Most hiring advice is written for companies with a recruiter, an HR team, and a six-figure ATS contract. If that’s you, great. If you’re a 12-person startup where the CEO is doing the hiring between product meetings, the advice mostly doesn’t apply.
Here’s a process that actually works when it’s just you.
The lean hiring stack
You need four things: a job description, a place to collect applications, a way to screen them, and a simple system to track candidates through the process.
Job description: write it yourself, keep it honest, include the salary range. Ranges attract better candidates and filter out misaligned expectations before the first conversation.
Application collection: a Google Form linked from your job post works fine below 100 applicants. Ask for a CV and one specific question that requires genuine thought. The question filters out bulk-appliers immediately.
Screening: this is where most solo hiring managers lose hours they don’t have. A structured rubric takes 15 minutes to build and saves hours across 100 applications.
Tracking: a simple Notion board or Airtable with columns for each hiring stage. No ATS needed until you’re running more than three concurrent roles regularly.
Where AI screening fits in
The screening stage is the one that breaks solo founders. Reviewing 150 CVs between product meetings isn’t sustainable. Sieve is built for exactly this scenario: no HR team, no ATS, just a founder who needs to hire well and fast. Try it free at sievecv.com.