Hiring for Startups: From Zero to a Professional Setup in Under Three Weeks

Hiring your first few employees as a startup can feel overwhelming. No ATS (a what?!), no structured hiring process, no career page—heck, you may not even know where to start looking for talent.

But if you plan to hire at least three people in the coming year, it’s time to put a system in place that saves time, money, and headaches while also boosting your chances of attracting top talent.

Here’s how to set up a recruitment engine in under three weeks—one that even big corporates will envy—without breaking the bank. 🚀

Week 1: Install an ATS (The Biggest No-Brainer!)

If you do just one thing, get an ATS (Applicant Tracking System). Why this is such a game-changer:

✅ Streamline tasks: An ATS automates thousands of micro-tasks, keeping everything organized and professional. It saves time, money, and stress, freeing you up to focus on what really matters.

✅ Attract organic candidates: A great-looking career page naturally draws top talent—no marketing team or IT expertise needed. Our partner ATS platform features an out-of-the-box career page that is easy to set up.

✅ All the functionality you’ll ever need: Think interview scheduling, structured interview kits, scorecards, talent-pooling, communication, multi-channel job posting, data insights, and much more.

Week 2: Build Employer Branding (Fast & Simple)

Forget endless research or expensive creative agencies—employer branding 1.0 is all about keeping it real and practical. A strong employer brand doesn’t require a huge budget, just an authentic and straightforward approach.

Steps to build a strong employer brand quickly:

📌 Host a team session: What makes your company special? Why did your team members join? What fun or defining moments have shaped your company culture? These stories will serve as a foundation for your career page, job ads, and applicant communications. Plus, reinforcing what already resonates internally strengthens team cohesion and ensures your employer brand is genuinely lived.

📌 Show, don’t just tell: Have a photography-loving employee (or only otherwise a professional) take authentic office photos. Real-life images resonate far more than stock photos.

📌 Enhance your career page: Use these stories and photos to craft a compelling career page. The ATS we implement includes an easy-to-brand, out-of-the-box solution.

📌 Create video job posts: Grab your phone and shoot a quick, authentic job post video. No need for a polished production—genuine content generates more engagement on LinkedIn and makes you stand out.

Week 3: Structure for Growth

It’s time to lay the foundation for scalable growth. The more effectively you plan, the better your recruitment team will anticipate future needs, leading to faster and more cost-effective hires. We’ll engage everyone in the company to help attract talent. And, we’ll ensure managers are equipped to navigate the interview process and understand their impact on retention.

Key steps for long-term recruitment success:

📍 Develop a workforce plan: Outline a simple hiring roadmap for the next year and update it quarterly to stay aligned with business goals.

📍 Leverage referrals: Some of your best hires will come from your network. A simple referral program saves time and money while delivering high-quality candidates.

📍 Train interviewers and managers: Hiring isn’t just about finding the right people—it’s about keeping them. Train managers on structured interviews and how to create a great employee experience.

📍 Optimize onboarding: Onboarding starts the moment an offer is made. A strong start increases long-term retention and engagement.

Conclusion

By the end of these three weeks, you’ll have:

✅ An automated recruitment system that keeps everything structured and professional.

✅ A compelling employer brand 1.0 and career-page that attracts top talent.

✅ A workforce plan to align hiring with business growth.

✅ A referral program that taps into your network for great talent.

✅ Trained interviewers and managers who help new hires succeed from day one.

How Much Will This Set Me Back?

It won’t. It will accelerate you. But the investment is roughly the fee that you would spend on a single hire through a traditional agency.

Now that you have all of this in place, you will gain traction on your open vacancies in a far more efficient way. That means finding the right talent faster, cheaper, and in a way that is scaleable and sustainable.

If you're also interested in embedding a professional recruiter as an extension of your team, visit our website to find out how we make a difference.