The person who needs to recruit employees into the startup faces one of the most challenging recruitment tasks. On the one hand, for a company that has just begun to emerge, people are extremely important – you need the best of the best, professional and creative, ready to work for three and overtime. They must be versatile soldiers, capable of simultaneously performing the functions of completely different specialists. To have outstanding personal qualities, the ability to work in a team, to work for an idea. At the same time, they should be called on not the highest salaries, without offering a thorough social package and without relying on a well-known HR-brand.
On the other hand, a startup usually does not yet have a full-time HR specialist, and cooperation with recruitment agencies is not always affordable. So this task falls on the shoulders of a non-professional. Let’s try to make his life easier with our advice.
1. Look for “one blood” people
Those who build the startup together should have common values, a common worldview, and the same understanding of processes. A startup’s corporate culture is formed on an intuitive level but plays a big role in team building. All employees must be psychologically compatible because they work side by side.
It is desirable that even the biorhythms of startup employees coincide. If the director likes to have a brainstorming session at 20.00, he is unlikely to work with a specialist for whom the most productive time is earlier morning.
2. Look for people with different perceptions and characters…
At first glance, it seems that this advice is contrary to the previous one, but it is only at first glance. Yes, startup employees should have common goals in both the broad and narrow sense. But they should not think alike. Let one burn with enthusiasm and boundless faith in the product, but a pair of them needs a “devil’s advocate” with healthy care and skepticism that will not let them break everything.
3. Determine whether time or money is more important…
Practice shows that the search for the right specialist in the startup should take no more than 3-4 weeks, otherwise the rest of the employees are too heavy and they can start some directions. Lack of experience in recruitment can also be critical. So think about hiring employees to work remotely. We strongly recommend that you become familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing.
4. Don’t hide the fact that you’re recruiting for the startup.
If you do not indicate in the vacancy that a job is offered at a startup, you will get much more feedback. But they will not be targeted, and you will spend a lot of time negotiating with knowingly hopeless candidates. It is better to open the cards at once and communicate only with those who are really interested.
5. Hire entrepreneurs in management positions
Recruiters of large companies are extremely cautious about candidates who had their own business because they fear that those who were their own owners will not take root in a complex corporate structure. But for a startup, a person with an entrepreneurial streak and relevant experience is the right thing to do.
6. Clearly state the goals and objectives
If it is clear what specific goals and objectives the new employee is facing, it is much easier to understand what the mandatory knowledge and skills should be and what is secondary to what can be sacrificed.
Main channels for staff search
Networking – search among acquaintances. It is desirable that these were not relatives and friends (it is very rare to build effective business relationships with them), but former colleagues, acquaintances from your professional sphere, employees of related companies. In a word, networking in action.
