Compensation & Benefits

I managed to convince top notch engineers to accept my offer

In a tricky negotiation to hire three rockstar engineers from a failed start-up, the negotiator leveraged different aspects to convince them to accept the offer. These included emphasizing the challenging role and professional growth, showing that the stock value would be higher, putting them in contact with people who had faced a similar situation, and looking for positions for their significant others. The negotiation was successful, and the negotiator learned the importance of listening to the person's concerns and finding ways to show that the company cares about their wellbeing.

Saying ‘Not Right Now’ Instead Of ‘No’ to Pay Raise Requests

A design intern was offered a full-time position, but asked for more money. The company decided to not cave in to the request, but instead laid out a series of goals for the intern to prove himself. After 6 months, the intern had met those goals and was given the pay raise he had asked for. The company also learned that their cutting-edge and fast-paced environment helps them attract and retain junior employees.

Turning a team around

When taking over a team of 60 engineers, the VP of Engineering noticed a lack of motivation and excellence. After observing interactions and having one-on-one conversations, it was determined that external factors such as a lack of purpose, goals, and challenges were causing the problem. To address this, modern tools were implemented, hiring practices were strengthened, job bands and compensation ranges were established, teams were reorganized, and the strongest people were put into influential positions. As a result, motivation and efficiency increased, and the team was better differentiated. Lessons learned include building relationships, ensuring a sense of purpose, challenging the team, and maximizing talent.

Sourcing Interested Candidates in QA

This article discusses how to identify candidates who are truly interested in a QA career. The author suggests posing an interview question that requires the candidate to think about how an architecture will break, and looking for a system level thinker who can think at the component level and introduce chaos into the system. Additionally, the author suggests leveling all QA engineers at the same level and salary range as software engineers, and creating a company culture that supports QA career growth.

Hiring Rapidly and Time Efficiently

This article outlines the steps taken to rapidly hire engineers while maintaining quality. The author front-loaded the design, coordination, and preparation of the hiring funnel, set up hiring teams, and treated the hiring process as a product. Three metrics were used to measure success: percentage of hires from referrals, time taken to make a decision, and face-to-face interviews to hire ratio. The author also reduced the interviewing process to four hours and in one session. Lessons learned include the importance of treating the hiring process as a product, not letting quality fall to the wayside, and understanding that every hiring process is unique.

Preparing Your Pitch and Specifying Your Process for Hiring

When hiring software engineers, it is important to have a well-honed pitch that explains the company's mission and the engineering team's opportunities for autonomy and mastery. The hiring process should be kept to a minimum of interactions, and the candidate should be checked for close-ability from the start. Time-boxing the offer and tracking the process are also important. Other best practices include practicing the pitch often, being responsive and sensitive to the candidate, and using an online tool for code challenges.