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WE, AT WEB Summit, have big plans for expansion.
Recently we announced plans to hire another 100 people over the next year – and that’s after we doubled in size to 135 employees at our HQ in Dartry, Dublin over the past year. In 2016, we will host 100,000 people around the world at our international events.
With that in mind, here are my top 10 rules for recruiting:
1. Applications are important but targeting is vital
Only a small percentage of our hires come from applications. A lot of our roles are specialist and expert, and we spend a great deal of time and effort targeting those whom we would like to join the company.
2. Use recommendations and referrals
It’s a widely accepted principle but we know that internal recommendations and referrals are a key way to find top talent. We have referral programmes with cash rewards for employees that successfully recommend new hires.
The data shows that if you know someone here, the chances are higher that you will get hired. And we have even extended this to our global network, offering free Web Summit tickets for life to those that recommend great people to us.
3. Take interviewing seriously
We make sure that all those looking to join us get interviewed by a range of our staff, from me downwards. This is to check that the candidate is tested, as you would expect, for their fit for the role but also that they encounter the ecosystem in which they will operate – they are introduced to the company as much as we are introduced to them.
In a rapidly growing startup, the right character and cultural fit are sometimes more important than the right skill set or experience.
4. Target Irish abroad
Since 2008, some 400,000 people have left Ireland. Many of them have been among our most-talented and ambitious graduates. Most left because opportunities didn’t exist in Ireland at the time that matched their skills/talents.
But what happens when they leave? Many of those graduates have been exposed to opportunities that they simply would never have had in Ireland. But many of them retain fond memories of the country.
Offer them a great job and many would love to come back here. And when they do, they will add something a little extra to your team.
5. Hunt among the big tech companies
The location of satellite or subsidiary offices of multinational tech companies in Ireland has had an incredibly positive effect. High-potential Irish employees are regularly hoovered up and out of their subsidiary in Ireland to be taken to the mothership in San Francisco or New York or elsewhere.
While the Dublin offices provide great, high-paying jobs, most of the responsibility for key decisions in these companies is understandably concentrated in the motherships. It’s there you’ll find hundreds of Irish in key positions.
Lorraine Twohill of Google is perhaps the greatest example of this. Find the next wave of Lorraines and hire them.
6. Make life easy for new arrivals
When hiring from abroad, whether returning Irish or other nationalities, it is important to help new recruits settle properly in Dublin. At Web Summit, we now have a crash pad in Dublin for new hires.
It’s a big six-bedroom, red-brick house where you new arrivals can live during their first months at Web Summit. Folks flying in for interviews can also stay here. The crash pad removes a massive headache and creates a little sense of community for newbies.
7. Repatriate, relocate – then refer
The first repatriation or relocation will always be the hardest. But once you’ve repatriated one person, you instantly have a reference case and it becomes easier. Trumpet your successes (have them on the interview panel) and more will follow.
8. Plan early for senior talent
Start building relationships early, even up to a year before you pitch a job opportunity. This gives senior and mid-ranking execs a sense for your growth over time both as a leader and as a company. As you grow and mature, their belief that you can continue to grow will intensify.
9. Understand their situation
If someone has just been promoted to a big new position in a multinational, it’s unlikely you’re going to persuade them to jump ship.
If, however, they’ve held a range of ever-more senior positions over a number of years and it looks like they’re about 12 to 24 months into their latest tour, then possibly you’re hitting someone at the right time. There’s no hard and fast rule here.
10. Paint a (realistic) picture
There are all sorts of great posts on mapping out the journey for a potential hire. You just have to be frank with potential hires. Apparently you’re supposed to sell the dream, but I prefer to explain the risk arbitrage. Here’s how the conversation might go:
“You can stay in the relative safety of the warm embrace of a very large company and you’ll almost certainly be doing fine in 3-5 years.
“Move to the frenetic, fast-paced environment of an Irish startup and in 3-5 years you might be doing incredibly well, but you might also be back in that warm embrace of a tech multinational with a few war stories to tell. That’s the reality.”
Paddy Cosgrave is the CEO and co-founder of Web Summit. This article was originally published on Fora, a new business publication for Irish startups and SMEs.
I went to an interview with the web summit last year and it was up there with the worst experiences I’ve had looking for work. I went up to Dublin the night before because it was an early morning interview, 20 minutes before I was scheduled to start they rang me asking to reschedule. I explained that I had traveled for the interview and they said they would ring me back. An hour and a half later they rang and told me to call over. When I got there I had to wait another hour to be seen and then I was put through a two hour interview process where I was questioned by four different people, one by one. The last person from HR who saw me told me they’d need a week to consider my application, an hour later I got a generic email saying they were no longer considering me.
I take it you weren’t a Trinners graduate, China. They’re apparently better than other graduates in Ireland you see.
Why would anybody prioritise Trinity students? It’s not even ranked in the top 100 of colleges worldwide for technology courses. Maybe if he was running a creative writing course but not for anything technology related.
The sheer amount of unsatisfied people that have attended the Web Summit is disgraceful. A money grabbing for profit organization that seem to have on main objective: Maximize Paddy Cosgraves Wealth. His verbal lashing of the Government was nothing but a diversion of his company’s financial decision to move to Lisbon. Making outlandish demands which inevitably would be funded by you and me, the taxpayers. What an absolute disgrace of a company. Oh yeah, 20 euro for a cheeseburger and he demanded that hotels lower their prices… good riddance.
Why us this posh p*rick allowed to promote hinself on here, how much did he pay you?
This from the tool who said he’d prioritise graduates from Trinity College Dublin (where he graduated with only a BA BESS) over those from other universities.
Small minded tool. Bugger off to Lisbon and stay there.
Sounds a lot like how the summit itself is run. Unprofessional.
Is that you Paddy? The same person who charged €20 for a cheese burger and bottle of tap water at the RDS last year? I’m glad Enda and co. didn’t bow to your bulls**t and your outrageous demands. Free leap cards and Garda escorts for your guests? Who do you think you are?
Apologies over the duplicate posts. Broadband wasn’t working properly…better move to Lisbon,,,
Are these Paddys words? He forgot to mention getting unpaid interns : volunteers to work for free and Charge guests 1k+
I can’t imagine there’s a job in the world or a boss you couldn’t take orders from if you could make it through a 20min interview with that tool….
Usually wouldn’t point out spelling errors in an article but it says “this ARTICLE was originally posted on Fora” should read “this AD was originally posted on Fora”
Oh Paddy, is that you? You’re the person who charged €20 for a cheese burger and a bottle of River Rock in the RDS. I’m glad Enda didn’t give into you and your outrageous demands. Free leap cards and Garda escorts for your guests? Who do you think you are?
Paddy Cosgrav€, about as likeable as Ivor Callely driving a Luas
Key web summit recruitment question is, ‘how low will you go’? If you answer ‘lower than a rats arse’ then you’re in with a chance of a shit telemarketing job. Phoning and annoying people all day long, ratting on your fellow employees, meeting your target number of calls etc. Management material, eh?
Oh Paddy, is that you? The same person who charged €20 for a cheese burger and bottle of tap water at the RDS before Christmas. I’m glad Enda didn’t bend over for you with your outrageous demands. Free leap cards and Garda escorts for your guests? Who do you think you are?
Everytime there is an article from the Web Summit on this site people are always criticising it and its founder. This is a great piece and I know my employer practices most of these steps. The web summit is a great company Ireland should be proud of.
Nah.
Eddie really, I’m proud paddy is off to Lisbon, where he can practice his form of legal thievery in the sunshine. 20 quid burgers and celebrities who use Twitter telling people how great technology is, I can’t believe he gets away with it.
Wow haters gonna hate! All these keyboard warriors b1tching and moaning about Cosgrave when the Web Summit is about a lot more than one guy. It takes skill, connections, luck and hard work to build an event like WS and make no bones about it; it’s a big loss to Dublin. But this article is a genuinely decent post about a topic of interest to anyone with business ambitions. Why not just see it for what it is and comment on the post instead of childishly attacking the guy.
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