At a startup it's painfully hard to make time for recruiting. Any time not spent advancing the product feels like a distant secondary priority. However, getting the right team in place is the most important thing you can do to make your startup successful.
Your first few hires set the tone for your culture. What's more, it's often said that A-level hires get you more top quality hires in the long run. You don't just need to make time for recruiting — you have to be great at it.
What follows are my tips and tricks for finding and closing all-star hires on a startup budget.
Do You Need a R ecruiter?
While you'll be tempted to outsource recruiting so you can focus on the product, recruiting starts and ends with you. No one can recruit harder than you. No one knows the right fit like you do. And no one can sell the opportunity like you can. Before you look for help, block out some time on your schedule and hit LinkedIn hard.
Get ready for an endless stream of coffees and lunches. Sound painful? It is. You have to do it anyway. What's worse, many of these meetings won't even lead directly to hires. They aren't a complete waste of time however; karma has a good memory and the positive relationships you build now will pay off eventually.
Once you've exhausted the outer rings of your network, it's time to get help. A great recruiter can be a tremendous asset. I look for folks who I can pay by the hour and offer them a nice cash incentive for a fast hire. Contingency recruiters, and their exorbitant fees, are a personal anat hema of mine. Who has twenty grand to spend...
