Starting a new hiring process from scratch at a startup is challenging. Seriously. You’ll probably get it wrong. But in the words of Good Will Hunting: “It’s not your fault” – We’ve created the hiring handbook for startups to help you build a repeatable process that works. Let’s dive into a few steps you can take to make sure you are set up for success from the beginning:
1. Define your needs and roles:
Why now? What’s the real problem that each person will solve. Evaluate the gaps on the current team and how each person will help you get there. Define the job responsibilities and requirements for each role. Clearly. Decide what is a must have vs something you can train & coach them on.
Do market research. Just because you need someone to do 12 things, doesn’t mean that there’s a pool of people out magically with that exactly skill set. In other words, don’t start your search looking for someone that checks off 12/10 boxes. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
Plan for scalability: Can they do the immediate job but also grow with the company over the next 12-18 months?
Define the core values that you are going to look for. Is it tenacity? Bias for action? Customer obsession? Figure out what is most important and how you will accurately assess for it.
2. Define your Hiring Strategy:
Recruiting is a full time job. You’ll need to create a hiring roadmap. Decide which positions are priorities. Game plan how you will efficiently source candidates; ie through LinkedIn, BuiltIn, other job boards, referrals (HINT: it should be a combo of as many as possible).
Budget for hiring: Allocate a specific and realistic budget for salaries: We tend to see massive salary ranges on job postings. Get dialed into to what going rates are for the level of talent you actually need. If candidates see a range of $100k -$200k, I have bad news for you (they are going to focus on the high end).
Budget for recruiting costs: advertising on job boards, agency fees, any sourcing tools you might need (LinkedIn, Gem, etc) AND the time your team will need to invest in order to make this hire. This is the hidden cost that ends up getting really expensive.
3. Build a Strong Employer Brand:
This is something you need to do before you’re ready to hire. Does your careers page show what it’s like to part a part of your culture? Are you showcasing your funding, VC partners, pedigree of your founders? Make sure that you are providing the signal needed to attract the right type of talent. Be ready to share your story and what makes you unique throughout the process. I’d recommend sharing a brief with your interview team and how you want the brand to be communicated with candidates. Consistent (and continual) selling is critical in the interview process
4. Write Engaging Job Descriptions:
Most job descriptions for startups focus on the must haves from the candidate.
Yes that’s needed. But focus on WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM.
Highlight the excited challenges that they will get to tackle, stretch projects that they can own as well as long term growth opportunities: Emphasize the potential for career growth in your startup environment. Why will joining your team be invaluable to their career growth?
5. Build Your Hiring Process:
Create an efficient but thorough interview process. Pick your interview panel and their focus areas. Having question banks ready for the team to ensure that they stay on topic, will provide a consistent interview process and avoid bias.
Startups should have consolidated interview processes. Don’t make candidates jump through a long process and unnecessary hoops.
Case studies should be at the end of the process to make sure candidates are more bought in. It SHOULD NOT resemble free work. If it has any hint of consulting work *pay them for it* Have case studies developed in the beginning so you don’t have stall mid process.
~Reach out if you need help setting up your next interview process, focus areas, question banks or case studies~
AFTER you’ve completed all of this…you’re ready to start interviewing. Go find your next amazing hire. Good luck!
Is there anything else that you think we should add to the Hiring Handbook for Startups?
About WithAgility
We are the Recruiters for B2B Marketing & Product teams. WithAgility provides executive search, fractional recruiting and talent consulting to the fastest growing technology companies in the world. For help hiring your next leader or scaling your team, contact us today. We look forward to working with you.