If you're hiring, you should be using Jobr. They have an awesome recruiter dashboard, if you're a candidate then download their beautiful app.

Over this year I dove head-first into the world of hiring.

I've seen how hundreds of companies hire by connecting them with engineers. I've also seen why talent leaves companies. I can tell you that a lot of the ideas people have about hiring are misguided.

1. Mediocre companies can't hire the inexperienced

Many people believe that inexperienced candidates would work at a company that isn't desirable. People want to invest in the success of your company, you have to impress candidates at all stages of their career. Sometimes more so if they're looking to learn and develop their skill-set.

Instead of spending more on expanding the candidate net. Companies should more time thinking about culture, how the company appeals to talent and how the team could work better.

2. Pay optimization is often a poor long term investment

Maybe a company can afford to outbid other offers but optimizing for pay alone is a poor long term investment in terms of employee morale. You want to make sure employees are paid fairly but another $XXK for a well paid engineer won't make that much of a difference. Eventually they'll seek out a new role where they feel they're making a bigger impact. So focus on the latter!

At Buffer they have a set formula for pay. The hiring process is focused on what impact they'll be making in the company and how they'd fit into the culture.





3. Companies receive A LOT of candidates

Some people believe that because there's so much demand for tech workers that the problem is a lack of candidates. This simply isn't the case, there are plenty of mediocre candidates applying for jobs at tech companies. Shyp is listing two technical jobs on AngelList and is receiving 85 candidates a week! Most of those are probably going to be hired by other solid startups.

UBiome, a startup that only came from YC a few weeks ago is seeing 332 candidates a week.

Jobr actually sends recruiters an email summary of their top 5 candidates. If you're applying for a job at a startup you want to make sure you're not in a general bucket because companies don't have time to go through all of the candidates yet they're always looking for top-tier talent.

4. Employees are your biggest referrers and this might be bad

Employees are a companies biggest source of potential hires. What they tell their friends, family and potential business contacts changes the general perception of your business.

Word spreads fast, especially in major cities and people will talk openly about their experiences at your company. Companies should be open about potential flaws with potential candidates. Don't miss-sell the dream!

5. Make sure talent is invested in the mission not the success

A lot of candidates optimize for signals like recent funding rounds or key hires. These signals are important but talent should be interested in the business first.

If companies hire people that don't believe in the vision and aren't able to think critically about it then they'll find that they won't stick around when the going gets tough, as it does at certain stages of every business.

One year ago Square was one of the hottest companies in the industry and now they're facing a lot of challenges. Think about talent like you would an investor, bring on the people willing to invest in the long haul.

This part of a series of posts on the intersection of hiring and technology, follow for more content. You can also read my first post here. Next time we'll talk about retention.