TalentVine Blog

As a growing startup, you’ve heard it a dozen times before. Recruiters have called you up, asking if you’re currently hiring at the minute and regardless of whether you are or not, they’ve hit you with their carefully worded objection handlers.

“Can your startup really afford to hire the wrong person?” and “‘What is the true cost of spending 50 hours of your precious time to do a mediocre job of DIY recruitment?” 

But Alas, they're not wrong. Especially for a startup.

When it comes to running a startup, you might not like to think it, but both of these statements are true. And actually, more so for a startup than an established business. Read them again and think about it.

Job boards and networks don’t attract the highest quality candidates so if this is the only method being used to source early talent, you’re really limiting the potential pool and using up a lot of your valuable time in the process.

This is why we partner with many startups, helping them grow their teams across Australian ecosystems.

As a startup ourselves, we know the challenges that come with cash-flow and the chicken and egg situation that’s involved with making hires who can then make the company more money. This is why we have three month payment terms for startups so they can see a return on their investment before the full recruitment fee is paid.

Not every startup needs a recruiter. Sometimes you’ll meet the perfect hire at a networking event, co-working space or through job boards.

But from our experience, this is usually what tends to happen...

1. The startup needs to make a technical hire so they start asking around their network and pay $300 to put the ad on a job board.
2. In total the CEO or hiring manager spends 40 hours writing the ad, viewing CVs and holding interviews for a shortlist of candidates.
3. The candidates don’t meet their requirements, so they engage with a recruiter who happens to call them at the right time.
4. Once they see the difference in quality that comes from professionally-screened candidates, they make an offer and end up paying up to 20% of the salary as a fee.

And voila! We see it happen time and time again, and when you’re in the most delicate phase of your growth, that 20% fee and time spent sourcing through job boards can actually have quite a detrimental effect on your bottom line.

Now for the juicy stuff...

After you’ve identified that you need to hire someone to join your team, here’s a tried and tested method of hiring that works.

1. Start with the basics - Ask your networks, seek referrals from friends or colleagues, and perhaps give job boards a go if money is tight.
2. Sign up to TalentVine - Place your role on TalentVine. Remember, there’s no cost or obligation. You only pay the fee you’ve agreed on if you hire your perfect candidate, which can be paid over three months so that you can get a return on your investment before the full fee is paid.

When you’re tapping into both the active job market (people looking for work on job boards) and the passive market (candidates who’ve been tapped on the shoulder by recruiters which often includes your competitors) you’re allowing yourself the opportunity to find the creme de le creme of talent and not missing any tricks.

TalentVine recruiters can also guide you through a variety of candidates in the market, so you can get a better understanding of salary requirements and expectations. Connecting with recruiters is a great way to open hiring options available that you might not have considered. You’re also getting the recruiters expertise on writing job descriptions, best-practice recruitment processes, reference checks etc.

If you happen to find the right person through job boards or your network - awesome. And if not, at least you know you’ve seen the best possible candidates in the market whilst you continue with your internal recruitment methods, so no time has been wasted.

What happens if I hire through TalentVine?

If you do make a hire through TalentVine, we invoice you one third of the fee on your candidate’s start date, one third after a month of being with you and the final third after three months so you’re able to get a return on investment before committing to the full amount.

What if your candidate doesn’t work out? Things happen that are out of our control, which is why our six month replacement guarantees will mean even if this does happen, they’ll be replaced at no additional cost.

Startups live and die based on their hires. TalentVine is all about giving founders the best possible chance and choice to make the right hiring decisions. You’ve already got this far, what’s there to lose?