Ask HN: Where to find first employee?
I've been working on a Mac app for a couple of years and I've reached the point where I can afford to hire my first employee. But how do I find an employee?
I've tried a couple of things that cost no money:
- attending meetups
- posting on Facebook groups
- posting to local university job board
- posting on Twitter
So far nobody seems interested (and I feel a bit bad for spamming social networks)
I'm considering buying an ad on a commercial job board, or on Stack Overflow, but these ads are expensive -- $500+ per ad. Are they worth it?
Any other ideas?
9 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 40.2 ms ] threadAnyway HN might be the best place ;-)
You could advertise for 10 months for 1 month salary and it might take that long for an employee to get up to speed and actually contribute anything useful. If you hire the wrong guy it could take longer before they are useful. Not to mention the additional drain on your time as you teach them about your codebase and how you do things.
If you hire the wrong person and have to let them go after a month or two you are out of pocket $20k and back to square one. (And if its not working out I suggest you be prepare to make this tough call)
For a single employee either your terms need to be good or the person needs to be bought in big time (e.g. basically be a co-founder). Frankly just hiring an engineer isn't a cheap proposition so make sure you are really ready for it. It is possible you are more ready for a part time person or a contractor you can use X hours from monthly. If you hire someone vs contracting them the costs are fairly different, so make sure you have figured that part out too. Payroll taxes, workers compensation, liability insurance etc all add up pretty fast if you hire an "employee" vs use a contractor.
Also, don't feel bad for making legitimate posting on social media for a position. You aren't a recruiter spamming everyone you know daily for different positions, you are looking to find someone for your project, and most likely that person will come from your network of contacts.
No doubt, hiring is way easier IMO. But it comes down to funds and growth etc. I guess it would also depend where you are at, in the US in most larger cities/areas, a solid mid level developer will be making say anywhere from 70-110k/year. Then take payroll taxes, non health based insurance and the general administration costs that go with managing an employee and all the sudden that person costs you at minimum an additional 15% per year.
Adding the first person is the most expensive in my experience, as the cost is incremental after that, at least to a point. There are thresholds that happen though and cause additional administrative functions & costs to come into play etc. For example, crossing 20 employees, crossing 50 etc.
As long as you are going into it with open eyes and full awareness, I'd personally hire someone or contract it out on a 1099 which is less overhead and work, saving you cash.