Our team gets to talk to founders and leaders about their hiring challenges and plans, as well as people that are thinking about their careers and what they would want if they were to take a new role.

A few months ago I shared some insights on the hiring market, and as we come to the end of year it feels a good time to give an update on the state of play in startup recruitment.

Talent for ROI

I mentioned before that most of the hiring activity was being driven by recent or looming investment, and that’s still the case.

But it also feels that the type of hires being unlocked by that investment has changed. Eighteen months ago, the majority of what the hiring founders were asking us for help on was for tech hires. Now, we’re doing much more scaling of commercial teams, reflecting the need from investors to see a quicker path to revenue.

One VC who referred me into a founder to support her on hiring was clear on this, saying that the priority roles were salespeople who could impact revenue within their next quarter, not more tech resource.

The limited resources that many startups are facing means that they are sometimes looking at a slightly more junior hire, say Lead Developer over CTO, in the hope that they spend less now and hire someone who can grow into the role over time.

Maybe finding that up-and-coming person has always been the dream. But it does feel a route that more startups are taking, rather than commit to senior leaders on six figure salaries that might not make an impact quickly enough to justify the investment.

The impact of AI

It’s no surprise that hiring hasn’t escaped the ubiquitous impact of AI, although you won’t find many startups looking for Prompt Engineers just yet!

I’ve seen it impact most in two areas – the people and the process.

Whether you’re being hired into sales, operations, or another function it’s a common expectation that you can talk about using AI to be more productive. That might be simply exploring how you’ve used ChatGPT to create content, or a detailed discussion on how you work with GitHub Copilot.

I’m a firm believer that people using AI to do their job will be in more demand than the people who aren’t – so if your employer isn’t supporting you on this then maybe should be investing your own time.

On the hiring process, it’s clear that many candidates are using ChatGPT in the application process.

But many are doing it so badly, creating templated and generic answers, that they’re going straight into the reject pile.

You could argue there’s a slight hypocrisy in wanting people who can use AI to do their job but dismissing those who are using AI to apply for a job, but standing out for the right reasons is a key thread across both.

Sales and marketing come together

There will always be a difference between the people you hire in sales vs marketing, but one trend that feels will help with alignment between the two is having one person accountable for revenue growth.

That’s typically a Chief Commercial Officer or Chief Revenue Officer or maybe less grand titles, like Commercial Director, but still the key person who owns the top line number for the business.

Some of the startups we have partnered with ask us to secure this key hire for them because they want to avoid common problems like data silos, sales teams lacking support, or marketing generating leads that aren’t valued.

The increase of fractional hiring

Working fractionally typically means a few days a week for at least a few months.

More candidates, particularly senior ones, are choosing this option. Sometimes because they’ve been laid off and not sure they want to commit to a new permanent role just now, or because they want to have a bit more variety in their work.

For founders, it’s potentially a great way to get senior and strategic support without committing to a full-time resource. The uncertainty in the market and the funding challenges many startups are facing have made this a more appealing option.

So, from both a supply and demand perspective, engaging with talent in a more flexible way is something I’ve seen more of this year and would expect to continue in 2024.

Get in touch

We’ll see what else the new year brings in the world of startup talent. It’s a time when many people look for new jobs and despite a slowdown in hiring there are still plenty of great startups in hiring mode.

I’m sure we will continue to see caution before founders commit to making new hires, particularly at a senior level, and a continued need for a return on investment in people.

The rise of AI will continue to drive and, in some cases, hold back demand within the tech sector, but I feel we will also see the stronger companies across all industries have confidence in hiring.

In the meantime, feel free to seek me out if you’d value a conversation on your hiring plans.