---
name: whatsuppiyush/hiring-team
source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/whatsuppiyush-hiring-team@1/SKILL.md
source_sha256: c9616fa3bca8
---

# Hiring the Growth Team

The discipline of building an early marketing/growth team: choosing the archetype you actually need, sourcing the right candidates cheaply, and screening for how someone thinks and executes rather than how their resume reads.

## When to use this

Reach for this when the user is adding marketing capacity:

- Deciding what the first (or next) marketing/growth hire should be.
- Choosing between a full-time hire, freelancer, agency, or consultant.
- Sourcing candidates and asking where to post the role.
- Screening applicants and comparing candidates against each other.
- Weighing an AI-fluent generalist against a senior exec or a junior specialist.
- Considering whether to train the existing team instead of hiring at all.

Symptoms that point here: "I need a marketer but don't know what kind", "should I hire or outsource", "how do I test a candidate", "our job post got no good applicants".

## When NOT to use this (reach for instead)

- **To define the growth strategy the hire will execute** (stage, channels, operating model), use `strategy-fundamentals` first. Decide the strategy before you post, because it determines the archetype.
- **To build the test project's subject-matter rubric** (what good SEO, paid, or social work looks like), pull from the matching discipline skill (SEO, paid-acquisition, organic-social) for the standards you grade against.

## How this works (decision path)

1. **Define the strategy first.** Stage, product type, and business model decide which 2 to 3 functions you most need. Do not hunt for a well-rounded generalist when you need two specific strengths.
2. **Pick the archetype.** The old binary (expensive senior exec with no hands-on execution vs narrow junior specialist) now has a third path: the Gen Marketer, an AI-fluent strategist who ships across SEO, ads, email, content, and analytics solo. Good default for a lean or early team, but verify AI fluency in a live task, never from a resume label.
3. **Choose the contract type** to the need: consultant for advisory, freelancer for single-channel work, agency for full account management, full-time for comprehensive or early-stage build.
4. **Source on the board that matches the archetype.** Different profiles cluster on different platforms; match board plus sourcing trick to the type you defined, and consider training the existing team as an alternative to hiring.
5. **Screen with a paid, role-specific test project,** not the resume. Scope it tightly, pay for it, and grade the deliverable against a clear rubric. This surfaces fit that resumes hide.

## The plays

### Choose the archetype
- **Make the first hire a Gen Marketer: an AI-fluent generalist who executes across functions solo**

### Source candidates
- **Match the job board and sourcing trick to the marketer type (with pricing)**

### Screen and evaluate
- **Screen with role-specific paid test projects, not resumes; pick the right contract type**

## Key numbers and benchmarks

- **Prioritize the 2 to 3 functions you most need** over a well-rounded generalist; no candidate checks every box.
- **Job boards by candidate type:** We Work Remotely ~$299/listing (remote); AngelList free (startup experience); Glassdoor ~$65 to $250/listing (due-diligence-minded); LinkedIn Jobs pay-per-click, cap the daily budget (corporate backgrounds); Mashable Jobs ~$259/month (tech talent).
- **Sourcing tricks:** use LinkedIn "Find more people like" to clone an ideal profile; place ads on competitor Glassdoor profiles to reach talent already considering alternatives.
- **Test-project screens by role:** social manager = 4 ROI-ranked strategies + a fixed-rate sample implementation; SEO/content = a business-specific strategy + 2 sample articles + references; paid ads = read-only account access (post-NDA) + analysis, recommendations, and new test combos; generalist = break down current strategy and show big-picture plus implementation.
- **Guardrail:** candidates review your social presence before applying, so make sure it reflects the brand before you recruit. AI fluency is easy to fake on paper; verify it in a cross-functional task.

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## Reference library

Every play above, in full.

### Evaluate marketing hires with role-specific paid test projects, not résumés

## The strategy
Before a full-time commitment, screen marketers with a small, role-specific paid test project that shows how they think and execute against your actual business. You won't find a candidate who checks every box, prioritize the 2-3 functions you most need over well-rounded generalists.

## When to use it
Hiring your first or next marketer and deciding between candidates (or between a hire and a contractor). Define your growth strategy, stage, product type, business model, before you post.

## How to execute (steps)
1. **Social media manager:** ask for 4 new strategies ranked by ROI, then assign a fixed-rate sample project to implement the top choice before committing.
2. **SEO/content marketer:** request an SEO strategy specific to your business plus 2 sample articles that show visitor appeal, organic product positioning, and keyword thinking. Require references (a 6-month ramp justifies scrutiny) and ask when they last used those skills (best practices evolve).
3. **Paid ads specialist:** after an NDA, grant read-only access to your ads account and ask for an analysis of current results, optimization recommendations, and new ad/targeting combos to test. Verify experience in your specific channels, Instagram ≠ LinkedIn.
4. **Growth generalist (early-stage):** have them break down your current strategy, identify improvement areas, and demonstrate both big-picture thinking and implementation ability.
5. **Choose the right contract type:**
   - Consultant/strategist → advisory needs.
   - Freelancer → single-channel work (e.g. Facebook ads).
   - Agency → full account management.
   - Full-time → comprehensive or early-stage build.

## Notes / caveats / examples
- Test projects surface fit that résumés hide, pay for them and keep them scoped.
- Candidates review your social presence first, so make sure it reflects the brand before you recruit.

## → Skill conversion note
Becomes an `interview-test-project` prompt: input the role + business context, output a paid take-home brief with a clear rubric for scoring the deliverable.

### Make your first growth hire a "Gen Marketer", an AI-fluent generalist strategist who executes across functions solo, a third path between senior exec and junior specialist

## The strategy
The old first-marketing-hire choice was a false binary: an expensive senior exec (strategy but no hands-on execution, high cost) or a narrow junior specialist (executes one channel, needs direction). AI opens a third path, the "Gen Marketer": a strategist who uses AI to execute across many functions alone.

## When to use it
Making your first (or early) growth/marketing hire at a startup, especially a lean or AI-native one.

## How to execute (steps)
1. **Consider the Gen Marketer archetype** instead of defaulting to senior-exec or junior-specialist: someone who thinks strategically AND ships across SEO, ads, email, content, and analytics using AI as leverage.
2. **Vet for real AI fluency, not resume labels:** test whether they actually use AI to multiply their output across functions, a "prompt engineer" title or an AI course on the CV proves nothing.
3. **Give a cross-functional test project** (aligns with the existing evaluate-marketing-candidates card) to see them strategize and execute across multiple channels with AI, not just talk.
4. **Set the expectation of breadth over depth:** the Gen Marketer covers the whole funnel solo early on, then specializes hires later as you scale.

## Notes / caveats / examples
- This is the hiring counterpart to the strategy-fundamentals "solo/AI-native operating model", the Gen Marketer is how a lean team gets full-funnel coverage from one person.
- Guardrail: AI fluency is the differentiator, and it's easy to fake on paper, verify it in a live, cross-functional task.

## → Skill conversion note
Lower skill value (a hiring-archetype guide); could become a "Gen Marketer scorecard" that defines the cross-functional test project and the AI-fluency signals to verify vs. resume claims.

### Source marketing candidates by matching the job board and sourcing trick to the candidate type

## The strategy
Different candidate profiles cluster on different platforms, so pick the board (and sourcing trick) that matches the marketer type you defined first. Includes a build-vs-buy alternative: train your existing team instead of hiring.

## When to use it
Once you know the marketer type you need and are ready to source candidates cost-effectively.

## How to execute (steps)
1. **Match the board to the need (with pricing):**
   - Remote roles → We Work Remotely (~$299/listing).
   - Startup experience → AngelList (free).
   - Due-diligence-minded candidates → Glassdoor (~$65, $250/listing).
   - Corporate backgrounds → LinkedIn Jobs (pay-per-click; set a daily budget cap, it's expensive).
   - Tech-focused talent → Mashable Jobs (~$259/month).
2. **Use LinkedIn's "Find more people like" feature** to clone an ideal profile you've already identified.
3. **Target competitors on Glassdoor**, place job ads on competitor company profiles to reach talent already considering alternatives.
4. **Optimize the job description**, use We Work Remotely's remote job-description template to lift response rates; enable remote applicants to widen the pool; post prominently on your own website (product-knowledgeable users apply); use hashtags like #marketingjobs on social.
5. **Consider not hiring at all**, train existing team members (via a growth training program) instead of an external hire.
6. **Additional sourcing channels by use case:** competitors (mid-level talent), your website (product-knowledgeable users), social posts (cost-effective outreach), and targeted Facebook/LinkedIn ads (specific demographics).

## Notes / caveats / examples
- LinkedIn Ads are pricey, always cap the daily budget.
- Sister card `evaluate-marketing-candidates.md` covers the paid test-project screening once candidates apply.

## → Skill conversion note
Becomes a `source-marketing-hire` prompt: input the marketer type + budget, output the ranked board list with costs, a sourcing-trick checklist, and a job-description skeleton.

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From **God of Skills**: a curated, hand-tested directory of AI skills, prompts, templates and image style guides.
Source: https://godofskills.com/skills/hiring-team?ref=claude-skill