How not to recruit for a startup

#1

Post by OJKoukaz » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:04 PM UTC

How not to recruit for a startup
wepay.com

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#2

Post by dylanrw » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:16 PM UTC

Recruiters really aren't the best route for hiring designers anyway, but you know this. ;)

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#3

Post by 0x12 » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:18 PM UTC

Employees that you gain through a recruiter, you will probably lose through a recruiter.

Building a company is hard, hiring lots of good, loyal people in a short time is a lot harder than scaling some software.

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#4

Post by GavinB » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:18 PM UTC

This recruiter's blunder gave you a great hook for this blog post, which is certain to bring in some well qualified applications. So, in some sense, this was a successful relationship.

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#5

Post by savagecat » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:20 PM UTC

"First, if the candidate didn’t have an online portfolio, personal site, or blog, I didn’t want to see a resumé. "

The author is an idiot.

ETA: I had a program manager who thought that having a blog meant the developer was an accomplished/published author. The developer quit for having to work 10 hour days after the first week and a half. Again, idiot.

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#6

Post by aberman » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:20 PM UTC

GavinB wrote: post #4

This recruiter's blunder gave you a great hook for this blog post, which is certain to bring in some well qualified applications. So, in some sense, this was a successful relationship.

I sent him a "thank you" email for that exact reason. Seriously.

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#7

Post by aberman » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:23 PM UTC

savagecat wrote: post #5

"First, if the candidate didn’t have an online portfolio, personal site, or blog, I didn’t want to see a resumé. " The author is an idiot. ETA: I had a program manager who thought that having a blog meant the developer was an accomplished/published author. The developer quit for having to work 10 hour days after the first week and a half. Again, idiot.

For a design candidate? Curious why you think that...

Would their academic credentials have been more helpful?

I also caveated that comment: I may be missing out on some good candidates, but seeing something they've created is the only way I know how to screen design candidates. Perhaps that does make me an idiot :(

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#8

Post by wccrawford » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:23 PM UTC

At a previous job, when they kept sending crap candidates, we told them we would stop working with them if they didn't filter them properly.

We did that to 3 recruiting companies. 2 of them shaped up and only send decent candidates. The other lost our business.

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#9

Post by pavel_lishin » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:24 PM UTC

savagecat wrote: post #5

"First, if the candidate didn’t have an online portfolio, personal site, or blog, I didn’t want to see a resumé. " The author is an idiot. ETA: I had a program manager who thought that having a blog meant the developer was an accomplished/published author. The developer quit for having to work 10 hour days after the first week and a half. Again, idiot.

Can you expand on that a little?

Re: How not to recruit for a startup

#10

Post by johnrob » Wed, Sep 21, 2011, 6:31 PM UTC

An open ended question I've wanted to ask for a while: when a startup (all of a sudden) needs to hire a bunch of engineers, what kind of things do those engineers work on? What requirements change so rapidly that doubling headcount becomes necessary?