Over the past two months, Fisheye has embarked on an extensive hiring process in search of our company’s first project manager.

There is a lot to learn when hiring, so we decided to share our process.

It’s that time to add someone to the team — That big step where you sit down to write a job description and visualize who that person will be and how they will contribute to the success of your mission.  

The hiring process: What’s the best approach? 

While our small team sees much less experience compared to some companies, we created and followed a set of guidelines and learned so much along the way.

First, we thought about what kind of employee we needed as a project manager:

1. Someone who is, by nature, systems-oriented, deadline-driven, and fully autonomous relating to project and client management.

2. A candidate who can keep track of logistics and stay on top of deadlines, with a strong eye for detail.

3. A fun-loving, hard-working, and positivity-ridden person all around. We wanted someone who is a strong team player and a fit in our culture.

Second, we thought about the process itself. The hiring process should be as smooth as possible for both us and the applicants. 

It was crucial that we treated our applicants with extreme dignity and respect. Because — let’s be honest — many of us know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a poor application process. 

Third, we emphasized communication, thanking each and every one of our applicants for applying while clarifying deadlines about the decision process. 

We attempted to create a seamless operation where communication was paramount.

We know that it takes significant time and energy to apply for a job. As an agency built on integrity, impact, and trust, we aimed to recognize and appreciate the efforts of our candidates.

Finally, we wanted to get to know our interviewees on a more personal level, giving them the opportunity to express themselves beyond a resume.

We sent them a “Get To Know Ya Worksheet” which helped us gain more knowledge about the candidate. This was a key ingredient to move the needle while increasing friction for the applicants to weed out the serious from the not so serious. 

From the beginning of this process, we had a strategy in our hiring method that landed us a wonderful candidate.

More on Hannah here.  

Fisheye’s goal throughout this process was to a) land a great candidate, and b) create a strong process for filling future roles.

We’re confident we did so.