Hiring and some random thoughts
Since I’m currently doing contracting work, I’m not in a position to have much say over hiring; but I had a lot of experience in the process from doing management at a small ISP with an egregiously high turnover rate. Still, since I’m back in startup mode in my free(?) time for a project I’m getting off the ground (details to come, but it’s good…very good), I’m thinking over the HR aspects of running a company. Recently a friend of mine asked on his blog, Anxiety Catharsis, for some commentary on the matter, so I (belatedly) am getting around to writing some of my thoughts on the matter.
Joel on Software has an excellent article on the subject that I definitely recommend. From my experience, I’d sum the following general guidelines
- Be slow in the process. Don’t be afraid to have a gap for a little bit of time, use temp employees, but do NOT allow yourself–or your good employees–to be weighted down with a bad employee or coworker. Every bad hire that I made was because of not adhering to this principle.
- Hire smart people: This is a difficult one. The Anxiety Catharsis discussion touched on the “Quiz” style interviews; this is definitely better than nothing, but heads slightly down the wrong path. I tend to think that it is best to look for people who understand processes, NOT people who know some trivia. If–as often happens–you are hiring for positions (ie entry level) that your interviewee does not know very well, test what they do and should know. If they were a CS student for four years, and still have no understanding of programming, then it is pretty much a given they can’t/won’t learn. But, regardless, ask WHY and HOW questions, not WHAT.
- Hire passionate people: The greatest talent and knowledge will not overcome general apathy. Someone who CARES deeply about the output will make sure that they get it done, whatever it takes.
- Take care of them once they are hired. Make sure that they have professional development, deal with them fairly and honestly, and give them opportunities to actually grow equity in their position.
It definitely is a difficult process to be sure. But, especially in a small startup, it is probably one of, if not the, most critical aspect to the success of the company. Be slow, be cautious, and don’t be afraid to correct “mistakes” sooner rather than later.
Indeed. In the research community, the significance of one’s paper is determined by its immediate relevance to its respective field, as well as how many times it had been cited by other significant papers. Under this methodology, wonder how significant Joel On Software has become!
A couple of thoughts concerning your 4 points …
1. Passion should be above intelligence. I know this seems like an ignorant call, but I’ve rather have a person willing to fight on the front lines for something he’s passionate about, than have an extremely intelligent worker who’s not into the product at all. Look no further than Mr. Balashov himself for reference
2. I can understand how a large company could justify the time and money lost in letting their HR departments take its time in finding quality employees, but how can a small company make the same justifications when the reprocussions are quantitatively the same? Google has the ability to take in millions of applications and thousands of interviews without breaking a sweat, but a company barely operating in the black won’t be able to tool around with a few potentials without losing a substantial amount of time and money in both the hiring and training of said potentials.
Also, I’m digging the Meebo option, how exactly did you write the script that determines the last time you were online? (your ‘current status’ section on the right-hand side).