Create a list with the help of other department leaders or administrators of the most important qualities to look for when you recruit successful staff. Discuss elements like attention to detail, experience, education level and flexibility. Your fellow managers can provide input about the qualities that will make an employee most successful and recommend someone else in the company who might be right for the job.
Employees in related positions will have connections to good candidates within the industry and be able to refer friends or colleagues that will meet the job’s requirements that are looking for a new job. Send staff an email that includes the job description and ask them to pass it along to people they know who are qualified. Offering incentives for employee referrals can encourage people to take your hunt for the perfect candidate seriously. [3] X Research source
You can reach out to colleagues and business contacts for referrals or positive and negative reviews when you’re recruiting employees. Colleagues in the industry can also advise you about a particular website or trade show that’s good for finding successful employees.
Play up your company culture. Tell them about what a typical day is like at your company, and give details on the company’s “personality. " Talk about how much you enjoy working there. Offer a competitive salary and benefits. [6] X Research source While this isn’t always enough to guarantee you’ll make the hire, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Make the position sound prestigious and challenging. These two factors are big incentives for bright potential candidates. Job satisfaction comes from feeling respected and having the opportunity to learn new things and excel in the face of obstacles. Offer things other companies don’t. Flex time, for example, is a highly valued benefit that many companies don’t offer. Allowing people to work from home and take time off when they need it can set your company apart from the rest.
Make your pool wider and deeper by asking the candidates themselves for referrals. When you call someone on a candidate’s list of references, ask about the candidate, then delve into questions on the background of the person you’re talking to. You might be able to recruit the candidate’s old manager.
Even if someone you’re interested in already has a job, there’s no harm in setting up a meeting to get to know the person. You can discuss the job opening and see if they’re interested. If they aren’t, they might have suggestions as to who else would make a good candidate.
Write what makes your company special and better than its competitors. Write about your company’s main goal. Make it sound important, whether you aim to save endangered animals or make the very best toothpaste on the market.
If your company is prestigious and formal, use serious, painstakingly correct language. If your company is playful and innovative, feel free to use slang or jokes to let people know that having a big personality is part of the job.
Make the job sound great, but be honest about the not-so-glamourous aspects of the work. For example, if you’re hiring an office manager, you might want candidates to be prepared to run the office at a high level while also being willing to order supplies and keep the office looking nice. People who aren’t interested in the less engaging work of being an office manager will know not to apply. Don’t go overboard listing more than 5 or so background, field and educational requirements. If you get too specific, you might weed out great candidates who can quickly pick up on how to do the job even if they haven’t had the exact experience you’re looking for. A person’s work ethic and attitude can be just as important to their success as other skills or qualifications.
The way a candidate submits his or her application can be telling. If someone has trouble following basic instructions, you might not want to hire them.
Post the opening on your company website, on a page labeled “Careers” or “Jobs. " This will draw applicants who actually took the time to check out your company, rather than stumbling on a posting in a public forum. Post the opening in industry forums and relevant job sites. For example, if you’re in the film industry, post the job opening on industry sites that will be frequently viewed by people who are already in the know. Post the opening on general job sites if you want a lot of applicants. If you’re hoping to get as many applications as possible, post on Craigslist, Monster. com and similar massive job sites. [11] X Research source Beware that you’ll be likely to get some spammy replies.
If you find your posting isn’t recruiting the right kind of people for the job, go back and tweak it. Be patient and go through as many application and interviews as necessary to find someone you’re confident will do a good job. It’s easy to get overwhelmed during the hiring process, but your hard work will pay off in the end.
