As a CEO of a tech company, there are so many things that you have to worry about and that people never warned you of. And as my business began to grow and I realized I needed another person to manage the office while I was out selling ourselves to gain more clients, I decided to post an ad on Craigslist. I was ecstatic to find out that I could not only afford another employee but that my business was literally growing before my eyes. The next morning I woke up with over 100 emails in my inbox, all filled with applicants dying for the job at my start up tech company.
Quickly, I started to set up the interviews, back to back, one day after another, but to my dismay, not one of the people seemed to have what I was looking for.
Then I stopped to think, what exactly was I looking for?
Someone with confidence, someone that can do it all… Yea, so what that you can use photoshop and all the microsoft programs, what if you have 3 years of intern experience, and speak in HTML code. I interviewed almost every type of person that this world consists of and could not settle for one of the candidates. A few days after my last interview appointment, my younger sister decided to stop by to check out my new office. Freshly out of college, she was on the job search but I didn’t even think to hire her. To me she didn’t seem the “tech type,” but the second she walked in she began casually organizing the reception desk, checking out all of the products waiting to be photographed, and questioning my employees why they were texting on their cell phones.
It was that moment that it came to me, what I was looking for was another figure of authority which is hard to find in an internet ad. And thats when it dawned on me, “so what that she knows nothing about tech…” What I was searching long and far for was living under the same roof as me the whole time.
I’ve been to many business conventions that discussed the qualities of a good employee, and never did they recommend a younger sibling, but for some reason, I went with my gut and offered her a job. At first she protested, “I know nothing about your business, I studied communications.” But then she realized that this was a better job offer that any of the non existent ones she was getting prior and agreed to give it a try.
On her first day, to my surprise, she was at the office before I was.
Check. She offered me a ride home, which meant she stayed as late as I did. Check. She was an excellent and motivated employee that realized that it was in her best interest to help me and my business succeed. It’s like she already had the DNA of the business in her because of her connection to me, she treated the business like it was her own. She was always punctual, dressed in professional attire and wore a smile on her face, bringing good vibes to our office. Other things that made her an ideal candidate was her willingness to learn and pay close attention to details of the tasks I gave her. I taught her everything from customer service, to managing blog content, and taking out the trash. And I knew she believed in me and the company when I overheard her defending me when other employees would complain about my 2 am emails, saying, “don’t you realize… He’s always working!”
What I’m trying to teach you is that when you have a gut feeling you just have to go with it. And when it’s something unconventional, like hiring your younger sister, you have to take risks. And lastly, when you’re looking for something, you might not realize that it’s been right in your face the whole time, it was just disguised by something else. But what makes her a great employee is that in the end of the day we can both turn off all the business banter and go back to being brother and sister.
Tech & Bowery is an end to end e-commerce solution. We build, design, and manage many e-commerce sites. Located in the heart of midtown, we offer a turnkey solution to our clients allowing them to outsource all the components of running their e-commerce business through us. That includes all web development, web design, hosting, warehousing/fulfillment, digital merchandising, photography, descriptions, social networking, online media buying, call center, SEO and strategic analysis.
Image Credit: www.mariarickerthong.com
