{"id":8502,"date":"2026-04-19T20:24:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/?p=8502"},"modified":"2026-04-19T20:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:24:38","slug":"ai-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/ai-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Startups &#8211; The Only 3 Hiring Steps You Ever Need"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the hiring steps you need to take when looking for someone to help you in your data business? If you\u2019re thinking about hiring someone, then don\u2019t make another move until you watch this video where I\u2019m about to give you the only 3 steps you\u2019ll ever need to make to ensure your hiring investment produces an ROI for your company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I did an earlier <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/ai-startups-4-hiring-mistakes-you-need-to-avoid\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video on hiring mistakes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and this is the sequel video where I show you how to avoid them &#8211; I really recommend you go watch that prequel after watching this one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i6QT2dZ--zU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>YouTube URL:\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/i6QT2dZ--zU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/i6QT2dZ&#8211;zU<\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you prefer to read instead of watch then, read on&#8230;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the best data leadership and business-building advice on block, subscribe to my newsletter below and I\u2019ll make sure you get notified when a new blog installment gets released (each week). \ud83d\udc47<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><!-- ConvertKit: Unauthorized --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In case you&#8217;re new to our community, my name is <\/span><a href=\"mailto:lillian@data-mania.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lillian Pierson<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and I support data professionals to become world-class data leaders and entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In terms of why I\u2019m sharing this content now, well, in fact &#8211; I\u2019m hiring. So I thought I\u2019d share my journey and my approach to hiring because I sure wish I had this information 8 years ago when I started hiring for my own business, Data-Mania. I\u2019ve been way too busy with the rewrite of the 3rd edition of my book Data Science for Dummies and more data projects coming down the pipeline\u2026So, I need another data pro to help me inside the biz.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But for now &#8211; I\u2019m going to teach you a thing or two about hiring data professionals to support you in your data business\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Backstory Testimonial<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know what it\u2019s like to get so many clients in your business that you don\u2019t have enough support to help them all. That\u2019s the situation for my student here, Jordan Goldmeier. He started our program in January 2021 and used it to land <strong>$50k contracts in the last 6 months &#8211; 6 of which were at $500\/hour<\/strong>. Now, he\u2019s looking to make another $100k this year based on the methods I taught him in the course, so &#8211; in order for this to happen, he\u2019s going to need to hire some help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-pin-nopin=\"nopin\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-9687 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Jordan-testimonial-265x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"265\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Jordan-testimonial-265x300.png 265w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Jordan-testimonial-80x90.png 80w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Jordan-testimonial.png 323w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 265px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 265\/300;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, in this article, I\u2019m going to pretend that this is for him. Here is what<\/span><b> NOT <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to do \u2013 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/ai-startups-4-hiring-mistakes-you-need-to-avoid\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiring Mistakes You Need to Avoid, <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">especially about why you <\/span><b>don\u2019t want to just throw a job on Upwork real fast and hire that way. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Watch it on the blog<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/ai-startups-4-hiring-mistakes-you-need-to-avoid\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now let&#8217;s talk about what TO DO. I\u2019ve broken it down into 3 simple steps&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">STEP 1: Casting The Net Wide<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are 3 things you need to do as part of this step.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>1: Write a quality job description<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business mission, vision, and values<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clear, specific expectations for the candidate<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Always include a red herring <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(a little trick to show that proves the applicant read the job description)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>2: Prepare a complete application form<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make it long and detailed to help you assess the candidates better and weed out people that don\u2019t care about your business<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Include a mock-up scenario to see what they would do on something like that in real life<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Include open-ended questions to get a better idea of their writing style and who they are<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make references back to the job description and ask them questions about it &#8211; you don\u2019t want someone to apply if they don\u2019t even take the time to read the job description<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>3: Share your job posting<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-pin-nopin=\"nopin\" class=\"wp-image-9700 aligncenter lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sample-social-post-248x300.png\" alt=\"sample social media post on hiring\" width=\"311\" height=\"377\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sample-social-post-248x300.png 248w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sample-social-post-74x90.png 74w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sample-social-post-537x649.png 537w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Sample-social-post.png 552w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 311px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 311\/377;\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Share it on all your social media platforms &#8211; relevant Facebook groups, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Tip:<\/strong> When sharing to social media, make sure to add a little extra red herring step. In this post I did, I asked them to drop a comment and send me a DM so they can get the full job description and most people failed to do that. So when you share it social, don\u2019t just give it to them, make sure that you make them follow a process and follow instructions in order to get the job posting.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Share it in your email list<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post it to job boards<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post it to Upwork\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The job description limit is only up to 5000 characters, so you may want to upload a PDF of the full thing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The application questions are limited to 5 so you can just combine the questions, where possible<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<h4><b>If you\u2019re reading this, then it&#8217;s a pretty good bet that you\u2019re thinking of hiring someone. So, I would love to hear from you.\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Tell me in the comments below, who are you looking to hire or what role are you hiring for?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Maybe someone from the community is a good fit!<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">STEP 2: Narrowing In On The Best Applicant<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are 2 parts to this step&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>PART A: The Vibe Check\u00a0<\/b><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-11419 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-683x1024.png\" alt=\"hiring steps you need to take\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" data-pin-title=\"AI startups - the only 3 hiring steps you ever need\" data-pin-description=\"Do you ever feel like you KNOW you need to hire for your #data startup\u2026 But it often feels like more trouble than it\u2019s worth? \ud83d\ude29 Follow this simple 3-step hiring formula to make your next hire for your #AI startup a profitable one! #DataScience | http:\/\/data-mania.com\/blog\/ai-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need\/ \" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-60x90.png 60w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-533x800.png 533w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need-433x649.png 433w, https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/AI-startups-the-only-3-hiring-steps-you-ever-need.png 1000w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/450;\" \/><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go through the applications and pick the top 2 candidates\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schedule a 20-min vibe check &#8211; not an interview,\u00a0 just a personal vibe check to see what it feels like to talk to them<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use calendly so you don\u2019t have to bother about the scheduling<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask about red herring<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>PART B: Send small test<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If they pass the vibe check, then send them a small test. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Send follow-up email with a similar test<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask them to rank their data expertise on programming languages, etc. (assign a 1 for \u201cno experience,\u201d assign a 10 for \u201cexpert level\u201d)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look at results and schedule interview(s)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can watch the demo of the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/i6QT2dZ--zU?t=397\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">small test I did <\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">STEP 3: Make an offer<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>PART A: Hold an interview with the candidate<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the position is lower and non-technical, perhaps you can get by with a 20 or 30-minute interview\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re looking to hire someone part-time, full time or for something that\u2019s really technical, then you probably want to invest at least 60 minutes<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask them about:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their responses thus far and ask them to explain why they responded the way they did<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any similar projects<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their add-on capabilities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some references<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>PART B: Make an offer<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tell the person about why they were hired<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide complete onboarding package<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reiterate role expectations, hours, pay, vacation, benefits etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide clear sets they need to take by a deadline in order to accept the offer<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><b>Here\u2019s a bonus for you!<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve made a sample job description that you can use to pattern after when creating your own! You can get a copy of it inside of our Facebook group &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/data.leaders.and.entrepreneurs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Becoming World-Class Data Leaders and Entrepreneurs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/data.leaders.and.entrepreneurs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join our community here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also watch a demo of it <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/i6QT2dZ--zU?t=575\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re digging this real talk about the hiring steps you need to take, then I know you\u2019re gonna love our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/data-entrepreneur-toolkit\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FREE Data Entrepreneur\u2019s Toolkit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s an ensemble of all of the very best, most efficient tools in the market I\u2019ve discovered after 9 years of research and development. A side note on this, many of them are free, or at least free to get started, and they have such powerful results in terms of growing your business. These are actually the tools we use in my own business to hit the multiple 6-figure annual revenue mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/data-entrepreneur-toolkit\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download the Toolkit for $0 here.<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hey, and if you liked this post about the hiring steps you need to take, I\u2019d really appreciate it if you\u2019d share the love with your peers by sharing it on your favorite social network by clicking on one of the share buttons below!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NOTE: This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this article and support the channel at no cost to you. While this blog may earn minimal sums when the reader uses the links, the reader is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>Want a clean, repeatable system for measuring B2B growth? Get the free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/growth-metrics-os-email-course\/\"><strong>Growth Metrics OS<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a 6-day email course for technical founders and operators who want to measure growth and make better decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the hiring steps you need to take when looking for someone to help you in your data business? If you\u2019re thinking about hiring someone, then don\u2019t make another move until you watch this video where I\u2019m about to give you the only 3 steps you\u2019ll ever need to make to ensure your hiring [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[582],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startups","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20175,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8502\/revisions\/20175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.data-mania.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}