What started in modest fashion as four guys designing software in a Downtown Vancouver condo has transformed into an 80-employee Richmond firm with an impressive and growing list of accolades.

This week, Talent Technology was one of just 50 Canadian firms to be named to the 2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, which ranks the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications and life-sciences companies in North America.

The Shellbridge Way software firm ranked 370, and company executive vice-president Praj Patel said making the list is both a validation and vote of confidence of the employees’ hard work.

It was a decade ago when company co-founder and chief executive officer Jade Bourelle assembled a team of talent and began designing the software, which helps small- and medium-sized firms with the hiring process by ranking applicants based on search criteria such as job description.

Talent Technology registered a five-year revenue growth rate of 329 per cent.

Today, the company’s two types of software offerings, HireDesk and Resume Mirror, are utilized by more than 700 customers who subscribe online.

In a data centre in Vancouver, Talent Technology hosts the service on its servers, but users from all over the world can log-in via their web browser and access the recruiting software and manage the hiring process.

Companies pay a monthly subscription to use the continually evolving hiring tool.

“We’re...certainly in the top 10 recruiting software companies in North America,” Patel said.

At some point, every company hires, and it can be a daunting task perusing hundreds of resumes sent in for a single position, he said.

And with the worldwide economy still struggling along, there are more people than ever looking for work.

With companies always seeking out the most talented employees, that’s where Talent Technology’s offerings speed up and streamline the process.

“Increasingly, that hiring is done online and it’s done through the internet...Applicants then come to your website, they apply online, the HR department, the recruiters then get that application and they may have hundreds.”

Facing a flood of applications, there simply isn’t time for a human resources manager to wade through it all.

Using intelligent software employing mathematical and statistical modelling that ranks the applicants based on the content of their resumes, a company can narrow the list to a relatively manageable 10 or 20 prospective hires.

HireDesk is a complete recruiting application service, allowing a recruiter to create a job description, post that description on their website or job boards like workopolis.com or monster.ca.

The HireDesk software provides tools to the recruiters, enabling them to search and sort the information, and then manage the hiring process, including arranging interviews and allowing applicants to take tests.

The target market for HireDesk is the more than 200,000 North American firms and organizations with between 100 and 5,000 employees, including health authorities and police forces, Patel said.

Though it originally had an office in Vancouver, Patel said Talent Technology made a conscious decision to move to Richmond in order to tap into the pool of software writing talent. It’s central location in the Lower Mainland means it draws employees from throughout the Lower Mainland.

So what does the future hold for Talent Technology?

Patel said the company plans to continue to acquire other companies with interesting offerings, so that Talent’s software designers don’t have to come up with all of the products. Over the past five years, the company has acquired five firms.

It will also look to improve its existing products, and then consider international expansion as well in other English-speaking countries.

And in case you’re wondering, Talent Technology currently has six or seven open positions, and uses its own software behind the scenes to manage the hiring process.