Tips on Hiring Employees for your Start-up

by Startacus Admin

As businesses grow, it can be very tricky to know how to hire people and where to look - and how to be sure they are really right for your business. The fact that your business has reached a stage where you need to bring in some extra members of staff is, of course, very positive. However trying to build a team that will work well together is harder than you’d think.

In the case of a start-up, you will most likely be paying attention to every little detail yourself, making who you hire even more important for the businesses’ future, and even more difficult decision to make. If you’re uncertain or need a few extra tips on the best way to hire new employees, here are a few points that will help you out. 

Defining the job

The best way to find future employees is by stating what the job entails, and the type of person that would be best at fulfilling said job. Be sure you explain what it is you are looking for, and what the job has to offer as clearly as possible. The more specific you are, the more suitable the potential candidates should be. Think of what the position means for the business, and show that you’re looking for people that care and that will commit to making the company better, especially because it’s a start-up. You never know, you might be hiring your future right hand, so be as detailed as possible in your job description. Of course in the current market most job advertisements receive many applications even from those entirely unsuitable, but being writing a good job description may help to filter out at least some of the wrong candidates. This article on how to attract talent in an SME might help a little too.

Where to look

Once you’ve managed to write the right job description, you have to figure out where to post it. After the job description on the importance ladder, comes where you post it. Obviously if you post your job vacancy on weak websites or bulletin boards around your city, you will may not have as many candidates as you’d wished for, or candidates who are not qualified for the role. Publishing the job vacancies online is certainly the easiest way to reach a broad scope of people with many job seekers checking sites daily for any possible positions. Technology is playing a larger part than every before in the recruitment process and the majority of those looking for work spend a lot of their time searching online for their future career. With the world going as fast as it is, and jobs being listed daily, more and more people are turning to jobsites like Jobrapido to find local vacancies for them, so it would be wise to find a high quality site where you can post your ad without worrying that no one is going to see it.

Interviews

Once you have narrowed down your list of prospective candidates, the interview is the next big step. Decide what exactly you want to know about the candidates- not only their experience or qualifications but also they kind of character you think would fit well within your team. If you are planning to ask a lot of questions, be sure you know the kind of answers you are looking for. In terms of interview questions go for quality over quantity- you don’t want it to become more of an interrogation that a natural conversation. A very important detail to remember is that although you are the one offering the job, the candidate you are interviewing may also have other potential opportunities being offered to them. Therefore, it is important that if you do not carry out the interviews yourself, you send your best employees forward to do it (as they will also have to sell your business as a positive place to work). The good candidates know when they are not being taken seriously, so show them why they want to join your team instead. Remember that you can also hold interviews via Skype in order to save time, may employers will speak to a candidate on the phone before inviting them for a more formal interview.

Letters to send

Once you’ve picked your favourite employee and you cannot wait to hire him/her, it is cordial and professional to send the new employee a letter or email of official welcoming into the team. This can also include the verbal agreements that you most likely discussed during the interview, so having them written down on paper makes both you and the employee feel better about the new addition to the business. Especially if you’re a start-up, the follow up letter really shows the importance and dedication you and your business have. If you already have a team f people, it is a nice idea to welcome the new employee on their first day by having a small gathering where everybody can introduce themselves and welcome the new member.

Looking for employees is never easy, no matter the age of the business that is looking. Nevertheless, in your start-up position this is a big and positive step, and the hired employees will allow your business to blossom. And even though it also comes with it a lot of added responsibilities, seeing your own business take off and make it into the world is a feeling that few can say to have had. Just be sure to know exactly what your responsibilities are as an employer, and remember that a happy employee is also more likely to be a loyal worker, and someone who will choose to stay long-term.

Guest Article written by freelance writer Emily Jones.

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Published on: 18th September 2017