What do we look for in a new hire?

This year we are working on growing our team in order to support more content development and a larger infrastructure to help our brand partners succeed in the social/mobile/multi-cultural space. The addition of Guillermo "Memo" Abud announced last week was a great step in that direction.

However, hiring roughly 100 people for a company our size (growing by 50%) is not something I take lightly as I know that every hire we make has the potential to shape our internal culture in a positive or not so positive way. In fact, I read a Fred Wilson post a while ago that said that there are only three things a CEO should be responsible for, and recruiting and retaining top talent is one of them so this is a full 1/3 of my job (if you are curious here is the link to the other two things). 

Because of this, when new positions open up our preference has been to hire from within.  Giving the opportunity to talented young people who are already contributing to the company's success to step into a new and bigger role, even when their domain expertise may be limited, is our way of saying that we value cultural fit over expertise or experience in a given field. We wager that with the right cultural fit, an individual can step up and learn on the job as they face new challenges. With the wrong cultural fit no amount of domain expertise can make us succeed.

So what are some of those traits that we value so much? What constitutes our culture? and, what are we looking for?

Energy

First and foremost, we look for people with tons of energy. Without energy there is no movement. Without movement there is no change and without change there is no progress. Energy also relates to speed in my mind, which in the fast-changing digital media industry is essential to success, even survival.

Curiosity

As a content creator we leverage curiosity quite a bit to drive engagement on our audience, but curiosity is equally as important internally as it is externally. A need to understand why things work the way they do is critical in learning and eventually affecting change and outcomes. Without asking questions all the energy in the world would be rudderless. Curiosity focuses energy into all the right places.

Connection

Some people like golf and tennis, more individual sports, while other love soccer, better yet fútbol, or basketball, clearly team sports. Building a business is clearly a team sport so the ability to quickly connect with others and building internal and external relationships is critical for success. This doesn't mean everyone has to be an extrovert, there is room for both, but everyone needs to find ways to build those connections with those he or she needs to influence to reach a goal.

Leadership

This one is the most likely to be misinterpreted. Not everyone needs to get up and deliver a great speech to inspire others into action, that is certainly not what we look for, but we do look for people that can find ways to inspire others in one way or another. We tend to prefer leaders over managers. People that may or may not have the rights answers, but can get others to a place where the answer is found.

Purpose

This is the big one. As a company we are nothing but a group of people with a common purpose, in our case that purpose is simple: making a positive impact in the lives of the millions of people that interact with our content every day. If that purpose or mission excites you, then Batanga Media may be a good place for you.

If you think you are a good fit here are a few of the positions open at Batanga Media at the moment.