If you are hiring for a startup, chances are that the biggest obstacle standing between you and the growth of your employer’s startup brand is manpower. Besides sufficient funding, the key to overcoming hiring struggles is effective strategizing.
On average, a startup spends 18.8% of the first-year budget on staffing and hiring costs. So if you are spending almost 1/5th of your total capital on a resource, it sure has to be worth it. As with any business decision, startup hiring, one of the most crucial of them all has to come from well-charted strategies.
Why Is Hiring the Right Candidate for a Startup Necessary?
Startups are usually run by a very small group of people besides the founder/s themselves. So naturally, it is a very close-knit community of employees who are expected to work towards a collective goal of fostering company growth. Unlike industry giants, startups do not offer much of an isolated workspace, but rather the feeling of community is what counts.
So, when you are hiring for a startup, you would need to hire candidates who are not only skilled at their roles but also closely aligned with the company's vision. This is because this cohort of employees who you hire are typically going to contribute to the brand’s image and overall face value.
Secondly, startups usually operate on razor-thin fiscal margins where every dollar counts. Now, this means there's little room for error, especially when it comes to hiring. A wrong hire can be a costly mistake, both financially and in terms of time and company morale.
Therefore, the candidates you hire must understand the overarching goals and be passionate about contributing to the company's growth. This kind of dedication is invaluable in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment. The right hires for startups are willing to don multiple hats, adapt to change, and go the extra mile, all without the need for constant supervision.
On top of that, startup hiring is about building a team that can not only survive but thrive in the startup ecosystem and eventually scale up according to the industry’s growth standards. It is about finding individuals who are as invested in the company's success as the founders themselves.
7 Effective Startup Hiring Strategies
Startup hiring is definitely more challenging than it looks. Finding the right talent could be like looking for a needle in the haystack if you haven’t panned out a step-by-step strategy. If you are feeling lost and don’t know where to begin, we’ve got you covered.
Develop candidate personas
The first block of an effective hiring strategy is to outline each role definitively. This means charting out each vacancy’s roles and responsibilities and streamlining your recruitment efforts accordingly –i.e. developing candidate personas.
For example, if you are hiring for a data operator, you need to look for a mix of hard and soft skills like typing speed, software proficiency, college degree in the preferred field, transcription skills, attention to detail, and so on. The key is to identify all these necessities and filter out your target hires accordingly.
Build a better employer brand
It is a no-brainer that hiring for a startup is more complex than hiring for a well-established company. You might come across candidates who are not at all familiar with the company’s line of work, or even its name. This situation needs to be managed with effective employer branding.
After you have figured out your target talent pool, find a way to reach them better– such as social media if you’re looking to hire freshers straight out of college. Brand your employer and their lucrative policies using smart and in-trend marketing moves.
Find your Differentiator and use it to attract top talents
Identify what clicks with your potential hires. Startup hiring often requires finding that one USP that draws in all the attention and interest of candidates. It could be something as minimalistic as practicing DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) frameworks or the benefit of a competitive salary package with a remote position.
Use Campus recruiting to hire driven talents
Oftentimes, the best bet for startups is campus recruiting events. If you are hiring for a company that is just starting out, why not give an opportunity to a candidate in the same shoes? However, the campus hiring might prove challenging for startups as freshers would be more inclined to pick offers with better job security, brand names, and resources.
The key to tackling this challenge is to brand your employer effectively and use the campus presence as your trump card. Align your employer brand with the campus ethics and make yourself visible at campus events throughout the year.
Work on enhancing candidate experiences
Candidate feedback is a core determinant of what should be your principal focus- brand value. Make sure that you are offering critical yet constructive feedback to candidates who turn up for an interview. Also, work on enhancing the overall candidate experience with small but meaningful efforts like continued communication, a simple application process, and an objective selection process.
For candidates who don’t make it through the screening process, make sure to inform them of your inability to absorb them at this time, but always keep open offers for any future vacancies or collaborations.
Streamline candidate testing & evaluation
Assess the candidates' skills and abilities with well-designed tests that fit the job description. Focus on practical assessments more than theoretical knowledge and gauge both hard and soft skills of the candidates. Skill-based hiring has proven to bring down bad hire rates by 4% to a negligible 0.5% and driven sales by 10%.
So, going for a mix of skills and qualifications not only helps you identify the best candidates quickly and accurately but also ensures that candidates can closely connect the employer’s expectations from the role, and in turn try to align those with their strengths.
Simplify the application process
In a world of LinkedIn’s “Easy Apply”, nobody likes lengthy and complex application processes. If your application form looks like a literature student’s answer script when filled, chances are you’re doing it wrong.
The application procedure should be as minimalistic as possible, insomuch that it only asks for the absolutely necessary details from the candidates. You can screen the basic requirements and filter out candidates for future rounds for detailed sessions.
What Necessitates A Tailored Strategy for Startup Hiring?
Navigating the tricky domain of startup hiring comes with the first thumb rule of dodging some point-blank bullets that are impossible to gauge unless you have a strategy in place. Never make the rookie mistake of hiring without a strategy and fall into the trap of overhiring and clunky onboarding.
Over Hiring and elaborate onboarding processes can not only put pressure on the company’s finances but also malign the employer’s branding initiatives to build a reliable and growth-oriented environment.
You might believe that hiring more manpower might streamline and expedite the company’s growth, but what you would be missing out on is the aspect of employee turnover. Once that factors in, the employer would have to conduct mass layoffs to keep the company afloat and this could prove fatal for the brand’s place and face value.
Boost Startup Hiring Efficiency with Skima AI
Skima AI provides a multidimensional solution to your hiring needs. Create industry-specific and detailed job descriptions with AI Job Description Maker. Upload your candidate database and instantly get a listicle view of the top most valuable candidates for a said job role with AI Matching Score. You can also enhance your hiring strategy by refining your candidate pool using Skima.
In a startup environment where teams are small and budgets even smaller, Skima AI is an effective option for candidate management.
End Note
Hiring the right people is undeniably the lifeblood of a startup. It is a strategic investment with long-term returns that propel your employer’s brand to unprecedented heights. The key to a successful startup hiring drive is to break down your employer’s vision, align it with their budget, and accordingly target your talent pool. Once you leave them with a great candidate experience, you not only build a high-performing team but also connect with resourceful candidates who might prove to be an asset in the future.
