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What skill set is hardest for a start up to recruit for?
If the current job market is any indication, I'm pretty sure that software development skills are not difficult to recruit for. What skill set is the hardest for a start up to hire for?
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7 Answers
The hardest skill set to recruit for is actually a profile. There are hundreds of search firms and whole Fortune 500 staffing groups set up to locate this proverbial Yeti of candidates. A search on Monster.com shows there are over 1 k active postings for this profile. There will be some biotech/pharma recruiters who disagree, but I'd take Ph.D. industry over this any day of the week:
Senior Analyst/Senior Financial Analyst
*2-3 years audit experience of publicly traded, global companies with Big 4 firm (which leaves 3, since one of them's the company's auditor and they have a non-compete. So that's 3 alumni groups alone)
*BS in Accounting (which is always posted as a minimum qualification, so if the company's OFCCP, you have to throw away anyone who does not have that exact degree, which is almost everyone in those 3 alumni groups)
*Knowledge of GAAP/IFRS, etc. (Technical Accounting knowledge isn't really the biggest thing when you're completing your work experience requirements to get...)
*Active CPA (which means that the kids who are out getting the experience in one of the 3 alumni groups probably have no time to study for what's basically an ethics and math test)
*Fortune 500 finance or accounting experience highly preferred (so you can make a lateral move if we can find you in the first place).
If you find one of these candidates, guess what? There are like 5 of them on the market at any given time, and 4 of them have already submitted a resume through every search agency to every global company willing to pay 20-30% on base just to make hiring managers happy that they've got REALLY qualified people running, by law, the least innovative cost center in the entire organization.
The other one on the market needs an H1-B, and good luck finding a global company who will spring for that. A search firm's fee's cheaper and lower risk. And after all, the candidate has to have good communication skills, too.
I somehow filled over 200 of these in my career. I hope never to do so again.
Attitude - the ability to work in an environment where there will be lots of ups and downs. In the interview the candidate is always "up". What will they be like when there are tough times in the start up?
Craig Bissett - CEO - www.hiringsimulation.com
Not as much of a "skill" as a sense for how the candidate will cope with change and/or ambiguity. Start ups, like most businesses, need folks that are capable AND folks that can cope with what Craig describes above.
For a software startup, I found the hardest skill to recruit for is the inventor, the type of person that can look at a problem holistically, device a solution, and actually get hands on and prototype the solution. The key attributes are tenancity, creativity, and having the hard skills to meet the challenge.
Excellent quality managers. Actually it is easy to recruit management talent because they look good on paper and they talk a great game. The problems usually aren't discovered until they have been on the job a few months. Micromanagement, lack of respect for those they manage and their current and future potential contributions, lack of mentoring skills, telling management what they want to hear, blaming others for problems are just some of the issues that can hurt a company and in some cases destroy it. These types of managers destroy essential innovation and lead to high turnover rates. The unfortunate thing is that the damage they can do is often extensive before the company realizes it and takes action.
Software development skills are extremely difficult to obtain.. if only because the hiring party generally has little technical knowledge from which to define requirements, or upon which to reliably assess the candidate's skill. Even with a clearly defined 'profile', I would say only 1 out of 20 candidates who get through my door are viable.
But I digress... in short, I would say any skill that the hiring party does not already possess themselves - or by proxy of a trusted associate.
Product Management in my experience. It's a critical 'bridge' role between the customer-facing (Sales & Marketing) and engineering/development organizations that requires skills (and credibility) in both.
Very difficult skill set to find, and strong Product Management execs are worth their weight in gold.
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