We all know recruiting is hard. Almost everyone, universally, complains about it. I’ve never heard anyone say that they’re always able to hire the best people, whenever they want, easily. It just doesn’t happen. More often than not though, at least in my experience, it’s actually a problem of effort and not something else. Sure […]
How To Design a Successful Interview Process for Hiring Top Talent
Most companies don’t have a serious, repeatable interviewing process for hiring. Instead they wing it, bringing people in for interviews, asking a few questions, turning it into a fireside chat, and then hoping for the best. In my experience that’s not good enough. At Standout Jobs (2007-2010) we hired some great people. I still consider […]
The Resume Black Hole
Anyone that’s ever applied for a job has experienced the resume black hole. You apply for a job and don’t hear anything back (you might get an automated “thank you”). After a few days you send a follow up message (if you can find an email address) and wait some more. Nothing. No word whatsoever […]
The Secret to Successful Job Referrals
Lots of companies are entering the job referral space. It’s heating up like crazy. They’re looking at someone’s social graph and trying to figure out how to convince and incentivize that person to recommend friends for jobs. And from what I’ve seen, they don’t work. I don’t know of a single recruitment company or startup […]
How Many Hours Should a Startup Employee Work?
Every so often I get drawn into the debate about startup employees and how much they should work. Should you hire workaholics? Is it expected that startup employees work 100+ hours per week? Should they be online all the time, constantly available and ready to go? It depends. And it’s up to you. If you […]
9 Ways to Successfully Edit Job Postings
Job postings suck. We all know it. It’s been said many, many times. And it doesn’t seem like complaining about it is helping. I’m experimenting on NextMontreal with a job board hack, but I’ve also been thinking about practical advice I can provide on how to improve job postings. Instead of getting people to completely […]
Hacking the Job Board
I’m not a huge fan of job boards. Their efficacy as a source of talent has deteriorated over the years and most of them have been unable to innovate quickly enough to maintain their value. Niche job boards have emerged as stronger players because they focus on particular areas of interest and can drive a […]
What’s Most Important to YOU as a Candidate?
When looking for work (whether actively or just nosing around), what’s most important to you when looking into the company? I’m interested in your priorities about the specific job as well, but just as interested in your priorities around the company. What would you like to ask an interviewer given the chance? What would you […]
A Systematic Strategy for Sourcing Startup Talent
Companies with the best record and most success at hiring top people don’t sit around and wait for those people to show up. They go out and grab them by the throats. OK, it’s fair to say that grabbing someone by the throat and dragging them to your office for a job isn’t going to […]
8 Questions to Ask When Interviewing at a Startup
Job interviews are meant to be conversations. The interviewer asks some questions and the interviewee does the same. It’s never a good sign when an interviewee doesn’t have any questions. It shows a lack of interest. This is particularly true when interviewing for a startup job because there tend to be so many more unknowns […]
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