Tips for recruiting for start-ups from personal experience!

Having an experience of around 10 years in recruiting talent for all the companies I have worked for, has taught me a few things which are so evident yet tend to get ignored and you end up hiring a person who is a total misfit for the role.

In this age, specially in start-ups, there is no scope for hand holding new hires, teaching them what they should know to be productive from day 1 - they need to be self-starters... having an entrepreneurial mindset, want to take responsibilities and thus seek authority, people who can take over a function completely without someone having to review their work or keep a close watch on how they are doing! Well, that's what resonates with the Gen Y expectations as well - they don't want to be micromanaged, want to feel empowered, be a part of strategic decision making process and grow quickly. Getting a ready-fit is always difficult and if you do, they come at a price you may not be willing to pay - so how do you choose your candidates wisely?

Few tips:

1. A sharp learning curve in past - have they steadily done well in academics? seen an upward growth in their past organizations? handled increased responsibilities? their notice period is just not negotiable is also one of the bleak indications that they are indispensable in their current org. Check about their appraisals scores, look at the trend in those scores, you will know what is their acumen to learn, unlearn and relearn!

2. Current package -  For e.g. If you have 10 candidates in the pipeline for a specific position, current CTC for them on an average is 5 LPA, and if you find a candidate who is at 3 LPA with similar experience, you feel elated! Here's a candidate you feel is under paid as per market standards and a chance to bring down your people cost. Hold your horses! This might be an indication that something is wrong. Who in this age is okay with a low paying job if one is smart and knows that he/she has the ability to add value. Unless there is a gap in the career for various reasons, this is a point to look for that indicates the candidate has not grown in his career and the reasons need to be probed. 

3. Work experience marksheet - Here's a candidate who is a great fit on paper, you are already in awe of the candidate, and when you start speaking to him/her you realize that this candidate has experience in all the aspects and you validate that in your interview. The answers seem convincing. The strategies the candidate has come up with in past, seem impressive and make sense, but what has been the ROI for those initiatives he/she took. How did it help in transforming the situation or bringing about a positive change? Has the person worked on things from start to end? Or he/she started a lot of things without getting them to a meaningful conclusion? And if no, why? Check for these things in your interview - if there are great results achieved in the resume, he/she should be able to speak about them with pride.

Recruitment can be tricky sometimes specially when we are hiring for skills that are more generic in nature than specific. Along with the above few tips, its important to look for people who acknowledge they have made mistakes in past and learnt from them, have taken few risks in life, have agreed to disagree with their seniors and colleagues. 

However, one thing I always remember is that the biggest mistake one makes in recruitment is not hiring a wrong candidate, but rejecting a right candidate.