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How Startups Can Build a Recruiting Machine

Startups now face a crucial third skill in addition to product development and sales: building a recruiting machine to effectively attract technical talent. With demand for skilled workers far exceeding supply, companies should hire in-house recruiters early to enhance sourcing and candidate experience. A strong talent brand, a comprehensive recruiting process, and team involvement in hiring are essential for success in the competitive recruiting landscape.

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How Startups Can Build a Recruiting Machine #hiringforgrowth @lever Thursday April 7, 2016
● Phone lines are muted - please use the chat box for questions ● Tweet us using #hiringforgrowth and @lever ● $100 Amazon Gift Card for the most useful tweet Kiran Dhillon Content Marketing Manager Lever @kirandhillon4 Thanks for joining us!
- Our featured speaker David Skok General Partner Matrix Partners ForEntrepreneurs Blog @BostonVC #hiringforgrowth
#hiringforgrowth There used to be two essential startup skills. Now there’s a third. Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1WeQWae
Two core startup skills Build a product with great product/ market fit Build a sales and marketing machine #hiringforgrowth
● Explosion in startups ● Low growth in skilled workers ● Software is eating the world - everyone wants developers What’s changed? Demand now significantly outstrips supply - especially for technical talent
And recruiting has undergone its own revolution...
The hires that most impact your company’s performance aren’t looking for a job
Enter the third crucial startup skill Build a recruiting machine #hiringforgrowth Build a product with great product/ market fit Build a sales and marketing machine
Sourcing & Selling are the key new skills
#hiringforgrowth Recruiting well takes the entire village Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1WeQWae
#hiringforgrowth The catch: your village probably didn’t study recruiting at college Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1kD8Lis
The recruiting funnel #hiringforgrowth Candidates Highly productive employees Sourcing Evaluate & Sell Close Train Top of funnel Middle of funnel Sell Onboard
Top of funnel: What makes it so hard? #hiringforgrowth
Sourcing Selling
Q. When should you hire your first recruiter? #hiringforgrowth
Q. When should you hire your first recruiter? A. Earlier than you think. #hiringforgrowth
1. They can bring more focus to your sourcing efforts 2. They’ll sell your company better than an outsourced recruiter would 3. They can build out a better candidate experience Note: you may still need to enlist the help of a headhunter for exec roles. If you do, choose carefully. 3 reasons to hire a full-time in-house recruiter early #hiringforgrowth
A full-time recruiter does NOT mean you’re off the hook “I have seen some companies get into trouble when team members think that having an in-house recruiter means they can now ‘pitch this problem over the fence.’ I tell clients (from CEO on down) that they are all part-time recruiters. Ensure that the CEO in particular visibly embodies this behavior.” Jordan Burton Founder, Burton Advisors LLC Former Partner, ghSMART #hiringforgrowth
#hiringforgrowth Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1S2rvCl Referrals are much easier in the digital age ● Sit with employees and review networks from all past jobs ● Offer referral bonuses ● The biggest motivator for your team: a strong mission/vision
Sourcing passive candidates Sources we like: ● AngelList - startup hires ● GitHub, StackOverflow - developers ● Dribbble - designers ● Sourcing.io - engineers ● Xing - select European talent ● LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter - all ● Conference speaker lists - all For more tips on how to source a quality pipeline, download our free ebook: lever.co/ebook-sourcing
Why you need a strong talent brand #hiringforgrowth Companies with a strong talent brand have 43% lower cost per hire 20% faster rate of hire Source: LinkedIn
How to articulate your talent brand ● Consider your brand as experienced by your employees. What makes you different/ special? ● Keep in mind what motivates your target talent, e.g., technical talent: ○ opportunity to solve technical problems ○ co-workers they can learn from ○ opportunity to contribute to open source ○ cool mission ○ culture they can relate to ● Think about channels to showcase your brand #hiringforgrowth
Promoting your talent brand will boost your recruiting efforts bit.ly/hubspot-culture 1.8 million views to date #hiringforgrowth
A few thoughts on getting to Developers
● A key lesson we've learned is that engineers cannot be recruited ○ They are completely overwhelmed by LinkedIn messages and recruiters calling them a billion times ■ Especially if they're senior ○ They do not respond to these messages ○ We've tried a number of recruiters and they basically don't work ○ We now have a dedicated in-house recruiter and we don't have her recruit engineers ● Building a technical brand and getting the team out there seems to be the only real way to have success with this community From one of my Portfolio Companies
Know what you’re looking for in your hire Example: key competencies expected for a Matrix Partners associate #hiringforgrowth
Middle of funnel: Who’s selling whom? #hiringforgrowth
1. Need to sell at each stage, while also evaluating 2. Need to nurture candidates 3. Need to manage your process Byproducts of the passive candidate age #hiringforgrowth
A great candidate experience secures hires and creates advocates #hiringforgrowth Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1j6qmh3
We incorporate three types of interview into evaluations Type of interview Approach Screening interview Initial evaluation to make sure candidate passes the bar for consideration Topgrading interview Chronological history of the career, to understand successes, failures, and results achieved by the specific individual. Focused interviews Conducted by team members to ensure candidates possess the core competencies. #hiringforgrowth
A few keys to successful interviewing ● Screen thoroughly to focus on top candidates ● Build rapport; mix evaluating with selling ● Assign focus areas to each interviewer; structure your feedback form accordingly ● Dig into the bad stuff, but don’t be judgmental
Reference checking is imperative, especially for senior hires Don’t Do ● Rely solely on references provided by the candidate ● Find other references who are mutual connections Recommended reading: bit.ly/reference-checking ● Let the reference drive the call ● Expect the reference to proactively raise negative points ● Lead the call; probe for exact details on the candidate’s achievements ● Find ways to frame ‘weakness’ questions to get accurate answers
How to manage your process? vs. #hiringforgrowth
Bottom of funnel: It ain’t over ‘till it’s over #hiringforgrowth
#hiringforgrowth Bring in your heavyweights Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1HUx1H0
7 ways your VCs can help you hire executives #hiringforgrowth 1. Thinking through org design and timing of key hires 2. Help with job description, especially for ‘first of its kind’ exec roles 3. Figuring out compensation 4. Sourcing candidates 5. Tracking down backdoor references 6. Interview support 7. Selling!
Onboarding: Invest for productivity #hiringforgrowth
Onboarding is absolutely critical For more details, see see www.forentrepreneurs.com/onboarding Hubspot Sales example
Why we invested in Lever #hiringforgrowth
Sourcing & Selling are the key new skills
Why we invested in Lever Traditional ATS Evaluate & sell only Lever Source, nurture, evaluate & sell #hiringforgrowth
#hiringforgrowth Recruiting well takes the entire village Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1HUx8SX
Get your whole team hiring “With Lever in the hands of all Mattermark employees, we've cut our time to hire for open roles in half. Everyone from our team is sourcing candidates, referring friends, and contributing to hiring discussions. Hiring is now a team effort; I can train new employees about how to use Lever in two minutes. It's incredibly intuitive.” - Natasha, talent lead, Mattermark
Thank you! Questions? For more information: www.forEntrepreneurs.com Browse our webinar library: https://www.lever.co/recruiting-resources
3 additional ways to keep in touch 1. Follow @lever on Twitter 2. Subscribe to our blog: www.lever.co/blog 3. Follow us on LinkedIn #hiringforgrowth