AI Skill Report Card
Recruiting Engineers for Startups
Engineering Recruiting for Startups
Quick Start
MATCH Framework Screening:
- Motivation: Why leave current role? Why this startup?
- Ability: Technical skills assessment
- Timeline: When can you start? Interview availability?
- Culture: Startup environment fit, equity comfort
- Hiring: Compensation expectations, offer requirements
Recommendation▾
Add concrete metrics and KPIs (e.g., 'target 20% response rate on LinkedIn outreach', 'aim for 3:1 offer-to-acceptance ratio') to make the framework more actionable
Workflow
1. Sourcing Strategy
- LinkedIn Boolean searches:
("software engineer" OR "backend developer") AND startup AND (Python OR JavaScript) - GitHub profile reviews for open source contributions
- AngelList, Wellfound for startup-interested candidates
- Employee referral programs with equity incentives
- University recruiting for new grad programs
Progress:
- Define role requirements and startup context
- Build candidate pipeline (aim for 100+ prospects per role)
- Initial outreach with personalized startup pitch
- Schedule MATCH framework screens
- Present qualified candidates to hiring team
2. Startup-Specific Positioning
- Lead with mission and growth opportunity
- Emphasize equity upside and career acceleration
- Address stability concerns with funding/runway info
- Highlight learning opportunities and ownership
3. Technical Screening Process
- 30-min MATCH screen (recruiter)
- Technical phone screen (engineer, 45min)
- Take-home project or live coding (2-3 hours)
- Final interviews: technical + culture fit (3-4 hours)
- Reference checks for final candidates
Recommendation▾
Include specific salary/equity benchmarks by role level and startup stage to help with competitive positioning
Examples
Example 1: LinkedIn Outreach Input: Senior Python developer at FAANG company Output: "Hi [Name], I'm recruiting for [Startup] - we're revolutionizing [space] and just raised Series A. Your Python expertise with distributed systems would be perfect for our platform team. We're offering significant equity upside and the chance to architect systems from scratch. 15min chat this week?"
Example 2: MATCH Screen Input: Interested candidate responds to outreach Output:
- Motivation: "What's driving you to explore startup opportunities?"
- Ability: "Walk me through your experience with our tech stack"
- Timeline: "If this moves fast, what's your notice period?"
- Culture: "How do you feel about equity vs. cash compensation?"
- Hiring: "What's your salary expectation range?"
Recommendation▾
Expand the technical screening section with sample questions or assessment criteria to make the process more concrete for hiring teams
Best Practices
- Move fast: Startups lose great candidates to speed
- Sell the vision: Engineers want to build something meaningful
- Be transparent: Honest about stage, runway, challenges
- Leverage equity: Many engineers undervalue startup equity
- Technical credibility: Learn enough to have basic tech conversations
- Warm introductions: Much higher response rates than cold outreach
- Follow up consistently: 3-5 touchpoints over 2 weeks
Common Pitfalls
- Don't oversell stability - be honest about startup risks
- Don't skip culture fit - wrong hires are expensive at startups
- Don't compete solely on cash compensation - emphasize growth/equity
- Don't use generic recruiting messages - personalize for startup context
- Don't rush technical screens - false positives are costly
- Don't ignore passive candidates - best engineers aren't actively looking
- Don't forget to sell the team - engineers want to work with other strong engineers