What happens when your candidates don’t have CVs? Or email addresses? Or even prior experience?
For LIDO, this isn’t an exception. It’s everyday reality.
Operating across multiple countries and dozens of locations, LIDO hires at scale across restaurants, production facilities, stores, and logistics roles. On any given day, recruiters might be hiring for completely different profiles, from baristas and kitchen staff to production workers and drivers. The volume is high, the roles are varied, and the expectations from candidates are very different from what traditional hiring processes are designed for.
Many of their candidates don’t come with polished CVs or structured work histories. Some apply without any prior experience, and in certain cases, even without an email address. At the same time, they are making decisions quickly. Not in weeks, but often within days or even hours.
That combination changes everything.
When traditional hiring processes fall short
Most recruitment processes are still built around an ideal scenario. Candidates are expected to submit CVs, fill in structured forms, and move through a clearly defined process. There is an assumption that they will wait. In high-volume environments like LIDO’s, that assumption simply doesn’t hold.
Candidates compare opportunities differently. They are not evaluating employers based on perfectly crafted employer branding messages. They are comparing how quickly they can start working, how simple the process is, and how clearly things are communicated.
LIDO experienced this first-hand. In one case, a candidate was ready to sign a contract the next day. Everything had been agreed. But just before signing, they withdrew. They had already accepted another offer where they could start immediately.
Situations like this are not rare. They can happen at almost any stage of the process.
The biggest challenge in high-volume hiring is not selecting the best candidate. It is making sure you do not lose them along the way.
Rebuilding the process around speed and simplicity
This realisation led to a clear shift in how LIDO approaches recruitment. Instead of trying to optimise a traditional process, they redesigned it around the reality of their candidates. The goal was to remove unnecessary friction, respond faster, and make the entire experience easier to navigate.
One of the first changes was simplifying the application process.
Candidates are no longer required to submit a CV or motivation letter. Instead, application forms are customised to collect only the most essential information. With a few targeted questions, candidates effectively build a simple profile as they apply. In many cases, this can be as straightforward as providing a name and a phone number, along with a couple of relevant details.
This approach significantly lowers the barrier to apply. It also ensures that candidates who might otherwise be excluded from traditional processes are still able to enter the pipeline.
Faster decisions that match candidate behaviour
Speed is just as important after the application.
Previously, interviews were scheduled individually with hiring managers, and decisions could take one to two weeks. In a high-volume environment, that delay often meant losing candidates to faster-moving employers.
Today, LIDO has restructured this part of the process as well. Interviews are often conducted in groups or with both recruiters and hiring managers involved at the same time. Recruiters play an active role in decision-making and help keep the process moving. This has reduced decision times from weeks to just one or two days.
It is a simple change, but in practice, it makes a significant difference.
When candidates are ready to start immediately, even a few days can determine whether they stay in the process or move on.
Clear and immediate communication
Another key improvement has been communication.
Candidates now receive immediate confirmation when they apply, along with clear information about what will happen next. Whether the next step is a phone interview or an in-person meeting, they know what to expect and how the process will continue. This clarity reduces uncertainty and keeps candidates engaged.
Importantly, communication is not dependent on email alone. Since not all candidates use or regularly check email, LIDO also relies heavily on SMS communication. This makes it possible to reach candidates quickly and reliably, even in situations where traditional channels would not work.
Technology that supports real-world hiring
To make this process work consistently at scale, LIDO relies on recruitment software that supports their reality rather than forcing them into a predefined structure.
With Teamdash, candidate applications flow directly into the system without manual data entry. Customisable application forms make it possible to collect relevant information even when a candidate does not have a CV. In many ways, the application itself becomes a lightweight alternative to a traditional CV.
Communication is automated across both email and SMS, allowing recruiters to respond quickly and at scale. Whether it is confirming an application, inviting candidates to the next step, or following up, the process runs without manual bottlenecks.
At the same time, recruiters have full visibility over the pipeline. They can see where each candidate is, manage multiple roles in parallel, and ensure that no one is overlooked. If a candidate applies to more than one position, their history is available in one place.
This combination of flexibility and structure is what enables LIDO to maintain speed without losing control.
What other teams can learn from this
LIDO’s approach highlights a broader shift in how high-volume hiring needs to be handled.
- Simplicity is not a compromise → It is what drives conversion.
- Speed is not just efficiency → It is a competitive advantage.
- And communication is not a formality → It is what keeps candidates in the process.
Perhaps most importantly, tools and processes need to reflect how candidates actually behave, not how we expect them to behave.
Hiring that matches reality
High-volume hiring does not follow the same rules as traditional recruitment. Candidates move faster, expectations are different, and the margin for delay is much smaller. What works in this environment is not more complexity, but less.
By simplifying applications, speeding up decisions, and using tools that support real-world behaviour, LIDO has built a hiring process that matches the pace of its candidates. And in doing so, they have turned what is often seen as a limitation into a clear advantage.
Because when candidates don’t have CVs, your process becomes the most important part of your hiring strategy.
