Meaghan Burns’ Post

One of my favorite questions to ask founders is, “What is your contrarian take on hiring?” Maxwell Bonnie gave me two great ones in our recent conversation. 1) Founders should be involved in every hire through the first couple of hundred hires. “Only a few people see the big picture and really understand a start-up's core, and I want that to be part of the hiring process.” 2) There's a higher bar for being a hiring manager. “Just because you're going to manage this person does not mean you're making the decision.” “A hiring manager has such a higher bar that I want as few people as possible to have that bar so that we can keep talent as good as possible.” I couldn’t agree more with him on both of his takes on hiring. 

Scaling up hiring can feel daunting, but I recently navigated this challenge at my company. We had to fill dozens of roles within a tight timeframe due to our rapid growth. The team began by drafting a strategic hiring plan that clearly outlined our goals and the skills required for each position. One major decision was to utilize automated scheduling and one-way video interviews. This decision aimed to streamline our process and reduce time-to-hire. As a result, we efficiently managed to interview candidates without getting bogged down by scheduling conflicts. While it sped things up, we realized that the personal touch sometimes got lost. Looking back, we could have increased our engagement with candidates by setting up brief live Q&A sessions for them to meet potential team members. This would have added a layer of interaction that supported our company culture. The key takeaway? When hiring at scale, balancing efficiency with personal connection is vital. Embrace technology, but don't forget the human side of recruitment. Keep this in mind as you grow your team!

I've refined our hiring strategy significantly throughout Q1. This past year has been transformative for me, reshaping my approach to business development, market insight, and talent development. Working with burgeoning companies has sharpened my focus on identifying and cultivating talent with the potential to excel. My methodology emphasizes three critical attributes in prospective tech managers: 1. Metrics Mastery In the realm of tech talent, CVs often boast exaggerated achievements, like tripling business size or helming massive teams. While these claims may occasionally hold water, especially in a startup context, they're often inflated. During interviews, I probe the candidate's understanding of their claimed metrics. The most impressive candidates can articulate the genuine impact of their contributions, typically through business funnel metrics. 2. Deep Product Insight A manager in the tech sphere must demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the product without needing excessive guidance. It's a red flag if a candidate lacks product knowledge or views it as an outsider does. A candidate's ability to discern and articulate the nuances between our product and the competitive market—and how they can bridge that gap—can be a game-changer. 3. Adaptability to Change I value adaptability over rigid right-or-wrong stances. Despite my evolving perspectives, my commitment to a retention-first approach, beginning with thorough onboarding, has remained steadfast. It's crucial to select managerial candidates who are open-minded and can seamlessly integrate into and evolve with our culture, thereby enhancing team dynamics and performance. Lastly, a strong personality is always a bonus. Like a well-rounded army with its cavalry, knights, and medics, personality is the glue that holds a team together when other motivators wane. After all, morale isn't solely about the paycheck. Best of luck with your tech talent acquisitions. #TechHiring #TalentAdvocacy

Hiring the right team is crucial for scaling your business. 💡 But attracting top talent isn't always easy!  In this post, I'm breaking down the most important places to check your hiring process for bottlenecks and roadblocks. Take the time to implement at least some of these tips into your hiring practices, and you'll be on your way to assembling your dream crew. 🤩 And if you're ready to do more than just talk about it, send me a connect or a message, and let's chat about how I can help you grow the team you need! #hiring #growyourteam

In terms of importance, where does recruiting and hiring rank with product development and GTM in determining a company's success? Thoughts on this are invited! Meanwhile, here is an article from First Round Capital's "Review" publication with excellent advice on refining the #hiring process.

Seems like everyone is obsessed with #hiring "#Lead" or "#Senior" roles currently... Based on the job postings I see, a lot of employers either don't have the skillset to recognize obvious potential, or they don't have the stomach to gamble on speculative hires and see who works out. Regardless, hiring is challenging. Sometimes you truly do need to hire a 10x #Developer. Even so, they may turn out to be a poor fit. Honestly, every hire is a speculative hire. If your business can tolerate it, look deeper at candidates who show you that they can learn and be successful. The risk:reward ratio is reasonable.

If you lead or have future ambitions to, this is non-negotiable: You need to learn the entire end-to-end hiring process. Emphasis on ENTIRE. Hiring is the MOST important decision you'll make as a leader, impart on your people at scale and costliest to fix when it goes wrong. Been there. Done that. Here to help 👋🏼 ▶ For the next 2 weeks, my posts will be a mini-series on Hiring 101: Back to Basics. ▶ I'll share my no-BS basics from hiring over 500+ people globally at FOX, NatGeo & Multiverse (+ interviewing thousands!). So, what basics should EVERY leader know in the #hiring process? 📰 Writing a job description 💰 Budgeting headcount 👀 Sourcing candidates 🔍 Outbound outreach ☎ Sell call vs. screens 🌏 Bias-managed hiring ✍🏻 Shortlisting candidates 📚 Skill vs. values interview ⚖ Negotiating offer Ts & Cs 🚪 Onboarding (esp. month 1) ⛵ Manage through probation 🚀 Passing vs. failing probation ♻ TLDR: - Hiring is the most important decision you'll make as a leader - Knowing the basics of the end-to-end hiring process is non-negotiable - Tune in at 9 AM (GMT) M-TH for my mini-series on Hiring 101: Back to Basics Questions? You know where to drop them ⤵ PS: Which basics do you look forward to learning? 🔥 🚢 🙋🏻♀️ Hi! I'm Neda: a 3x successful scaler turned fCOO and Scale Advisor. ✍🏼 I write about how to #scale #worldclassteams and #diversifytech. Follow Neda Sahebelm and keshty for more posts like this! 🔔

Here's a strategic hiring success story from one of our recent partnerships with a thriving software development company that recently landed a transformational contract, setting it on a path to significant growth and innovation. 🔍 The Challenge: With the new contract in hand, the company immediately needed to build out a tech team capable of bringing their ambitious project to life. The task was not just to fill positions but also to strategically onboard talent that could drive the project from the top down. 💼 Our Approach: We embarked on a comprehensive journey, starting with a deep understanding of the contract's scope and the company's future vision. Recognizing the pivotal role of leadership, we prioritized hiring principal and management-level tech professionals. These roles were instrumental in setting the project's direction and tone. Once these key positions were secured, we meticulously filled out the team with skilled individual contributors (ICs), ensuring a complete and cohesive team ready to tackle the project milestones. 🎯 The Outcome: The strategic hiring approach allowed for a seamless onboarding process and rapid progression towards project milestones. The new leadership roles provided the guidance and expertise needed to scale the team effectively and foster innovation. 🌟 Their Own Words: "You've exceeded our expectations. The quality of talent is greater than we imagined when we spec'd out the new program, and we thought it would take much longer than it did to find these people. You know exactly what we're looking for in our new hires." 🤝 As we continue to support #SMBs in #tech, this partnership underscores the importance of strategic hiring in achieving business transformation and technological advancement. 💡 Are you facing similar challenges in scaling your tech team? Let’s connect to discuss how we can write your strategic hiring success story by partnering with Fox Search Group. #TechTalent #StrategicHiring #TransformationalGrowth #ITLeadership

Some wisdom from Peter Thiel on hiring & building software teams; 👇 ➡️ Hire individuals who think differently and are deeply passionate about their work, rather than just those with impressive resumes. ➡️ Advocate for small, diverse teams with flat hierarchies to foster innovation and quick decision-making. ➡️ Invest in your team's personal and professional development through continuous learning and mentorship. Qs to ask during an interview; 🗣️ 1️⃣ "What is one fundamental truth that you believe in that the majority of the world disagrees with?" This question aims to identify candidates who can think independently and have unique perspectives. 2️⃣ “If I gave you $100 million right now, would you be in this seat?” This question explores the candidate's true passions and motivations. 3️⃣ "Why would we not hire you for this role?" This encourages introspection and honesty about one's weaknesses. #softwareteams #softwarehiring #softwareinterviews

Guess what? I really enjoy hiring AND I am really good at it. Yes, it is time consuming and it is always a new opportunity to ENHANCE the team. Too often I see leaders romanticize a perfect position where the soon-to-be-hired person will automatically understand the culture, the stakeholder nuances, and make immediate impact. So what's my secret? I identify where the FRICTION is within the role and I am honest with myself and the candidate about this friction. -What about this role seems straightforward on paper, but is actually not straightforward to execute in real life? -Who is the most difficult person the new hire will interact with regularly? -How does the new hire SOAR within the realities of working with other humans and human-made systems? Then I hire for problem solving, adaptability and resilience based on behavioral questions. This is how I set up the new hire for success (and build trust while I am doing it!) My quick tips for finding your unicorn: 🦄 -Form a hiring committee. This takes time and mitigates bias in the process. -Be honest where the friction is in the new hire's environment. -Trust your gut. -Plan out your calendar through the interview and onboarding process. Make it fun and make a difference! #leadyourselffirst #radicalauthenticity #itsthelittlethings