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Stanton House
Stanton House
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When Hiring, Keep an Open Mind

Posted on 25 August 2022

Securing world-class talent across Sales, Marketing & Customer Success functions has always been a challenge for startups with little brand equity. Increasing skill shortages have only served to worsen the situation as talent pools continue to shrink. Throw into the mix that cybersecurity startups often only want people with a proven track record within the cybersecurity market, and suddenly the prospect of securing talent becomes intensely competitive.

Here are some considerations when hiring talent to scale your business:

Push yourself and your peers to be open-minded - If, for example, you need to hire a Regional Sales Manager to cover Enterprise Accounts in Boston, does that person need to know cybersecurity? If they have a proven track record of selling to CIOs and building a greenfield territory, does it matter that they aren’t plugged in with CISOs? 

Pay attention to a candidate’s eagerness and drive – sometimes this is more important than what they’ve done on paper. Consider candidates who might be looking for a step up into the role. This will widen your talent pool, increase the volume of applications you receive, reduce your time to hire, and likely, improve your chances of retention. This saves you time and money in the long run.

Consider hiring for ‘culture add’, rather than ‘culture fit’ – this is true inclusion. A workforce full of clones is not the right recipe for building high-performing teams. The more diversity you have, the more likely your organization can innovate, transform, and grow.

There is likely an ideal profile that a hiring manager has in mind, some notion of a perfect candidate that ‘checks all the boxes,’ but, in my experience, it pays to take a step back and challenge our own biases.