One of the nicest things about running your own business is the ability to create culture (we’ve talked about that here already).
One of the things that comes with that territory is making sure that we maintain a culture that is a thriving, dynamic, and multi-faceted while maintaining the core uniqueness that helped establish the organization in the first place.
Hiring the right people can be a complicated and time-consuming process. It can also be extremely fun when done right. Here are some thoughts about getting a job at the 8BIT Network.
Hiring Out of Need
One of the neat things about us as a business is that we’ve chosen to never “hire out of need.” In other words, even though we may technically feel the need for more help in certain areas we are not driven by that need and subsequently are not pressured to hire.
This, of course, frees us up to find the right people for the job rather than just filling a job because we need to.
As a result we spend all of our time working hard on the things we know that need to get done and literally trust God for the rest, and we’re not worried if we can’t do things right now – we’ll get to them eventually if we must.
The Right People
So what does this mean then for people interested in joining us? Ultimately it’s a combination of the right people finding us and us finding them. Intuitively I just know when the “right” person is in our midst and the “process” of hiring doesn’t take much effort at all.
But typically what I’ve found is that the right person is usually one that has been hanging out with us for a while, one that has been contributing content and helping us out because they love to and not because they are simply interested in getting paid or collecting a paycheck.
They’re passionate about Christ and the use of technology to serve Him and His Church. They are starters, entrepreneurs, take little direction, and dream big.
So, That Means…
What that means is that we technically don’t have a process to get a job at 8BIT but if you’ve been around here for a while we may end up tapping you on the shoulder and asking if you’d be interested in helping us more.
Do you have a process for hiring employees? How do you balance talent, desire, and just plain luck?
JayCaruso says
Every time I call, @dewde hangs up on me.
John Saddington says
he’s a jerk, isn’t he?
Tom says
He called me yesterday and as soon as I said “hello,” he hung up. #truestory
brett barner says
Nice that you can draw from within a community instead of sifting thru endless resumes, cover letters, and other employees’ cousins.
You can focus on those truly passionate about the work instead of focusing on the job.
John Saddington says
seriously. it’s pretty nice setup. 😉
Matthew Snider says
This is why I love coming here to be honest, the folks that visit and maintain the community here is a great thing!
Phillip Gibb says
very cool guys, it would be an honor for anyone to join up with you guys 🙂
As for the process of hiring – it took 3 months for my current company to hire me; they tend to interview dozens of people, with likely candidates going thru 3 interviews. There seems to be a fear in hiring the wrong person. They were lucky with me because I was referred. But not so lucky with another who they paid for (thru an agency) and who left after 3 months.
I guess for the typical company there is the fear of the unknown; people can put on a completely different face during interviews (just to get in) than when they are actually working.
You guys have it good, because the type of person to be hired will be quite well known and proven.
Besides there is always the trial period: do you do that?
Eric Bruntmyer says
Interesting.
Have you ever had to “fire” out of need?
Eric
John Saddington says
not yet… but it’s definitely possible.