Your first employee -- how did you find them?
Hi! We're on the verge of making our first hire. Yet it's not urgent, I want to learn as much as I can to minimize the chances of firing that first employee at some point.
We want to find someone who'd be as enthusiastic, curious and involved as we are. We want to pay a decent salary but want to cut off those who only want money.
I've already heard, "ask on Twitter and among friends". So far it was easier said than done...
Initial thoughts (cc tw: @__tosh):
- Not fill in positions but just seek for smart fast-learning people at the beginning.
- Ask yourself if you'd work for that person yourself. If it's "hell yeah", then it's probably a good hire.
How did you find your first hire? How long did it take? How did you understand they were the right choice / interview / test / screen them? Anything else I should be aware of?
P.S.: there are no friends or classmates who would make a good match, as we think.
#ask-ih
If possible read "Hiring" chapter of "Rework" book
https://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307463745
Thanks! Will definitely do, I loved their latest book -- It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy At Work.
Alex, curious if you made your first hire already and how it's going? From my experience, if it's your first time hiring anyone, be prepared that it will be a learning experience for you as well.
Hey, no... Not yet. We're still working on it. Yeah, we're prepared to learn a lot along the way! :)
We looked for a long time, posted on many job boards, floated the word out, got hundreds of applications.
After none were satisfactory, I went on LinkedIn and manually searched through qualified people, sent dozens of interview requests, and finally found our employee! It was a long, two-month process at the minimum, but we had specific requirements and it was the only way.
Nice idea with manually looking for them on LinkedIn. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hi Alex,
Basically, I had an alpha version of the service online for free. My first customer contacted me via email and asked if I am planning to add more features and offer paid version. Over a year I worked on the project (https://oopspam.com/ https://www.indiehackers.com/product/oopspam-api) and improved it, added a bunch of features. When I was done, he subscribed to the service.
Here is the post I did when I official got the first customer: https://www.indiehackers.com/product/oopspam-api/-Lh14au7CHU_RRjdn4C-
Hey Alex,
I've been in that position a few times before. A few questions...
Hi Louis, thanks! We're actually not even hiring right now. I'm trying to learn in advance and probably even already start building a relationship with people who may end up in our team.
We're looking for an iOS/macOS developer. We want to experiment more with community building, PR, as well as numerous features users are asking about. It all revolves around frequent updates, which is quite hard for us to hold up with. In other words, our development is lagging behind marketing a little.
We're totally not in a hurry. I'm OK with it taking half a year or more. The consultants idea sounds interesting. But why would those people agree to join a startup if they already have successful careers..?
Same reason any 'good' hire would quit their job and come work for you...