If you are running a new business (with most likely very limited funds) the success of your first few hires will play an important role on the speed at which your young startup business progresses.
Big companies and businesses are always on the lookout for great talented workers and the reality for a young and inexperienced business entrepreneur is that he/she will have to battle with the bigger companies for the available talents in the job market.
To develop a smart recruitment strategy for your young company you have to be aware of the challenges you face in your bid to get in quality staff and team members.
Do You Have the Finance to Be Competitive Enough?
While it may not take much to hire for such positions as receptionist, clerk, personal assistant etc the fact remains that for your young company to grow faster and produce better products and services you will eventually need to hire star quality performers in such areas as programming/design, engineering, business development etc and you will find it very difficult to hire the super performers your company needs at low cost.
Unless you come across a generous investor at the early stages of starting your company chances are that you may not have the resources to offer the sort of wages to attract real top talents to your startup. That is a problem you should be aware of. Still you will not be doing your company any good by settling for low quality workers that you can pay little.
Does Your Location Matter?
Previously as an up and coming inexperienced entrepreneur I never agreed that location was that important in today’s technological business environment. However when I started my first company a technology services firm in a town not known for harbouring great talent I had a firsthand experience on how difficult it can be to attract good employees who will be willing to leave their location to come work at a quiet, sleepy town. The town was and is still behind technologically.
In as much as I and my partner saw an opportunity there to bring in quality ICT services, break new ground and reap the rewards we soon discovered how difficult it was to get good lieutenants with the right skills to help us build the company. For our job adverts we mostly got people who lived far away from our business location. As a young, self funded company we didn’t have the funds to help them relocate or even pay the kind of wages they expected. While we received applications from some candidates who lived in the town they were not of the quality we wanted and lacked many of the skills and experience we were looking for.
These and some others are the questions you must consider if you are intending to hire and grow your business as quickly as possible.
How Then Can You Increase Your Chances of Hiring Great People Even With the Limited Funds Your Company Has
Recruiting is one of the toughest jobs of being an entrepreneur or founder. You either hire people who help your company/startup grow faster or you get people who slow down your company’s progress or even, at the extreme, halt it.
Here’s how you can make sure your recruitment of your first few employees becomes a success;
Get a Clear Picture of Who and What You Want
Before you ever put out word or place any advert for vacancy be sure to sit with your team or partner and write down who and what exactly you are hiring
For instance as a small company you might need a receptionist who will also double as customer assistant and answer calls from customers. You will have to decide what exact position or job title you will be putting out. Remember that a job title can give a perceived bigger or lower value to the prospective employee and thus affect the expectations they will have of you as the employer including salary demands. Once when we wanted to hire a front desk officer who would also act as secretary we advertised a job title that somehow gave candidates the impression that the job would pay more than it actually was. As a result we got mostly overqualified applicants who we couldn’t pay.
A job title conveys the importance the prospective employer attaches to the job. Some titles will attract under qualified persons while certain titles will draw the attention of the kind of people you need.
Be Clear as Possible on the Requirements and Responsibilities
It is very often that I see entrepreneurs putting out job adverts that do not have clear eligibility requirements. Very scant summary of requirements might attract applications from very unqualified candidates. On the other hand putting out very high and sophisticated requirements will scare away some good candidates you might have got otherwise. The key is to strike a balance between the ideal candidate descriptions you wish for and the average qualifications and requirements you need to get a good, if not star employee.
Advertise Creatively
Creative job advertising is a blend of online and offline non-conventional methods. To get the word out there about your job positions you may place your jobs in proven job sites to get the needed exposure. Let colleagues and associates be aware that you are hiring. If your company has a facebook and twitter account be sure to share the information on the vacancies open in your company. One good thing about these social media platforms is that users who read your information can easily share and retweet to their connections and help spread word about your vacancy.
Interviewing Prospective Candidates
One mistake most young entrepreneurs make is to assume they have read all they need to know about the job interviewing process. The truth is there is more to a job interview than just asking the right questions. You have also to watch out for the right signals from the prospective candidates. Most times a candidate’s attitude during interviews will tell you a whole lot more about them than their answers.
Some candidates will give you all the right answers they have been trained to provide during interview situations so you will need the ability to look beyond the answers and look at the characters of the persons you interview.