How We Find The RIGHT Mods For Our Clients

At Metaverse, we like to tell clients that our Mods are their customers.

It’s true. When we’re hired to support great brands like Sony Online Entertainment, the NFL, or Showtime, we pour through our network of more than 10,000 Mods to find the individuals who would be the perfect match for that project. That doesn’t just mean they only have technical know-how and the experience required; no, we find Mods who love the brands, products, and companies that they’re supporting.

Sounds easy, right? But it’s harder than you’d think. That’s why we’ve asked Gina Miller, Metaverse’s Director of People Operations, to walk us through the process of finding the best Mods for each job. Gina and her team sort through 200 to 300 Mod applications per week. Clearly, being a Mod is a coveted position.

What does it take to stand out from the crowd?

First off, as with most interviewers, we look for reliability and dependability, a solid work history, and whether the candidate is personable. We want people who will fit our overall culture. As we dig further, we’ll examine their specific experience, whether it be their success with customer support or moderation, or a closer look at their technical skills.

The People Operations team spends time reading each resume — yes, they’re actually read by human beings! — and ultimately categorizes our successful applicants. This organizes our pool of Mods in such a way that when we have openings on a project, we’re able to look at those Mods who meet the requirements. A Project Manager then interviews them to gauge whether they’d be appropriate for that job.

Talk about the process of learning about the Mods. How do we get to know their passions, skill sets, comfort levels, and so on?

Our Project Managers are in frequent communication with the Mods, forming strong work relationships with each one. They get to know their teams quite well and understand each Mod’s strengths, interests, and the types of tasks for which they’re best suited. They provide copious notes that are provided for other Project Managers who may look to recruit these Mods on future assignments.

How do you determine which traits would best serve our clients?

In most cases, the client will meet with the Account Manager and Project Manager to determine exactly what they’re looking for and how, ideally, we’ll provide services.

For example, many of our clients are running the Zendesk customer-support solution. So we’ll start by narrowing down our list to those Mods with Zendesk experience in a customer-support environment. This process is applied for any CRM tool that a client might use, and for any technical skill that’s necessary in order to successfully perform this task.

Then we’ll look at the personality of the brand itself. We serve as the voice of the brand. Our Mods will be contributing to the overall voice that the client has cultivated over time. So we need to sustain that ideal. We’ll look to our Project Managers to help identify those who would be best suited in that regard.

And here’s where we’ll also examine the interest of each Mod. Is it a video-game company we’re servicing? Then we’ll look for people who have substantial video game experience, whether as players/testers or as someone with industry experience.

How do the Mods know of openings that might be right up their alley? Do they get a chance to hear about them?

Yes, we post all internal job opportunities out to our network of Mods. We’ll describe the client, the product, and the job’s technical requirements. And we’ll ask the Mods to let us know if they’re into that product. Mods will step forward and identify themselves as enthusiasts, and we’ll have the Project Manager speak with them to determine whether they’re the best fit for that team. We very frequently have people who come to us saying, “I use this product; I’d love to work on this project.”

When we locate Mods who have a vested interest in the products and services provided by our clients, we know the Mods will also see value in the work they do with the client’s audience. Our large network of Mods ensures us a proper pool from which to draw only those most interested in the project work.

For us, the key to the success of each project is in staffing a core group of Mods who take personal pride in seeing the client’s brand — and their work — make a difference.