Vibhav Singh, Co-Founder & CEO at xtenav.com, helps people create amazing audio-visual designs and winning sales proposals.
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Building a dream team for your SaaS startup is not as easy as it may sound. A SaaS startup requires individuals who are highly skilled and willing to work in a dynamic environment. If you lead a SaaS startup, then get ready to hire because the market is projected to reach $232 billion in 2024. I guess this is a good time to step in.
I have been in the industry for over 15 years now, and trust me, recruiting is all about understanding the personality of the candidate. In this article, I have curated my years of experience in recruiting and shared some amazing insights. With this checklist, one can find a perfect fit for their organization.
The candidate should be familiar with SaaS.
I think, when hiring for your SaaS business, the very first quality to look for is familiarity with SaaS. It's always a plus if they are experienced in SaaS or your niche. For example, I am from the audio-visual industry and when my team and I look for candidates for our company, we always hunt for someone with experience in our niche. This way, their experience is a great add-on to my organization.
The very first thing I try to analyze is if the person is conscientious. These people are responsible, hardworking and reliable. The simple signs to look for are awards, achievements and certificates. Through this, you will better understand their familiarity with SaaS.
Find someone who fits your culture.
Your business is up and running; hence, you've already created a culture for the team. Now, when you add a new member to the team, don't you think it's your responsibility as a recruiter to identify if they fit your culture? To understand this, all I try to do is understand their personality as an individual. This can include what they do in their leisure time, which leads to the all-time favorite question of recruiters: "What are your hobbies?"
By analyzing the personality and thought process of the individual, you can easily gauge if they will be a good fit for the organization. So, make sure that every question you ask reflects both their personality and the skills they own.
Hire people with relevant skills and a willingness to upskill.
Do you know how important it is to have people who are passionate about your product? This benefits not only you but also them. Someone who loves their work won't ever feel burdened by it; instead, they take every task as a learning opportunity.
Here, I use another psychological principle called openness to new experiences. This personality trait shows how curious, creative and adaptive an individual is. These candidates embrace new ideas, technologies and opportunities and are innovative and flexible.
Now, it's up to you to identify and embrace this talent. The key identifiers are their interests, hobbies and experiences. A simple question you could ask: What is something you learned recently? This shows their continuous effort for growth. However, I'd request you frame your questions according to the candidate and not follow my examples blindly.
Hunt for problem solvers.
Natural problem solvers are always a great add-on to your team. They don't need any kind of training; they function in a way that helps them solve problems. The best way to analyze this in any candidate is to understand their cognitive ability. This is just another psychological ploy I use. When managing a business, psychology is the foundation for everything—hiring, sales and just about anything else. Success is just around the corner if you can comprehend psychology.
People with cognitive ability are great with numbers and logical reasoning. Some organizations analyze this through tests. I prefer to give them a case study and understand their thought process.
Time management capabilities are a must-have.
A startup is not an easy place to work if we look from a job seeker's perspective. This is because there are multiple responsibilities on one person. To manage this, a person needs to have time management skills. I'm not saying overwork the employees, but it's natural when working in a startup.
As a first-time recruiter, do you think it'll be easy for you to figure out if a person has good time management skills? No, right? So here's how I do it: Give them tasks before taking an interview and give them a reasonable deadline. By doing this, you can understand two things: if they can manage time and what their skills are in the industry.
Conclusion
The checklist that I have given you above is what I use for hiring at XTEN-AV. For me, they have worked wonders. In the end, learning is a slow process for you and the candidates as well. Make sure to give it time and understand their personality, because skills can usually be learned later.
Finally, the last guiding light I’d like to share is to treat each candidate equally. Biases will always lead you to unfair and inaccurate assumptions about people and situations. These tips prepare you to hire and experience 10x growth in your SaaS startup.
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