How NETGEAR Built Their Recruiting Function from the Ground Up with Ashby

For nearly 30 years NETGEAR has been a global leader in innovative networking technologies for businesses, homes, and service providers. The company delivers a wide range of award-winning, intelligent solutions designed to unleash the full potential of connectivity and power extraordinary experiences. 

In 2024, as the company entered a new chapter of growth and transformation, one thing was missing: an in-house recruiting function. Everything had previously run through agencies or was hiring manager led. With hiring about to scale and strategy becoming essential, NETGEAR brought in Melissa Potter to build talent acquisition from the ground up.

Problem: Limited Infrastructure and Growing Headcount

NETGEAR was entering a new phase where hiring was about to surge. Without any internal TA infrastructure in place, Melissa’s first priority became clear: implement an ATS that could support both short-term hiring goals and long-term operational growth. 

"We were using our HRIS just to process offer letters and job reqs. No data, no visibility, and everything done manually. My first goal was getting a system in place that could scale with us."

— Melissa Potter, Director, Talent Acquisition

With a heavy reliance on agency recruiting, the internal team had limited historical hiring data and lacked context for what it would take to make a hire at NETGEAR. From team headcount to workflows to sourcing strategies, Melissa began aligning business leaders and preparing to hire over 100 employees in a matter of months.
“We were in a completely build mode of talent acquisition, and needed a tool to help build out what hiring could look like at NETGEAR. We needed an applicant tracking system that works for us. Ashby checked every box, from automation to AI to All-in-One visibility. It was the first investment we made as a team, and it made everything else possible.”

— Melissa Potter, Director, Talent Acquisition

Solution: Building Internal Recruiting Infrastructure for Scalable Growth

Ashby quickly became the foundation for NETGEAR’s new TA function. The rollout aligned with the company’s first global hiring plan, allowing Melissa’s team to hit the ground running. The decision to use Ashby proved to be the right one from a few lenses. 

1. A Central System to Support In-House Recruiting

To build a hiring engine that could scale with the pace and ambition of NETGEAR’s growing function, the team needed more than process compliance. Manual data entry and Outlook invites would no longer be sufficient when hiring in the triple digits. 

"There were no interview scheduling tools, no systemized workflows. Everything was outside the system. We were doing things through Outlook and spreadsheets. Ashby made it easier to ramp people on an ATS, post jobs, filter applicants, gather feedback, and manage approvals, all in one place."

— Melissa Potter, Director, Talent Acquisition

Ashby’s ease of use meant that within weeks of the new team forming, roles were posted, candidates were being filtered through smart workflows, and interview feedback was being collected.

Doing More with Less Through Automation

NETGEAR’s lean team of a few recruiters and coordinators across global regions needed to scale hiring without ballooning headcount. Ashby’s automations and scheduling tools made that possible.

"All the automation, from sending notifications to candidates and interviewers to collecting feedback, used to be manual. Now it’s a click of a button. It just takes a little time to set up on the front end, and then it works for you. Features like AI-Assisted Application Review have been a huge time saver. The scheduling automation alone was a game-changer. We use candidate availability links, direct booking, and automated notifications daily. It allows our small team to manage high volumes without burning out. We can be lean because we have these capabilities."

— Melissa Potter, Director, Talent Acquisition

Reporting and Dashboards That Drive Strategic Value

Ashby’s analytics tools helped Melissa shift recruiting from administrative support to strategic partner while moving the conversation from data requests to proactive conversations. With dashboards tailored by business unit, the team could instantly answer hiring manager and executive questions in real time.

"Being able to pull up open roles and pipeline data while I’m on a leadership call is a huge value-add. Before Ashby, that would’ve taken days and several spreadsheets. Now it’s five minutes and one dashboard. If we're exploring a deeper question, then maybe an hour."

— Melissa Potter, Director, Talent Acquisition

Melissa’s team also set up automated reports to partner with finance, helping FP&A plan budgets based on hiring velocity and progress. From my time working with Melissa, it’s clear her team doesn’t just implement — they iterate. Their thoughtfulness around how to use Ashby’s data has made them a model for how to continuously improve an already strong foundation.

Impact: 120+ Hires and a Data-Driven TA Function

In under a year, NETGEAR went from no in-house recruiting to:

• Over 120 hires made in their first 6 months on Ashby
• Building a TA team across Americas, EMEA, and APAC
• Hiring manager engagement and adoption across the business
• Strategic visibility into open roles, blockers, and pipelines

"We went from being reactive and relying only on agencies to building a real recruiting strategy. Ashby helped us establish our workflows, uncover our hiring patterns, and be a real partner to the business."

— Melissa Potter, Director, Talent Acquisition

With the core infrastructure running efficiently, Melissa is already planning for the next stage of growth and leaning into Ashby to support proactive pipelining.

Ready to build your recruiting function from the ground up? Request a Demo.