100 hours, 1 hire, 0 regrets

After screening a few hundred CVs, conducting 60+ interviews, and spending over 100 hours, I finally made one (1) hire. It was the most thorough recruitment process I had ever gone through.

For 6 months, I was operating one man down. I spoke with scores of junior managers, tech marketers, entrepreneurs, startup founders, and even a radio announcer.

It was a drawn out process and there was some pain involved (to put it mildly). I was tempted to hire fast so that things could move along quickly. But eventually I realised that hiring for the sake of hiring quickly is an “operator” mindset, while a more “visionary” approach plays the long game.

For junior or less complex roles, speed might work. But I needed a strong, experienced manager. Someone who could take ownership, exert influence, manage stakeholders, and meet my obsessive-compulsive standards in document formatting.

After speaking to some leaders far more visionary and experienced in hiring than I was, the advice I received was unanimous: endure the pain, find the right fit, and don’t compromise for the sake of hiring quickly.

So I tried to channel my inner visionary and take the long view. I found that going through all these reps strengthened my understanding of the role and its expectations. Much like how you gain new perspective, even on the fundamental stuff, when you assume the role of a teacher or a coach (as a parent and an occasional Muay Thai coach, I can verify this).

So if you find yourself in a similar predicament, hold the line. Disciplined hiring might be a temporary pain, but hiring wrong can be much worse. The words from a guy taking an ice bath comes to mind:

“Discipline is the strongest form of self love. It’s ignoring something you want right now for something better later on. Discipline reveals the commitment you have to your dreams (or your company’s dreams), especially on days that you don’t want to.”

Happy disciplined hiring everyone.