This article aims to compare hiring approaches in different types of businesses. But before we start, let's set up one ground rule: object and context are inseparable. Simply put, anything makes sense only in a particular context. For example, a shower stall makes sense in a bathroom but doesn't make sense on the street next to the entrance to Mcdonald's.

That's why recruitment effectiveness depends on the company that is hiring. So let's figure out how to hire for different companies. 

We have three types here: a product company, an IT outsourcing company, and a startup. 

All of the above are IT companies. They can have big budgets, teams, ambitions, and geo. But each company has its hiring approach.

Size: 👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻✖️✖️

Budget: 💸💸💸💸✖️

Urgency: 🔥🔥🔥🔥✖️

The company builds products using specific technology stacks, so candidates need to be good at it. If the previous developer fires, we need new to start from where the previous one stopped. 

You don't need a lot of candidates - you need suitable candidates. So you don't need to have a base with hundreds of names because, most likely, it will not be used. 

It would be best if you had candidates interested in the product and industry because they will always be in it. If they are interested, they will approach development with curiosity and boldness, which helps to innovate. This, of course, makes your search for a candidate harder.

Cultural fit is equally important here. Companies and candidates should be in line on what is good and evil, what they believe in, and what they value. Without this match, the candidate, most like, will not live long in this company.

Every day that position is open costs the company money. Haven't released a new version of the app on time because the team is understaffed? Lost $15 000. The same understaffed team does not have enough capacity to fix critical bugs? Users stop the subscription, and you lose $8000. Missed the season with a product launch - lost $100 000. 

Lastly, if you can't find a perfect candidate, you hire mediocre. Because you just have to. The mediocre developer becomes a reason for losing money, because of his mistakes and the time you spend educating him.

Perfect hire for a product company

It's a funnel of one candidate that is hired immediately. 

Pure naivete? Maybe, but this is what the best Product Company hire looks like. The hiring team of the product doesn't have the time to look at 20 CVs and hold ten interviews. It needs one person who would come and dive straight into the work.

What you can do

👉 Understand your expectations at the start, so you don't have to go through a lot of candidates

👉 Come up with filters that will indicate perfect candidates

👉 Hire fast. If you like that candidate - give him an offer right away. 

Size: 👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻

Budget: 💸💸💸✖️✖️

Urgency: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

IT outsourcing company is an army. It's big, it has a lot of professionals, it conducts complex projects. But this imposes set of difficulties, that the team faces every day.

First, outsourcing is ready to hire every day of the week if there is a good candidate. People are always needed because there are a lot of projects. Yet, if you have to launch the hiring process every time from the top, it becomes too expensive. Having 30 positions open, part of which is on hold for 4 months, the company loses tens or hundreds of dollars. That is why every hiring manager in an outsourcing company should be in contact with candidates, just in case they become available.

IT outsourcing makes money selling hours. That's why long hiring eats the margin because the team cannot finish the project in planned estimates and loses time and money.

Long hiring also stops salespeople from working, so they can't fill the funnel with new clients - because the team is full. And of course, clients aren't able to do their jobs too.

Perfect hire for IT Outsourcing Company

A big pool of candidates, from which you can just pick someone if they are available. Minimum time spent with maximum effectiveness. If you build your hiring process this way, your company will save money and increase the team's salaries. Having big base of candidates, you can hire in less then a week. That makes the company 5x more effective.

What you can do

👉 Find a recruitment partner that will fill the candidate pool up.

👉 Change the approach to the hiring process, focusing it on speed. 

👉 Create a perfect onboarding, so your candidates would easily enter the company.

👉 Invest in the HR brand permanently and actively. As a result, you will see faster hiring, because candidates would respond to your vacansies because they know the company.

Size: 👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻✖️✖️✖️

Budget: 💸💸💸✖️✖️

Urgency: 🔥🔥🔥🔥✖️

A startup has a lot of similarities with a product company - maybe because every product company was a startup some time ago. 

First, hiring becomes a problem when a startup raises a seed round. Before, most founders hired friends and acquaintances, or just through personal Linkedin or Facebook. But after the investment round, the team should be strengthened with many new roles. Most of the time, it has a CTO because he's one of the founders. So you hire senior and middle developers, leads, and managers.

A startup doesn't have a person responsible for hiring, so one of the founders does it. It's his part-time job, and the question is, "do we have to hire a recruitment manager onsite?"

Also, hiring and competing in the market is complicated because a startup can't pay more than big companies. They have bigger checks, more benefits, and higher bonuses. Developers start working in a startup as a "leap of faith." If they will be a part of the core team for 3-5 years, they will get options and will be able to sell them later for a million or two. This will redeem the small check they had all these years. As you understand, not everyone is ready for such a challenge - developers can have a family with kids or any other part of life that doesn't like risk. Furthermore, a startup mostly doesn't have many benefits and comfortable working conditions.

A startup's HR brand can be described with the phrase "they try hard." The media coverage works perfectly for the HR brand if a startup raises money from a prominent fund. But if the seed is made from a couple of non-public VCs, almost no media will cover this. 

The final thought before wrapping up on startups: a startup may not survive mediocre candidates. 

When a startup has almost no budget, it has no right for a mistake. Hiring is costly, and a startup is tight on money, time and attention because it is focused on a product. Therefore, the team is cautious about the selection of candidates.

You can see the problem: a startup pays less than big companies, has up to no benefits and security, and has to hire carefully because every mistake can send the company a couple of months back. Bonus fact: a startup needs developers and managers with a strong track rate and (preferably) recognition and media coverage. Because competent and famous (even a little bit) teammates can grow a startup's valuation.

Perfect hire for a Startup

Close the job with 3-4 candidates, without a wide variety of people. To hire a rock star with good hard and soft skills and relevant background. 

What you can do

👉 You can hire from candidates that worked in startups, and know the culture and operations. 

👉 You can hire experienced candidates, who have built a career, worked as architects or leads, made some money, and are now bored.

👉 Or you can work with a recruitment team that can hire in startups. 

To sum up. Those three types of companies have a lot in common but still are different. Don't forget that object and context are inseparable, so keep these differences in mind. 

We hope those four minutes of reading the article were valuable and helpful. Hire fast and effectively, and if you need some assistance - you know where to find us.