Recruiting for startups is a challenge. Not only do most job seekers have other opportunities with more established companies, but you must also assure them that your business is here to stay, has the potential to grow, and is somewhere they can count on having a job at for many years to come. Combine that with a historically high talent shortage — affecting 75% of companies worldwide — and dealing with uncertain times, and you will need excellent pitches for candidates.
Fortunately, we’ve already gathered the best ways to pitch your startup’s opportunities, so you can focus on a more important matter: hiring today’s top talent.
Recruitment for Startups: Why’s it a Challenge?
Recruiting isn’t easy for any business or organization. However, startups have a much harder time because they often find it more challenging to keep up with competitive salaries and/or have a more difficult time breaking through the stigma of instability.
As TechCrunch also points out, “there’s no recognizable brand or reputation yet, and most people would prefer to work at a company their friends and family have heard of before. There’s also[a] fair presumption of risk and unviability — who wants to take a job that might not be around in a year?”
That’s why you need to fine-tune your pitch to reach and resonate with candidates consistently. When they see the potential and value your startup can bring to the market and their life, then you’re several steps closer to building a successful recruiting process.
5 Ways to Pitch Opportunities at Your Startup to Candidates
Your recruiting pitch can make or break the entire full-cycle recruiting process. Don’t let it cost you a great hire. Consider these top tips for pitching opportunities at your startup to candidates.
1. First impressions are crucial: don’t neglect your opening line
Bert Martinez, the founder of Bert Martinez Communications, once advised, “Start off strong — 80% of your success will depend on your opening line. It must snag your listener’s interest and make them want to know more. Do this right, and your prospects will follow you, wanting more.”
This could not be more relevant to your recruitment pitch because first impressions are hard to move past. If you’re not conveying true value right off the bat, you risk not portraying that value at all.
2. Your pitch should be tailored to the candidate and position
Recruitment pitches are not one-size-fits-all. Each position and candidate will require a new approach to the same pitch. This is because every candidate will not benefit from the same opportunities. After all, each candidate will be confronted with different:
- Career development opportunities
- Challenges within their career and company
- Roles and responsibilities, and more.
Pitching opportunities at a startup vs. an established company is hard enough. You need to make sure you get it right and can meaningfully resonate with candidates to show them that not only will they benefit your company, but your company will benefit from them. Using a pitch that isn’t relevant to them will scare them off immediately.
3. Keep it short and sweet
The best pitches — whether it’s recruitment, sales, elevator, etc. — are those that are short, sweet, and to the point. This is because it ensures your candidate is engaged in the opportunity but ‘too much’ isn’t given away, so they are left wanting more.
We recommend the sweet spot of 30 to 60 seconds, with your pitch not going past a full minute. It gives you plenty of time to talk up your company and the opportunity available to the candidate without adding so much fluff that the value of the opportunity is lost within the pitch.
4. Consistency is key
Although you’ll tweak bits and pieces to fit different roles and candidates, the main points should always remain consistent. Memorize your pitch in full, but know it well enough to communicate the worth of your company without sounding like a robot or like you’re reading straight from a script.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and former president, once said, “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.” If you stay consistent and true to your brand in your pitches, you lay the foundation for how candidates will perceive your company and what they will come to expect from your company in the future.
After all, a consistent representation of your brand — whether you hire the candidate or not — will eventually leave a trail of your brand’s footprint behind, building a strong employment brand presence in a market you are not yet well-known in.
5. Include key components
The critical components of an excellent recruiting pitch are:
- Your company’s mission and values
- The direction your company is going and how fast it’s getting there
- The value your company will offer the candidate in terms of growth and culture
- Validating information — i.e., partners, investors, major milestones, etc.
Convey to your candidates what your company is all about, where you plan to go in the future, how the candidate will contribute to that opportunity, and the benefits they will gain by contributing to that opportunity.
Recruiting for Startups Begin With Comeet
Your recruiting pitch is important, but so is attracting the right candidates to your job opening to have the opportunity to pitch them in the first place. Fortunately, startups can outsource talent acquisition affordably.
This is where Comeet’s all-in-one hiring solution can help significantly. Our industry-leading recruiting experts use their vast experience and expertise to source and connect you with top talent that fits your unique needs.
Better yet, you can count on them to source, screen, schedule, and even manage the entire process so you get the best possible candidates without the hassle of finding them yourself. Schedule a demo today to receive an overview of the Comeet Platform, discuss your hiring needs in detail, and cover potential pricing.
