Designing a Good Hiring Process Is Really Freakin’ Hard
This is really hard work. It’s also really important work. So do it. But go easy on yourself for not getting it right the first, second, or tenth time.
25-second read
Creating a consistent hiring process requires two main things: time and people resources.
Sub-100 employee startups typically have neither. This includes the companies that have outsourced recruiting to great firms.
Here’s why:
- Time = having the space to hold the conversations that source the data that allow change to happen. Then, the definition of time changes to meaning having the time to document all of the new processes, implement, train across the org, execute, get feedback, and improve. Then, the definition of time changes again to meaning having the space to implement the improvements and repeat.
- People resources = a Head of People + function leaders (typically the founder/CEO and the Head of Engineering) + at least one recruiter who can work collaboratively on this all while still trying to actively recruit, hire, onboard, and reject candidates without completely blowing things up.
I agree that having a consistent hiring process is incredibly important. I’m purely stating the realities of what it takes to make this happen—even when you outsource process improvement.
Bottom line: This is really hard work. It’s also really important work. So do it. But go easy on yourself for not getting it right the first, second, or tenth time.
Improve in increments. It’s the only way.
(I've provided a rudimentary overview to offer some perspective on this topic. It’s much more complex than this.)