Chris Rickborn is the COO and co-founder for Unrabble, a cloud-computing hiring software company that helps busy startups make great hires.
In a startup, hiring a new employee can be a business-changing event. The smaller the organization, the more impact each employee has on its ultimate success.
Don't get me wrong — hiring is critical in any size of company, but larger organizations have the ability to orient and train new employees to an extent that startups can't offer.
In a large company, if a new employee fails, the work can be redistributed and absorbed by other employees without having a significant impact. In a startup, a bad hire can be devastating. To make matters worse, startup owners rarely have dedicated HR staff, software tools or a hiring process that will take some of the risk out of hiring.
Here are five tips to help you avoid hiring the wrong person for your startup.
1. Stop Giving Open Book Tests
Writing lengthy job descriptions loaded with job requirements may keep unqualified candidates from wasting your time, but you've also just given every candidate a cheat sheet. Job seekers are taught to break down your job description and weave it into their resume, which will make everyone look equally qualified. There are even websites that will automatically mash your job description together with the candidates resume and spit out a new version with the right keywords embedded. Sell your company, your vision and the position, but make job seekers tell you what they can do for you — not what you told them you want.
2. Don't Confuse Experience With Skills
Startups move fast, and every position is a skilled position. Job candidates can often blur the line between a previous experience and a skill, which is a trap you need to avoid. Don't assume that candidates have certain skills just because it's a keyword on a resume, a previous job title or experience at a similar business. Have an in-depth conversation with your top candidates to discuss what they are best at and learn how they have acquired those skills through experience.
3. Make Sure the Timing Is Right
Just like good timing can lead to the successful exit in a startup, good timing can also apply to job candidates. Where is the candidate in his career? Is he capable of taking a big risk at this point in his life? What kind of adversity has he faced in previous jobs? Does he seem too anxious to hit a home run or does his experience tell you he has the patience it takes to succeed? You don't need your employees abandoning ship the first time your startup hits rough seas. Sometimes it's just the right timing that makes a person successful in a new venture.
4. Skip the Initial Telephone Interview
I've never liked doing telephone interviews based on the initial review of a resume — it's way too time-consuming. But I do like communicating with candidates, because that's when you learn the most about them. After I've looked at a candidate's background I might send off a short message and say, "Tell me about this experience" or, "What do you know about this skill?" How does he respond? Does he respond? Can he write? Is the exchange comfortable? The ability to communicate articulately in writing is a trait of top talent, regardless of the position. If you engage candidates in a more in-depth and ongoing communication string rather than conducting a one-and-done phone interview, you will quickly learn who stands out from the crowd.
5. Separate the "Can Do" From "Can Get it Done"
In most startups, resources are tight and the timeline is very short. When you're hiring for a key position, make sure to ask yourself if you need someone who "can do the job" or someone who "can get the job done." The "can do" is the candidate with the hands-on skills who can accomplish the task without any help. The "can get it done" is the candidate who will deliver but may need other resources to make it happen. Both can be valuable attributes to have, but you need to clearly understand which one you need to avoid a hiring mistake that could set you behind.
What other tips do you have? Have you hired the wrong person before? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
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