Listen to the interview on the Rapid City Business Journal

RAPID CITY, SD — Almost a year after launching her hiring platform, recruiter-turned-entrepreneur Corrine Perkins says Plenty of Hires is moving out of beta testing and preparing for broader growth across the Black Hills and well beyond. 

Perkins, founder of Plenty of Hires, recently came back to the Rapid City Business Journal podcast to discuss the platform’s progress and its goal of changing how employers and job seekers connect in the construction and trades industry. 

A New Approach 

Unlike traditional job boards, Plenty of Hires uses an assessment-based matching system rather than resumes, cover letters or job descriptions.

“We actually don’t do resumes. We don’t do cover letters, and we don’t do job descriptions. We’re not a job board and we are not recruiters,” Perkins said. “What we are is an online hiring platform that matches candidates and employers based on eight different categories of fit for hiring.”

Candidates complete a skills-based assessment that measures factors such as compensation expectations, availability, skills, goals and motivators. Employers complete a separate assessment describing the realities of the position and workplace environment.

The system, which goes against traditional hiring models, was designed to address shortcomings Perkins observed during her years as a recruiter. In particular, Plenty of Hires combats the increasing reliance on automated resume screening. 

“Unless you have the exact right keywords or the proper sentence structure or whatever, you easily can get screened out during that process,” she said.

Plenty of Hires currently focuses primarily on, “the builders, the doers, the concrete workers, the framers, the finishers and those types of workers.” Industries that, according to Perkins, align well with this new approach to hiring. 

Moving Forward

The platform completed its software build in February and has spent the past several months refining its matching algorithm.

Currently, Plenty of Hires is working with 10 employers in the Black Hills and maintains a candidate pipeline of more than 300 workers. Perkins said she hopes to grow that candidate pool to 1,500 by the end of the year.

She also credits several groups in the Black Hills with helping bring the concept to market and the progress that Plenty of Hires has already made to date.

“Through the help of Wildfire Labs and Elevate Rapid City and Black Hills Home Builders Association, you know, I’ve got support in every area,” Perkins said.

What Now? What Next?

As labor shortages continue across the construction industry, Perkins believes technology can help streamline hiring while keeping the process focused on people. Citing a worker shortage of nearly half a million in 2026, Perkins believes that Plenty of Hires’ human-first approach will help bridge some of the gaps in hiring practices this industry is currently facing.

To Perkins, part of that is Plenty of Hires’ intentionally limited use of AI in its core matching process. The company may integrate more AI tools in the future but remains cautious as AI is still being developed.

“We did make the choice about a year ago to steer away from AI,” Perkins said. “The reason for it is just the trustability in it. With the product that we’re working with and the services, we deal with people’s lives.”

Looking ahead, Perkins has ambitions that extend far beyond the construction sector.

“My ten year goal is, and it seems ambitious: I’m going to change the way the world hires.”

For now, Plenty of Hires remains focused on expanding throughout western South Dakota before entering additional markets.

For those interested in visiting Plenty of Hires and learning more, please visit plentyofhires.com.