If you’re looking to add employees for your growing business, we feel for you – because hiring isn’t easy these days. That’s why we assembled this list of 9 tips to help find just the right fit for your company’s open roles.
This year, almost 70% of hiring managers told an iHire survey that they received too many applications for open jobs, and that about 2 out of every 3 were unqualified for the position anyway.
That leads to a lot of wasted time sifting through incomplete resumes and hunting for that proverbial needle in the employment haystack. To help weed out the unqualified and hone in on the diamond in the rough, you may want to consider a few of these steps for cutting down the time and energy expended on hiring.
1. Sell it
To get the best people, you need your position to stand out. Make sure your job listing presents your role in the best possible light, including an attractive job title and a description of what makes your company distinctive from others. And if you have attractive perks, like 401(k)s, a great health care package, career development programs, or remote work options, make sure those details are front and center.
2. Spread the word on job boards
This one may seem obvious, but trust us – job boards are definitely your friend. An overwhelming 60% of job seekers say online job boards are now their no. 1 go-to resource when looking for a new job. And there are a lot more job posting locations than you might think. To help cut down on the time, enlisting a service like ZipRecruiter can be a huge timesaver, aggregating your listing to more than 100 different job boards all at once.
3. Use keywords
You don’t need to be a full-fledged SEO expert, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to know where your best applicants are looking for a job like yours. Do the research and find the terms that pull up the best, most targeted Google search results around your position type. “Sales jobs” may lead to a whopping 2.3 billion Google results, but it’s too broad a term to help people find you. “Real estate sales” cuts those results in half, while “condominium sales” cuts out 90 percent of what remains. Being specific can help lead the best candidates to your door.
4. Throw a curve ball
Look, we are advocating you trick job applicants…but it’s always a good idea to make sure they’re paying attention. Add a small detail like asking applicants to include their favorite color in their cover letter. Detail-oriented job seekers…you know, the type of employee that you want…will be mindful and comply. The ones who miss it? Well, that helps cut down your applicant pool, doesn’t it?
Again, a job search helper like ZipRecruiter can really help here, including those hidden requirements as part of their customizable job listings so it’s actually built into every posting you produce.
5. Don’t let resumes stack up
It may be tempting to let resumes accumulate before handling them all at once. But that means each may only receive a cursory glance before you move on. Instead, spend a few minutes each day giving that day’s submissions a proper inspection. By giving each its fair shake, you stand a better chance of spotting the best fits for your role and seeing the hidden skills in a candidate that might have been lost in the shuffle otherwise.
6. Spread the word
What’s the second-most common path for finding a new employee after job boards? Well, referrals from friends. That, of course, also includes your current crop of workers. Be sure your employees know you’re hiring and encourage them to act as brand ambassadors, recruiting the best and brightest to help keep your business growing and evolving.
7. Use social media aggressively
Since your current employees can only reach so far, don’t be afraid to use social media to expand that hiring net even further. That’s especially true if you’re looking to bring young, energetic, and enthusiastic new workers into your fold. Remember – 3 out of 4 job seekers between 18 and 34 actually found their last job through social media, according to a recent survey.
8. Create a prospects database
You may not be able to offer jobs to all the great candidates you field each time, but don’t just forget about some of your best close contenders. Start filing away the ones who impressed you the most and grow a solid database of potential future hires for next time. Odds are, many will be working somewhere else or not necessarily be a perfect fit for your next open role – but in case they are, you can save yourself a lot of extra time and aggravation by keeping a current repository or great options.
9. Value impressive over experience
Look, we all want people who have tackled your specific job category before. But just because someone has done a job before doesn’t necessarily mean they did that job well. Offer some extra weight to job prospects with accomplishments that stand out or life challenges they’re successfully conquered. Often, the sticktoitiveness that helped them succeed before will help them do the same in your role. Besides, without all the past experience, you can shape them into your role the way you’d like the job done, not the way they did it previously.
Meanwhile, job hiring resources like ZipRecruiter take this idea seriously, actively using its artificial intelligence algorithms to spot impressive candidates and urge them to apply to your open job, even if they don’t necessarily have a background in your field.
Prices subject to change
