Where to Find the Right Employees for Your Startup

For a big and established company finding experienced employees isn’t a problem – people are flocking to them on their own, and they can afford to bide their time and choose only those who fully satisfy their requirements. Startups, on the other hand, have it hard. You don’t have a name to use for advertising, the prospects are uncertain, and the majority of candidates have never heard of you. So how are you supposed to overcome these obstacles?

1.      Job Websites

The most obvious approach is to post your recruitment pitch on a job website like Start Jobs. Despite this method being a little bit too conventional for many a start-upper’s taste, it still works pretty well, at least if you play your cards right. Remember, people looking to work for startups are a very specific breed. They don’t care about stability, high salaries and free gym memberships. Instead, they value ownership, equity and specific atmosphere that can only be found at startups – so make sure to stress these points.

2.      Your Own Personal Network

Startups require a considerable degree of trust and understanding between employees and employers, especially on the initial stage of development, when future is uncertain and nobody is sure whether the company will be around in six months’ time. That is why it is only natural to hire people you personally know are reliable and in whose professional expertise you may be sure, and who know that you are reliable as well.

3.      Networks of Your Employees

It works a little bit like network marketing. Each time you hire a new employee, don’t just lie on your oars but try to use it as a toehold for acquiring further high-class specialists. Ask your new employees if they have any former colleagues who may be interested in working for you, especially if the company they came from just laid off some of its staff. More often than not you will get at least two or three leads from each new hire.

4.      Letting Them Find You

Very often actively looking for the right candidates is much less effective than investing in activities that will make them more likely to find you on their own. Your online presence plays an important role here – the more buzz your company creates, the more likely it is that somebody with relevant expertise and interest in your area of choice will stumble upon a blog post or feed or mention in social media that will attract them to you.

5.      AngelList

AngelList has one considerable advantage over LinkedIn and other traditional professional networks – it unites people who are interested in working for a startup from the get-go. You can either look for candidates or post jobs – either way you are more likely to find like-minded people ready to work at a startup than anywhere else.

One thing, however, should be done irrespectively of your preferred method – startups should never stop recruiting. Really talented people are rare, which means that you should be constantly on the lookout for new additions to your team – you are unlikely to find all that many worthy candidates at once.