The tech industry is booming, and every entrepreneur out there is trying to bag the best talent for their company. However, whenever it comes to hiring senior management, startup founders usually find hiring relatively more difficult than hiring individuals and teams of developers.
In the latter case, most businesses are able to build sustainable, long-term developer teams through software development partnerships (similar to those that Gaper offers). But often, when trying to scale your business, executives and leaders in the tech sector are often hard to find, particularly when you have to be a bit conservative about using your resources.
It is important for business owners to understand how to hire a CTO because a lot of the tasks associated with managing and leading a tech team can be unfamiliar and overwhelming. Setting up a new product plan, choosing the right architecture, finding the perfect tech, going through maintenance of the developed product, etc, are sometimes beyond the capabilities of founders with an exclusively business mindset.
And this is exactly where the CTO takes charge.
A CTO’s job is to ensure that a business keeps up with tech trends and competition no matter how many come and go. They make sure that the startup soars high with efficient leverage of technology. And how do they do that? By providing the startup with the best technology stack, tech experts, developers, etc.
If you are in the market to hire a CTO for your company but can’t decide whether or not you should, feel free to set up a quick remote appointment with us to discuss how a CTO could help with your business goals, objectives, and growth. This article goes over the major steps every business owner should look to tick off when hiring a dedicated CTO for their company.
CTO stands for Chief Technology Officer. The name says it all but let’s say it out loud. A CTO handles all matters of an organization that are related to technology. He could be a technical co-founder, a technology partner, or just a technology specialist with entrepreneurial expertise. They could be in charge of technology stack selection, IT infrastructure creation and management, security, development process strategy, developer hiring, product development team management, etc. CTOs are typically tasked with determining the technological path of their company through strategic plans for technology use and implementation.
A CTO’s designation holds the same importance as a CFO’s or a CEO’s for a company. They sit among the founders of the company and take all decisions related to technology that will help take the company towards success.
Here are some responsibilities of a CTO which will help you understand the role of the CTO better:
Hiring a CTO may not be a decision that requires much thought for FAANG or any other big company, but it is something that small businesses and startups do need to think and make a judicious decision about. To the question of whether or not an organization needs a CTO: the straight-up answer is yes, it is very likely. If you find your business and tech team growing, especially in a manner where the latter has a lot to contribute to the former, it may be a good idea to look into hiring a CTO. After a certain point, a technical head in your development team is one of the most important things without which the team is incomplete.
Moving ahead, how do you assess the capabilities of a CTO? What should you look for when hiring one?
Now, the most important thing is to consider the fact that hiring CTO is way different than hiring other tech experts or developers for a product team. The recruitment process in this case is to be conducted in a relatively more thorough and rigorous manner since the individual you hire will have a big role to play and a bigger team to manage.
Here are something that needs to be paid attention to:
Finding a CTO with a decade of experience is nearly impossible, but that is what you should aim for. You cannot go for an entry-level or a mid-level tech expert without any leadership experience, and hand them over to a product developing team. A CTO is someone who often stands in the founder’s position; therefore, they should be someone with ample experience in both technical and leadership positions.
CTOs handle everything related to tech in a company. Literally everything. Let it be selecting the technology for development, frameworks, and libraries for front/back-end, or programming languages. Assess this technical part of their skillset jointly with their soft skills and business/entrepreneurial proclivity.
Oftentimes, there is no one else in a startup or small business who can effectively test and evaluate the suitability of a CTO candidate. In such a case, go for collaborations and partnerships with businesses that are well-reputed in this field. Gaper makes sure that senior technical experts that we hire for our clients are as well-versed in business development concepts as they are in tech. Since senior experts vet these individuals, our clients do not have to go through the hassle or compromise on the quality of talent they are hiring.
When hiring for a senior, executive position, it is a good idea to gauge how passionate, motivated, and inspired they are about their work. It really ends up being one of the key characteristics that determine the faith they have in your ideas and their willingness of achieving the business goals you set. Because they are the ones who take ideas further, if they are not passionate enough, the team they lead and strategies they implement won’t bear optimal fruit.
One universal fact about technology is that it changes very frequently. This is why the CTO you choose should be an eager learner who can keep up with market trends, competition and business growth. In order to move quickly with exogenous variables, a CTO needs to have a learning mindset that tailors business strategies according to what is needed at the time.
This soft skill is also complemented by a CTO’s inclination to be flexible. 2020 taught us that this was perhaps the most important quality a business could have. Make sure your leadership is keeping up with the times.
Last but not least, as mentioned, a CTO must have excellent leadership skills. Since they have different roles than that of a senior developer or a tech co-founder, leadership skills are a must in a CTO. Having leadership skills helps in setting a direction for everyone, motivating other employees and, leading the team more efficiently.
What steps should you follow in order to hire a CTO? Let’s go over them.
The first thing you need to do is define your requirements such as:
Before beginning the process to hire a CTO on your own, determine whether you have the resources to actually vet and evaluate the candidates for the position. If you do not have in-house expertise, you may need to look for it elsewhere. One way to do it is to hire a technical advisor. A technical advisor works does not work for you on an everyday 9-5 basis. Once every month, they work together with your tech teams to do code reviews, give some direction to your company in terms of tech, recommend other changes that senior engineers or tech managers might implement. In addition, technical advisors can also vet CTO candidates for your company as well as conduct their interviews and other hiring processes.
In short, this is an advisory role that does not force the person to give up any existing work they might have. Technical advisors can also vet, collaborate with, and offer feedback to remote development teams.
Another way to rid yourself of multiple hiring processes is simply to let another company do it for you as long as you are satisfied with their vetting process. You can discuss Gaper’s vetting process by scheduling a quick meeting with us.
For someone to qualify as a CTO, they need to have, at the very least, a bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering information systems, or a related field. An accompanying degree (BS or higher) in a business or management-related field is also a plus. It is not necessary, but you may find that those applying for a CTO position often hold a master’s degree, and sometimes, even a Ph.D.s. While certainly an impressive addition to their credentials, do not reject candidates just because they do not have a master’s degree.
A good indicator of whether a CTO likes to keep their skills polished is looking at the additional certifications that they may have acquired throughout their professional careers. These certifications could be in the field of development, cybersecurity, cloud computing, database administration, and/or any other related fields.
Finally, a CTO should ideally have over 7 years of experience in a tech and management role, with some time also spent in leadership roles. It is hard to quantify soft skills. If you are hiring a CTO on your own, look for as many demonstrable examples of their abilities as possible.
The next most important step is to define and prioritize your requirements. Every startup has different requirements. Therefore, you need to be clear about yours. The candidate needs to know what you are looking for and what are your top priorities so they can function better as the CTO of your company.
Search different platforms and many platforms when looking for a CTO. Don’t think about saving time and just getting done with the responsibility as the position of a CTO is very important. Therefore, exploring different platforms searching for your perfect candidate is a wise decision.
Moreover, searching for a CTO online does not only stand if you want to hire a virtual CTO, but this method is also accurate even if you want an in-house CTO.
Feel free to use the following as a CTO job description template if you choose to hire a CTO on your own:
What does a CTO do?
A CTO handles all tech-related matters of an organization. They could be a technical co-founder, a technology partner, or just a technology specialist with entrepreneurial expertise, but they have to be in charge of technology stack selection, IT infrastructure creation and management, security, development process strategy, developer hiring, product development team management, etc. CTOs are typically tasked with determining the technological path of their company through strategic plans for technology use and implementation.
Do I need a CTO for my company?
Yes, if you find that you need someone to lead your tech times, conduct hiring, vetting, and other tech-focused tasks for the growth of your business, you should hire a CTO. If you don’t need someone full-time to be doing this job, look into hiring a technical advisor.
How should I hire a CTO for my company?
First, draft a job description that lists the responsibilities you plan to delegate to a CTO. Share that on your preferred job boards, or distribute it in your network. Once you start getting applications, judge them based on the criteria explained above. Alternatively, share your job description with us so we can find and vet an appropriate candidate for you.
How much does a CTO earn yearly?
CTOs earn approximately $250,000 to $350,000 in NYC. Their salary is largely dependent on their professional and educational background, along with the size of the company they are hired at and their responsibilities. Countries where the cost of living is lower may see these figures halved.
Hiring a CTO is slightly different from hiring a team member or manager. In this case, you not only need someone with certain requisite skills but also require them to be on the same page as you about your business objectives and growth plans. While it is common to find someone from one’s professional network, this may have become a little difficult lately. Where people are handing in their resignations to start their own journey of self-employment, it may be better for companies to look into hiring remote CTOs to not only add flexibility to their work systems but also to leverage the cost and skill advantages that come with it.
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