By TE Cunningham
Today, more than ever, finding a great employee can be incredibly challenging for local businesses. Yet, it is critical to the success of the organization. Not only are you looking for a specific set of skills in a responsible and engaged individual, but you are also typically doing it on a tight budget. Here are some tips for a better chance at a successful hire.
Job Description
Ensure you have a clear job description authored, formatted and free of grammar errors. Include a small paragraph about your company and its vision, along with a favorable outline of the work environment. If you are local or family-owned – let potential candidates know that. Make sure you have a comprehensive list of all benefits and perks listed. Finally, make sure you have highly relevant search keywords in the description for its online uses.
Interviewing
If you can interview in person – do so. You will read more about a potential employee in their body language and responses live than in a video interview. That said, if their job will be remote and include video interviews, you might start with video interviews, narrow down the field to your top five candidates and do those in person for efficiency and a better overall grasp on who makes the most sense for the job. Remember to have a list of questions and discussion points already authored in the interview and make them relevant. If the interview timeframe is going to take weeks or even months, keep your candidates updated, so they know they are still in the running. Don’t “bury” the compensation – be upfront. You don’t want to waste your time or theirs if they are out of your price range.
Another tactic is to allow the finalists to visit with one of your best employees – many times, they are a better advocate for the job than you are!
Marketing the Position
Use social media posts on all your channels, even if you change up the artwork and text to be more relevant by channel. Be creative – you could Facebook Live or post a video of yourself talking about the exciting new opportunity to drive more interest. If you can advertise, boosting a post on Facebook for non-professional or entry-level professional jobs is a good idea. For more experienced, professional or technical jobs, LinkedIn may be a better bet in the social world.
Take Advantage of “Free” or Low-Cost Opportunities
- Post on all relevant free online job boards; many states and other municipalities have these, as do several media outlets in your market
- Ask current employees, friends, family and business associates for referrals
- Set up a referral bonus for current employees who successfully recruit a friend to interview if they take the job
- Build an evergreen base of candidates you didn’t hire but liked for the next time you have an opening; enter them on your email marketing list if you have one to keep your company top of mind
- If you are a small company, attend job fairs; if you are a larger company, you may have enough demand for employees to do this and host your own. If you do, choose a fun theme and promote the event aggressively
Remember, it’s an employee’s marketplace today, and you have to make your company somewhere people want to work! If you are busy and need assistance with your online recruitment marketing, TLC Marketing Consultants is here to help – contact us at tlcmarketingconsultants.com