All You Need To Know About Hiring For Hyper-Growth Tech Startups
A version of this article is published on The HackerEarth Blog.
Technology is advancing rapidly and to keep up with the latest developments in the industry, your organization needs to stay on top of technical hiring trends. And when it comes to hiring for a hyper-growth tech startup, you need a workforce that can meet and exceed ambitious targets and adapt to the ever-evolving industry. Before we get into what tech companies are looking for and how you can improve your technical hiring process, let us first take a look at what it means to be a hyper-growth startup.
According to the World Economic Forum, a hyper-growth phase of any organization is one in which a company maintains an average annual growth rate of at least 40% for more than a year.
It is no denying that the tech industry is facing a severe talent crunch and simply relying on talent acquisition software is not going to be enough. You need to understand tech startup hiring challenges and proactively come up with solutions and a data-driven technical hiring process that will set you apart from the competition. But how do you do that? Keep reading to find out!
Challenges faced by hyper-growth startups
All organizations have their own set of challenges when it comes to recruitment and hiring, but there are a few challenges that are unique to startups, like the ones listed below
- Most people consider working at startups a huge risk
Research shows that 9 out of 10 startups fail — which puts the startup success rate at only 10%. So it comes as no surprise that most talented candidates might want to steer clear of startups and instead work for an established company. - Startups do not have a strong brand presence
Startups, especially ones that are very new and are relatively unknown, are constantly competing for top talent with organizations that have been in the industry for decades. - Recruiters need to don several hats
Most startups do not have separate recruiters hiring for separate teams within the organization. It is not uncommon to see a recruiter with no technical background hiring a software developer. - You are left with little time to focus on workplace culture
Hiring during a hyper-growth phase leaves upper management and recruiters with very little time to invest in building a company culture that fresh talent finds attractive.
Tech startup hiring tips for the hyper-growth stage
Recruiting and hiring, especially for a startup, has to be a carefully thought out process. Trying to rapidly fill out vacancies without a plan can hurt your organization in the long run. Here are some technical hiring tips that can help you attract and retain top talent during your hyper-growth phase.
- Start with a plan
When your organization is in its hyper-growth stage, it can be easy to overestimate your requirements. Create a detailed plan about the minimum and maximum employees you need in each team to meet all your needs. You also need to decide which positions to fill first and which can wait. An easy way to do this is to break down your goals for each quarter and then evaluate the manpower that would be needed to achieve these quarterly goals.
2. Calculate your hiring costs
Now that you know how many positions you need to hire for and by when you need each new employee, draft a recruiting budget. Calculate how much it will cost your organization to fill each position — this is your company’s cost per hire. A company’s cost per hire is the total price the company pays to bring a new employee to the company. This cost should take into account expenses for any software for hiring, recruiters’ salaries, cost of any hiring events conducted, administrative costs, and more. You also need to keep a track of your time-to-hire metrics. With your cost and time metrics, you can tweak your hiring strategy to come up with a hiring plan that reduces your time to hire without increasing the costs.
3. Have an updated tech stack
When you are hard-pressed for time, you need to use technology to your advantage and use tools that make the hiring process quick and efficient. Use online recruitment software like the ones by HackerEarth to recruit, hire, and onboard fresh talent. Use the virtual coding and assessment tools to make data-driven decisions, even when you do not have sufficient technical know-how. The recruitment screening software has everything you will need — right from recruiting candidates to training new employees.
4. Create candidate personas
When working at most startups, employees need to take on more responsibilities and should be willing to adapt to the rapid pace of a hyper-growth environment. Take your time to research the ideal candidate and create a persona with all the skills that meet your requirements. You need a candidate who not only has the technical skills and expertise but also has the soft skills to work in a hyper-growth startup.
5. Look for talent in the right places
While there is nothing wrong with posting your job description across various generic job boards, you also need to focus on communities that are startup-centric. When you look at people posting questions like “How to get into tech startups? What skills do I need to clear the technical hiring round of a startup?” on public forums, take the time to answer the queries and engage with these people. You never know where your next employee can come from!
