A Guide to Recruiting for Start-Ups
From a guest post I recently wrote at for John Chow:
Prove the Start-Up
The biggest concerns college students have with accepting positions in start-ups are issues with credibility. Why would a student reject an internship with a well-known company to accept one with a no-name start-up? Hence, the most important thing a start-up can do is prove why it will be successful and why the student should want to get involved. A good concept and high sales projections are no longer enough.
One of the most important indicators of credibility for interns is the management team. Try to highlight the previous successes of the founders and executives of the company. Raising investment, even if it is just seed capital, from investors who have had “hits” in the past is also another great way to show credibility. Start-ups should be sure to highlight relationships they have with well known individuals, organizations, and corporations.
Give Interns Leadership Positions
“Leadership” is a huge buzzword when it comes to job applications and interns are all too well aware of this. They desperately want leadership positions to showcase on their resumes after graduation. Hence, one advantage start-ups have over larger companies is that it is easier for them to delegate more responsibility and give interns the opportunity to lead others.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to create internship programs where interns have a very specific task and give interns the resources they need to complete this task. For example, if it is the interns job to develop an online marketing campaign to promote the launch of a new section of the website, say the company blog, give the intern time with employees from the creative department, the software development department, and the content creation department to complete the task. Hence, the intern can say that he led a diverse team from various departments to reach a specific target goal, while all departments have some input on the final project and the entire process can be supervised by someone in management.
Read the Full Post Here.
