Every startup in the Sterling Road portfolio, with more than 12 months of runway, has open positions. However, founders often make the mistake of skipping out on December hiring, assuming they can use January to begin their next recruitment push — but waiting until the new year is the wrong approach. Here are 3 reasons why you should make use of December hiring:
1. Best Time to Hire in 10 Years
What: Given the large-scale layoffs across the tech industry and the huge amount of talent now available via remote work; the available talent pool is larger and higher quality than we have seen in the last decade (Time of writing: December 2022).
Why: Hiring the best people makes all the difference. For a long time those kinds of people have been both hard to find and in high demand. If you have open positions, take the chance now to find someone incredible who would otherwise be unavailable.
2. Everyone Else starts in January
What: Ramping up recruitment in January is a common strategy for most tech companies, large and small, as it’s the beginning of the fiscal year so managers get fresh budgets to spend. This results in increased competition and costs.
Why: Few founders say they love recruiting, but it’s a huge part of their job. You can maximize efficiency on this unloved task by working on it when other companies, competing for the same candidates, are focused elsewhere.
3. It Takes 6+ weeks to Hire Good People
What: Finding high quality talent with the required skills is very difficult and usually takes at least 6 weeks of work. If you hire the wrong person and have to let them go, the timeline can extend into months.
Why: If you wait until January to start hiring, it will be hard to fill your open positions before the end of Q1. Many will slip to Q2, potentially slowing your growth.
Hiring has always been difficult, but it’s a little easier right now. If you have the cash on hand and open positions, make sure you use December to your advantage.
