May
19, 2021
6 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As a serial entrepreneur, I have had to start the recruitment process for a startup many times. It is never an easy process, because once you have created the concept and you know what you want to do, you even already have some clients, you know that you will need talent to join your vision of the company, but in many cases you are still selling air, or a project in a PowerPoint. How do you convince someone to join your adventure? Especially when you have a limited budget and need to manage costs. You must be creative with the recruitment strategy and to find good candidates, since the success or failure of your venture will undoubtedly depend on this first team .
It is very important to remember that the initial talent that is hired for a startup helps define the culture of the company for the coming years, so it is vital to prioritize a diverse group of candidates with the right skills but above all the attitude you are looking for. your business.
Here I propose recruitment solutions for startups that can also help you recruit for the business you are starting.
1. Understand the requirements for hiring employees
It is a good idea to make sure you are familiar with employment laws as well as employment discrimination laws. Hiring employees for a business can leave you exposed to new risks such as labor disputes, the need to terminate contracts and pay settlements, as well as social security issues. It is very important to be aware of this type of notions to be able to offer what the law indicates in addition to being competitive in the market.
2. Learn to recruit the best talent
The first step in hiring your first employee is knowing where to find them. As a startup, you may not have the resources or brand recognition that more established companies have, but you don’t need to rely on traditional job boards to recruit top talent.
You can find potential employees through referrals from friends and colleagues, using social media, or working with recruiters.
It is also important to know what type of expertise is needed for each position. Obviously, the more senior positions, where you need people with more experience is where you have to work more to convince people that working for you is a good opportunity, maybe for them you can think of some flexible work plans or think about offering them within of the compensation package a component of shares in the company. The latter will also help you align interests.
Another interesting source of talent for startups is what is called “early talent” or “early talent”.
Who is the early talent?
Early talent simply means those with less than three years of work experience. This group is generally made up of college graduates or recent graduates, and tends to occupy general or technical entry-level positions. This generation of early hires is primarily made up of Gen Z , those born after 1996, who are tech-savvy, entrepreneurial, and true digital natives.
3. Provide a work environment that is friendly to these early talents.
When you hire your management people who must be people with previous experience, make sure they are people who know how to lead and collaborate with people from the new generations, millennials and Generation Z.
The set of good leadership, plus early talents who are digital natives, is ideal as early talents know how to adopt new technologies more quickly, are open to change, and have no preconceptions about how “things should be done.”
Hiring early talent is mutually rewarding: Young professionals develop their careers and increase their skills, while companies benefit from their work.
Although these benefits also come with certain commitments, these new generations cannot be expected to want an 8 to 5 job, where they have to do the “famous butt hours” to reach their goals. So you have to design growth plans for these ambitious kids, in addition to keeping them with constant challenges, offering flexible hours more based on goals than on schedules.
4. Innovate in the interview process
The interview is a fundamental step when hiring for startups. Don’t just take a traditional interview and ask them questions. Follow some of the best interviewing practices to make informed decisions and find candidates who fit your culture.
You can ask candidates to complete a task – a good way to check candidates’ experience is by assigning them a task. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it is a way to make sure they have the necessary skills for the job.
- Candidate Background Check: When you screen candidates for a position and conduct a background check, you verify the information on their application.
- Checking references: You can learn more about your candidate’s work ethic and qualifications by checking references.
5. Create a unique onboarding process that makes them feel like part of the team
You’ve posted a job description, interviewed candidates, made an offer, and now you have your first employee. The next step is onboarding the newest member of the team. A successful onboarding process is important for long-term growth, cultural fit, and impact on employees. Having details when they enter, a good explanation of what they are expected to achieve in the position they occupy is basic. But also that they know the rest of the team.
All these steps are essential to create a team that will grow your business. Remember that a startup cannot hire too many people so each position is key. This will really be the way to get your company off the ground.
