Rework jason fried

CHAPTER 
HIRING 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Do it yourself first 
 
Never hire anyone to do a job until you've tried to do it yourself first. That way, 
you'll understand the nature of the work. You'll know what a job well done looks like. 
You'll know how to write a realistic job description and which questions to ask in an 
interview. You'll know whether to hire someone full-time or part-time, outsource it, or 
keep doing it yourself (the last is preferable, if possible). 
 
You'll also be a much better manager, because you'll be supervising people who 
are doing a job you've done before. You'll know when to criticize and when to support. 
 
At 37signals, we didn't hire a system administrator until one of us had spent a 
whole summer setting up a bunch of servers on his own. For the first three years, one of 
us did all of our customer support. Then we hired a dedicated support person. We ran 

---

with the ball as far as we could before handing it off. That way, we knew what we were 
looking for once we did decide to hire. 
 
You may feel out of your element at times. You might even feel like you suck. 
That's all right. You can hire your way out of that feeling or you can learn your way out 
of it. Try learning first. What you give up in initial execution will be repaid many times 
over by the wisdom you gain. 
 
Plus, you should want to be intimately involved in all aspects of your business. 
Otherwise you'll wind up in the dark, putting your fate solely in the hands of others. 
That's dangerous.