How To Find Potential Employees for Your Business
By: Katie Gorden
Tags: Employees, How To Find Employees, Recruitment

How To Find Potential Employees for Your Business

Starting a small business will require hiring the right people to help you run it. While there may be some positions that won’t require special expertise, you’ll want to ensure every candidate you hire is productive, energetic, and trustworthy. The quality of the candidate you hire may depend on how you find potential employees.

Start With an Accurate Posting

You should have a thorough job posting for each position in your organization to make it easier to publish postings as needed. Be sure to update those postings as the requirements for each position change. This is especially applicable for tech-related positions that require a thorough understanding of new or emerging technologies. You can use online job posting software to help you create a better job announcement. In general, try to avoid the use of industry-specific jargon and be clear in describing the duties and requirements for each position.

Create a Quick Candidate Survey

No matter how well you craft the job announcement, you will still receive applications from those who are under-qualified. You can avoid wasting your time on unqualified candidates by sending out a short questionnaire as the second part of the screening process. The questionnaire should be just a few questions that ask the candidate to list their most recent education and experiences, or it may include a brief proficiency test. This will give you an impression of their qualifications at a glance, so you can more easily determine which individuals merit an in-person interview. This step will be useful in saving hours of time that you would otherwise spend interviewing candidates who don’t really meet your standards.

Network With Other Business Owners

Networking with other small business owners and entrepreneurs will do more for you than just give you insight into managing a business. It also provides an opportunity for you to meet the employees of those businesses. When you meet a professional who impresses you, make a point to obtain their contact information. You should also consider adding them as a friend on Facebook or LinkedIn. Through their social media posts, you may find they’re not quite as happy with their current position as they had hoped. If that’s the case, you may be able to offer a position in your organization that provides what their current job lacks.

Make Your Existing Employees Happy

When your own employees are happy and enjoy a positive work environment, they will post about their experiences on their personal social media pages. In essence, each employee becomes a brand ambassador for your business, showing pictures, videos, and other forms of media that embrace the positive culture they enjoy in the workplace. You can promote this feeling of pride without giving raises to keep your operating costs lower. Involving your employees in company decisions, encouraging them to participate in safety programs, and hosting a company party are just a few ways to promote better employee morale. You can also host contests or reward employees for their attendance to liven things up. As your employees post about the extras you do for them, others will see their posts and that may mean top talent will come to you.

Attend Job Fairs

You can wait to hear about upcoming job fairs or host one of your own. Either way, you should look into renting booth space at a job fair or industry-related convention to gain exposure to more potential candidates. Even a single-day job fair will leave you with enough resumes to comb through for virtually any open position you have in your organization. Later, you can compare candidates and determine which ones merit an official interview. This is often a great way to find candidates fresh out of college who have the most recent education in a specific field. In some fields of interest, such as IT support, the relevance of their education may outweigh practical experience.

While looking for the ideal candidate to fill your open positions is a time-consuming process, you do want to ensure you hire the right people. After all, your employees will be the face of your business as far as your customers are concerned. Taking the time to find the best people for each position will help you build up a positive public image in addition to ensuring your business remains productive.