Working with Startups: Factors that are Important for an IT Specialist Today

The need for IT specialists today is very acute not only in large companies, but also in startups, which appear more and more. However, not all candidates tend to accept job offers from startups, choosing between them and stable firms.

We at Lucky Hunter have been working with startups for a long time, so we have collected our insights — what IT specialists want to get when working with young projects. So, what is vital for candidates today when considering offers from startups?

Interesting projects can’t be considered as salary

It’s true, unfortunately. Paying only with interesting projects will not work. Yes, it won't do at all. IT specialists, like others, want to receive a decent monetary reward for their work, and they often — a surprise! — need to support not only themselves, but also their family, even if someone’s family is just a cat. 

Therefore, even if a startup is dedicated to working on a very cool and useful product, they won’t be able to attract middle and senior level candidates without a salary adequate to the realities of the market (novice specialists may agree to accept the offer in order to gain experience, but this may also be a controversial issue). If you do not have a clear understanding of the market conditions in the IT industry today, you can order HR analytics from a recruiting agency — we often receive similar requests from clients who need to learn current trends in the IT market and make a decision on a salary fork for candidates.

Bonuses and options

Sometimes even market-average salaries can be made more advantageous for candidates by offering nice "buns" and bonuses. It stands to reason, startups at the very beginning of their journey of conquering new market horizons do not always manage to offer the same wide list of conditions already familiar to candidates that large IT companies usually have. Why? Again, due to the fact that they do not yet have sufficient resources for this.

However, there are also variants available for startups — for example, the possibility for a candidate to work remotely, relocation or options that should not be neglected.

Usefulness and innovation of the product

In our practice, there were cases when the candidate's decision to accept an offer from a startup was pushed by interest in the product that the team was working on, because the idea and concept deeply responded to them. As a result, IT specialists came out of job interviews with the interest in their eyes, because the employer managed to “light up” them with his idea so much — among them was the candidate who received (and accepted) the offer.

There are really a lot of startups on the market now, so it is vital that the project has a distinct "feature”, a uniqueness that would highlight it. The employer, in order for their company to be interesting to candidates, who usually choose between several projects at once, must first of all understand all the nuances regarding their product, as well as its viability and prospects. 

Legality of the company's field of activity

Technologies are developing rapidly, so there are a lot of directions that did not exist until quite recently. Not all of them are currently regulated by law, which, in turn, carries certain risks for both the employer and employees — for this reason, most IT professionals tend to choose companies that are not in the “shadow zone”. 

In general, as our experience shows, if a startup team clearly understands market trends, is ready to adjust its recruiting processes if necessary, show flexibility in the right moments, offering relevant conditions, a match between an employer and a specialist happens :) In addition, we have a useful life hack for startups who need to recruit IT specialists to the team.

If you understand that at the moment you objectively do not have the opportunity to hire middle and senior level specialists, consider junior candidates, in case the tasks supposed to be solved within a specific position, allows this. Junior specialists will "cost" less, and you will have the opportunity to "grow" an employee from scratch and train him for your processes. Yes, it will certainly take longer, but as a result you will get an experienced and loyal team member.