Espressolab Accelerates Intern and Early Talent Hiring with Kabel

ByEsther Low Employer Success Stories

Espressolab is a well-established coffee brand in Malaysia, known for its strong culture and standout customer experience. After the pandemic, founder Joshua Liew led the company through a business restructuring and strategic shift – one that called for fresh talent and a different set of skills. Hiring interns and fresh graduates became a key part of that plan, but the process was time-consuming, unpredictable, and hard to scale. That’s where Kabel helped – making it faster and easier for Joshua to find the right early talent to support his new direction.

Company Snapshot

Industry Food & Beverage
Founded 2011
HQ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Team Size 7
Hiring Needs Interns & Fresh Grads
Kabel Partner Since 2022

Challenges

  1. Limited Reach on Traditional Platforms
    Before Kabel, Espressolab’s founder, Joshua, managed hiring manually. Job posts on LinkedIn and social media brought minimal responses – if any. The few that did come through were often low intent. “Most candidates were just trying their luck,” he said.
  2. Low Hiring Success Rate
    Without a consistent channel for early talent, Joshua often resorted to word of mouth. “Only about 10% of hires came from those platforms,” he shared. The lack of a predictable hiring process made it hard to scale confidently.

Kabel Solutions

Kabel offered Espressolab a faster, more targeted way to hire early-career talent—without the guesswork or manual admin.

  1. Matched Candidates Sent Directly


    Instead of waiting for applicants, Kabel’s engine pushed curated candidate matches directly to Joshua’s inbox. This turned hiring into a proactive process.

“It gave me a much bigger pool to look at. The whole thing felt more interactive,” he said.

  1. Real-Time Interest Notifications


    Whenever a candidate expressed interest in a job, Kabel instantly notified Joshua—saving hours of guessing who might be serious.

“That push notification is a great tracking feature. I didn’t have to sift through people who weren’t keen.”

  1. Insightful, Structured Profiles


    Kabel surfaced more than just CVs—it highlighted skills, motivation, and overall fit, all in one quick view.

“I could see their competency upfront. It was like a simplified resume. And the engine only matched me with candidates relevant to my role,” he noted.

This made it easier to shortlist and decide faster, without wasting time.

Results

With Kabel, Espressolab successfully hired:

  • 1 intern during the pandemic
  • 1 barista intern in Oct 2024
  • 1 full-time social media executive in May 2025

The platform consistently delivered high-quality matches. Joshua only needed to speak to 3–5 candidates per role before finding the right one.

While some candidate took a bit of time to reply, the overall process, from first contact to hire, was streamlined and effective.

Founder’s Verdict

“Definitely a 10 out of 10. Kabel works really well, especially for intern and early-career hiring. I’ve been recommending it to others already. it works across almost any industry.”
— Joshua, Founder of Espressolab

Why It Worked

Espressolab succeeded with Kabel because the platform:

  • Removed the uncertainty of traditional job boards
  • Matched them with ready-to-hire candidates
  • Made it easier to make decisions quickly
  • Saved hours of manual screening and follow-ups

For founders who need to move fast and hire smart, Kabel takes the pressure off, so you can focus on growing the business, not chasing resumes.

Reach out to learn how to hire 8x faster with Kabel, using smart matching and data-driven insights.

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