IT staff recruitment: how to find a Senior Product Designer for a British startup in just three weeks?

It is often more difficult to find candidates for a young company, but challenges do not scare us — we at Lucky Hunter really like to work with startups and help them find cool specialists for their team. :) Not so long ago, the founders of a London startup contacted us: the company offered business solutions for the effective organization of a telephone support service and needed an experienced product designer.

Do you wonder how our lead recruiter Maria managed to find an excellent senior specialist in just 3 weeks? Then read the new Lucky Hunter case!

The task and difficulties

A product designer is a specialist who makes the whole concept of the entire product and influences the way users will see it. The position is serious and responsible — and the additional responsibility was added by the fact that the candidate had to become a "pioneer" in the company, since there were no other specialists of this profile in the team yet.

For this reason, it was vital for the customer that the candidate should have not only an impressive professional background, but also an understanding of building all the necessary business processes from scratch.

The task was not easy for a number of other reasons as well:

1

There is an acute shortage of personnel in the IT market right now

It is quite difficult to find senior-level specialists: in addition, most candidates prefer stable large companies to startups.
2

A specialist was needed for a foreign startup

It was important for the company's representatives that the new team member knew the specifics of the European market (the principles of working with the British segment, in particular) very well and was fluent in English.
3

The candidate had to be able to prioritize tasks and work in a busy mode

Many processes had to be built from scratch, starting with the full cycle of creating a design for a prototype and up to the formation of an already verified and tested final design solution.
4

One of the requirements was well developed soft skills of the candidate

In the long term the specialist should become a key partner and help in the development of product design, therefore, being on the same wave with the startup founders who took part in interviews with the customer was of vital importance — the candidate should be able to find a common language with them, understand their vision in general and the specifics of the product.

How we solved

The client was ready to consider specialists from various countries, so we were not limited to specific regions, but paid attention to the candidate's international experience, the necessary skills and competencies. So, fluency in English and having a lot of experience immediately eliminated a larger number of candidates.

While searching, we used two main resources mainly: Linkedin and AmazingHiring, and also worked with Lucky Hunter's own candidate database.

The candidate had a rich professional background, including work experience in a variety of companies, from small local ones to large international corporations.

Moreover, the specialist's international experience was connected with the UK markets, so he had a great understanding of the specifics of this market and had a clear idea of the features of the target audience for the client's product.

The candidate also had all the necessary soft skills that our clients wanted to see.

Often, when selecting specialists for high-level positions, there can be a problem that despite the developed technical skills, the candidate has an insufficient level of soft skills — therefore, remembering how important it is for the customer that a potential team member is close to him in spirit, we paid special attention to checking the soft skills of candidates.

It is noteworthy that the specialist did not plan to change jobs. However, building competent motivation, focusing on the usefulness of the product and the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in an international company did their job, and the candidate agreed to participate in the selection for the position :)

He seemed to be completely on the same wavelength with the founders of the startup, and there was such a good match between them that the client was even ready for a long wait: due to the circumstances, it took the candidate three months to finish all the tasks at the previous workplace and start his work in the London team.

In addition, the client realized that the specialist had some doubts (at that time the candidate was working in a large stable company and was not sure whether to accept a job in a startup, because it had certain risks).

So the customer did not only changed the job offer and made it more profitable, but also added attractive options and offered a trial week.

Filling a vacancy: pivot

In total, we processed over 51 CVs of specialists, sent 45 letters and conducted interviews with 12 candidates, to one of which the customer made an offer.

Success factors

Partnership

The client was open to the dialogue, they also listened to our recommendations and actively participated in the selection process.

The founders of the company always gave feedback quickly and found an opportunity to quickly set up an interview despite their busy schedule, and presented a product in a such bright way that potential candidates came out from an interview in delight.
The correct portrait of the necessary specialist

While discussing the specifics of the position, we found out all the points and details important for the client, and decided what professional experience, skills and talents a potential candidate should have.

This allowed us to conduct a point-by-point, targeted search, focusing only on those specialists who fit all the main requirements.

Lucky Hunter professionalism

Our recruiter Maria built a motivation strategy correctly, and also highlighted the key advantages of the vacancy to the candidate — so the specialist became interested, even without being in an active job search.

Do you need to hire a senior-level specialist? Our recruiters will help you fill even the rarest positions, do tech recruitment and find software developers. We are waiting for your inquiries!

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