Hiring tech engineers for any company, no matter the size, can be difficult. Good candidates are in high demand because not enough people work in tech to fill the open jobs. Startups and small businesses are at a disadvantage in some ways thanks to this imbalance, without the resources and money available to offer top dollar to the engineers they want to hire. Using other tactics, though, can get good talent working for a startup.
When a startup hires an engineer, you have to strike a balance between finding the right candidate and not expending too many resources to recruit that candidate. Having high expectations, recruiting from the wrong places, and not knowing exactly what you need in an engineer are a few mistakes. Instead, focus on how your startup is different and the unique benefits you offer.
Make a good pitch
Hiring good engineers can be very difficult. The software engineering field has far more job openings than candidates, meaning the best people are in high demand. With big companies courting them, you need to go all out to show what you offer.
You’re a startup, so focus on that. Working at a startup gives an engineer the chance to shape a company from the ground up. They won’t be creating small ideas within an already established infrastructure. They’ll be helping build that infrastructure. Their ideas and work directly impact the success of the company, and along with an equity share in the company itself, can grow to become a big deal in later years. The investment of time in a startup yields huge results if that startup does well.
Be sure to speak directly to that person’s talents, too. What do you think they could bring to the table that you’re looking for? Tell them about your work culture, the origins of your company, and where you envision the company going. You want to paint a picture vivid enough that they can see themselves working with your startup as it grows into something amazing. Your pitch should show them meaning and purpose: give them the details on yours, and show them how a job with your startup will, in turn, afford them purpose and meaning, too.
Be prepared to reach out
Posting your engineering openings where candidates will see them is only one step. The applicants you receive for the job should not be the only pool you look through when discovering new talent. Talk with friends in the industry to get names of good people. Look around your area for the kind of talent you want working at your startup, and be ready to make that stellar pitch.
These cold calls will be hard at first, so practice in the mirror or on coworkers before you actually do them. Sounding professional and put-together from the get-go will leave a good impression. Being concise and pitching a good opportunity will attract people open to switching jobs or changing careers. Know when not to push. If someone isn’t interested in leaving their position or ignores your attempts, leave them be.
Decide what you must have
Your perfect candidate ticks a lot of boxes. The people you interview probably won’t tick all those boxes. Make two lists: “must have” qualities or experience, and other stuff that would be nice but isn’t essential. Your list needs to focus on temperament and attitude as much as it does experience. Someone intelligent and motivated can learn new skills, but a bad attitude will affect your entire office.
Find people with similar passions
When people make a move from a big company to a small one, it rarely happens because of money. The reasons focus on ideologies and passions. That big company might have practices the engineer disagrees with, or might not allow them to pursue other creative avenues they’ve wanted to try. Maybe they just want to pursue a passion for another industry completely, like switching from doing software engineering for a ridesharing company to an environmental nonprofit company.
So while you search for engineers you want to pitch your job opening to, find out about their passions. Check their social media pages, not just their business profiles. Having an in such as a shared passion is one way to pique their interest. Even if they don’t end up interviewing for the job, you can forge connections with these people which might lead to other qualified applicants.
Offer extensive benefits
You’ll have to pay top engineers well, and unfortunately you probably can’t offer them the salary a tech giant could. What can you offer? Benefits. The stock options a startup can offer a new employee are far better than what that same employee will get at a Fortune 500 company. No, your stock isn’t public and isn’t worth as much now, but the possibility for extensive growth is there.
Your startup also has the power to offer a unique work environment. Telecommuting is a big deal for many workers, especially parents. You’re not stuck in a corporate structure, so you can give flexible work time in a way few other businesses can.
Be frank about money up front, because if the person you want to hire is in the game for the zeroes on their paycheck, your best bet is to look elsewhere. It can get expensive for your company to recruit someone who wants a lot of money when you’re competing with bigger companies with vaster resources.
Find niche professionals or freelancers
Some engineers want to work for startups, so look for them in startup communities. Job boards on startup websites are good places to put your engineer job posts. Browse the engineers with profiles on startup sites like SkillGigs and Angel List. Online communities focused on new programming languages or design communities are another spot to look. In some of these communities, you can check out stuff people have already designed, which is another way to tell if they’ll be a good fit for your startup.
If you can’t find someone to work as an employee, consider freelancers instead. Until you can develop the funds or the benefits to attract the kind of job candidate you want, freelancers can help with your tech projects so you don’t fall behind or lose out on good ideas because you don’t have the development power. Plus, once you have a working relationship with those freelancers, they might be amenable to a full-time job offer. You both get to try each other out, and they experience what working with your company is truly like so they can see why the opportunity suits them.
Try H1B visas
The visa approach isn’t for every startup because you need a lawyer and a few resources to hire a foreign candidate on a work visa. However, the competition to come to the US on a visa is fierce, which makes your job offer more attractive and competitive with foreign workers than it might appear to those in-demand engineers already in this country.
Do your research, and either tap a legal mind already on your team or look for a good immigration lawyer. Your perfect engineering candidate might not be from this country, so at least consider the possibility of hiring an overseas engineer.
Recruit out of college
Candidates likely to want in on the ground floor of a startup are probably fresh out of college and full of dreams. Because they’re just beginning life and don’t have as much work experience as others in the field, they might be willing to sacrifice a few years of stellar pay to be the first software engineer working for an up and coming company. Millennials often value purpose over dollars, which is another reason to recruit from the pool of youngsters who are about to graduate, or who have just graduated.
In fact, try recruiting in college if you can. Not all startups have the infrastructure to offer an internship, but if you can scrape it together, you might just find some talented individuals while they’re months away from graduating. Students, even those in high-demand fields like tech and software engineering, always want to have a job locked down before graduation.
Hire an engineer you can see growing with your company and contributing in meaningful ways. You want to see potential in them the same way you hope they see potential in you and your startup.