While salary is a big deal, it’s not everything. Here’s how one founder made his start-up attractive to employees.
Sixteen years ago, I received a phone call that was both unexpected and surprising. On the other end of the line was Lisa (a pseudonym) who had previously been the leading applicant for an open job position at our agency. Lisa had learned about our agency from some of her peers who worked with us and who had encouraged her to apply for a position in the firm. But, halfway through the interview process, Lisa informed us that even though she really wanted to work with us, she had received an offer from a competitor that she just couldn’t refuse.
If your company simply can’t offer top-tier salaries, consider using these strategies. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that you can compete effectively for top talent without having a huge budget for salaries.
At the time, we were a start-up agency that was bootstrapping its way forward. We simply couldn’t match the salary that the competitor was offering Lisa. Believe me, if we could have, we would have. Lisa’s portfolio of work, CV, and recommendations were more than impressive. Although we were disappointed, we thanked Lisa for participating in the interview process and genuinely wished her all the best in her career. This is a scenario that many start-ups find themselves in—wanting to attract their industries’ “best and brightest” but being unable to compete with the big guys in the area of compensation.
Read the complete Fast Company article BY Ron Johnson: https://www.fastcompany.com/91298909/how-to-hire-when-you-dont-have-a-big-budget
