Hiring the Best for your Startup

fm Spark Hire 08 Nov 13 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 03/14

Hiring for a Startup is so much different than hiring for a large company or a well-established venture. Startup hiring can be the difference between the success or failure of your organization. The people on the ground floor of your company are the ones driving innovation and helping determine what direction your company takes.

The Statistics on startup success can be disheartening. The fact that 75% of new Businesses fail, might have to do with the fact that 46% of the New Hires fail within the first 18 months. Finding someone great – who will stick around for the long haul – can help you focus on growing your company, not employee turnover.

Speaking from Experience. “As the CEO of a Video Interviewing Platform, my day is pretty much all hiring, all the time. Yet recruiting great people for my company has been a challenge I’ve had to face, right along with my clients.” Josh Tolan. “Certain people thrive in a startup atmosphere, while the un-predict-ability can drive other top-notch workers crazy. Finding the right blend of ingredients in the perfect startup worker hasn’t been easy, but here are the five attributes I’ve found that make up the recipe for the perfect startup employee”. Josh Tolan/ CEO, Spark Hire.

1. PASSION. When it comes to hiring a startup employee, you need more than a pinch of passion to get the job done. Startup environments can be tough. The unpredictability & long hours can test – even the most dedicated workers. I found employees without sincere passion and a belief in what the company is hoping to achieve, were likely to abandon ship when the going got tough. While skills are necessary, Passion is an absolute mandatory. Someone with Passion & Enthusiasm can succeed with the right training, but even with the right skills, a candidate without passion is unlikely to be a good fit.

2. SPECIFIC SKILLS. Of course, specific skills are necessary to get the job done. At my company, we use Assessment tests to ensure candidates are knowledgeable. We’ve found tests & assessments especially helpful for recruiting technical talent. For our open developer positions, we have candidates take a Programming Quiz – we developed in-house – to ensure they have what it takes for the job. While Passion is important, this Enthusiasm needs to be backed up with strong skills. These tests also allow us to move faster on great hires, since the data acquired helps speed up the decision process. Considering that the US Dept of Labor Statistics estimates that Technical Hiring will more than double (2x) the growth rate for all other occupations by 2016, hiring fast is a great way to beat out the competition to the best people.

[ Flexibility, Intra-preneurship, & Fabricating in Premium Content ]