Topic: HR Consulting for Startups

The biggest asset a company has, is its people. If you didn’t know that – now you know! With this statement it makes it very clear that your future hires can make or break your startup. It is said that your first 10 hires will determine your next 100. Don’t panic.
We are here to help make the recruitment process as easy going as possible. We have created 7 steps with professional HR insights, resources and tools needed to find your heroes team.

Preparing for a job posting can seem like a very time-consuming task and kind of boring. However, the fact remains that it needs to get done. So why not spice it up a bit? Let your creativity loose and connect with your potential candidate. First, there are some standardized points you must include:

• Company pitch/intro 
• Background ( Job title, location, experience) 
• Job responsibilities ( core, requirements, nice to have skills) 
• Soft skills/ team fit ( personality / values ) 
• Compensation / benefits / Perks
• Contact details

With the company pitch, you can get creative, get the candidates excited to read more about the company, and show them why they should want to become a part of the team. Key elements when creating a job post could be:

• to avoid jargons in the job title
• use bullet points to create clear visual goals 
• avoid long heavy paragraphs.

 Apart from that let your company shine!

This goes without saying but when you have put in all the effort in creating a job post, the second step is to post these in the right places. Simply keeping it on your company profile is not the way. Spread the word, and make the digital community your best friend!

How to recruit employees for startups? In HR terms, this is divided into 2 types – inbound & outbound. They are very different methods, the most common one being inbound, where you create your job posting, share it, and let the candidates come to you. Whilst outbound means the company goes directly to the candidate. Both methods work, so it depends on the strategy your company wants to go with.
A handy tip –  in the early stage it is always smart to start with your network. It could be that your perfect candidate is someone you already went to university or worked with.

Before you can actually start interviewing candidates it is useful to be aware of the steps involved to make this as organized as possible. Timing is key. Ask yourself the following questions: what is the date you want to fill this posting by? Which team members will be involved and what are their responsibilities?
You will NEED to have a prepared interview guide or checklist. 

As a startup, it’s vital to set your culture. So, when hiring a new team member, share the updates of potential hires with the rest of the team. Get their opinions. This could be a clever way to avoid biases and conflict. Teamwork is after all dreamwork. Some startups have stated that, if there is one team member that does not see the potential fit of the hire, ( presenting substantial reasons why) they simply won’t hire them. Is this good or bad? That’s for you to decide.

After sharing your job post, you will hopefully get candidates applying. If not, that is a big sign that your job post is unattractive or that you need to get the word out more. When a candidate is applying, they will send you their CV, cover letter, or a video introduction. This can be a very big task to handle.

It is important to create a structure of how you want to proceed. Above we have shared a graphic showing a potential way that could help find that perfect hire for your startup. But, before you can start, check if you have prepared a process for the following steps:

• Structure of interview 
• Tasks that will showcase needed skills from candidates
• A reasonable volume of interviews and candidates 
• Who are the 2 people conducting the interview and what roles do they have
• Call & follow up emails 
• Interview evaluation form 

When you have these sorted you can now go to the first step: Pre-screening

This is where you go through the candidates’ information. Though it can be a brutal task, you have to be strict and look for the match your company needs. Here you must check their:

• Background/ experience 
• Company knowledge ( motivation) 
• Key skills ( hard & soft )
• Potential fit 
• Screening them against your own evaluation form 

As you have to sort through everyone the same way it is smart to sort them into groups: Yes, no, and maybe. If you are super lucky you find your perfect match in the first screening.

As the interviewer, it is important to be prepared. Handy tip, it is smart to block off 15 min before and after the interview. This gives you time to prepare and note down feedback when it’s still fresh in your mind. You’re probably excited to find your perfect hire, but keep in mind that the candidate might be super nervous! Therefore, we gathered some hints to make them feel more comfortable:

• Warmly introduce yourself(s) 
• Have some ice breaker questions – make them comfortable
• Start of talking by explaining the process – be transparent
• If the candidate is actively sourced then its your time to shine and sell the company in the best possible way 
• Share your vision and mission 

Now that the candidate has gotten some nice information about your company it’s time to get down to the questions that really matter. When asking these questions below, you will be able to find out quite quickly if they are really interested and/or prepared.

• Ask questions regarding motivation. Example – Why do you want to join our team?
• Ask questions about their educational and professional background. Example – Ask about CV, get them to explain their previous role, etc. 
• Ask questions that can showcase their personality/ team fit. 

Asking these questions gives a very detailed view of the person and the possible fit. However, don’t forget to ask the general questions as well. These include:

• Availability/ starting date 
• Location / willingness to move 
• Work permit / visa requirements
• Salary expectations 

When closing the interview it’s important to be kind and friendly. Be grateful for their time and tell them you will be in touch and provide them with feedback as soon as possible. If you want to add a nice touch, tell your candidate to feel free to contact you if they have any additional questions.

After your interview, you give positive or negative feedback. Those who get positive feedback can be asked to fulfill a task, this can be to test their skills in regards to the work they will be doing at the company. The new way companies are using this step is by creating a Virtual Assessment Center, to read more about this and its uses click here. After the assessment of their skill, you can now move on to the last steps: Culture fit and references.

Congratulations you have made it to the final step of the hiring process! 

Hopefully, you have some successful candidates by this point that you would like to do some last-minute checks on in order to determine the final hire. Let’s say you have 4 potential candidates that have done exceptionally well, what do you do?

As a startup, culture fit is very important, so let the team determine who fits the best. You can also check their references to double-check that they are as good as they say. The key here is to not take too long, as you can actually lose your perfect hire. 

If you have come to this step and none of your candidates have successfully completed the tasks/ interview, then start again. Analyze your job description, use more channels to share your job ad. You can also re-read the ones in the maybe pile, as it could be that you overlooked someone. But don’t settle for less. As a startup, it is super vital that you find a hire that will bring true value to your team.

Finding the perfect candidate is never an easy task as you can see above. When you’re a startup, with a need to find the right people, the key element is to be transparent and clear from day one about what you need. Do research, take time, and don’t rely on only 1 interview. Depending on your budget and time, getting help from your team is essential.OR  Maybe HR heroes like us can help you ;)

Kristina Toender, Marketing Intern