Hiring for Indian startups
Based on my research and conversations with entrepreneurs, it seems that hiring is one of the most difficult jobs for a startup. Be it Silicon Valley or be it Bangalore, finding the right employee can be one of the most challenging and often, one of the most time consuming jobs. The early employees are really crucial and can easily make or break your startup.
While some novel attempts are underway in the Indian context, I’m skeptical if job postings on sites like Naukri, Monster etc. really work for startups. I havent gone through the ordeal myself and am more than willing to change my perspective if you can share your hiring success story on Naukri / Monster etc.
If you are an Indian entrepreneur, I’d like to know how you go about hiring employees for your startup ? What resources have you found useful to hiring quality employees ? Do you have any suggestions to improve the hiring scenario ?
I seriously think that there’s opportunity for someone to tap into this niche.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:14 am
I work in a start up and am regularly asked to Interview ppl. I find that most of the times, ppl who come for interview just dont have depth in their education and consequently will not be able to perform well in their jobs. This applies to ppl who work hav gud bit of experience In the last 1 yr, we hav been able to add just one guy while we require 4 guys( we work in EDA tool domian).
Monster and Naukri work as resume aggregators. Everybody posts their resume there and smaller placement agenencies grab resumes from there and send to us start ups. So they work as much for large companies as for small companies. However, I am talking of start ups with money. I dunno abt tight budget start ups.
Personally, I think employee referrals are best. Our employees know what we expect and what kind of ppl they themselves wud like to work with. So when they refer, they refer ppl with right skill who are more likely to get hired.
–Raghuram
May 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Hi Pranav,
Waqar here ,I run this company called Sutra hr where we only hire talented people for Startups & Entrepreneurial driven companies.Currently we are working with some of the best startups in india like Komli,Burrp.com,Seventymm.com,Zoomin.com,Mkhoj,Iksula etc. Some of there core Business & Tech team have been hired by us.You can get more info at http://www.sutrahr.com.
We have been covered in press also ,chk out these links
http://alootechie.net/Not%20mentioned?q=node/650&source=1
http://www.watblog.com/2008/04/22/update-new-launches-in-indias-webduniya/
May 30th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I have not started hiring for my company yet but what I feel about the best way of hiring the Angel Engineers is to go back to your college days and try to contact best guys which you knew they were and then try contacting those best guys which your old college day’s friends know they are.
just don’t go to any placement consultancy or job website, because early day’s employees are not just the employees, they are whom you will rely upon, those who will build the company, those who will actually define the success for your venture !
May 30th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I am actually on the other side of the fence now - I have some solid 11+ years experience in the software industry (working as a Software Developer and then as a Program Manager in Microsoft, Redmond) and am currently seeking good opportunities back in Bangalore, India. I am running into the following problems:
- Naukri and Monster just dont seem to work. Most of the responses are from headhunters who do a very poor job of matching my interests and experience.
- Posting resumes online on a company’s website usually does not result in any response (goes into HR blackhole).
- Most of my friends are here in US so the referral thing does not exactly work for me.
I guess what I am trying to say is that even for non-startups, I am finding it challenging to find a good position back in Bangalore.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:45 am
Pranav,
Hiring for a startup has always been a tough and will remain so for sometime. There a certain set of problems like shortage of quality talent, unrealistic salary expectations, office infrastructure, fitment issues plaguing all startups. The job portals don’t add any value and neither are there many recruiting firms who have focused on this area.
I have a recruiting background and had co-founded a firm which specialized in hiring for startups. From my recruiting experience, I feel entrepreneurs need to do a little more then required. The expectations need to be set right and lot of care and attention needs to be applied to each interaction with a potential hire. Startups are often associated with demanding work and higher risks by candidates hence quite often we have people shying away or demand higher salaries. At the same time stock options haven’t been very effective.
I run a blog on the hiring scene in India, and I have shared my experiences on hiring for startups through a couple of posts http://asutosh.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/hiring-for-startups/, http://asutosh.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/getting-the-right-guy-for-your-venture/ .Will invite you share your views on the same.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:42 am
I’m toying with couple of ideas for my latest startup - I explore almost each and every avenue to find talents - from job sites, to blogs, to references etc.
EDIT: If anyone who is interested to work with exciting startup then contact me at: ideas101[at]orgoo[dot]com
June 1st, 2008 at 7:15 am
Finding the right employees is the one of the most challenging tasks at hand no question.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am
We tried many options - as ever, the best were referrals, first from friends at previous companies, and then from our first hires. For hiring technical people, targeting the local tech mailing lists worked well. We did get some leads from Naukri/Monster, but found better people outside.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Ha ha. Most people here are trying to promote themselves instead of answering the question.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Referral based recruitment is the only option that works in cases like you. As a startup, you have limitations of the number of employees that you have and the number of people that they can refer. You may like to try portal like http://www.zyoin.com and extend your referral program to all professionals.
Cheers!
Krishna
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Hi Everyone
Very interesting, just found this blog and found lot of posts very helpful.
On topic of job portals, we are launching our beta for Indian market in middle of July, stay tuned, will pass on the details as soon as it’s public.
We are trying to solve some of the problems, and yes there are huge value propositions for both startups as well as enterprises.
If anyone wants to learn more, I will happy to share more details.
It is risk free and there is no upfront cost for employers, if anyone would like to sign for beta customers, please feel free to contact me.
-Neeraj
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
@nishi,
If we uncover some good resources, which startups can leverage for their hiring needs, through such comments, I’m totally cool with it.
@neeraj,
keep us tuned. We’d all like to find out more about the value proposition you’d offer to startup hiring.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Sure Pranav. I was just making an observation. We always learn a lot through healthy discussions and I appreciate the way you try to foster them.
Anyway, let me add my two bits too. Successful hiring should also mean low attrition rates. And here is something startups can do to achieve this.
At Chillibreeze, once we have shortlisted our candidates, one major question we ask ourselves is - Does he/she need Chillibreeze as much as Chillibreeze needs him/her? If the answer is yes, then it is more than likely the employee will stick around for a long time and add value.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
nishi,
you bring up an excellent point. Startups (all companies actually) should create an atmosphere so that the employee feels a compelling urge to work for you.
An excellent example would be google - everyone seems to be making a beeline for Google.
also, check out this excellent hiring tactic by Zappos:
http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/05/wy_zappos_pays_new_employees_t.html
July 26th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
have any of you heard about thehiringtool.com? posting is free - employers pay only if they hire and leverage our network of consultants which is already at 150 and growing steadily.