Greg Clayman

Want to help set every candidate up for success in an interview? SET AN AGENDA AT THE START OF THE CONVO 📋 It's a simple but impactful step for a better candidate experience. So how consistently do companies do this today? We looked at 175k interviews to find out... TLDR - The range is massive! Some orgs do it in just 4% of interviews, others do it in 95%! 🤯 The avg & median org sets an agenda in 61% of their interviews. 70% of orgs set an agenda between 45% - 75% of the time Only 20% of orgs set an agenda in >75% of their interviews Here’s how agenda-setting varies across different scenarios: 🔍 BY INTERVIEW STAGE - Recruiters set agendas in 68% of interviews vs. 59% for HMs 🔍 BY FUNCTION - Eng interviews include an agenda 67% of the time vs. 44% for sales 🔍 BY GENDER: - Female set an agenda 69% of the time vs. 63% for Male recruiters - Oddly, a smaller diff for HMs, with FM HMs at 61% vs. 58% for M HMs - Agenda-setting is most common w/ F candidates paired w/ F interviewers We think setting an agenda is a small step that makes a big difference. ❓ What do you think? ❓ PS: This is one of the metrics we track in BrightHire!

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I’m currently working with two incredible founders in early-stage startups, helping them find the tech talent that will drive their visions forward. Lately, I’ve been connecting with some truly brilliant Machine Learning Engineers to support these companies (particularly those focused on GPU/LLM inference projects). Many believe that finding talent is difficult. The truth? Finding the right talent is the real challenge. When a company invests in innovation, the stakes are high. Hiring the wrong person can be costly, but partnering with the wrong recruiter can be just as damaging. Your energy, money, and reputation are on the line when you choose a recruiting partner. I’m eager to connect with more founders who understand that at this critical stage, every hire is vital. If you’re not just looking for resumes but for the right talent that fits your vision, let’s connect. #startup #artificialintelligence #GPU #LLM #techtalent #talent #opentowork #hiring #engineers #chatgpt #AI #opensource #leadership #recruiting #partner #management

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🐸 Paraform x ContactOut Unlike in sales, in recruiting, personal emails matter a lot more than corporate emails - most outreach happens there. We're also aware that some independent/freelance recruiters, especially those who are just starting out, don't have the budget to pay for expensive sourcing tools. Now, using our chrome extension, you can get candidate's personal emails, powered by ContactOut (we hear from our recruiters it's the best in the industry!) and reach out to candidates. Want to give it a try and start making placements on Paraform? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gMRXGncp

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I've talked to 50+ crypto projects over the last few weeks and they're all looking for help onboarding KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) Many are hiring agencies, BD people, assistants - just to fail miserably Here's what they don't get: Before we get into how to onboard KOLs, just know: KOLs won't fix your problems If users can't understand your product, if your value prop is not strong enough... then go work on fundamentals and then work with KOLs KOLs work great when they amplify sth that's already great Now, back to onboarding KOLs 1) Outreach Most of the teams I've talked to use cold outreach, copy-pasting the same DM over and over again If that's you, you need to stop that NOW - nobody likes spam This is how you win and set yourself apart: - Try to get a warm intro if possible (this is where agencies can help) - Personalize your outreach! - Own your pitch! 💡No agency can do a better job than you at pitching your product! 2) Why your project is a great fit Make it obvious why their followers should care about a project like yours! Share metrics that show traction, Social proof (investors, PR articles, etc) Demo about how to use your product 💡Onboard them to your product as if they were users! 3) Remove friction from generating content Ok so now they buy that your project is legit, but now are thinking how painful could it be to generate content? (yes many of them are lazy) 💡Share some of your own content that has worked, content from other projects/KOLs can work too 4) Landing a good deal Lastly, negotiating a deal that makes sense for both sides is what will make or break this process Make sure incentives are aligned 💡Remember: No deal is always better than a bad deal! That's all - there's not much else to it tldr 1. Personalized outreach 2. Make it clear why your project is a fit 3. Remove friction from generating content 4. Land a good deal If you'd like me to go deeper into KOL deals, please reply to this post and I'll follow up with you

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6 Rules for Hiring the Right Person.. I read an excellent article by Henry Ward, CEO at Carta recently and thought that some of his thoughts on hiring were worth sharing (full article in the comments) 1. Hire for Strength vs Lack of Weakness 2. Hire for Trajectory vs Experience 3. Hire Doers vs Tellers 4. Hire Learners vs Experts 5. Hire Different vs Similar 6. Always Pass on Ego These insights are from an excellent article by Henry Ward, CEO at Carta (linkedin in the comments) 1. Hire for Strength, Not Lack of Weakness If you want a skilled financial professional, focus on specific strengths rather than a broad wish list of traits. Narrow down the problem, identify the necessary skill set, and pursue it relentlessly. The gist is, if you want a man - don’t ask for a man in finance, Trust Fund, 6ft 5”, Blue Eyes Instead go for 5ft 5” with an enormous trust fund 2. Hire for Trajectory vs Experience People with potential and excitement for the future are more valuable than those with just a wealth of experience. Use unbiased assessments to identify these traits. - Think TestGorilla 3. Hire Doers vs Tellers Evaluate candidates by having them complete tasks relevant to the job. Then when hired set realistic targets and ensure they are met early on. 4. Hire Learners vs Experts Continuous learning is vital. With rapid changes in technology and the rise of AI anyone not staying up to date will be left behind. Additionally "Skill-Fade" is real, the military re-tests and re-teaches basic skills every year. You need to learn and refresh what you already know. In fast-paced environments like startups, mandatory training is often lacking, so seek out candidates who actively maintain and update their skills. 5. Hire Different vs Similar Diversity goes beyond ethnicity or gender. Different skill sets and characteristics prevent redundancy and enhance team performance. The best startups have a Jobs and a Wozniak The A-Team has a Strongman, a Charmer, a Strategist and Wildcard Look for people who expand your culture, not just fit it. 6. Always Pass on Ego High egos can correlate with disruptive behaviour. Prioritise humility and collaboration. Which rule resonates most with you? Let me know in the comments!

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how hiring is impacted when BTC is breaking all-time highs every day hiring starts to become incredibly competitive - this means candidates are interviewing for 1-2 weeks and the fastest moving teams win those folks VCs will jump back into crypto with crazy money - teams will have extra change to use on top talent and will definitely spend it we have a few months before industry standards for compensation change start the hiring conversations now and plan for gaps in your team that could arise in the next year call me beep me -The Crypto Recruiters always great insights from Jason Yanowitz

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CEO Alexandr Wang made waves with his announcement a couple of weeks ago about adopting an #MEI approach at Scale AI. Whether or not you agree with him on this, what rings clear is an unflinching commitment to hiring the best talent possible and some of the strategies used to accomplish this. I use him as an example because even though I am a recruiting and hiring expert, I learn a lot from those out in the trenches building their companies and he has obviously done so with great success! One of the strategies mentioned by Alexandr is "casting a wide net" in recruiting. I have become a firm believer in this strategy and it is one that we employ on behalf of clients. Here are just some of the reasons to cast a wide net in hiring: ✅ Casting a wide net is more likely to attract candidates with diverse thinking styles, problem-solving approaches, and experiences. This type of cognitive and experiential diversity can lead to increased innovation and creativity and can help your organization be more resilient to future changes in the industry or economy. ✅ A wider search can uncover candidates with unique skill combinations or non-traditional backgrounds who might be overlooked in a narrow search. These "hidden gems" can bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to your organization. ✅ A larger candidate pool increases the chances of finding individuals who are not just qualified, but are an excellent fit for both the role and the company culture. This can lead to better performance and reduced turnover. ✅ Engaging with a wider range of candidates increases your company's visibility in the job market and naturally expands your company's network. This can also lead to valuable market insights, potential partnerships, or customer connections that extend beyond the hiring process itself. Even candidates who aren't hired can become brand ambassadors if they have a positive experience, potentially leading to future hires. These are many of the reasons we cast a wide net on behalf of clients. Mainly we want them to have the assurance that they are hiring the best candidate possible and not having to settle. Even with all the benefits, I recognize that casting a wide net makes recruiting more labor intensive and time consuming. It also requires a more systematic approach to candidate management and may require advanced skills in assessing candidate fit. Whether for an executive or mid-level hire, we can handle the tedious, time consuming aspects. In addition to our full service model, we offer alternative solutions for non-executive level recruiting and hiring. I'd be glad to hear your needs and discuss ways that we can be of support. I'm also always willing to offer advice or ideas that you can employ on your own. A rising tide lifts all boats. Message me, let's talk.

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I had the opportunity to share some of our work and thinking at koodos labs with the good folks at Ofcom yesterday. As an ecosystem, we are on the precipice of enabling greater autonomy over our personal data. With continued regulatory support, technological advancements, and shifts in consumer behavior converging, the potential for a more decentralized, equitable, and user-controlled data economy becomes increasingly attainable. This marks a significant evolution in how data is managed and valued.

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FinTech startup leaders can find the talent they need only interviewing 5 people rather than 20 by doing this one thing... And all it takes is a bit more time up front to save an ass load on the back end. Ironing out “must have requirements” before launching a search. Story time. Earlier in my recruiting career, I was working a Senior Data Scientist role for a hot, early stage NYC based FinTech startup client. I had a candidate with insane credentials who made it through all the interviews - passed every step with flying colors. They had top tier technical chops, employed by a MAANG company, well spoken, and had a degree from an Ivy League. The type of candidate that makes you feel like Batman when you present them. But following the last interview, we got hit with the news... They decided they wanted someone with relevant FinTech/Financial service experience. It was never brought up at any point during the job intake or throughout interviews. Granted, I was a much younger recruiter at this point. I lacked the recruiting knowledge to bring up if industry experience was necessary. Strike one, me. I still have nightmares about this one... But this hiccup led to an unnecessarily long vacancy and many many many meetings with misaligned candidates. With definitive “must haves”, your recruiting efforts will become much more intentional. Take the time up front, it'll be your (and candidates) savior.

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We shared this blogpost and equity calculator last week to provide founders with a tool to model what Peter Walker talks about here. We also provide an easy way for founders to input their own variables (like options pool size and number of hires) to come up with equity numbers that work for them. While benchmarking data is helpful, there’s not a common formula founders use to calculate equity grants for their first 10 hires. This means, there’s not a ton of “fairness” or consistency to how these numbers are calculated. This is one of the reasons why the drop off in equity is so aggressive and so little of the total pool is spent in the data Peter shares. Interestingly enough, we land at very similar number for Hire #1 (assuming they’re a senior technical hire). https://lnkd.in/gji_pU6s

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I’m thrilled to launch Dover Recruiting Partners – our biggest update yet to how startups can hit their hiring goals and hire the best talent. Over the past 5 years, Dover has helped 1500+ companies like Stripe, Scale AI, OpenSea, Benchling, and Vanta attract and hire top talent. Now, we’re introducing our most flexible and full-service hiring solution for startups: vetted fractional recruiters who can work as an extension of your team. We only accept the top 2% of recruiters. 💫 What's special about Dover Recruiting Partners? 1. On-demand expertise: Get help from experienced recruiters when you need it, without the overhead of a full-time hire. Perfect for startups and companies with variable hiring needs. 2. Flexible pricing: Ramp up or down based on your hiring needs – pay only for the hours you use. 3. Tech-enabled efficiency: Recruiters can use Dover’s ATS, Sourcing Extension, and other tools so they can focus on strategic work and keep their costs low. 4. Transparent metrics: We share cost-per-hire and fill rate for our recruiters before you hire them, so you can find the perfect recruiter for you. 👥 Who are our Recruiting Partners? Our network includes some of the most experienced recruiters in the industry. Here's a glimpse at a few of our partners: Michael Sanders: 10+ years VC/big tech talent acquisition | formerly Senior Principal at Human Capital and tech recruiting at Uber, Google | Specializes in technical sourcing for seed/pre-seed startups Courtney (Zotos) Mistretta: 9 years technical recruiting | formerly Technical Recruiting Manager at Uber and led hiring for Uber's Self-Driving Division | Expertise in ML, CV, data science, and engineering roles Michelle Shen: 5+ years recruiting across growth stages | Engineering & GTM team building | formerly Technical Recruiter at JustWorks, Revel, and other startups | Focus on candidate experience optimization … and dozens of others. 💰 How much does it cost? Most companies have an average spend of $80 per hour, depending on the services they use. Cost per hire across the platform varies, but usually ends up being between $2-10k. 🚀 How do I get started? Head to https://lnkd.in/eUUxZUXi and click "Match with a Recruiter". We'll set you up with a free consultation to understand your needs and match you with the perfect Recruiting Partner. Read more about how we got here on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eDJsQeBa Let me know what you think!

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Over the past three months, we've been offering SeekLab as a premium service to help companies overcome common hiring challenges through our network of 200+ recruiters who compete to fill roles for a success fee (aka Bounty). We understand that hiring the right talent can be time-consuming and costly. That's why we're excited to announce that agencies and direct clients can now self-serve by directly accessing our network, making the hiring process more efficient and cost-effective. SeekLab addresses key pain points: 💲 Cost Savings: Clients save up to 85% on recruitment costs compared to traditional solutions like LinkedIn or Staffing Firms ⏱️ Time Efficiency: Reduce hiring time by 5-10x with recruiters who literally compete to find you the best person fast 🏆 Top Talent: If your ideal candidate exists, we will find them across any career platform they engage with Excited to see where this goes! If you'd like to learn more, book a time with me:

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Hey current and former Meta friends, some questions for you. 1. Do you like coaching/mentoring? 2. Have you conducted interviews at Meta? If you answered yes to both of these then I'd love for you to consider becoming a Hello Interview coach. As a coach, you'd conduct mock interviews for candidates preparing for upcoming FAANG interviews. 1. Mocks are an hour long: 5 min intros, 35 min mock, 20 min feedback & questions. 2. You set your availability and do as many or as few as you'd like. 3. You get paid for each mock. 4. You learn a ton and become a better interviewer and interviewee. Most importantly, it's incredibly rewarding. It actually surprised me just how rewarding it is. Some of us take for granted working at FAANGs (I'll be honest, I did), but for many of the candidates we work with, landing one of these jobs is truly life-changing for them and their family. If this all sounds interesting, either reach out to me directly to learn more or apply directly at:

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I was interviewed by Stephanie Vozza on behalf of Fast Company regarding the hiring trends we’re seeing right now in the market. There’s definitely a delta between junior white collar talent readiness vs available opportunities. Young humans, who may be struggling to find the jobs and companies they want to work for, should also consider any work they can to gain experience and income whilst the market bounces back to hire more junior white collar roles. The article is here: https://lnkd.in/gg_KfHHb

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Initial reaction: oh no, AI is going to ruin the interview 😱 Second reaction: ok, AI, go on with your bad self & ruin the interview 😃 Hot take: interviews are an antiquated exercise, historically biased, and inaccurate (at best, with structured behavioral interviews, predictive validity tops out at 51%). *If AI assessments can beat that AND free up a lot of time (so that our candidate convos are more "get to know you" instead of a charade of assessing, given one or two conversations can't do that), then I'll be here for it. *It's a BIG if and contingent on research and bias mitigation. Eg.: take 1,000 test applicants for a mid-level professional job....AI assesses them in isolation and humans assess in isolation....each selects 10....6-12 months later, who was more accurate? 👀

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YC founders: here's a harsh truth that might help you when hiring. Great people want to work with great people. But...A-players hire A-players. B-players hire C-players. Keeping the hiring bar relentlessly high is critical, especially early on. A single person that isn’t great can drag the quality down of the entire team. Folks will look around and realize the standards are lower than they thought. They’ll realize that they don’t need to be as good. They’ll realize they can learn less from their colleagues. People make the organization, not the other way around. And that if you don’t have great people, you won’t have a great organization.

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The newest issue of The Pragmatic Engineer found a surprise uptick in eng hiring in the typically slow summer season - I'm curious to see how the macro environment impacts this uptick as we head into the fall, but I remain hopeful. I asked Gemini to give me the tldr of the article to share with my team (sorry, Gergely Orosz) and found it missed one of the most interesting pieces of the article. Gemini's highlights - Unexpected surge: Tech recruitment has seen an unusual spike in June and July, contrary to typical trends. Increased demand: Startups, especially AI-focused ones, are driving the hiring uptick. Global phenomenon: This trend isn't just limited to the US; Europe is also experiencing increased recruitment activity. Reasons for hiring: Companies are backfilling positions, investing in growth due to improved financials, and responding to increased VC funding. Challenges remain: While the job market is improving, finding qualified candidates and offering competitive compensation remains difficult for many companies. What I found most interesting - The nature of the backfills: the article finds that a lot of new headcount are actually backfills of folks that were "over-slashed" during rounds of layoffs. Not entirely surprising with the "trim the fat" and "rebuild lean" mentality, but interesting nonetheless. Either way, the uptick is encouraging (and don't always rely on Gemini's tldrs). #hiring #startups #VCbacked #softwareengineering

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