How to handle high-volume hiring as a growing startup
Spencer Bratman
Head of Product Growth
October 1, 2024
•
4 min
There are quite a few challenges that come with high-volume hiring when you’re a startup. These challenges include:
Maintaining consistency - One of the most significant challenges of high-volume hiring is maintaining consistency throughout the hiring process. When you’re recruiting for multiple roles, it’s easy to overlook the details or get overwhelmed by the volume of applications. This can lead to inconsistencies in the evaluation process, and problems like bias can enter the equation. You may just start relying on gut instinct or hiring the first candidate who looks good on paper. This could cause you to miss out on top talent or hire the wrong person for the role.
Being efficient - Maintaining consistency in your hiring process during spikes in hiring volume is hard enough, but you also need to hire quickly. Trying to be both precise and efficient when you lack resources and time can feel nearly impossible for busy startup teams.
Finding time - It’s no surprise that one of the most difficult high-volume hiring challenges for startups is finding enough time to dedicate to hiring. When you and your team are already stretched thin, it’s difficult to dedicate parts of the day to finding new people.
Strain on your existing team - Even if you can find the time to dedicate to hiring, the strain on your existing team can cause burnout and low morale. While waiting for those crucial roles to be filled, existing team members may need to take on extra burdens and tasks.
The challenges of high-volume hiring can lead to plenty of negative outcomes if they aren’t properly handled. One of the best ways to combat these challenges is by streamlining your hiring process and making it as consistent as possible. A well-organized and thought-out hiring process can take time to build, but the effort is well worth it. You’ll be able to decrease time-to-hire, improve hire quality and make the experience better for both your hiring team and the candidates.
So, we know that streamlining the hiring process is important. But how do you do it? In the next section, we’ll give you some tips for improving your hiring processes so you can handle hiring spikes when they come your way.
If you want to manage high-volume hiring and bring on the best talent as fast as possible, you need a strategic approach. We’ve put together some of the best tips for hiring at scale without compromising on quality.
1. Leverage recruitment tools
Investing in recruitment tools is a great way to improve your hiring processes. One of the best recruitment tools is an applicant tracking system or ATS. An ATS makes it easy to organize your hiring pipeline and track candidates from their first application to the offer stage. You can also automatically keep in touch with them and schedule interviews with the click of a button.
This birds-eye view of your hiring process helps you stay on top of all the roles you’re juggling, while also making sure none of your top candidates slip through the cracks. ATS options like Dover also offer AI tools that allow you to automate manual tasks, generate ideal job descriptions, and post to top job boards to attract more candidates.
Dover also offers AI candidate sorting and scoring, helping you move top talent to the top of the pile. This means you spend more time interviewing the best of the best and less time looking through resumes. Also, Dover is free, making it the ideal choice for startups. You can learn more about Dover’s free ATS today.
2. Hire freelance recruiting experts
High-volume hiring can become overwhelming for even the most well-prepared startup. As we’ve mentioned, startups are already short on time and resources, especially when they need to fill roles. That’s where freelance recruiters can be a game-changer. Freelance recruiting experts can manage your hiring pipeline and hire multiple roles quickly, freeing you and your hiring team to focus on your work.
Freelance recruiters are ideal for startups since they don’t often have the resources for full, in-house hiring help. They also have industry expertise, allowing you to tap into their knowledge and skills to make better hires in a fraction of the time.
If you need hiring help, Dover’s Recruiter Marketplace is where you can find it. Our freelance recruiters are proven and vetted and ready to help you make that next great hire. Plus, they work hourly, so you don’t have to get locked into a long-term contract.
3. Build a strong employer brand
The job market can be ultra-competitive for startups, and it can be tough to stand out to top candidates. That’s why building a strong employer brand is important. Taking time to build your employer brand makes top candidates come to you. Hiring is easier when you’re attracting the best of the best.
Build your employer brand to accurately reflect the culture, values and mission of your startup. This helps attract candidates who are not only qualified but on board with what you’re trying to do. You can use avenues like social media, your careers page, company reviews on review platforms and more to build your employer brand and show candidates that your startup is a great place to work.
4. Use a structured hiring rubric
We mentioned how consistency can be a major challenge when you have hiring needs. One way to maintain consistency is by developing a structured hiring rubric that is used by everyone involved in the hiring process. A hiring rubric clearly outlines a set of evaluation criteria that can be used for every candidate.
By using a structured hiring rubric, you can create a consistent and fair process for all candidates that reduces bias, speeds up decision-making and pushes top talent through the hiring pipeline. To build a good hiring rubric, outline key competencies required for the role and clearly define what constitutes a good candidate based on these competencies. A hiring rubric is just one more tool in your recruiting arsenal that can lead to faster and better hires.
5. Focus on candidate experience
Don’t forget to prioritize candidate experience when hiring at scale. A poor experience can lead to qualified candidates dropping out of the hiring process and accepting offers from other companies. Giving candidates a smooth, transparent and timely hiring experience helps avoid high dropout rates and improves your employer's brand.
To provide a great candidate experience, make sure you communicate with candidates throughout the hiring process, provide updates at each stage, and respond to their questions promptly. Automating some of these tasks is one way to improve their experience while lessening the burden on your team. Also, it’s a good idea to provide feedback to candidates, whether they’re hired or not, since this can give them a positive impression of your company and help build your reputation and brand.
Try Dover’s free ATS and fractional recruiters today
High-volume hiring can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be with Dover. Dover gives you access to the tools and expertise growing startups need to streamline recruiting, hire top talent, and fill the roles you need to fill quickly. Our ATS is completely free and gives you tools to manage hiring pipelines, expedite hiring workflows and make smarter hiring decisions.
Also, our Recruiter Marketplace gives startups access to proven and vetted startup recruiters who can step in and handle your high-volume hiring needs. Whether you need help hiring engineers, marketers, designers or anything else, our recruiting partners specialize in sourcing, screening, and hiring the best talent. Best of all, you can use them as often or as little as needed with our hourly pricing model.
Ready to see how Dover can help you streamline your high-volume hiring? Get started with our ATS and our Recruiting Partners marketplace today.
