From the course: Running a Design Business: The Staffing Rule Book

Five hard and fast rules for hiring

From the course: Running a Design Business: The Staffing Rule Book

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Five hard and fast rules for hiring

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- Before you think about making any hiring decisions, I'd like to first introduce you to five guiding principles or best practices that I've gleaned throughout my career that should help guide you as you begin your hiring journey. In my experience, these rules are proven true, time over time. Believe in them and they will help you avoid very common mistakes that many others have made. One, your first hire should be a senior-level designer with two to three years experience minimum. Not a junior designer or intern. Two, you sometimes have to hire before you can afford to. Having a larger team gives you more confidence in selling and the additional overhead incentivizes you to pursue new opportunities and price higher. In other words, hire when you can't afford not to, and the work, as well as income, will follow. I've said this before, but it bears repeating, you need a cushion of savings that cover at least three to six months of overhead. Three, do not hire under pressure to accommodate the latest fire. It's rarely a sustainable position in the long term. Plan your hires to accommodate your big picture, long-term business goals, not your short-term ones. Four, do not hire employees who indicate that they have to take a significant pay cut to work with you. In these situations, the employee usually doesn't stay long and will likely leave as soon as they find an opportunity where they can make more money. Or the employee is willing to take a pay cut as a stopgap measure, as they just want to escape their current circumstance. For example, a terrible boss. Some just take the lower paid job temporarily to build up their portfolio and round out their experience. Five, hiring takes time, so be patient and plan in advance. Who you hire and who you need on your team is dependent on many factors, including the skills and role of the firm principle, the type of work you do, your processes, your own financial goals, and your personal preferences. That said, these five rules will help you avoid the more common hiring mistakes many other creative firms make.

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