Leela Srinivasan, Lever Amanda Bell, Lever For companies of all sizes in growth mode, hiring is the killer combination of absolutely critical and really hard to get right. In the course of supporting recruiting at hundreds of startups (while also expanding the Lever team at a healthy clip), we’ve learned how to hire well, along with some classic mistakes to avoid. Listen to this fast-paced session packed full of tips to hear how you, too, can hire the right talent to fuel your company’s growth. Session highlights: Why it's time to blow up your job descriptions. Where to source candidates (beyond the obvious places). How to make hiring a strategic priority internally. And 10 other hacks! Check out the best of Talent Connect: http://bit.ly/2e5ojNe

2. ​ Leela Srinivasan
​ Chief Marketing Officer, Lever
Hiring for Scale:
13 Hacks in 30 Minutes
​ Amanda Bell
​ Director of Recruiting, Lever

3. 2012
Year founded
Source: MRINetwork, May 2016
Lever’s mission:
To scale and share hiring through effortless collaboration
2
Years on the market
~100
Employees
$32M
Raised
1100+
Customers
144%
Headcount growth

4. NEWSFLASH!
We are still in a candidate-driven market

5. 86%
Recruiters who feel it’s a
candidate-driven market
62%
Employers who feel it’s a
candidate-driven market
Source: MRINetwork, May 2016

6. Before we plunge in…
done as an experiment or test before
introducing something more widely.

7. Blow up your job descriptions
HACK #
1

8. Most job descriptions are a
combo of depressing and ridiculous
Source: Twitter @_vicksolo via Buzzfeed

9. Forget job descriptions, create impact descriptions
What will your new hire:
q Own?
q Teach?
q Learn?
q Improve?
What will they actually do?

10. Interview like you mean it
HACK #
2

11. Instead of this... … try this
Depressing, unrealistic
job description
Inspiring impact
descriptions with sufficient
context
Specific, complementary
areas to delve into
Little to no guidance to
every interviewer
Evaluating whether their
skills and experience raise
the bar
Deciding if you’d enjoy
having a beer with a
candidate

12. Use technology to create a more consistent process

13. Get your candidates
comfortable
HACK #
3

14. Interviewing should not feel like this…

15. Put your candidates in the position that is most similar to their
actual working environment: at home and with a computer, not in
front of a white board doing coding challenges.
​ Chris Shaw, Director of Talent,
Simulate the work environment

16. Source beyond the obvious
places
HACK #
4

17. Hiring has changed quite a bit

18. 10 fresh talent sources
AngelList
GitHub, StackOverflow
Dribbble
Sourcing.io
Conference speaker lists
App stores
Quora
Amazon book reviews
Personal blogs
Meetup.com
(and actual MeetUps)

19. Don’t give up on top
prospects so easily
HACK #
5

20. Build relationships, don’t just push jobs – and adjust
approach based on (non-)responses
Scenario 1:
No response
Scenario 2:
Timing is off
● Try them again (politely)
● And again (politely)
● If you prod politely, you may
guilt them into a response
● You may also get a referral
● They decline: Find out why -
then follow up in the logical
timeframe (e.g., post-bonus
or vesting cliff)
● You fill the position: Tag the
candidate so you can find
them 3, 6, 9 months from now
when the next role opens up

21. Make LinkedIn your employer
brand machine
HACK #
6

22. FACT
The whole world is checking
out your LinkedIn profile. And
the profiles of your employees.
10,000 employees x 250 unique, non-employee 1st degree connections = 2. 5 million
engagement opportunities

23. Employee connections on LinkedIn beat Company
Page followers by a mile
vs.
at least 18x
the 1st degree footprint

24. We gave our team guardrails – but we also let them
(and wanted them to) be themselves

25. 80 percent of our team overhauled their profiles
​ I used to think being a woman
in tech meant simply accepting
and overcoming aggressive
workplaces…
​ At Lever, I am thrilled to be an
integral piece of a diverse,
inclusive, engaged, and
impassioned team.
​ At Lever we really walk the
talk when it comes to talent.
​ We put a ton of thought into
how we hire and onboard
people, as well as how we
help them grow in their
careers.

26. Turn your newest hires into
evangelists
HACK #
7

27. It is literally never too early to get your people fired up

28. get
Do more than just ask for referrals:
GET SPECIFIC
HACK #
8

29. 1 in 16Referred candidates is hired
Source: Lever’s Little Grey Book of Recruiting Benchmarks, 2016

30. Take the time to educate employees
Smaller pool of more highly
qualified candidates.
Educate employees about what
you’re looking for prior to asking
for referrals

31. Internally, talk about hiring.
ALL. THE. TIME.
HACK #
9

32. Showcase hiring like you showcase sales wins
Source jam in progress Slack erupts with each new hire

33. Get feedback from people who
didn’t make it
HACK #
10

34. Learn from everyone who goes through your hiring
process
​ We used to run NPS surveys among candidates that we didn’t hire -
and then ask follow-up questions to find out how we could improve
our candidate experience.
​ Kirsti Grant, CEO & Co-Founder, Populate
​ (Former VP Talent @ Vend)

35. Reference-check your heart
out
HACK #
11

36. Do not under any circumstance
short-change reference checking
Don’t Do
● Rely solely on references
provided by the candidate
● Find other references who are
mutual connections
Recommended reading from Josh Hannah: bit.ly/reference-checking
With thanks to
David Skok of
Matrix Partners
● Let the reference drive the call ● Lead the call; probe for exact
details on the candidate’s
achievements
● Expect the reference to
proactively raise negative
points
● Find ways to frame ‘weakness’
questions to get accurate
answers

37. Seed diversity & inclusion
early. Never let up.
HACK #
12

38. D&I is really hard. Smaller companies can take more
radical approaches.
The “guys” jar The “no resume” campaign The diversity dashboard

39. Whatever size your company, find, celebrate and
empower your D&I ambassadors

40. Reposting employee blog content on LinkedIn and
Medium had measurable impact

41. Invest in the tools to do it
right
HACK #
13

42. Other functions are way better at equipping
themselves to manage leads
business.linkedin.com lever.co

43. Summary
#1
Blow up your job descriptions.
#2
Interview like you mean it.
#3
Get your candidates comfortable.
#4
Source beyond the obvious places.
#5
Don’t give up on top prospects so easily.
#6
Make LinkedIn your employer brand machine.
#7
Turn your newest hires into evangelists.
#8
“Call and coffee” your referrals.
#9
Internally, talk about hiring. All. The. Time.
#10
Get feedback from people who didn’t make it.
#11
Reference-check your heart out.
#12
Seed diversity & inclusion early. Never let up.
#13
Invest in the tools to do it right.
Questions?
​ Leela Srinivasan
​ Chief Marketing Officer, Lever
​ linkedin.com/in/leelasrinivasan
​ leela@lever.co
​ Amanda Bell
​ Director of Recruiting, Lever
​ linkedin.com/in/amandabell
​ amanda@lever.co

44. Thank you!