We’re doing a lot of hiring at Mayday at the moment. It feels like a great time to write about the subject, both to share my learnings, as well as organise my thinking for practical application.
Recruiters will tell you not to have too many steps in your hiring process. That you risk losing the best candidates if you do. That is largely nonsense; a product of incentive misalignment.
Hiring is a two-way process. The best candidates will have options. They will want to ensure this is the right opportunity for them, just as much as you want to ensure they are the right candidate for you. This is not to say have unnecessary steps as part of your process. You need to be deliberate. Each step needs to serve a purpose. But in my experience, the best candidates will relish the opportunity to learn more about the startup, progress, the assumptions and vision that underpin it. They will eagerly seize the chance to speak with other members of the team. Don’t be afraid to take the time. If you get resistance from a candidate, that’s a red flag that they are either worried about being exposed and/or don’t understand, and are therefore not a fit for, working in a startup.
It should be emphasised that taking the time is very different to taking your time - i.e. moving slowly through your process. The latter is a different point and something to avoid at all costs. I’ll cover that in the next post.