Building a recruiting machine: How to source and interview a ton of candidates

Founders Supporting Founders: Iterative is accepting applications for its next batch.

This is part two of a three-part series on how to build a recruiting machine. If you haven’t read part one, you can find it here.

At this stage of the recruiting machine, it’s time to get to work and figure out how to source a ton of candidates and then work them through your funnel. A job well done here will end with a couple of high-quality candidates that you can extend offers to.

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Sourcing: How to fill the pipeline

Recruiting is a numbers game. While the conversion rate will depend on a few factors – the seniority of the role you’re hiring for, geography, department, etc. – it’s not unreasonable to think that you’ll need to talk to roughly 40 to 50 people before putting put out an offer in the early stages.

The recruitment channels that work when hiring will differ depending on certain factors as well, and the best place to get advice on this is from founders who have recently hired someone for the same position.

Here are channels that have worked for me (prioritized by most to least effective):

1) LinkedIn first-degree connections

This is where you should start. Who is the closest engineer, operations person, or sales person you know who would be great for the role you’re hiring? Reconnect with them and see where they’re at. Let them know you’re looking for someone in X role, ask for their advice, and check if they have referrals.

2) LinkedIn second-degree connections

This is the next step you should try. Search LinkedIn for keywords and filter the results by companies that you’re sure would have the target profile you want. If you’re looking for great sales people, for instance, ask yourself which company is known for its great sales team. Then, once you’ve found a prospective candidate, ask a mutual connection how well they know the person and whether they’d be willing to forward an introduction request.

3) Referrals

If you have a team, host referral parties. These are 30-minute sessions where everyone is just doing item no. 1 and no. 2 together. Set a metric to hit, like the number of requests sent – these will often lead to more follow-ups than you’d expect.

4) Your own channels

Process: How to design the recruiting funnel