Challenges in early hiring

Startups face a unique set of challenges when it comes to hiring. Unlike established companies, startups tend to lack the brand recognition, financial resources and established HR infrastructure that are attractive to top talent. This can make it difficult to attract and retain the skilled employees they need to grow their businesses.

Let's take a look at generic issues and solutions, and then we will share what we are doing here.

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Key challenges

1. Lack of brand awareness: Startups are often unknown companies, which can make it difficult to attract top talent. They may struggle to compete with larger companies that have a strong brand reputation and are household names.

2. Limited financial resources: Startups typically have limited financial resources, which can make it difficult to offer competitive salaries and benefits to potential employees. They may also have limited budgets for advertising and marketing their open positions, which can make it harder to reach a wide pool of qualified candidates.

3. Lack of an established HR department: Many startups do not have a dedicated HR department, which can make it difficult to manage the hiring process effectively. This can lead to challenges in sourcing candidates, conducting interviews, and making hiring decisions.

4. Scaling the hiring process: As startups grow, they need to be able to scale their hiring process to accommodate their increasing workforce needs. This can be difficult to do without the proper infrastructure and resources in place.

5. Attracting and retaining top talent: Startups need to find ways to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market. This may involve offering unique perks and benefits, creating a strong company culture, and providing opportunities for professional development.

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How to overcome these challenges?

A generic list would mention to develop a strong brand, create a compelling value proposition, build a strong culture, be creative. The reality is that such a list is as useful as discovering salty water in the ocean.

The problem is real: no people would come to an unknown brand to work for almost free.

So this is how we are tackling the issue:

• We got back in touch to the hiring department of our grad university to post on their internal job board. With 34 applications in a month, I would say that without any brand the initiative has been successful to receive some CVs. Now, many people do not even read the job offer and they discover after applying that we are a start-up, then quickly dismissing the opportunity. But some talent sticks. I think a founder -and what I try to do - should be transparent, genuine and good at pitching the idea to see if it resonates with a student. An internship then becomes a risk-free opportunity for both party, the talented (undergrad/grad) student and the start-up.
• We have talked with friends (including some start-up founders who have been successful) who sometimes happen to know someone. Such friends can do the work for you of recommending you as a good leader and/or a good place to work.
• Of course some posts on social media channels can help to get attention.

Not much else works in our experience in these early days. We are putting more weight to the willingness and enthusiasm of a candidate to join a risky project and to the intention to solve a specific business issue than on previous skills. We will tell you in a few months what has happened!

One additional thought: instead of just hiring "below the line" freelancers and employees reporting to the founder (me), I have also formally asked to some friends and great professionals to join me as senior advisors. They have very specific expertise and access to resources in specific fields with important seniority. While every advisor is focused on their full time job and I do not pretend to have them working for the start-up, it is true that a periodical/bi-weekly catch-up with them, and having them thinking about a specific issue to solve, delivers big dividends.

Share your hiring experience with us: hello@pantar.ai