Close
August 9, 2017

4 Ways to Become A Better Startup Recruiter

Aik Deveneijns
Aik Deveneijns Founder/CEO

As startup recruiters, let’s collectively face the truth – cold calls, spammy emails and faded black suits just don’t cut it anymore.

Instead of receiving a spammy or templated reach out message from a LinkedIn Premium account, candidates are looking for recruiters that stand out to them. After all, in today’s tech world the startup talent is in the driver’s seat.

Why you should become a better startup recruiter?

Jobs are being created faster than new candidates are joining the job seekers talent pools. This lets existing talent be increasingly selective about not just which jobs to take, but even which to apply or interview for. And that ties into the fact that it is ridiculously hard for a person to assess how nice/cool/fitting/pleasant/awesome a Startup is just by looking at a vacancy, so details matter. A lot.

That means startup recruiters need to step up their game. Candidates are in charge these days and recruiters need to stand out.

Here are our tips to do just that! 4 Simple recruiting techniques to become a better startup recruiter

1. Start by running your candidate outreach like a targeted marketing campaign

Be analytical and look at your response rate (if the numbers are too low, adjust accordingly or try something completely different—and see what happens). Make sure you personalize your message. It takes a lot more time but is pivotal to your conversion. Especially for the right profiles.

Pairing your digital sourcing strategy with competitive intelligence methodologies will help you source those candidates that others won’t reach with traditional methods!

2. Be where your audience is

It means that your specialists create a presence and content in their relevant fields: growthhackers.com, dribbble, github, your local (Amsterdam) startup scene. Combined with more fun/emo channels: Insta, Snapchat. It can be managed by an employee with a sense of humour. Think about the last time you dated someone, I bet you researched the shit out of him/her online before you met them. Talent is doing the same thing before they even contact you. Ensure you have and respond to various channels: mail/message, chat, phone. Make sure all channels fork into your Slack so you respond quickly.

If you want potential candidates to reach out to you, the richness of your online presence matters.

3. Think outside the box and beyond your website

Next step is to meet them, get a feel. It’s sometimes still scary to apply or accept an invite for a one-on-one. Sometimes, the best candidates can be attracted through personal relations and where better to start these than physical events. Sponsor or set up a local conference in your area. Also, why not help set up a user-group, with regular meetings, for candidates with particular skills.

Candidates are much more likely to engage with you if they’ve met you in person! Especially if you know your shit.

4. Your job posting needs to reflect your company

Cookie cutter job ads show clearly to the candidate. Use examples of happy employees, show cool parts of the startup’s product and use whatever means to bring your posting alive.

If you want a candidate to believe your company and your role is truly different, then the posting needs to reflect that.

To wrap up

Candidates are looking for great companies… Founders and recruiters should be aware of how little of their company and the job is visible to the outside world. And what a young generation of startup millennials actually needs to see in a recruiter before they get (back) in touch. It’s a ridiculous time-intensive thing to do but is the only way to safeguard your access to talent. The talent that will make the difference in scaling your company to the next level…

Like this article? Share the story