A few blogs ago I wrote about recruiting on a budget, I mentor 500startups portfolio of companies and the first batch all have the same issues as any startup in the tech space. Hiring engineering talent to a small startup with no brand awareness.
I gave a talk to about 20 startups in SF. All these startups are on a 3 month accelerator program, by the second month they should be fixing up funding and looking to make their first few hires.
I did a quick survey to see what various startups were doing to hire, and these were the answers that were hollered at me;
1) Linkedin
2) Angel list
3) Craigslist
4) Website
5) Current network
So a show of hands proved what I already knew, everyone of these companies was using the same resources to hire the same type of people. I wrote a blog about this a few months back, “everyones looking for the same thing”. What does that mean, well all these companies are contacting the same small pool of people, so anyone who actually proves qualified has already been called a dozen times and then some (from agencies and outside 3rd party recruiters). Speed is of the essence if you don’t call them first someone else will nab them.
I asked for a show of hands of people who would apply for their own company jobs via the current job description and method of advertising. There was a little light laughter of recognition that went round the room. They wouldn’t – why because more often than not, a job descriotion at this stage may comprise of a few lines and the rest is in the CTO’s or lead engineers head, or you have a job description but half of it is full of demands for the candidate, a laundry list of skills but not a lot about the job, the company or the founders, why would the top talent even look at you when your job description looks like the other 20 that landed in their inbox today.
I usually keep the skills to a minimum and list these along with benefits at the bottom. At this stage in your startup – salary is not what’s going to sell and it isn’t all about money its whether someone can say “I built that”
If you don’t have much money for hiring, advertising, holding events or man power then you have 3 strong selling points that will increase the effectiveness of the methods above
1) Founders story/bio
2) Company ethos, why it came about, you plan to have a full development team in the US, you’re a software house, initiatives they are likely to be a big part of
3) A compelling story about your product
These 3 key points are unique to each and every company – a job description will look the same, a startup sounds like any other startup, but the 3 points are where you can sell your uniqueness and attract talent and increase response rate.
When I mentioned these things, immediately the light bulb went on. “so it’s the same as when we are trying to find investors and customers?” – da ding! Yes its exactly the same – you are already using these methods and skills, use them in recruiting. Its cold calls, selling your company, developing relationships with top talent, keeping a track of your candidates, follow up calls and discussions.
I advise to whittle down a small list of very qualified talent you want on your team – call it a fantasy development league. Find out everything about them. Yes you know they work at Youtube or twitter and you assume they wouldn’t dream of working at your company. COMPELLING STORY and a job description that reads like a dating profile – what you have to offer them. Career growth, opportunities, work they will get involved with, technology changes you are likely to make, developments in the company, future company plans, how they can fit in. Plans for the development team, what they are likely to build and own. BUT don’t have your first interaction offering them an awesome opportunity at your awesome startup. Instead engage with them on their interests, check out stuff they are working on, some side tech interests they have, anything where you can start an informal conversation admiring their work. Take plenty of notes, make this really personal and make sure the founder is the one who is seen to be following them and most interested in engaging with them. Whoever in the company is best at selling the company – the guy who does the successful pitches!
Do this alongside your current methods, there really are very few free or inexpensive recruiting tools or methods however re-engineering your job description or creating from scratch, going to meetups/hackathons to talk to candidates in a different setting and often very informal. If you want to meet specific people who are influencers in the community, follow them and go to their next event, speaking engagement, whatever it is and find them. Networking events aren’t as casual and easy as one likes (I hate them personally) . This way you go with a purpose and a couple of people you really need to meet, rather than randomly walking around the room hoping to bump into the right person.
Try these simple techniques with your current methods and if you get it right, this should increase the number of qualified candidates that are applying, reduce the number of unqualified candidates and will speed up the current method.
This blog is purely intended for little or no money hiring. Making the most of what you have.
rubybhattacharya 