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From 3000 applications to 15 top talents: how to identify and develop talent at scale while keeping an eye on future potential
With Skillvue, Mediaset streamlined the pre-screening step across thousands of applications from junior profiles in Progetto Giovani, building a structured dataset on the real capabilities of every candidate to support their growth within the company.
Mediaset
Media & Telecom
MFE – MediaForEurope
~€4.03B
~12,000
Hiring
The Company and The Context
Mediaset, part of the MFE – MediaForEurope group, is Italy's leading private commercial broadcaster and is undergoing an unprecedented phase of evolution: with the acquisition of ProSiebenSat.1 and a stake in Impresa, MFE has become the first private broadcaster to control operations across three major European markets, reaching over 220 million people in six countries. The organisational leap is enormous: the workforce rises to around 12,000 considering the extended group perimeter.
It is in this scenario of unprecedented innovation and growth that Progetto GRAPE(Graduate Program) was born: a hiring programme for recent graduates, interns and junior profiles to be placed across various departments and grow within the company. In contexts like this, identifying talent predictively becomes a truly indispensable strategic lever for ensuring the success of the programme. But how to do it when you're receiving thousands of applications?
Thousands of candidates, a small HR team and CVs that revealed nothing about hidden potential.
Progetto GRAPE generated over 3,000 applications. The dedicated HR team set a target of 80 qualified candidates per week to advance to the next stages of the process, while maintaining a high level of candidate experience and without compromising the depth of the assessment.
European group expansion made building a talent pipeline urgent
MediaForEurope was rapidly expanding its footprint across Europe. GRAPE was more than a hiring programme: it was the first building block for a pipeline of junior profiles capable of growing with the group and responding to its future needs.
Business needs were colliding with HR operational capacity
To maintain the target pace of evaluated profiles and keep up with onboarding timelines, a different filter from manual screening was needed — capable of operating at scale without sacrificing quality or letting high-potential profiles slip through unnoticed.
The chosen tool had to fit into a multi-phase ecosystem
The evaluation tool chosen to manage the initial phase of the programme had to produce auditable, comparable outputs usable both in the subsequent stages of Progetto Giovani and in other potential hiring processes across the organisation.
The new approach to hiring was part of a wider cultural shift
The cultural transformation underway at Mediaset required HR to step up from the very first phase — Talent Attraction and Acquisition. Bringing the right people on board was becoming a truly strategic lever and a concrete measure of that change's success.
An evaluation model built around predictiveness was needed
Junior profiles placed in programmes like this often have largely undifferentiated CVs. Soft skills like problem solving, logical reasoning and motivation — the variables that predict true potential — needed to surface beyond the CV alone.
The first brand touchpoint had to reflect its identity and values
Mediaset is one of Italy's most recognisable brands and, in a market defined by intense competition with tech companies and digital platforms for the same profiles, places strong emphasis on employer branding throughout the attraction and hiring process.
Cultural change to drive with limited resources
Organisational cultural change starts at Talent Attraction and Acquisition — onboarding the right people is a strategic lever. But managing this responsibility across thousands of applications with a small HR team significantly amplified the operational complexity.
What needed to change
Manage application volumes within business timelines — the target was to move 80 high-potential candidates per week into the next stages, without losing quality in the evaluation.
Make soft skills visible from the first step — build a ranking based on real skills, with objective data produced by AI and validated against the Mediaset model.
Ensure a candidate experience worthy of the brand — the first touchpoint with Mediaset had to be positive, intuitive and accessible, even for candidates who had never used this assessment format before.
Integrate the tool into the existing process — outputs had to be compatible with the multi-phase flow and usable as a benchmark for future development of the hiring strategy.
AI Pre-screening with Skillvue
Skillvue was integrated as the first filter of Progetto GRAPE, combining soft skill analysis, logical reasoning and general knowledge questions. The ranking is validated by the HR team on Mediaset’s leadership model; suitable profiles advance to the next stages.
Key Metrics & Impact
The measurable outcomes Mediaset achieved through Skillvue across Progetto GRAPE.
For the first time, Mediaset has visibility into the true potential of incoming junior profiles
Before Skillvue, decisions based on individual subjective assessment remained personal knowledge. Now the team works with shared, standardised parameters.
Qualified shortlists, with immediate resource savings
The subsequent stages of the hiring process start from a solid information base. The result: a more efficient funnel and more informed, data-driven decisions at every step.
Assessments customised to Mediaset's actual needs
By building a collaborative relationship from the outset, Skillvue and Mediaset offered candidates assessments calibrated to the company's leadership model, validated by the HR team and aligned with Mediaset's actual needs.
"Skillvue's support ensured we could gather additional information — especially on behavioural style and the way people approach different types of situations."
Luca Villari
Head of Talent Acquisition and Talent Development, Mediaset