Want to hack your hiring? Want to know what the experts have to say about the tricks of finding, hiring, and keeping awesome talent?
Check out our 101 #HiringHacks SlideShare!
You’ll learn #HiringHacks to…
-Design your employer brand
-Build an internal recruiting engine
-Source the top candidates
-Fast-track your shortlist
-And more!
We packed this full of wisdom from @dharmesh, @randfish, @kate_hughes, @bhorowitz, and more. So check out our 101 Hiring Hacks for Startups, and let us know what you think!
3. 1 OFFER A BASE-LEVEL OF
BENEFITS AND PERKS.
In a competitive environment, many
perks are considered a price of entry.
Research what your main competitors
offer and ensure you at least match it.
5. 3 OFFER A PAID PAID VACATION
If you find unlimited vacation doesn‘t
help your hardworking team take a
break, consider paying them to take time
off.
Paid Vacation? That‟s Not Cool.
You Know What‟s Cool?
Paid, PAID Vacation.
@bartlorang
6. 4 TAKE AN ANNUAL ONE-
MONTH COMPANY RETREAT
Expensify takes their entire team to a
(low-cost) location each year for a full
month. In 2012 it was Thailand.
7. We believe that smart folks can get
five days of work done in four days.
Simple as that.
5 DON‟T WORK
FRIDAYS.
@RyanCarson
8. 6 GIVE A DAY OFF ON
BIRTHDAYS.
Its just another way that shows them
you encourage them to enjoy life
outside of work.
9. 7 CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARIES
WITH THE COMPANY.
It‘s easy to recognize the anniversaries of
the date they started with you either with a
gift or with day off that they can take any
time in the month of their anniversary.
10. 8 OPEN A TAB AT A
NEARBY CAFE
Let your staff get their daily
caffeine fix on the company.
11. 9 HAVE FRESH FRUIT DELIVERED
TO THE OFFICE REGULARLY.
Avoid sugary snacks, and try
fresh fruit at work to give a
regular health boost.
12. 10 PAY FOR GYM MEMBERSHIPS
Offer an incentive where you will cover
individual gym memberships (up to a
certain dollar amount) for all employees
once they have passed their probation.
13. 11 PROVIDE GENUINE
FLEXIBILITY
Github is famous for the distributed work
environment and lack of structure.
They‘re doing something right…
―Hours are bullshit‖
@holman
14. 12 CREATE AN EMPLOYEE
HANDBOOK. MAKE IT GOOD.
Putting some real effort into an
employee handbook shows real
commitment to people.
A fearless
adventure in
knowing what to do
when no one‘s
there telling you
what to do. LINK
15. 13 DOCUMENT YOUR VALUES.
SHARE THEM PUBLICLY.
Whether you like it or
not, you're going to
have a culture. Why not
make it one you love?
@dharmesh
16. 14 TELL GOOD STORIES.
Tell your stories through every
medium: in person, blogs, Twitter,
publications and product design.
18. 16 CREATE A VIDEO
OF A „DAY IN LIFE‟.
This needs to be transparent and
authentic, with no BS. Give people
a feel for your team culture and
work environment.
20. 17 TREAT EVERY
CANDIDATE LIKE A
FUTURE CUSTOMER.
This is a helpful mental hack to
help shape all of your
candidate interactions, and
everything below.
21. 19 SINGLE CLICK TO
APPLY.
Embed an ‗Apply with LinkedIn‘
button onto your website, to
remove any barrier to applicants.
22. 18 SET UP AN AUTORESPONDER
WITH A PERSONAL NOTE
FROM THE CEO.
This is easy to setup in Gmail, and
ensures candidates have an
immediate response.
23. 20 PICK UP THE PHONE AND
SPEAK TO CANDIDATES.
Even in a tech startup environment, a
personal call from the CEO (or a
cofounder) to a candidate can have a huge
impact.
24. 21 SET INTERNAL DEADLINES
FOR ALL RESPONSES.
Don‘t keep candidates waiting. They‘re
not only talking to you. 24 hours is a
good target – remember, fastest may
not always win, but slowest will almost
always lose.
25. 22 SETUP A GUEST TABLET FOR
CANDIDATES IN RECEPTION
Give them a tablet to do whatever they want, including
playing Angry Birds. For bonus points, give them limited
access to an internal Yammer feed or intranet, so they
get a feel for the internal culture.
26. Even if you have given them a wifi code
or other distractions, never keep a
candidate waiting. This is the first
impression they will have of how you run
your business – make it good.
23 NEVER KEEP A
CANDIDATE WAITING.
27. Remember to offer your candidate a glass of
water (or perhaps even a coffee). And at the
end of the interview, remember to see them to
the elevator or to the door personally.
24 REMEMBER THE LITTLE
THINGS.
28. Thank them for their time, be
transparent with your decision (whether
successful or not), and if appropriate,
offer constructive feedback.
25 SEND A PERSONAL
NOTE TO EVERYONE
YOU INTERVIEW
29. It‘s amazing what insights or potential competitor information a
candidate will share with you over the phone that they wouldn‘t
even consider including in an email.
26 WHERE APPROPRIATE,
PICK UP THE PHONE TO
PROVIDE FEEDBACK.
31. This allows fixed time every week for interviews,
coffees, or phone calls. Even if no interviews are
scheduled, work on the top of the funnel — events,
blogging, but with a focus on candidate attraction.
27 AS CEO, ALLOCATE TIME
EVERY WEEK FOR
RECRUITING.
32. Map a process that will work for you,
including who will conduct each round
of interviews, who gives the office tour,
and at what stage any full team
engagement will take place.
28 DEFINE SPECIFIC ROLES
FOR EACH OF YOUR
TEAM.
33. Show what it‘s like to work at your
company. Even if not recruiting, build
your pipeline by allowing people to
express interest.
29 ADD A CAREERS
PAGE TO YOUR
WEBSITE.
34. Most startups don‘t need a full ATS
(applicant tracking system). What we
do need is speed
and visibility.
30 FIND SIMPLE, CHEAP TOOLS
TO CREATE AN AGILE HIRING
PROCESS.
35. Measure your conversion at every stage in
the hiring process. Then identify where
you need to improve.
31 MEASURE YOUR HIRING
PROCESS LIKE YOUR
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
FUNNEL.
36. Have a shortlist of ideal candidates for your
upcoming roles. Then like any sales target,
nurture them: with coffees, shared content, or
invitations to your events.
32 BUILD A BENCH
38. 33 FISH WHERE THE FISH ARE.
Where do the rockstars in your space hangout?
39. You need to touch 100
candidates to make one
great hire. @kate_hughes
FOLLOW THE „RULE OF 100‟.34
40. Send your team to events in their
space, where they can spread the
word in a relaxed environment.
BE VISIBLE AT EVENTS
AND MEETUPS.
35
41. Hosting your own events brings great visibility,
credibility, and contact details for all attendees.
To hack this idea further: litter the room with a
few posters or notes that ‗We‘re Hiring‘.
SWAP A FRACTION OF A
TRADITIONAL RECRUITER‟S
FEE FOR HOSTING EVENTS.
36
42. Your existing customers,
followers and ambassadors
are a great place to start.
Share your open roles in a
newsletter, or on Twitter /
Facebook.
ASK YOUR COMMUNITY
FOR REFERRALS.
37
43. You can search for almost any public
profile on LinkedIn. Learn the basics of
Boolean Search to uncover people well
outside your network.
38 LEARN THE BASICS OF
SEARCHING LinkedIn.
44. Browse profiles of target
candidates, and if someone
browses back, ask for connection.
„FLIRT‟ WITH PEOPLE
ON LinkedIn.
39
45. Do some research, and make it
clear why you‘ve contacted them.
CRAFT PERSONALIZED
EMAILS TO TARGET
CANDIDATES, AND
FOLLOW UP.
40
46. Think how many emails you send in a month. If
0.001% of those people made a referral… well,
you do the math.
ADD A NOTE TO YOUR
EMAIL SIGNATURE, WITH
THE ROLES YOU‟RE HIRING.
Example: „Know any awesome Ruby developers?
I‟d love to buy you dinner for an intro.‟
41
47. Make your job ads less boring. We can‘t all afford a
billboard, but there‘s no limit to startup creativity.
GET CREATIVE WITH JOB ADS.42
48. Use sponsored Tweets or Facebook ads to
reach your target audience.
TRY INNOVATIVE
SOURCING CHANNELS
43
49. Find the blogs your candidates
will be reading, and just hustle to
get in front of them
#Protip: make sure you have
something smart to say.
COMMENT ON RELEVANT
BLOGS, WITH A NOTE
THAT „WE‟RE HIRING‟.
44
50. Are you torn between ‗growth hacker‘, ‗ninja rockstar
marketer‘, or ‗engineer who knows marketing‘?
Like any copy on your site, try A/B testing.
A/B TEST YOUR JOB
TITLE AND DESCRIPTION.
45
51. Cash is boring. Try dinner at the best restaurant
in town; 12 months supply of PBR; or a
weekend trip to Tahoe. Like employee bonuses,
make it something people will enjoy, but are
unlikely to buy for themselves.
OFFER REFERRAL
INCENTIVES, BUT
MAKE THEM
CREATIVE.
46
53. Every link provides invaluable information, and will save you time searching for
it all yourself. Union Square Ventures only ask for social links from applicants
(no CVs wanted!).
HAVE APPLICANTS SHARE
THEIR FULL SOCIAL IDENTITY.
47
54. Depending on the role, a bit of sleuthing can also
help. Whether you buy into them or not, measures
like Klout give a directional sense of someone‘s
activity on the social webs.
MEASURE THE INFLUENCE
AND REACH OF CANDIDATES.
48
55. SeatGeek (a NYC ticketing startup) was receiving hundreds of dodgy applications for
developer roles. So they set a challenge: “All applicants must submit their resume by
hacking into our backend jobs admin panel”.
It worked so well, they extended it to non-tech roles.
SET GAMES OR CHALLENGES
FOR PEOPLE TO APPLY.
49
56. Ask candidates to follow simple, but very clear steps in
submitting their application. If they can‘t, don‘t even read it. A
simple example: including a custom message in an email
subject.
SET SIMPLE RULES FOR
DISQUALIFICATION.
50
57. Rather than finding the rare 10X engineer, focus on building a
superstar team.
DON‟T LOOK FOR THE 10X
ENGINEER.
Belief in the Mythical, ―10X‖
Hire Hurts Your Team
51
@randfish
58. For roles with many applicants, swap
time-consuming phone interviews for
automated video screening. They can
save +30-40 minutes per applicant.
USE VIDEO TO
SCREEN SOME
ROLES.
52
60. Make sure they understand the overall
process, goals for each interview, and the
types and style of questions
Read: The Complete Managers‘ Interview
Guide.
TEACH YOUR ENGINEERS
HOW TO INTERVIEW.
53
61. Leave space for notes and answers throughout the
interview, and ratings. Once finished, scan the paper
and attach to your candidates‘ notes.
CREATE A STANDARD
TEMPLATE FOR ALL
INTERVIEWS.
54
Read:
Interview Template and
Guided Framework.
62. Plan a core set of behavioral questions in advance, and sync this
with your team. Use this to dig deeper in certain areas; and make
sure no candidate answers the same question twice (to different
people).
PRE-PLAN YOUR
STRUCTURED QUESTIONS.
55
63. You want to learn how they think; about the
quality of their ideas; and whether they‘ve
invested real time and effort into learning
about your company.
ASK CANDIDATES HOW THEY
WOULD IMPROVE YOUR
PRODUCT/ MARKETING/ UI.
56
64. Ask a Product Manager how they
would design a metrics dashboard;
or a marketer to ‗Develop the launch
plan for a new product feature‘.
WORK THROUGH
A CASE STUDY
TOGETHER.
57
65. Whether doing a case study or not, encourage candidates to sketch
out solutions to any big responses. You‘ll quickly get great insight into
their ability to structure and communicate an answer.
HAVE A WHITEBOARD IN ANY
INTERVIEW ROOM.
58
66. HAVE A TEAM
MEMBER CALL YOU
15 MINUTES INTO
THE INTERVIEW.
59
Answer the call if you want an excuse to finish early.
Ignore the call if you like where it‘s headed.
#Protip: to show a strong candidate you really value
their time, pull the phone out of your pocket and put it
face down on the table, without even looking at the
screen.
67. Why are you really sitting in front of me today?
What are you ideally looking for in your next position?
What salary are you on now?
Who else is involved in your decision making process?
How will your manager react when you resign?
ASK THESE 5 QUESTIONS
TO EVERY CANDIDATE.
60
1
2
3
4
5
69. The toughest decisions are with
candidates who are highly competent
but don‘t fit the culture.
HIRE FOR
CULTURAL FIT
OVER
COMPETENCE.
61
While you always want to shoot for high competence,
high cultural fit people early in your company‟s life, it‟s
always better to chose cultural fit over competence
when you have to make a choice.
@bfeld
70. Set a small, real-world project relevant to their role, and
give them a few days to work on it. You‘ll get much richer
insight into their actual ability and style.
SET A SMALL PROJECT.62
71. Give the same project to multiple
candidates. Hiten Shah (Kissmetrics)
asked 5 designers to build the same
infographic, then could make a more
data-driven decision about who to hire.
A/B TEST YOUR
CANDIDATES.
63
72. Ask them to provide verified
code or a Github account. A
more objective (but expensive!)
option is Gild, which evaluates
and ranks the technical chops of
millions of developers in 200
countries.
CHECK OUT THE SOURCE
CODE OF POTENTIAL HIRES.
64
73. You don‘t want employees who think
working in a startup is cool. It‘s hard
work. Really. You want people who‘ll get
smacked, work through the pain, and
keep smiling at the end of the day.
LOOK FOR HONEYBADGERS65
…who „don‟t give a sh*t about anything.‟
74. Every new hire impacts your culture, so get
the team involved in all decisions.
INTRODUCE THEM TO THE
ENTIRE TEAM. EARLY.
66
75. A candidate will never provide a
negative reference, but you‘ll be
surprised what you can learn from a
phone call.
PERSONALLY CALL THEIR
REFERENCES.
67
76. Don‘t just call references they
provide. Search deep for other
connections you have to the
candidate, to get the real inside word.
CONDUCT BACK-CHANNEL
REFERENCES.
68
77. Invite the 2-3 top candidates in for a full
working day (on different days, obviously).
Include them in product discussions,
sessions with their team, and general day-
to-day operations. After working with them
for a full day, you‘ll be surprised how clear
a cultural fit (or misfit) becomes.
SETUP A ONE-DAY
TRIAL.
69
78. WALK THEM THROUGH A
„WEEK IN THE LIFE‟
OF THE ROLE.
70
Watch carefully for how they
engage, and the type of
questions they ask.
80. Make sure it‘s legal, and includes
all benefits and perks. Ideally, your
lawyers can provide a template as
part of any standard
documentation.
CREATE A CONSISTENT
OFFER LETTER FOR ALL
CANDIDATES.
71
81. Understand general industry ranges, then check AngelList
for a market comparison. If your offer differs significantly
from other startups, you‘ll need a good reason when talking
to the best candidates.
UNDERSTAND INDUSTRY
BENCHMARKS FOR
SALARY AND EQUITY.
72
82. Find out what motivates someone, and
pitch to their passion. You might find
them willing to budge; and also that
they‘re worth more than you think.
DON‟T FOCUS ON SALARY.73
83. If you don‘t want to share the actual
percentage, at least provide enough
detail for employees to understand
the value of their offer.
FOR EQUITY OFFERS,
INCLUDE BOTH THE NUMBER
AND PERCENTAGE.
74
84. This should be non-negotiable.
4-years (at minimum) with a 12-month cliff.
VEST THE EQUITY FOR
EVERY EMPLOYEE.
75
85. Can you give me the offer in writing?
How does my compensation compare to my peers in the
company?
What are my options worth?
What percentage of the company do my options represent
on a fully diluted basis?
Can I exercise my unvested options early?
EXPECT TO ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS.
76
The Role:
1
2
3
4
5
@VentureHacks
86. How much money do you have in the bank right now?
How long will it last?
What was the company‘s post-money valuation in the last
round?
What are the investors‘ preferences?
Who is on the Board and whom do they represent?
The Company:
1
2
3
4
5
EXPECT TO ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS.
76
@VentureHacks
88. Tell them how the role will be
difficult, and gauge their reaction.
The right person will be energized
when they hear that.
SELL THE ROLE‟S
DIFFICULTY.
77
@dinolamela
89. …then let them write their own job description.
GIVE CANDIDATES
THE FULL SCOPE OF
THE PROBLEM.
78
90. Ask what other roles / companies your candidate
is considering. Develop a winning game plan in
response.
UNDERSTAND YOUR
COMPETITION.
THEN BEAT THEM.
79
91. You could include a press kit,
branded swag, bottle of wine, or
Kindle. If they‘re considering other
roles, it‘s small things like this that
can tip the balance in your favor.
SEND A PACK TO THEIR
HOUSE.
80
92. If you‘re bootstrapping hard, a simple
hand-written note could have a similar
effect. Anyone can send an email — you
need to be memorable.
SEND A HAND WRITTEN
NOTE.
81
93. This is someone who‘s going to have a
big impact on the ultimate decision, but
you‘ve probably never met. Get to know
them, let them learn more about your
startup, and show you care about life
outside of work.
HAVE DINNER WITH
THEIR PARTNER.
82
94. This can be a big swing factor for the right candidates, who might take
a lower salary for an opportunity to work with big names in the game.
You did the hard work getting these folk on board – so use them to
your advantage.
INTRODUCE THEM TO YOUR
HIGH-PROFILE INVESTORS OR
ADVISORS.
83
95. Friday drinks, mid-week meetup, weekend event.
Show them the great team environment they‘ll be
joining, and give them a chance to hangout with
future colleagues in an informal setting.
INVITE THEM TO A TEAM
EVENT.
84
96. Remember the Steve Jobs
„sugar water‟ moment?
This is your job as CEO, but might
be harder to pull off in a meeting
room or office.
TAKE A WALK TOGETHER
AND SHARE THE VISION
FOR YOUR COMPANY.
85
98. Give new employees something
to open on the first day, to signify
a new beginning.
This is how Jack Dorsey
welcomes all employees at
Square.
CREATE A WELCOME KIT
THAT REINFORCES YOUR
VALUES AND CULTURE.
86
99. Unless you want new candidates
‗building their own chair‘, make them
feel physically welcome, and instantly
productive.
SETUP THEIR
WORKSPACE
COMPLETELY.
87
100. Have a checklist with everything they need to be working
productively. This includes email address, passwords, and
logins to all SaaS apps.
SETUP THEIR VIRTUAL
WORKSPACE.
88
101. Early in the week, there‘s often too much
going on. By Thursday the team is usually
more relaxed and will generally be more
receptive to spending time with the new
kid on the block. The weekend isn‘t too
far away, and they can really start fresh
with you the following week.
HAVE NEW
PEOPLE START
ON A THURSDAY.
89
102. Run a structured induction with
introductions, training sessions, and one-
on-ones with all key members of the team.
Use this to ensure everyone receives a
consistent intro to your company.
See how Atlassian runs an induction
bootcamp for all new employees.
CREATE A WEEK ONE
BOOT CAMP.
90
103. Announce their arrival to your customers,
partners and audience.
WRITE A BLOG POST
WELCOMING NEW
HIRES TO THE TEAM.
91
104. This lets them show personality and their life outside of work, while
formalizing their introduction to the full team.
HAVE NEW HIRES WRITE
THEIR OWN INTERNAL INTRO
92
106. When you expect people to perform
well, it turns out they do (the
Pygmalian Effect). There‘s a catch
however: your high expectations need
to be realistic and achievable, or they
could have the opposite effect.
USE A PYGMALIAN EFFECT
TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.
93
107. Zappos requires all new employees to
spend 2 weeks in the call center. You
could do similar, in formal cycles, or just
by having new employees sit in on a
weekly meeting with a different team.
You want them to understand and
appreciate the work happening across
the business, not just in their role.
ROTATE NEW EMPLOYEES
THROUGH SEVERAL KEY
FUNCTIONS.
94
108. …then after 30, 60, and 90 days (if
not more regularly). Make sure to
get their feedback on your
performance, and their feelings
about the team.
HAVE STRUCTURED (2-WAY)
FEEDBACK SESSIONS
AT THE END OF
WEEK ONE.
95
109. This is another famous hack from Zappos.
They report 97% of employees turn down the offer (of a few
thousand dollars). For those who take it, the cost is viewed as
an investment in only keeping the right people.
PAY EMPLOYEES TO
LEAVE AFTER 3 WEEKS.
96
110. …and be a Good Place to Work.
PROGRAM YOUR
COMPANY CULTURE.
97
@bhorowitz
Designing a proper company
culture will help you get your
company to do what you want in
certain important areas for a very
long time.
111. Don‘t just wait until the end of the month or quarter to
recognize those who‘ve done something well. Real-
time recognition works wonders, whether in person or
virtually on an internal feed.
RECOGNIZE EFFORTS
REGULARLY.
98
112. “Hire Fast, Fire Faster”
ACT ON HIRING
MISTAKES QUICKLY.
99
I have never regretted
firing anybody. Not once.
@msuster
113. Bring the entire company together to introduce new hires,
share goals and milestones, and discuss strategy.
HOLD A WEEKLY „ALL
HANDS‟ MEETING.
100
The weekly all hands
meeting makes a huge
difference in culture, morale
and communication @Bijan
114. Despite all of these hacks, never
lose sight of the big picture.
CONDUCT
QUARTERLY PULSE
CHECKS OF
CULTURE AND
SATISFACTION.
101
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