Case Study: Canva achieves faster, higher-quality tech hires during hyper-growth with HackerRank

How Canva’s Scott Crowe Hires Tech Talent During Hyper-Growth

Canva, the fast-growing online design platform led by recruiter Scott Crowe, faced the classic hyper-growth hiring problem: a severe talent shortage and an inefficient screening funnel. Hundreds of resumes often translated into only a handful of truly qualified candidates, and a lengthy take-home task created inconsistent effort and high drop-off, slowing the team’s plan to more than double engineering headcount.

Canva introduced HackerRank skills-based assessments and CodePair, letting candidates choose a one-hour live coding session or an at‑home technical test (candidates split roughly 50/50). The new process produced a much more qualified slate of candidates, cut wasted time, and dramatically improved conversion — non-submission rates fell from 46% to 1% — helping Canva hire faster while keeping its technical bar high.

Canva