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Tips For Hiring Technical People |  |
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The Technologist likely will rank them: Responsibilities Environment Salary Security Opportunity Benefits Commute/Travel Company Industry Security Prior to the demise of the dot coms, security did not rank as high. The security of being a technologist in a hot market was enough security. After one or more layoffs caused by lack of funding, the technologist in today’s market has learned a great deal about security. Environment Team atmosphere? Techies will stay with a great team, even if the company is not. However, they will not stay in a great company if they don’t have a good work environment or team. Opportunity Heard it all before. The dot coms boasted this one a little too loud. Your average, mid-level, skilled technologist is more interested in producing a product or providing a service that he/she can get excited about. The opportunity for career advancement usually means moving into management which means getting away from the technology. This can be career suicide when one finds themselves in a job market glutted with managers. Other factors that technologist use to evaluate a job offer are: Technology What tools do I have at my disposal to do my job? What technology is utilized or implemented in the company? What is the technological orientation of the company? Is the company’s business devoted to technology? If not, how forward thinking is the management/culture towards technology? Will I have the budget to accomplish the technology goals inherent to my job? Marketability Is there a market for this company’s product/service? In the fallout of the dot coms, many startups did not have the buyers that were anticipated to generate the revenue to stay in business in an online marketplace. Although not directly related to the daily tasks of the technologist, more techies are interested in this aspect of the business as evidence of job security. Stock Options Heard this one, too. That’s not to say that you should not offer these. Stock Options have become a staple in an offer. Techies take these for granted and should definitely be part of the package. However, they will not take the place of a market salary. Stock options imply that the techie will be there to reap their rewards, and this staying power is best achieved through a forward thinking technology policy and development of a strong, team-based atmosphere than through merely stock options alone. What if you are a dot com in an unfriendly market? Here are some steps to overcome the stigma of being "one of those" companies in a world that has seen many great (and not so great) ideas come undone. These are points that should be addressed with every candidate, including techies. Don’t assume that financial information and executive track record don’t matter to your programmers – they have become very seasoned job seekers. Sell your executive track record – have they been part of a successful company or venture before? If the executives have been together in a previous company, this is all the more beneficial to the employee that is signing up for what may be a long ride with an experienced management team. Be prepared to answer questions about your path to profitability – at what point on the horizon does profitability appear imminent? Be conservative, and don’t overstate. Changing this target date is a sure-fire credibility loser. Be prepared to answer questions about the IPO. If the company is not planning to go public, or does not have a targeted date set, then the stock options are not a selling point. Be prepared to discuss the market analysis for your product or service. Who are your competitors and how do you differ? Don’t assume that a techie doesn’t know about marketing – many have learned it the hard way. Be prepared to discuss funding. Where is it coming from and how much do you have in the bank? How long will this sustain you before you will need more funding? Is secondary funding available if needed? If so, from whom? The best answer here is if the funding is coming from the industry or from a large institutional investor. Angel funding and VC funding is tricky unless you can assure the potential employee that these benefactors will not pull up and run when the going gets tough. The chance to push ones limits to produce something really technically exciting is still a draw to a lot of techies. This is why they signed up for the dot coms in the first place. It’s about the work, and personal contribution to something creative. The biggest disappointment among techies, interestingly, is not the failure of many dot coms financially, but instead, "what will happen to all that great technology that we built?" |
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