.

Confronting the obstacles between skilled workers and employers 

Specializing in engineering, information technology, and professional roles, Agilus identifies candidates for clients that want to hire permanent employees and also places contractors in temporary assignments. “Our value lies in the results we create for everyone in the recruiting cycle,” says Jeffrey Bowen, Vice President of Operational Excellence at Agilus Work Solutions. “So, putting proper procedures and technologies in place to safeguard credential information for our candidates and clients is critical.” Scaled across 14 locations in Canada, with hundreds of clients looking to hire and thousands of active candidates looking for new jobs, Agilus faces a heavy credential verification load. Up until now, placing skilled professionals required navigating repetitive manual processes to ensure the best skill set and weed out invalid credentials.

The old process began with Agilus sending the requirements for a position to each candidate, then verifying each credential for that applicant. Verifying as many as 10 or more credentials for each candidate can mean around 10 or more emails or phone calls, and the time to receive each verification can stretch from several days to multiple weeks. “To create meaningful opportunities for everyone in the process and succeed in a highly competitive space, we focus on speed and accuracy,” explains Bowen. “Getting information back from our contractors quickly and reducing the time to onboard an individual is vital. Automating that process is key so we can prioritize personal interactions with clients and job seekers over data management.” 

For Elena Dumitrascu, Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer at Credivera, bottom-line savings aren’t the only reason to optimize the credential verification process. “A global shift in professional interactions is happening,” she insists. “People want to belong to communities of shared interests so they can form rich connections that accelerate career development. Now, our clients have the visibility to compare their credentials to the requirements of a given employer and gain any missing qualifications. So, we are surpassing transactional interactions and helping build a powerful community of professionals.” She points to a predicted global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people by 2030, which could translate to unrealized revenues of $8.5 trillion for enterprises.

A professional who works in IT or a technical role might have 10 or more certifications for various technologies, health and safety courses, and professional designations, so obtaining proof of certification can be time-consuming and tedious. Most frustratingly, job seekers often do not have full control over their credentials. This means that if the job seeker chooses not to be represented by Agilus, or if they switch employers, they cannot access the data and information that was already verified. Bowen and Dumitrascu envisioned a digital wallet that each candidate could own. Once verified, credentials would be safe from tampering by candidates who, for example, might want to extend recertification dates. With the wallet, the information would be transferrable for as long as the job seeker is represented by Agilus—no more revalidating every certification when seeking new roles. But sharing—or not sharing—that information would be under their control and could be used anywhere. All that was needed was the right verifiable credential technology.

Choosing a Microsoft identity solution

The longstanding trust between Agilus and Credivera set the bar high in the two companies’ search for a verifiable identity technology provider. Dumitrascu lists the criteria: a portable solution that customers can use anywhere, anytime, and one that’s universally accepted and compliant with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) internet standards. Credivera evaluated multiple technologies, including Trust Over IP (ToIP) and Hyperledger. “We ultimately chose Microsoft Entra Verified ID because it gives us the most solid, secure verification trail available today,” says Dumitrascu. ”And Microsoft provides the one enterprise identity verification solution that entities all over the globe recognize and respect.”

Other considerations validated that choice. “100 percent of our tech stack runs on Microsoft solutions,” adds Dumitrascu. “And we optimize support for our customers everywhere by using Microsoft datacenters across the globe to ensure that user data is always in the correct jurisdiction. We make full use of Azure Functions in our microservice architecture, making all our functionality fully scalable.” She also appreciates the teamwork Credivera enjoys with Microsoft. “Microsoft has helped us in every way,” she says. “The Verified ID product team expanded its original use cases tied to Azure Active Directory, incorporating our wider context of worker relationships and credential needs—a plethora of metadata about everyone that must be verified. We’re incredibly grateful for that collaboration.”

Empowering every job seeker

Agilus recruiters now create a folder group for each job to be filled—a sort of template used to collect the relevant applications—and add a record for each candidate to it. Upon being added, each individual record then “inherits” the requirements list needed for the job. That candidate’s record then automatically invites that person to submit their credentials to the Credivera system. Agilus accesses the Credivera system to track the verification process in real time. “We’re out of the business of calling and emailing candidates for their credentials and then verifying them for accuracy,” says Bowen. ”We save about 45 minutes per contractor onboarded, and my operations team saves about 4 hours per month on client reporting requirements.” It’s reduced the previous timeline, which could stretch to three or four weeks. “That means less time for a skilled candidate to disengage with the opportunity and be enticed by a competing offer,” continues Bowen. “And apart from time savings related directly to automation, we can adjust our processes in line with that technology for ongoing time savings.” As a famously people-first company even within a people-first field, Agilus prizes that time. More time to focus on those personal interactions means better outcomes for everyone. Relieved of repetitive paperwork, Agilus can engage job seekers in more meaningful conversations, helping them to find that perfect job.

Credivera protects candidate privacy unwaveringly. “We believe that people should be empowered to own their data and share it whenever and with whomever they want,” says Dumitrascu. “Of course, they should be able to revoke access to that data when the business transaction ends. The design principles of security and privacy come first in everything we do.” Compliance is also built into the solution, saving the Credivera team significant effort. “More than 140 countries have passed legislation around privacy and control over one’s own data,” adds Dumitrascu. “We want candidates to have that control, and Microsoft Entra Verified ID provides it right out of the gate.”

That autonomy benefits the entire system, and Bowen eyes the future of Agilus’s relationship with Credivera with optimism. “It’s all about creating a connected community in a meaningful, purposeful way,” he says. “Streamlining the credential verification process helps everyone involved in the process. And to succeed in the talent recruiting field, you need to be innovative, moving forward with solutions that make it easy for candidates and clients to work with you.” Above all, Bowen values the trust that arises from transparency. “Many of our clients are heavily regulated, which can prolong onboarding, so we want to extend this conversation to them,” he says. “The transparency we can create with Microsoft Entra Verified ID can streamline their processes, which represents a win for everyone.”

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