Key things when hiring for your start-up
Hiring the right people is critical for the success of any start-up. Here are some tips to help you hire the right people for your software or tech start-up:
Clearly define your company culture and values: Before you start looking for candidates, it's important to have a clear understanding of your company culture and values. This will help you identify candidates who are a good fit for your company.
Look for passion and commitment: Start-ups require a lot of hard work, dedication and perseverance, so it's important to hire people who are passionate about your vision and committed to seeing it through.
Use a variety of recruitment channels: Don't limit yourself to just one recruitment channel. Use job boards, social media, referrals, and networking events to find the right candidates. And when your network runs out and you need to start scaling fast or have specialist requirements use an IT recruiter who knows the market that can give you advice and save you time & money in the long run.
Screen for relevant skills and experience: Look for candidates who have the necessary skills and experience to contribute to your start-up's success. However, don't overlook candidates who may not have direct experience but have transferable skills and a willingness to learn.
Conduct thorough interviews: Take the time to conduct thorough interviews with each candidate. Ask open-ended questions and dig deep to get a sense of their work ethic, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. If you’re hiring technical people always have a coding challenge or deep technical interview to explore how much they really know. If you don’t have this in-house use a 3rd party.
Check references: Always check references to verify the information provided by the candidate and get feedback from previous employers or colleagues.
Offer competitive salary and benefits: Start-ups often have limited resources, but it's important to pay market rate (or close to and/or equity like shares in the company) and a competitive package & benefits (if possible) to you attract and retain top talent. This is especially true in software where your people are building your product & infrastructure. If you can’t provide a shopping list of corporate benefits that’s ok try to focus on the basics - like creating a great atmosphere & culture by having fun - team events or lunches, be flexible when staff really need it, these things create far more loyalty than comprehensive insurance packages for example.
Remember, hiring your initial staff is a critical part of building the foundations of a successful start-up. By taking the time to find the right people, you'll be setting your company up for long-term success.
I’m Paul, lover of coffee, dogs, biking, surfing & skiing. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment & HR company specialising in recruiting IT roles within software, web, mobile, blockchain, data, cloud infrastructure, security & networks in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.