The VC-backed startups tend to get help from their investors by getting listed in portfolio sites, funding news etc.
There's also lists that aggregate top startups: - https://topstartups.io/ - https://www.breakoutlist.com/
Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
121–130 of 148 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#122Well… I can share how we get often get 1000+ applicants and end up with a few incredibly talented individuals joining us. I should note: The companies I’m hiring for are not (yet) household names. Most of our employees had never heard our company names before applying. We’re not offering crazy salaries — we just aim for market-rate. And we’re not using external recruiters to help. We have some recruitment costs, but…
Interesting process - Is the 20 hour mini-project paid? And if 2 people pass that milestone, are they both hired? Or could you do OK on the project but still not get the offer because the other person did better?
Yep - it’s paid at a reasonable rate. And we’re v flexible to making it work alongside other commitments.
We hire them if we can afford them, but as a small company that not always the case. And sometimes there’s only 1 person from a round of recruiting, and other times it’s 3 or 4.
This is where the farm team come in!
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#123Well… I can share how we get often get 1000+ applicants and end up with a few incredibly talented individuals joining us. I should note: The companies I’m hiring for are not (yet) household names. Most of our employees had never heard our company names before applying. We’re not offering crazy salaries — we just aim for market-rate. And we’re not using external recruiters to help. We have some recruitment costs, but…
- 20 hour mini-project (50% filtered out — 2 left) Is this paid? This seems like an awful lot of hoops to make people jump through.
Yes it is :)
From our perspective, it’s saved us from making some big mistakes (I.e. bad hires), so it’s a hugely important part of the process.
Those that have gone through it have mostly raved about the experience - including those that we’ve rejected! They get a lot of coaching as part of it, and it also serves to demonstrate if we’re a good fit for them.
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#124Well… I can share how we get often get 1000+ applicants and end up with a few incredibly talented individuals joining us. I should note: The companies I’m hiring for are not (yet) household names. Most of our employees had never heard our company names before applying. We’re not offering crazy salaries — we just aim for market-rate. And we’re not using external recruiters to help. We have some recruitment costs, but…
That was a great read. Would you hire self-taught juniors? Someone from Africa, Madagascar especially? I'm in a process of switching career trying to get into software development. I'm literally following a course¹ teaching your tech stack, I'd really like to apply to your company when I'm done with it. Covid made remote work the norm, so might as well give it a shot. 1. https://fullstackopen.com/en/
Yes - we put zero emphasis on education, qualifications or years of experience.
Our process instead gets you to demonstrate if you’re a good fit for us based on your skills - both technical and wider - and alignment with our values.
We’re not actively recruiting at this moment but will be later in the year. Pls feel free to submit your details :)
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
- 20 hour mini-project (50% filtered out — 2 left) Is this paid? This seems like an awful lot of hoops to make people jump through.
Yes it is :) From our perspective, it’s saved us from making some big mistakes (I.e. bad hires), so it’s a hugely important part of the process. Those that have gone through it have mostly raved about the experience - including those that we’ve rejected! They get a lot of coaching as part of it, and it also serves to demonstrate if we’re a good fit for them.
I should also note that we’re often able to make the call in 12-15 hours. As soon as we’ve seen what we need to, we finish the project and move forward :)
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#126If you've got time for the long game, consider building your network by mentoring STEM students. Years ago at a previous job my boss donated a CAD workstation and some CNC time to the local public highschool's robotics team, then coordinated with their supervising teacher to have a couple employees (including me) mentor there one afternoon per week for the school year. As a mentor, I helped students understand compil…
Part of Firebase's recruiting success was due to early engagement at collegiate hackathons. Top tier candidates were applying out of school because they liked working with the product and liked the team behind it.
This is a great long tail suggestion.
For the short term it's really about networking and poaching.
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#127If you've got time for the long game, consider building your network by mentoring STEM students. Years ago at a previous job my boss donated a CAD workstation and some CNC time to the local public highschool's robotics team, then coordinated with their supervising teacher to have a couple employees (including me) mentor there one afternoon per week for the school year. As a mentor, I helped students understand compil…
>While it took a couple years to pay off You're operating under a time frame most startups don't dare. Most startups are trying to sell to a FAANG in the time it would take a highschool student to graduate undergrad.
Perhaps modify it? Mentor under your own name, form a network on LinkedIn, some of your former students will follow you into your next venture. You'll have a pool of potential candidates ready when you are.
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#128If you've got time for the long game, consider building your network by mentoring STEM students. Years ago at a previous job my boss donated a CAD workstation and some CNC time to the local public highschool's robotics team, then coordinated with their supervising teacher to have a couple employees (including me) mentor there one afternoon per week for the school year. As a mentor, I helped students understand compil…
>While it took a couple years to pay off You're operating under a time frame most startups don't dare. Most startups are trying to sell to a FAANG in the time it would take a highschool student to graduate undergrad.
The OP said they are a small company, not necessarily a startup.
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#129I am leading a mixed team of 15. All the team-members hired from LinkedIn and/or went through a leetcode testing, and with "strong IT skills and experience" on CV, proved to underperform or unable to integrate into the group/project. The others, hired by other means, proved to be ok.
What can I conclude from this ?
Re: Ask HN: How do small companies do recruitment?
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
-We're at the other end of the stack, I'm afraid - Siemens S7 PLCs for the most part; whenever I code I basically write assembly code like it's 1979 - and it will never, ever be exposed to the web if I've got any say in the matter.
No github then?
He is talking about the running code. But since it is probably not open source, no GitHub either.