We will soon be 2.5 years old and we grow x6 annually in money and number of clients. Such growth would not be possible without great people!
We've had a few unsuccessful hires for the product team. Someone would come in and turn out not to be what we expected, or they just didn't fit in.
We introduced 3 practices that solved the problem with hiring:
Now I introduce candidates to the team. Sometimes I even invite them to a team lunch. After that, I get feedback from those who will be working closely with the new person, and make a hiring decision.
We always give test assignments. We used to hire guys without preliminary testing and got screwed. You can tell from their conversations that a person is in the know, and a test assignment shows how they perform real tasks, how they think, what they pay attention to. Now we give technical requirements for all positions: developers — write functionality (or, at least, show their code on github); designers — draw a new feature; product managers — solve a case.
We conduct personal rotations of the newcomer with each of our employees to tell them who does what in the team. On the one hand, this allows them to communicate personally, get to know each other better, and on the other hand, it helps them learn about different aspects of the product from the inside. We have been conducting such personal rotations since the end of 2020, when we began to actively expand, there were fewer and fewer “old-timers” and it was necessary to make sure that the new employee integrated into the process faster.
Aitarget One team
Once a year, Aitarget holds Friends&Family Day. In the photo from importance of ig database the meeting: part of the large friendly Aitarget team, our friends and relatives
Currently, a large, cool team is working on the development of Aitarget One. The product department has three product managers, several developers and a designer, we have a whole department of marketers (we're serious: there are performance and content marketers and even our own event manager) and a customer service department (these are our sales and accounts). We also have an HR manager who finds cool people, and accountants who make beautiful and legally sound documents.
We have common goals for money and clients for three departments (marketing, sales and product) - this allows us to move in the same direction and not conflict, because everyone has the same criteria for success.
Unfortunately, there are no more of those with whom I started this project left in the team. But I am proud of my colleagues - one developer left for a Canadian company, two - for British startups. And a few weeks ago, our operations manager left the company. He went to study for a master's degree in Berlin. It's sad to say goodbye, but what a thrill it is to realize that your colleagues are welcome in the international market!
I believe there will be more of us soon. Right now we are looking for a Frontend Developer and Analyst.