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Top four hiring tips for early stage startups

Author: Devesh Chawla
by Devesh Chawla
Posted: Feb 19, 2016

In the midst of developing a product and in the pursuit of reaching customers founders often forget about the most crucial part that makes any startup successful. It’s the team, it’s been proven time and again that a focused and a dedicated team is the key ingredient to effectively scale your startup. But building a rock-solid team can be a daunting task. Early stage startups need to show rapid growth to attract funding and hiring right employees that can add value to your business at the same time can get you into a pickle. So to ease this process we have compiled some important tips that could help startups make sound and focused decisions when it comes to hiring new employees.

1. Always be on a lookout

When you are a startup you have a small team and that can create distractions as there are many things to focus on in a limited timeframe. As a founder, you might feel that you are not able to focus on developing the product as much as you need. So one fine day you stop concentrating on equally important processes like ‘Hiring,’ for instance. But that will be a wrong move, seeking out the best talent in the market should be more like a constant job for startups. Don’t wait till your startup has a direct need for someone, start searching for candidates regularly, create a pipeline of great candidates and stay in touch with them. Build relationships with them to improve the odds of making the best hire. The best talent as per your needs is not readily available in the hyper store near you, the pipeline of great candidates will help you explore and have a dialogue with them for your future needs.

2. Bring in-house talent…

Some of the startups will not want to listen to this and may also disagree, but this is by far one of the most important tips that every early stage startups should know. Outsourcing is cheap and a quick fix, but it’s not sustainable when you are growing. Most of bootstrapped startups believe that outsourcing is a quick solution, but it often comes with a heavy price. An outsourced team will complete a specific task to the best of their ability, which means that they may not meet the standard that is required for your startup. This type of arrangement can be okay for few tasks or projects, but it can become a stumbling block when your are growing. Work hard to bring the talent in-house so that they can share the same passion and vision that you have as a founder for your business.

3. Get people with right attitude…

As a startup, you should hire people with right attitude. You can always train your employees with new skills, but you can never train them to have the right attitude. This is a subjective process and may seem unfair, but if the candidate that doesn’t blend well with the team or yourself will eventually create a dysfunctional atmosphere which will sooner or later reflect on the overall performance of your team. Focus on intelligence, diligence, and personality, don’t test your employees on the knowledge that they have acquired over the time, ask them to do something that they haven’t done before and see how they react to it.

4. Hire a ‘Potential Employee’…

Startups are like sea waves they can grow larger and stronger within seconds. Sooner or later the startup will outgrow everyone’s current skills and roles. As it grows unpredictably so will be the expectations from your employees. Hire a candidate who has an absorbing quality. If you hire a candidate who only knows how to do a certain job and does not have the potential or inclination to learn and grow, sooner or later they will not be able to keep up with the company. The past is the best guide to scout for the potential candidates. Candidates who don’t foulmouth their previous employers are a good fit. Check for their dedication towards a certain cause. Get to know how passionate they are about their work that they do. Look for achievers and not always the high scorers.

About the Author

Devesh Chawla is the author of this article on Business Mentors. Find more information, about Business Startup Ideas

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Author: Devesh Chawla

Devesh Chawla

Member since: Jun 17, 2015
Published articles: 102

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