Plan your next engineering hire before you spend a penny on it. Work through the business case, timing and budget, then download a one-page hiring plan you can take to your co-founders or board. The most common hiring mistake is starting too late, so this is where to begin.
Start here. When the plan is agreed, move on to the Hiring Readiness Scorecard.
The hire
TIP Name it plainly. If you cannot describe the role in a line, you are not ready to spend money finding it.
The business case
TIP Be honest about the trigger. Reactive or planned, candidates and co-founders can both tell when a role is not really thought through. The cost of the gap is usually the strongest argument for the hire.
Timing
TIP Work backwards. Decide when you need them productive, subtract a realistic time to hire, and that is when the search has to start. Strong engineers are rarely free the week you happen to need them.
Budget
TIP Sign off the real number before the first conversation, not at offer stage. Account for the full cost, not just salary.
How you will hire
TIP Permanent is not the only answer. A contractor can plug a gap fast, embedded suits a run of several hires. Pick the model that fits the timing and budget above.
The decision
TIP A plan with no owner and no date is a wish. Name who owns the hire and what happens next.
