How do I recruit technical talent at MIT?

When you’re building a tech-enabled business, but you don’t have anyone technical on your team it is important to begin the recruiting process as soon as possible. Even if you aren’t ready to hire today you can begin building relationships so that when the time comes you already have a talent pool to pull from.

If you are interested in recruiting technical talent from the MIT community there are a few approaches that are proven and effective:

• EECS Department Jobs Mailing List - Post your job description to the eecs-jobs@mit.edu listserv. This mailing list is very active and regularly has job opportunities for students not just in the EECS department, but throughout the MIT community.
• MIT Co-Founder Connect Facebook Group - Connect with other current students and some alumni in the co-founder Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MITFounders/
• Physical Posters / Flyers - They work! Consider printing posters with contact information on pull tabs to post on bulletin boards around campus. Be sure to target relevant buildings.
• Martin Trust Center Wall - When you walk into the Martin Trust Center (E40-160) there is a massive green white board wall where students recruiting regularly post their job opportunities.
• MIT Orbit Job Board - If you are an MIT startup you can have your job postings pulled automatically and imported into the MIT Orbit job board. Simply send a link to your careers page on your website or AngelList profile to mitorbit@mit.edu.
• Attend Events - Find technical events in and around MIT and the greater Boston ecosystem to being networking and meeting relevant individuals.
• Ask for Referrals - Begin talking to your contacts in the MIT community so that they know you’re on the hunt for technical talent, which may turn into a referral.
• Internship Programs - MIT also runs a number of student internship programs that help connect students with companies, which may be helpful in connecting with technical students on campus. Read more here >

If you aren’t ready to hire, or are unsure whether you need to hire someone technical or contract a development firm, consider reading our article “Should I hire a CTO or a dev shop?”, which will guide you through the evaluation process.