Date: Jul 19, 2012 Source: (
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Perhaps when the Dark Knight rises this summer he can riddle me this: how can the economy be hurting so badly, yet startups continue to struggle to hire all the talent that they need? At least one startup isn't waiting for superheroes to offer an answer. StartUpHire is out to fill vacant startup positions with a purpose.
StartUpHire
StartUpHire is a job search engine that aims to fill jobs at venture backed companies. Free to all users, the company posts thousands of jobs, which can be filtered by industry, geography, skill, functional area, and more.
The company is campaigning this summer to fill 10,000 startup jobs by November. Social media and word of mouth will spread new opportunities opening up daily. With election talk escalating and economic data figuring prominently in national media conversations, StartUpHire and partners intend to show that the startup industry is an economic driver and job supplier. Increased assistance for future companies might be a byproduct of filling current vacancies and young companies succeeding.
Approximately 45 VC firms have paired with StrartUpHire to aggregate job listings. The National Venture Capital Association, New Venture Communications, Startup America, National Science Foundation and others all are working to turn the spotlight toward the startup stage.
The Talent Conundrum
Oddly, StartUpHire CEO Steve Roberson notes that the poor economy can work against prospective employers choosing the startup path. The industry still carries the aura of risk. Jobs that you once could leave and return to if things don't work out no longer exist. With sketchy job security to begin with, employees are less likely to part with large corporations to try startup ventures.
The hope shared at StartUpHire is that increased awareness of startup positions will draw a larger pool of candidates. Heightened attention could help job seekers realize that more than tech jobs are for the taking, that industry success also requires sales people, marketers, editors, writers, and even community outreach.
Recruiting workers remains a challenge not necessarily because of a lack of talent, but talent not looking in the right direction. The competition to attract people to digital advertising positions has grown fierce. Everyone knows the value of highly-skilled coders, designers, and developers. Each plays a vital role in determining the fortunes of a startup, which has led some companies to offer huge perks and big equity stakes to attract the most desirable candidates. If job vacancies grow more visible, the thinking is that they will gather more attention as well as legitimacy. A wider community of job-hunters applying for startup jobs will improve the health of the entire ecosystem.
Roberson began StartUpHire with a partner at Grotech Ventures, Steve Frederick, where the the lack of startup positions appearing on job boards and trouble finding talent frustrated them firsthand. Their site managed to announce over 40,000 startup jobs last year.
Visitors can now help the drive to fill 10,000 positions by signing up here, and spread the word through Facebook and Twitter.
