If you are starting a startup, you are going to need employees. But finding the right employees can be difficult. You will need people with the right combination of skills, experience, and attitude. And you will need to be able to offer them a competitive salary and benefits.
Lucky for you, in this article, we will share our strategies for recruiting the best employees.
The first thing you need to do when creating a recruitment strategy is to determine your goals along The first thing you need to do when creating a recruitment strategy is to determine your goals and specific, detailed what you’re trying to accomplish along the way.
1). Create A Compelling Employer Brand
One of the first things you should do is create a compelling employer brand. In order to get candidates in the door, they need to think of your company as an employer of choice.
One of the best ways to create a compelling employer brand is to publish articles on blogs and other platforms that describe the company culture and the types of employees you want to hire.
These articles will help candidates get a sense of the kind of employees you want to hire, which will help you to stand out from the competition.
should also create a job posting on sites like LinkedIn and Indeed that describes the position and the qualifications required to do the job. This will allow candidates to get a sense of the kind of position you have open and the kinds of skills and experience required for the position.
2). Consider Cost/Benefit Before Hiring
When you are starting a startup, every dollar that you can save is going to be crucial.
That means that you need to be very clear about what the cost of a new hire will be to your startup. You should also be clear about the types of benefits that new hires will receive.
Will the new hires be eligible for health insurance through their employer or through a COBRA plan?
Will they be eligible for a 401(k) plan or other company benefits?
You should be as transparent as possible about these things so that applicants know what to expect from your startup and don’t plan on moving here only to find out that they will have to move again because the startup didn’t offer benefits.
If you are not sure whether or not your benefits package is competitive, look at other companies in your industry and see what their benefits packages look like.
You can also look at companies in your geographical region and see what their packages look like.
3). Hire Your Fans
This is a common misconception. Don’t assume that candidates are not going to take ownership and won’t be there during the long hours and hard work you’re going to put into your startup.
Instead, look for people who are passionate about the company you’re building, have a sense of ownership with it, and are willing to put in the hard work, long hours, and dedication to help it succeed.
If a candidate is passionate about your startup, they will be willing to put in the extra work it takes to make it successful.
Passionate people are going to be more likely to be there for you when you need them and to help you figure out the hard questions and problems you’re facing.
It is much better to be transparent about these things upfront so that you can find the right people who are excited to be a part of your journey, regardless of their hours and work ethic.
4). Consider Freelancers
Remote employees are a necessity if you are having difficulty finding talent in your area. Some startups like the idea of hiring from the local talent pool.
But the truth is that not everyone in the local area has the skills you want—or the skills people are willing to learn—and a remote employee can bring you access to the best talent in the area.
On the flip side, if you are a startup that is bootstrapping, remote employees will not be an option.
You will have to get all of your early hires onsite, and they will need to be full-time.
And you are going to need to be in the same physical location as your employees to be able to interact with them.
Remote employees can be a good option to bring in new talent and get an early foothold on a customer base, but your early hires need to be in-person, to make sure that they can interact with each other and with customers.
5). Offer Challenging Projects
If you are looking for talented people, you will find that many of them aren’t looking for a nine-to-five job. They want to work on interesting projects, meet interesting people, and learn new things.
So if you are starting a startup, look for ways to offer your talented candidates challenging projects that they can work on from anywhere in the world.
This will show them that you are building a company they want to be a part of and that you won’t be wasting their time.
6). Consider Employee Referral Program
If you are trying to recruit employees, you may be surprised to find out that many of them don’t want to be a part of your company until they have some idea as to what the work is going to look like.
They may not know whether they are going to be working on a product, a service, or something else.
If you do an employee referral program, your current employees will refer their friends and neighbors to your company. If they do, they will be able to answer the question for your potential candidates.
But if you don’t have any current employees, you will need to be transparent about what you are building and how much work it will be.
This may seem like an impossible task, but you can show candidates images or videos of your product or service in action to prove to them that this is a company they want to be a part of.
If you are able to do this, you will find that more of your talented candidates will be willing to take the risk and join your team.
There are a few ways to structure referral programs.
First, you can offer employees a monetary bonus for referring a candidate to your company, but you need to be aware that some candidates may try to game the system by referring their friends.
You can also offer non-monetary bonuses for referring people based on criteria like skills and experience.
Another option is to reward referrals based on how long a referred employee stays with you.
Conclusion
The most important thing to remember when trying to recruit employees is that you are building a company that people want to be a part of. This will attract the right candidates and help you find the employees you are looking for.
But it will also help you build a company that people want to work for, which is going to make it easier to find the right employees for the long term.
If you are trying to build a startup, you are going to need to be able to offer competitive salaries and benefits to keep your talented employees.