Client Testimonial: How Horner Recruitment Scaled Regional Hiring With Speed, Flexibility, and True Partnership With Indeed

Horner Recruitment has spent five decades helping Australian organisations find the right people and helping talent find work that fits. Their focus on genuine relationships, local expertise and tailored solutions means every hiring challenge gets an approach built around real needs, not one-size-fits-all.

We spoke with Kylie Heffernan, CEO, about how partnering with Indeed helped the team expand their talent reach, improve ROI and mobilise large-scale regional hiring campaigns under tight deadlines.

The Challenge

Before using Indeed, Horner’s advertising mix limited where and how the team could reach candidates.

Kylie explained that competing platforms “provided limitations in regards to where you can actually go to find your candidates.” For a business supporting roles across multiple industries and locations, especially regional ones, this created both reach and flexibility constraints.

From a hiring perspective, the challenge was simple: “to be able to source the best candidates for the roles that we have.”

Why Indeed

Horner adopted Indeed to broaden access to candidates, increase flexibility and build a more collaborative hiring model.

Kylie shared that she monitors platform performance closely and consistently sees a return that exceeds monthly spend.

Flexibility also made a meaningful difference. The ability to post as many jobs as needed at any point in time meant Horner could respond quickly to demand. When a job needed a boost, the Indeed team stepped in to support by adjusting visibility and “pushing the algorithms” to increase reach.

Resume search became a core part of their sourcing toolkit, especially for the offshore talent sourcer who uses it daily. International brand familiarity also played a role in attracting inbound talent because, as Kylie noted, people arriving in Australia often look to Indeed first.

The Solution

With Indeed Sponsored Jobs, resume search and hands-on account support, Horner gained full control over its posting strategy and outcomes.

The team could scale postings instantly, get help refining underperforming roles and proactively reach candidates who matched their needs. This was particularly valuable for high-volume hiring and for roles across metro and regional areas.

Flagship Success

Mobilising 250 Election Roles Across Regional Australia

Earlier this year, Horner was hired to staff election day roles handing out How to Vote cards across remote communities in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

“We... needed approximately 250 people for the election to hand out How to Vote cards.”

“We had to advertise in regional locations... We’re talking far-reaching locations that I hadn't even heard half the names of.”

Horner relied entirely on Indeed for sourcing:

“We solely relied on Indeed for that... to be able to get that outreach as far as possible.”

The support went further:

“Indeed came to the party... helping us in regards to getting traffic pushed to those ads, but also gave us $500 towards the campaign... We successfully, within a matter of 3 weeks, brought about 400 people through the process and successfully filled 98% of the roles.”

Business Impact

The recruitment outcomes were clear and measurable.

“When I measure now where candidate applications are coming in from, we've got a significantly higher volume coming in from Indeed, which shows me that it's working, and we're getting the right candidates.”

The partnership also strengthened Horner’s ability to compete:

“It certainly supports us as far as our tenders and proposals are concerned, to be able to show that we were able to mobilise in such a very short period of time for some really challenging geographical locations, but to have a successful outcome.”

A Partnership Built on Trust

Kylie emphasises that the relationship with Indeed is more than transactional. For her, the openness and responsiveness of the Indeed team are what make the partnership effective.

“Indeed aren't just one of our providers, they're a true business partner.”
“Our account manager, Holly, is brilliant.”
“The knowledge and understanding of our recruitment sector is critical. That consultative, collaborative approach is second to none.”

Value-Add Resources

Beyond advertising tools, Horner benefits from market insights, webinars and events.

Kylie regularly attends Indeed’s research webinars and industry sessions, including Future Works, and finds the economist insights particularly valuable for planning and decision-making.

Results Snapshot

• Broader candidate access across role types and regions
• Consistent positive ROI
• ~400 candidates processed in around 3 weeks
• 98 percent fill rate for regional election roles
• Strengthened tenders through demonstrated mobilisation capability