3 Things A VP Did To Beat Out 100s Of Applicants
Mar 26, 2024
The following is a true story told by the VP (candidate) + the CoFounder who hired her.
Full story here: https://bit.ly/49Kxl9O
3 takeaways of how this happened:
1. CoFounder posts job on LI -> VP DM’d him a video on LI
2. VP presents take home assignment as a working doc
3. VP packaged her peer endorsements with assignment
Details on each point:
1. CoFounder posts job on LI -> VP DM’d him a video on LI
Candidate comments:
-> Companies don’t buy from software, people do. Companies don’t hire people, people do
-> People are knee deep in their day to day + hiring
-> How can I (candidate) make it easier for you (hiring manager)
-> Demonstrate the actions/skills required for the role in the application process
CoFounder comments:
-> People focus on what to say vs. actions they take
-> This will either reflect or refute what they saying during the interview
-> Saying you’re on the ball but can’t meet for a week 🤔
-> When hiring, you spend 60% of your time in interviews/talking to candidates
-> The more friction a candidate removes, the more we lean in
2. Working doc vs presentation
Candidate comments:
-> Assignment was build a growth strategy for the brand
-> I wanted a working format, not a pretty presentation
-> More functional, how can we actually get into it together
-> It was a Google sheet outlining all the different areas of the business + growth strategies behind them
-> Quick wins, how to elevate the quality, influence it has on overall company flywheel
CoFounder comments:
-> We kept it vague to see how people were thinking about it
-> Moving how fast we move, we needed someone to present a plan
-> I looked at this and said oh, Sophie can go execute on this plan tomorrow and it would start moving the needle
-> She clearly has a grasp on our business, what we need, how were thinking about it
-> She turned this around in days which showed hustle and grit (linking back to how we work as a team)
3. VP sent her peer endorsements with assignment
Candidate comments:
-> Character is hard to see in an interview process
-> I had 10 people record a snippet
-> I cross referenced Founders’ connections + thought about GTMfund’s ICP
-> Snippet had insight into who I am as a person, how they know me or worked with me, then tied it back to a GTMfund podcast
-> Some ppl wanted to send a direct endorsement
-> This goes back to what’s the role and how can you demonstrate the skill sets
CoFounder comments:
-> Back channeling derisks the decision making process so much
-> If ppl I know/trust have done work with + say positive things about a candidate 🙌
-> At SaaStr, 12 ppl came up to me singing her praises
-> I got 3-4 notes from ppl I knew or in my network
-> It was so obvious she was pulling ahead, no one had done this and I hadn’t been back channeled
These learnings can be applied for any role.
Be proactive. Do the job before you have it.
TY Sophie and Scott for sharing on the GTMfund podcast!
