Ditch the CV- A New Hiring Process

The role of Head of Marketing for Drinki app, complete with salary and equity, will be given to the person who gets the most sign-ups in a four-week period

This is my first ever blog post, and since I am writing on behalf of the whole team, I think it’s best to begin by telling you what Drinki is all about.

Drinki is a free app that allows users to redeem a delicious alcoholic beverage, in most cases a cocktail, in return for a Facebook Check In. The offer is one drink a night, available every night.

This may seem very simple, and it really is, but we are the first app in the world to provide the proposition and it’s all in-built. In just three clicks our users are checked-in with a drink in hand.

That is what Drinki does, so what is this blog about? A new hiring process:

One of the hardest things for any start-up is finding the right person for the role. So the question I am asking is this: is the traditional application process the best method?

This can be answered by addressing two main points. The second of which, though seldom thought of, can very often impede the success of the first.

1. Finding someone with the right skill set for the role.

2. Overcoming human bias when doing so.

Drinki needs a Marketing Manager.

Instead of delving broadly into the merits of having a marketing manager, it would be better to discuss what the role entails for a start-up such as ours.

Like most jobs there are a number of differing targets to be worked on, but the most important goal for any person hired will undoubtedly be user acquisition.

Conventionally, this would be the stage where we look at the relevant experience on each applicant’s CV.

Experience in the nightlife business would definitely be a plus, as would work with other start-ups. Strong knowledge of the social media landscape, of the differing outlets and how they are best utilised would be crucial. All that with bonus points awarded to the applicant who falls within the target audience of the app itself.

Conventionally, these are the attributes we would look for, but is ticking a couple — or even all of — the boxes above a guaranteed route to finding the right person? How could it be when the single biggest element needed is almost impossible to express in the confines of a CV? That elusive element, for want of a better term, is HUSTLE.

Hustle is the view that whatever needs to be done will be done. It is the attitude that the job description does not limit the person from doing anything within reason to get to where they want to go, the ability and commitment to adapt to the altering landscape around you as things inevitably change within a young company.

It is the single most elusive of characteristics that almost everybody on their CV professes to have, when in truth very few actually do.

Hustle is what we need and it is the reason why we have tried to do something a little different.

The process is simple. All applicants who email us will be given a unique code and URL. They then have four weeks to get as many sign-ups as possible. After which the nine runners up will receive £1 per download, and the winner will become the new Head of Marketing for Drinki.

That person will have demonstrated every necessary skill for the job. Thinking creatively, planning adequately and — most important of all — executing their plans for actual results. That person will have hustle, and that is the person we need.

The human bias problem

We are all the products of our experiences, and carrying the baggage of what we have seen and done before places inevitable constraints on our future thinking.

When it comes to hiring, we cannot help but think of the last person who we encountered, who we read or heard about, who would have been perfect for the role, and because we are human, we not only think of their actions and attitudes, we also think who they were and what they looked like, height, race, age, gender etc.

These additional characteristics, though obviously having no bearing on a person’s suitability for the role, still end up inadvertently skewing our selection.

In the 1970s and 1980s a number of major orchestras began to hold blind auditions in a bid to overcome gender bias. They went as far as asking those who auditioned to remove their footwear before walking on the stage, so that the sound of their shoes wouldn’t give the panel any hints. The results are well documented and quite startling*.

In designing this process, we at Drinki have acquired a virtual blindfold of our own. Be it a 19-year-old man with no experience or a 73-year-old woman with a wealth of it, the result will be final.

So with that said, here are the final words of my first blog post:

Telling people you are innovative doesn’t make you innovative; doing and making something innovative does. At Drinki, we always strive to innovate in all aspects of our business, not just our product.

We have big plans and new ideas that will continue to break new ground in what we are trying to do, and we can’t wait to meet our new Head of Marketing!

If you are interested in the job, please email us at [email protected] or check out the rest of the details at Drinki.com/jobs