How to find and hire a Product Manager for your Startup

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So, you’re looking to fill the position of Product Manager for your startup. You’ve finally decided it’s time to hire someone on the team who can take care of building and maintaining your product. This is where you find yourself: researching, interviewing, and hoping that you’ll be able to make the right decision when hiring this person.
The market is competitive and finding the right person for your company might be a tough task. In this article, we will share some tips on what to look for in a product manager as well as how to find and vet potential candidates. Being able to attract the right talent will make or break your startup! So, let’s get started…

1. What does a Product Manager do?

A Product Manager is a person whose responsibility is to plan, manage, and coordinate the functions of the production. The product manager is often seen as being a conduit between an organization’s strategists and its engineers, technical designers, and production.

A product manager is a coordinator or facilitator of a process, program, project, software, or business venture. They are responsible for taking the lead and ensuring that it is delivered as planned – on time, within budget, with the desired quality and results. 

2. How to find the right person for your company

When it’s time to find the right person for your company, it can seem overwhelming. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind and do if you want to find the best candidate for the job. Here are three tips on how to find the best person for your company:

  • Look at what this person has done before – have they had experience with companies similar to yours? 
  • Interview them well – what is their working style and personality? How does it fit with your company culture? 
  • You’re good at what you do, but don’t be afraid to involve others in the interview process – sometimes having someone else’s perspective can help you see an opportunity that you might not
hiring a potential candidate

3. What qualities should you be looking for in a candidate

The Product Manager is a director of the production process, among other things. This person needs to be attentive, detail-oriented, and have the capacity to work under pressure. A good product manager should also be able to maintain composure when faced with difficult situations. 

  • Attention to Detail – The ability to focus on minute details and remember them has long been an important quality for any manager. 
  • Confidence – The ability to remain calm under pressure will be needed when your company hits a rough patch or deals with some public relations crisis. 
  • Good Communicator – The product manager will need to communicate well both verbally and in writing as they will

4. The importance of hiring someone with experience, not just talent

A person who already knows what they are doing when it comes to product management and has worked in a company similar to yours is a safer bet. This candidate should also have a passion for your company and be able to communicate well with others – both written and verbally. 

Someone who has had previous doing what you need them to do in the role. 

It is important to understand that hiring a product manager without experience can be much riskier than hiring somebody who already has the skills and knowledge to do the job. It may seem like a good idea at first, but you will always run the risk that this person is not quite ready for the position or that they have never done anything like it before. 

5. When you've found the perfect person, it's time to make an offer!

Once you’ve found the perfect person for your company, it’s time to make an offer! The negotiation process can be stressful and incredibly time-consuming, but there are a few things you can do to make it easier on yourself. 

Don’t settle – You know when you’ve found the perfect person, so don’t settle for someone that isn’t right for your company. It may seem like an easy way out at first, but in the long run, it will end up costing you more money and headaches. 

Conduct a salary survey – Conducting a salary survey can help give you insight into what others in your industry are paying their employees with similar experience levels. Headhunters often have access to that information as well and can even conduct the survey for you. 

closing an agreement

Conclusion

Hiring the right product manager is crucial to your company’s success. It can seem like a daunting task but there are some things you should keep in mind as you’re interviewing candidates and looking for someone who has experience with similar companies or projects. 

We hope these tips have been helpful! 

If they’ve helped, please share this article on social media so that others might find it useful too. Remember – don’t settle when trying to hire the perfect candidate for your team and try not to take shortcuts during the hiring process; it will only end up costing more time and money down the line.

Top Female Leaders who started in Product Management

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Women are playing a more prominent role in the product management industry, and it’s about time. As of 2017, 43% of product managers were female. It might seem like a small number but this is higher than other professions such as law (36%) or finance (39%). Women bring their own perspective that can be beneficial to an organization because they have unique experiences which make them experts at connecting with women consumers.

The best companies like Google, Facebook and others are actively recruiting female product managers. They’ve made it clear that they want to see more women in high-ranking positions where they can influence the company’s direction.

1. The top female leaders who have made waves in the Product management industry

The best part is that these top female leaders have not only been able to make waves in this industry but have also become role models for a handful of women leaders who have really made waves in the product management industry. Some examples include Susan Wojcicki, Michelle Peluso and Marissa Mayer to name just a few. These female executives have been able to break into this traditionally male-dominated field due to their unique perspective as both consumers and business owners. They’re able to bring balance and understanding of both sides which is extremely beneficial in the product management field.

2. How they have been able to break into this traditionally male-dominated field

Susan Wojcicki became President overseeing Youtube in February 2014 making her Google’s highest paid employee outside its founders Larry Page & Sergey Brin . The mother turned billionaire has worked hard since graduating.

Michelle Peluso, CEO of Gilt Group, for example had a storied career at companies like Travelocity and American Express before taking over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gilt Group for nine years until 2016. She recognized that her diverse background in marketing, finance and management was what set her apart from the competition.

Marissa Mayer is another example of a highly successful female product manager who has used her expertise to help build companies like Google into multi-billion dollar organizations. She started out as one of Google’s first employees where she oversaw various projects such as image search, Google News, and Google Maps. She then went on to become CEO of Yahoo!

3. Examples of their Successes in the Market

Yahoo! was successful because Marissa Mayer led them through a merger with Verizon. She wanted to merge the two companies when she first joined as CEO six years ago, and her goals have finally been accomplished 

Susan Wojcicki has succeeded in creating Youtube into the platform for video sharing that it is today – people can access content from around the world anywhere they are at any time, while users also use youtube as a hub of creativity where creators produce over 400 hours of videos every minute 

Sheryl Sandberg’s work during Facebook’s growth attracted more than one billion global users and encouraged women across all industries to be involved in their field

woman giving presentation

4. Ways for Women Looking to Become Product Managers to Get Started on Their Journey

The best place to start would be taking online courses or reading books about Product Management. Google’s Udacity offers a free course that can provide you with an introduction into this growing field. 

Attending meetups or networking events would be beneficial to meet people in the industry who can help you get started. 

Participating in hackathons and group projects are also great ways of getting hands-on experience for product management.

5. Tips for Being Successful as a Woman in this Industry

As a woman in product management, be confident when presenting your ideas to the team. Be open-minded and listen to others’ perspectives while being prepared for the fast pace of this industry. Know how much work you can handle without burning out or losing focus on key tasks at hand by maintaining balance between life activities that are important to you outside of work as well as maintain humility through criticism given towards yourself because it will only help make you grow into an even better professional than before!

team office meeting

6. Conclusion

The key to being successful in product management is having a passion for your job and the willingness to challenge yourself to step into shoes bigger than your own, and learning to outgrow them. Wherever you are on your journey towards becoming a product manager, always have an open mind when listening to how others perceive things because that will help broaden your perspective. And above all else, make sure you have fun doing what you love! 

The Secret to Recruiting The Right Product Manager For Your Startup

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It’s no secret that finding the right Product Manager for your Startup is key. Not only are Product Managers responsible for bringing a product to life, they’re also an integral part of the company’s culture. But what does it take to find one? In this post, we’ll share a few methods and tips on how you can recruit the perfect person for your startup.

1. What is a Product Manager and Why Do You Need One?

A Product Manager is a person responsible for a company’s product. They are in charge of analyzing customer feedback, conducting research to identify what customers want and need from their products, and creating strategies that will give them competitive advantages against rival companies. Product Management is a challenging, rewarding role that requires strategic thinking and vision. You need to be able to see where the market is heading so you know what direction your company should go in with its product offerings or service lines. One of the most important aspects when considering hiring someone for this position will be whether they possess those attributes mentioned above- qualities like empathy, creativity, and knowledge about their industry are imperative if you want them to do well at such a high-level job function as Product Manager.

The first thing you should do is figure out what kind of Product Manager your Startup needs. Are they analytical? Creative? Strategic thinkers or more hands-on and tactical? Understanding the type of person that will be best for your company culture will make finding a suitable candidate much easier. You can conduct this research by looking at the Product Managers who are already in your network, or by determining what kind of person you feel would be a good fit.

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2. The Importance of Hiring the Right Product Manager

Finding the right Product Manager is all about balance. You need someone who has a lot of experience in the industry but also possesses fresh ideas and perspectives that can help you see things from another point of view. A candidate with no experience will not have any vision or direction to bring your company forward; on the other hand, hiring someone who has a lot of experience in your industry can be limiting, since they may not want to take risks or try out new initiatives. Depending on how large and established your company is will also play a role in deciding what type of Product Manager you should hire.

If you’re still having trouble figuring out the kind of person you need for this position, ask yourself these questions:

  • What is your company’s mission?
  • How do you want to be perceived by customers?
  • What is the biggest problem that needs solving right now for your business?

Once you’ve identified how a Product Manager can help solve this problem in an effective way and what type of person will best fit into your company culture, it’s time to start looking for them.

3. How to Find and Recruit the Best Candidate for Your Startup

How to find the best Product Manager for your Startup:  Once you’ve gone through all these steps and have a list of potential candidates in mind it is time to interview them! Your first step will be figuring out who should go onsite. Here are some tips that can help you choose the best candidates to interview in person:

 

  • Look at their LinkedIn profile and see if they have mentioned any conferences, meetups, or events that they’ve attended. If so, this is a good sign because it shows that they are active within the Product Management community which means you can expect them to be up to date with industry standards, new technology, and best practices.
  • Check out their social media channels to see if they have shared any interesting insights on Product Management recently or written anything about your company’s industry in general. This is a good indication that this candidate will fit into the way you communicate at work as well!
  • Lastly, try looking for people who have worked at companies that your company has competed with or had similar business models in the past. This is a good way to make sure that they are familiar with your industry, and will be able to provide valuable insight into how you can improve on what your team has been working so hard for!

4. How to Avoid Hiring the Wrong Candidate

Once you’ve selected the top candidates who seem like a great fit and scheduled them for an interview it’s time to choose which one to hire. This step is crucial and can make or break your company’s success, so it is important that you choose someone who has the right skills but also fits into your team dynamics.

Here are some tips on how to do this:

 

  • Ask yourself what kind of Product Manager would be best for your startup based on where you are in your company’s lifecycle. If you’re a new startup, focus on finding someone with experience who can provide direction and guidance to help build the foundation of your business.
  • Make sure that they bring some unique insight or insights into how you can improve what you’ve been working on so far! This is not just their job; they should be a valuable member of your team who can help grow and develop alongside you.
  • Find out how they handle pressure and difficult situations. Product Management is a tough job that requires lots of patience, so finding someone who can remain calm under stress will be an invaluable asset to your team!
hiring a new employee

5. Conclusion

Product Managers are responsible for the success of products. They work in tandem with other departments such as Marketing, Sales, and Engineering so that all aspects of product development progress smoothly. In order to do this effectively, they must be able to think critically about current market conditions while also brainstorming new ways their companies could innovate and create value. A good Product Manager is imperative if you want an innovative product line!

The secret to recruiting the right product manager for your startup may be harder than you think. Product management recruiters, like Palarino Partners, are here to help and will work with you to find candidates that have a good fit for your company culture as well as skill sets required by the position. If you need help finding an excellent candidate quickly, let us know and we’ll do our best!

How to Attract New Talent and Retain Your Valuable Employees Post-Pandemic?

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In light of the recent pandemic, companies have had to re-evaluate the product management organization and find ways to attract new talent. With the increasing demand for product managers in today’s competitive market, current employees are finding it difficult to stay with a company that is not investing in their growth. Many times when a company doesn’t invest in its employees’ training and development, they won’t be able to keep up with the evolving skill sets needed for success. This can lead to high turnover rates as talented individuals seek more fulfilling opportunities elsewhere.

1. The Importance of Attracting New Talent

With that being said, companies are continually looking for new ways to attract talent. There are several ways a company can hire good talent, one of which is through posting open product management positions online as well as using more traditional channels – such as targeted job postings in local newspapers or college career centers and websites dedicated to increasing diversity within the company. Some companies have also been proactive in attending career fairs to find new candidates and utilize recruiting agencies that specialize in the tech/product management space, like Palarino Partners.

2. How to Attract New Talent Post-Pandemic

Companies can also try to retain their valuable employees by allowing them the opportunity to work with cross-functional teams, such as customer support and development. These types of initiatives allow product managers to broaden their skill set which will make them more attractive in today’s competitive market.

It is important for companies that have been affected by the pandemic or any other type of disruption to retain their best talent. This is a critical part in the recovery process and will help ensure that you have enough employees who are fully invested in your company’s vision and goals, which will make it easier for companies to get back on track following the pandemic.

Companies are also finding that they can attract new talent by building a strong brand presence online through social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. In addition to increasing visibility within certain markets or verticals, these types of platforms allow companies to build their brand and reputation within the industry by establishing thought leadership.

Effective content marketing is a great way for businesses to attract top talent because it showcases what your company has done in the past as well as where you’re headed in terms of innovation. This type of messaging will help keep your employees engaged while they’re at work and provides them with the information they need in order to make a smooth transition if you were to lose talent during or after a pandemic.

3. Strategies for Retaining Talented Employees during a Pandemic

Retaining your valuable employees is just as, if not more important than attracting new talent. During a pandemic it’s common for companies to close their doors and suspend operations in order to prevent the spread of disease. When this happens, you want to ensure that those who are still healthy remain employed so they don’t lose out on wages during the period of closure

father and child at desk

Creating an inclusive work environment is a great way to retain key talent post-pandemic and encourage them to stay with your organization. A workplace wellness program would be beneficial for employees as they adjust back into their regular routines after the pandemic has passed in order to ease the transition process.

4. The Importance of Creating an Inclusive Work Environment that Accommodates Diverse Needs during a Pandemic

This is why it’s so important to offer a work environment that accommodates the diverse needs of your employees. Having an inclusive workplace will allow you to attract and retain top talent by creating an attractive place for them to work, where they feel valued and heard.

Being able to support their families during this time can be difficult because many people have to leave home for several days at a time to minimize the risk of spreading infection. By offering flexible work hours, telecommuting opportunities and even remote office spaces that are equipped with hardware necessary for their job function – like computers or printers, companies can help keep their employees happy during this difficult time.

The importance of creating an inclusive work environment cannot be stressed enough. This is why companies are updating their policies and procedures to accommodate employees’ diverse needs in order to make the work environment more comfortable for everyone involved.

team meeting

5. Workplace Wellness Programs - Why They're Necessary

We have seen an increased demand over the past couple years for workplace wellness programs, which consist of everything from onsite gyms that provide equipment like treadmills or stationary bikes as well as opportunities to work out during the day and gym reimbursements. Other wellness programs include things like discounted or subsidized child care, lactation rooms for nursing mothers, adoption assistance benefits and flexible parental leave policies that accommodate both men and women.

Not only are these types of initiatives good for employees’ health but they’re also great ways to retain valuable talent. Offering these types of programs will allow your company to attract top talent and help you save on healthcare costs in the long-term.

6. Conclusion

In conclusion, attracting new product managers after a pandemic has happened is a critical way companies can remain competitive. Companies should consider using existing channels to post open product management positions as well as attending career fairs and recruiting agencies that specialize in the tech/product management space. Retaining your valuable employees after a pandemic happens is also important, which will help ensure you have enough invested employees who are committed to helping your company rebound from this event.

By focusing on the needs and desires of your employees, you can ensure that they feel valued and heard which will help increase retention rates post-pandemic. Making sure that these types of initiatives are implemented throughout your organization is a great way to attract new talent as well as retain valuable employees after a pandemic.

7 Key Ways to Avoid a Mis-hire

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Anyone responsible for hiring employees for a company will sometimes get it wrong. They may select a candidate that simply doesn’t work out or isn’t the best fit for the work environment. For a large company, this is a common and troubling occurrence. It’s a hiring mistake commonly known as a “mis-hire.” 

In a 2012 study, it was found that the average cost for a company to hire a skilled employee is between 10 to 17 weeks of their salary. With highly skilled hiring, this can rise to as much as 24 weeks. This is clearly a significant expense.

A mis-hire also has a cost to the overall work environment. The actions taken to address a mis-hire will have a direct impact on the perceptions of existing workers. Relationships have been built between the new hire and other employees in their team. Often, employees will see the company as being unfair or disloyal to their colleague.         

If you want to better understand how much a mis-hire may be costing you, there is a great online resource from Topgrading.com. They offer a free Cost of a Mis-hire Calculator tool that you can refer to.

Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to avoid hiring the wrong person. Here are seven of the most effective ways to avoid a mis-hire.

1. Slow Down the Process

Slow Down the Process

You might be hiring to fill an urgent gap or support a new project. You feel the need to find a person right now and get them started right away.

That’s understandable, but rushing the hiring process is one of the biggest reasons for mis-hires. The sense of urgency causes you to ignore your standard procedures and overlook key hiring measures.

When you are in a big hurry to hire, you likely will interview only a few candidates. As soon as you find a warm body that half-meets your requirements, you will hire them.

Unfortunately, hiring just anyone that can fill a role will almost certainly lead to a mis-hire. You filled a gap, but it will soon open again. The new project has a new team member but that too will soon change.

Slow things down. Even if the recruitment takes a bit longer, a mis-hire can be avoided. The project can wait for the perfect resources and will be better off in the long run.

Line managers are usually the guilty party. They want you to move quickly. But they don’t understand the potential cost of trying to go fast. When the whole thing blows up, they will blame it on you and insist you fix it quickly.

The line manager’s job is to run the project, but yours is to hire properly.

2. Define the Role Correctly

If every role is just like any other, then every candidate is perfect for the role. How ridiculous is that?

You’ll always have a list of basic characteristics that you want every candidate to possess. Don’t mistake these as being about the role. They’re not. These characteristics are about the company culture.

Another mistake that hiring managers often make is to think the roles are the same as departments. In other words, they presume that every role in the IT department has the same definition.

Carefully define each role before you recruit. Understand the key competencies required and the duties to be performed. Prepare a detailed job description. All of this allows for the matching of candidates to individual roles.

3. Actually Contact References

Start with the terrible assumption that all candidates exaggerate or outright lie. They need the job and they want you to think the best of them.       

Usually, candidate references are checked just before the hiring process has concluded. Decisions have already been made and the right candidate selected. Checking references is almost a formality just before hiring.

Even when references are checked, it is just to confirm that the candidate did work for the employer.

You need to check the references for all of your shortlisted candidates as a further method of screening. Don’t just ask “Do you know so and so?” or “Did they work for you?”

What you want to be asking is, “What role did they perform and how well did they do it?” You want to learn as much as you can about the characteristics of the candidate. You should ask, “Would you hire them again if you had the chance?”

This information can help you make a great hire – or save you from a terrible one.

4. Make Use of Behavioural Questions During The Interview

Make the interview with the candidate more effective by asking behavioural questions rather than factual ones. Behavioural questions will give you far more insight.

You might ask, “Do you know Adobe Illustrator?” A better question would be, “Can you tell me about your experience using Adobe Illustrator?” Phrasing the question in this way will result in a candidate telling a story and demonstrating their knowledge.

You can use this same technique with the candidate’s employment history. For example, “Tell me about a project where you…”

5. Assess the Fit With The Corporate Culture

You might have found a candidate that has all of the needed skills for the role. They have a great track record. They’re perfect!

Knowing if a candidate is going to match your company’s culture is just as important as their skills. You can provide training to build skills, and they will also learn from their colleagues.

When a potential employee just doesn’t fit in, then they are likely to leave or cause morale problems. If it isn’t the right place for them, they may simply want out.

Sometimes, the best way that you can assess the fit with the company is to let them determine it for themselves. Show them the area where they will be working. Let potential team members chat with them. It shouldn’t be formal, but just a casual part of the interview process. You’ll be able to gauge candidates. Most importantly, the candidate can get a feel for things.

If the candidate can’t tell you anything about your business, then they are likely not the right choice. They should have done their homework. They should at least be able to talk about what your company does or discuss its recent achievements.

6. Find a Great Talent Partner

Talent Partner

Sending a job description out to a bunch of recruiters rarely proves effective. They don’t know what you are looking for or understand the culture of your business. You’ll get a vetted list of candidates, but only ones that match the skill profile.

As we’ve already seen, hiring is much more than finding a person with the right skills.

You should find a great talent partner to work with you. This partner should be able to learn what exactly makes a great employee for your business. They will come to understand your culture and what increases the likelihood of an employee sticking around for a while.

7. Learn from the People You Hire

Just because you’ve hired someone, that doesn’t mean your job is over.

After a bit of time, the people you hire will be able to give you a ton of valuable information to guide you in your next hire.

The employee’s skills will already have been put to the test. That’s the easy part and is not usually the biggest contributor to a mis-hire.

How happy is the new employee six months down the line? What is their level of job satisfaction? These are the important questions and sometimes the hardest answers to hear.

The retention of an employee is directly related to their job satisfaction. When an employee leaves shortly after being hired, you might as well consider that a mis-hire. Companies define a mis-hire in terms of a failure of their hiring practice, but it can be more than that.

A great employer will create a culture where employees feel free to give their feedback. For the hiring process, you can conduct a post-hire interview and learn everything you can to guide you going forward.

Summary

Mis-hires are a huge cost to businesses. The time and money spent on the hiring process have been flushed down the toilet. Company morale takes a hit. Company output suffers, and so does the bottom line.

By seriously looking at the pattern of mis-hires in your organization, you can prevent them from happening in the first place.

Avoiding mis-hires involves making changes to your hiring process and how you introduce new workers to your business. After all, it is your workers that have the greatest impact on your success.

How to Recruit Top Talent for My Startup?

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Let’s be honest – procuring talent is difficult at every organization. However, hiring for brand-new businesses can be significantly harder. 

As a newer organization with limited income, bringing on a bad hire can conceivably break your startup. As a result, getting hiring right is arguably the most significant activity for a business owner or manager. 

To compete with the big players in your space, you should spend more time focusing on the opportunities and experience your organization offers applicants.

Here are some tips to remember as you look to recruit top talent for your fast growing startup.

Offer a Mission and Vision

To persuade top talent to come and work for you, you have to assemble an organization with an extraordinary strategic vision that energizes them. 

As an author, you should have the option to impart your long-haul vision to your potential representatives and present your organization in the most positive light. If you’re not ready to offer huge pay rates at the beginning to people with great ability, you have to get innovative. 

At that point, you have to concentrate on getting the individuals who will support this crucial mission and breathe life into it – more than just a statement on the divider in your hall.

“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.” 

– Simon Sinek, author and motivational speaker

Be Unique

girl giving interview

When your startup is just starting out, you may need to do everything yourself to minimize expenses.

However, you know you can’t do it all alone forever – that’s why you need to have a team rather than individuals. In terms of being unique, I don’t mean that you should begin going into work shoeless or quit washing up. 

I’m talking about separating yourself from different bosses in a deliberate, significant way. An extraordinary aspect concerning a startup is that the culture is still a work in progress. You’re still setting the standards, and you can turn it into what your ideal employees actually need and want. A unique culture can be a huge draw for talented workers.

Prefer Attitude over Experience

Experienced employees may get lured away with the development openings that accompany working with the “newcomer.” However, with experience comes desires, and usually, these desires are monetary.

Nowadays, candidates are well prepared for questions like “What is your best quality and why?”, “What motivates you?”, and “Why are you interested in this job?” 

Rather than asking these kinds of questions, dig deeper and put them in a difficult situation to test their creativity, attitude, and ability to perform under pressure. This will also give you a fair idea of whether the candidate believes in what you believe.

So, change your recruiting questions to:

  • "On the off chance that you were made the director in your last position, what might you have changed?"
  • "Would you be able to talk about a period where you utilized abilities that fell outside of your set of working responsibilities to finish a project?”
  • "Three years from today, what needs to occur for you to feel satisfied on the job?"

Go Remote or Hire Freelancers

If you are struggling to find talent in your immediate community, remote employees are an option. Enlisting remote methods, you have a whole world brimming with capable workers you can choose from. 

Maybe fully remote employees are not a feasible route for your startup. Instead, consider offering greater flexibility, for example, giving them the option to work from home at your organization. You could even establish this in a job offer, requiring three days in the office and allowing two days from home.

Freelancing is also a great option. It helps you stay within a tight budget, lets you give individuals a try before they go full time, and ensures you have a backup plan for overflow work. This could be valuable if your company has a specific task that requires additional support or simply needs to give someone a trial run before committing to a full-time hire. 

There are numerous sites, such as Upwork, that make hiring consultants extremely simple. Frequently, you can have a stranger working on a project for you in minutes.

Consider Online Platforms

As we mentioned, there are many online platforms to recruit talent according to your requirements. Almost every job has a discussion forum where individuals who carry out that responsibility go to discuss work – it’s not a bad idea to reach out to these groups. 

Another option is to create your own corporate blog and contribute guest content on significant online platforms, such as Medium or LinkedIn.

Share the experiences you’ve learned throughout the startup process. If you’re transparent about your mission, goals, and challenges, then it’s possible that gifted applicants who read your blog posts will reach out and apply.

Network Often

Network Often

You can grow your ability to attract great candidates by agreeing to speaking engagements and attending meetups. Public speaking is an extraordinary opportunity to make your organization and vision known to potential future collaborators. 

There’s one caveat to finding great candidates – you can’t hire them all. It’s always enticing when you’ve discovered your ideal applicant to disregard every other person, hire the individual you need, and ignore the rest. Try not to do that.

In addition to the fact that you should send a pleasant message to declined candidates once you’ve made a hiring decision, you should stay in contact with other great applicants if you can. They’ve indicated enthusiasm for working for your organization, and even if they don’t have the experience you need right now, they may be the top talent you’re looking for in the future.

Conclusion

The success of any startup is dependent on human capital. If the people you work with are competent and supportive of your business, then success will come for sure! 

Hopefully with the tips above, you can recruit all of the top talent for your startup business that you need.

How to Make the Right Hiring Decision

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If you work as a hiring manager, it is your duty to find the best potential employees for your company. New applicants should meet or exceed all the criteria and qualifications that you need for any job that you’re hiring for in the future.

For this reason, you have to be able to discern whether or not any final hiring decision you make is the right one. Here are a few simple tips on how to make the right hiring decision based on measurable data and pointers.

1. Be Aware of Significant Criteria 

First, you have to know what you’re looking for in your new hires. Be certain about the criteria that you want in an applicant. If you are hiring for a certain position within the company, it is your duty as the hiring manager to learn all that you can about the specific job requirements before interviewing applicants. This way, you can weed out those that don’t have the right qualifications for the job easily.

2. Avoid Professional Biases During Interviews

Man reading paper

Secondly, try to avoid any professional biases that you might have against or for an applicant during the interview and hiring process. This way, you will not be limited by how you perceive the applicant on a more personal level. Instead, you will be able to decide based on an individual’s skills and overall personality. 

In addition to this, a hiring manager should not be influenced by their connection with one applicant over the others or any personal preferences. If this happens, you will not be able to make a fair or informed decision regarding your final hire.

3. Conduct a Systematic Interview and Testing Procedure 

The next tip that you should keep in mind using systematic interview methodologies for hiring applicants. You should be able to employ assessment methods that could help you determine an applicant’s aptitude for the job. 

Here are some of the major tools that you can use to aid in your official decision making:

  • Scorecards
  • Phone interviews
  • Personal interviews

These are just three of the most effective ways for you to gauge whether or not an applicant is fit for the job. You should also make sure that he or she passes medical exams – as well as any physical tests that you might have in mind – to gauge his ability to adapt to the physical demands of the job that you are hiring for.

If you can do this, you will have found the best applicants from your available talent pool as soon as possible.

4. Ask the Right Questions

In order for you to make a sound decision regarding any potential hires, you should ask the right set of questions about the client, both on the professional and personal level. 

Here are some sample questions that you should ask an applicant before hiring him or her:

  • Why did you decide to apply for this job?
  • What are the highlights of your career and how did you achieve them?
  • What are your main limitations and strengths when it comes to working?
  • What do you like or dislike about your previous job compared to this one?
  • What were the specific reasons for dismissal from your previous employment?
  • Can you describe your previous supervisor? What can you say about him or her?
  • Aside from your skills and talent, what else can you contribute to the company as a whole, if we decide to hire you?

These questions will help you decide whether or not to hire someone for a job because the responses from these questions are designed to gauge the applicants’ attitude for work. It is also designed to measure their capabilities when it comes to establishing interpersonal relations with their fellow employees.

5. Check References

To make an informed decision regarding who to hire, it is also important for you to check on any available references regarding the applicants’ work history and experience.

The good thing about this is, with the advent of the Internet, you can easily pull out any kind of information that you need to know about potential applicants without difficulty.

6. Communicate With Previous Employers and Colleagues

Communicate With Previous Employers and Colleagues

You can also use online methods to connect with previous employers that can help you get to know your applicant as soon as possible. Do not hesitate to ask the most pertinent questions regarding their work ethic and personal lives so that you know how they could handle work-related situations and pressure in the future. 

From these interviews, you will be able to learn more about each applicant through the eyes of their peers. You will learn a lot from these other individuals regarding how your applicants work and handle daily and continuous amounts of stress.

This is truly effective to weed out the weaker applicants from those who are capable of great success in their line of work. You should not hesitate to use this method, especially if you are already down to five applicants left or fewer.

How to Make the Right Hiring Decision Wrap-up

These are just some of the major points that you need to remember in order to make the best decision in hiring for your company. The extensive recruitment process is surely something that you should invest your time and effort, because an outstanding company reputation and performance depend on the people that work within the company.

This is why you should choose the right staff and ground workers to work for the establishment. Once you are able to do this, everything else will follow for sure. It would also help you to consult other trusted members of your inner circle to see if they have the same opinion as you do about certain applicants.

However, make sure that you have the final say in the hiring decision.

How to Complete Topgrading: The Significant Steps

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Do you work in human resources? If the answer is yes, then you should learn everything that you can about topgrading as an interview process. With this particular tool, you will be able to weed out any unscrupulous characters that might end up not being able to do the job you are hiring for down the line.

Before we discuss how you can use employee topgrading as part of the rigorous interview and recruitment process, let’s take a look at what this term actually means and how it applies to building harmonious office interpersonal relationships.

In this context, the chairman available refers to their viability and probable job competency. It also involves a 12-step process which includes the following:

Phase One: The Initial Assessment

In this first phase of topgrading, you will be able to formulate the criteria for what you want to  see in a potential employee.

1. Forethought – Here, you start by thinking about the specific candidate that you are trying to look for. What qualifications do they need for the job? You should also define the type of personality and work ethic an applicant should have.

2. The Scorecard – Once you know the specific qualifications that you are looking for, you can create a scorecard for these qualifications during the interview. This will help you determine if an applicant is a right fit for the job much more quickly. Create a list of the most important criteria, and if you find any  applicants who tick everything on the checklist, then you know you should hire them right away.

3. Utilize Your Network – Before outsourcing new recruits, you should look into your current talent pool for potential hires. This way, you will increase the chances of hiring someone you already know and trust. This will also cut down your training time, because you’ve hired someone who already has experience working for the company itself.

4. Work History Forms – Next, you want to make sure that your applicants fill out the work history form. This will include basic information about the applicants, as well as data on their previous salaries and reasons behind their dismissal from their previous employment. This document and the information provided can help you compare and contrast each applicant to gauge their competency when it comes to answering interview questions later on.

Phase Two: The Interview 

The Interview process

This is the part of the hiring process where you get face-to-face interaction with the applicant and gauge whether or not he is right for the job.

5. Telephone Screening – This works to further enhance the interview process. It occurs in conjunction with the work history forms, where an applicant is asked to verify the information that they have written on the form through phone conversations. During this process, their calls are compared with those of other applicants to ensure the validity of their information.

6. Competency Testing – This particular type of interview works in conjunction with the scorecard from step two. The interviewer will then compare the actual skills of the applicant against their own scorecard of the ideal qualifications. If the points tally, the applicant will have passed this section of the interview.

7. The Topgrading Interview – The official interview can last up to 4 hours. It involves an in-depth review of the applicants’ work history, as well as each of their personal qualifications. It begins by scrutinizing their educational background, goes through each of their job titles and experience, as well as the many work-related situations that they have encountered. In the end, the interview should focus on how the company can benefit from the skills and personality traits of the applicant himself. Here, you can also be thorough by checking the references that the applicant provided.

8. Feedback – This section focuses on interviewer feedback. The applicant will be given 1 to 3 points of consideration for improvement. They will also have to enumerate the areas where the interviewee excelled. This process is done to help the applicant understand what he needs due in order to improve themselves as a potential employee in the future.

9. The Executive Summary Draft – This particular document refers to the extensive report that you should write after the interview itself. Here, you will be able to identify up to 50 behavioral traits that can help compare each candidate’s skills and professional aptitude. This will help you classify each applicant into the ABC class.

Phase Three: The Field Test

In this final phase, you will be able to find out how well the applicant actually performs in the field. You provide him with simulated tests that measure his professional skills in action as it relates to the job.

10. The Reference Calls – In the reference step, you will be able to gauge whether or not the applicant will be able to handle calls in the field. You can ask them to arrange valuable caller information according to fixed company systems within a certain timeframe. This step will ascertain their speed and accuracy in gathering information.

11. Applicant Training – This is the part where you personally train your chosen applicants about the integral points of company procedures. This step is usually reserved for no more than the top three applicants of your choosing.

Applicant Training

12. Annual Measurement of Hiring Success – You ought to regularly have a benchmark for your interview success. In this step, you can use sales analytics to determine if you made the right choice in hiring certain applicants over others. You can also conduct interviews – both formal and informal – with other office staff to help you gauge whether or not the new recruit is getting along with his peers and colleagues. Reflecting on applicant performance on the job will help you refine your interview process.

With these 12 steps, you can certainly end up with the best applicants for any job that you might have in mind in the future. As with any manager, it is your duty to find the best of the best when it comes to potential members of the company that you’re working for. It’s worth it to take this job seriously.

Conclusion

These are the most important points that you need to remember about topgrading. It is crucial that you are able to do this when interviewing applicants, mainly because it will help you make an informed decision regarding who you should hire for your company in the future. 

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and give the process a try. You’re sure to see better applicants and employees on the other end!

How To Hire A Players

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Introduction

Finding A Players can be quite a challenge.  Employees can differ from one another as much as night differs from day.  Two employees might have the exact same educational and experience level and yet their performance and ability to fit in with your company will be much different. 

This is because everyone does not have the same level of work ethics and personality also plays a huge role in their ability to adapt to your business vibe. 

In this handy guide we will give you tips on how to hire A Players.  Our guide focuses on finding these awesome employees who will make running the business a lot easier and also allow you to create a positive work-friendly environment that benefits everyone’s morale. 

The Pre-Hire Phase

As an employer, you are looking for creative ways to grow your business to the point where you will need to hire more people. Not only will you need to hire more employees, you will also need to work with various external entities such as suppliers, clients and associates as your contact list expands. Handling everything by yourself can be quite tough.  And that is where your most trusted employees with their professionalism and can-do come into play. Those with the right skills can take more workload off your shoulders so you can stay flexible. Here are a few ways to get prospective candidates to work for you. 

 

Post on job boards: These days, online job boards have become a reliable resource for anyone looking for work. Places like Indeed, Monster, and even local job boards are visited frequently by job seekers. If you are posting a job opening, it’s important to give the description of what it entails. Include skill and educational requirements as well. And yes, it’s always good to target those with experience (but at least give a chance to those who may not have it to apply as well).

(If you’ve already been to a job board and can’t find your ideal product manager, that’s when we recommend that people come to us) 

Job Fair Recruitment: One of the best places for an employer to find the right people are at job fairs. You can do these yourself or have some of the higher level management members do the recruiting for you. This is your chance to meet face to face with those who might be more of a good fit for your business and the work environment. And it gives you a chance to use your instincts and get a good read of the person on how they act, if they can be trusted in “crunch time” situations, and so on. 

Consider Referrals: There may be a time where someone in your business will be able to refer a job seeker to you. In that case, you’ll need to make sure they go through the proper application process. By the time you get the application (and the confirmation about the referral), it will be up to you to honor that referral and give that person a chance to be looked at and possibly interviewed. 

Find A Specialist Headhunter: It’s best to think of a headhunter as an investment instead of a cost. Making a mis-hire is the most expensive mistake that your company can make. The right product management recruiter can prevent you from losing time and money. Reach out to us if you’re tired of wasting your time, money, and company with the wrong hire.

Hiring Phase

Now that you have a pool of interested applicants, it’s time to whittle them down to a certain number. This is where you’ll be playing a process of elimination. And it can come down to a good amount of factors. Here are some things that you as an employer may potentially disqualify a particular applicant:

Lack of experience: The experience requirement may be subjective depending on the employer. However, you may be stringent about it. But it all depends on how bad you want the role filled. If you are indeed willing to train the right person and they have less than the required experience, you can do so.

Lack of problem-solving skills: There will be times when an employee will be faced with problems that are not as complex as they should be. You will be able to put this to the test during the employee interview process. Be creative and ask questions about a certain problem scenario.  

Not possessing a positive attitude: An employer knows a thing or two about a positive, professional attitude. And you might pick that up in an instant during the interview process. If the prospect doesn’t feel enthused or excited, that is a red flag and a good indicator to move on to the next applicant. 

But here’s what you need to look for in order to hire A Players for your team:

Decent competence in certain skills: Let’s face it, you are not going to find someone who is the grand master of Microsoft Excel. But you can find someone who is decent enough to know the basic ins and outs. Competence is important because you can trust that person to get the job done properly rather than an employee who has no idea what they are doing. 

Have a positive, can-do attitude: This is key. If an employee has a positive attitude it will eventually spread throughout the entire team. The happier the employees are, the higher their willingness to work will be. And that morale building environment does start with you as well. 

Find out what kind of value they can provide: While you might find an applicant that talks about themselves constantly about how they can do this or that, it’s important to challenge them with this question: “What kind of value do you believe you will bring to [your business]?” The answers may vary, but you can use your better judgement on how well an applicant can ask that question.

Final Thoughts

As an employee, it’s always important to find reliable employees who are willing to show up on time and be ready to work with a positive mental attitude. The hiring process may be tough at first (as will finding the right people). But over time, you will be able to figure out what consists of a good employee so they will be easy to work with (and they will be happy to work for you in the process). There is nothing more effective than employees who put their fellow co-workers and you over themselves every time.

 
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