Simon Mika

Mentor

• development managers
• project managers
• product managers
• lead developers
• scrum masters

Advice

• agile development
• lean startup methodology
• system architecture
• developer recruitment

Build

• development organizations
• products and prototypes

Preparing

Be Ready to Move Fast

• plan process
• formulate requirements
• delegate decision and negotiation

Outpace your Competition

Employees Market

• Adapt your plans to what's available.

Sourcing

Ads

• Platsbanken, Arbetsförmedlingen (it's free)
• Stack Overflow
• LinkedIn (easy apply)

Network

Good People know other Good People.

Routinely Interview New Employees for Candidates:

• University Classmates
• Former Colleagues
• Friends

Example: Google

Search

• Github
• LinkedIn
• Stack Overflow

Example: Google

Events

Host, Sponsor or Talk at Events.

Builds long term brand and awareness in the community.

Example: Caspeco

University

• Thesis Workers
• Trainee Programs
• Sponsor Events
• Ads

Long term brand building pays of even for small companies.

Example: Precisit

Selection

Selling

Convincethe candidate that your company is where they want to work.

Do

• Move fast, decide continuously
• Get buy in from existing staff
• Be decent, say no to candidates

Don't

• Focus on imperfections
• Look for perfection
• Interview without goal
• Waste candidates time

Initial Selection

1. Weed out unqualified candidates
2. Look for uneven candidates

Warning Example: Amazon

Warning Example: KnowIT

Invite to Interview

• Offer interviews at start and end of the day
• Who to meet, where, when and how long
• Be fast, invite continuously

First Interview

1. Prepare room and printed resume
2. Say hello, offer coffee or water, show office, sit down
3. Explain recruitment process
4. Talk about yourself, the company and the position
5. Open up for questions
6. Let them tell about themselves, follow in resume
7. Ask questions (salary, period of notice)
8. Open up for questions
9. Next steps

Warning Example: Google

Only focus on programming skills, not selling the position.

Competence Interview

• simulate real work
• write code
• leave plenty of time
• leave candidate alone
• discuss choices

Warning Example: Google

Culture Interview

• eat lunch
• involve other employees
• avoid homogenization
• combine with competence interview

Closing

Make an offer that is:

• fair
• complete
• binding
• time limited (1-3 days)

Do

• Explain contract in detail
• Include phone number to ask question
• Include contract return envelope
• Require them to notify you of their decision by text/phone

Don't

• extend time
• reopen negotiation
• offer trial employment to employed candidates

Onboarding

Before

• start 1 hour after everybody else
• prepare table, chair, computer, phone, email, etc
• put flowers and business cards on desk

First Hour

• offer coffe and water
• introduce to 2-3 other employees
• show desk and help login
• setup accounts, clone repo
• show relevant example code

First Day

• start coding on first task
• lunch with new colleage on company expense
• show time reporting
• hand out keys

First Task

• finishable within 8h
• standalone
• datastructure for library
• focus on process not content

Second Task

• finishable within 2 weeks
• something new
• establish core competence

First Week

• one on one with manager
• bank account
• vaccation plan
• candidate recommendations