Articles - Recruiting and Candidate Dev

With today’s very tight labor market, knowing how to find people to work for your company can be a challenging task indeed. There are many techniques you can use, some that will cost you only your time, and others that can cost significant amounts of cash.

This article will focus on identifying a number of the lower-cost techniques you can consider using to locate potential job candidates for your company.

I will make the assumption that most business owners reading this article probably cannot afford to spend 25% or more of a person’s first year’s salary on a headhunter. Given that, we won’t discuss the use of this or other high-cost techniques.

Remember that the best employees are usually not looking for employment, which means that you have to find them. Here are some of the methods to find people:

No/Low Cost Methods

1. Word of Mouth – You and your current employees tell everyone they know: accountants, consultants, lawyers, bankers, clergy, suppliers, customers, tennis partners, your advisory board, and basically anyone who knows other people.


2. Advertisements in Local Papers – The caution here is that people who are looking for work will likely find your advertisement and this is fine for the administrative, clerical or production type employees. When you need someone with more experience and a higher level of expertise, these people are not likely to look in the local papers.


3. No-cost Internet Job Posting Boards – As of this writing, there are still over 1,000 no-cost posting boards on the Internet. If you are Internet savvy, these postings can certainly be cost effective, yet they obviously have national exposure, which may not be appropriate for your company.


4. Employment Section on Your Company Website – If you have a website, by all means, post your openings here; remember to update the listing frequently.


5. Current Vendors or Suppliers – If you like the way an employee at a particular vendor handles you or your company, ask them directly if they would be interested in joining your firm.


6. Employee Referral Programs – You pay your employees when they successfully bring a candidate to your attention and you eventually hire them. You would provide a cash payment or other desirable form of recognition to your employee.


7. Networking at Trade Shows – Whenever you attend a trade show, work the crowd to identify possible candidates for future consideration, then maintain contact with the best ones until you have that opening that they would be perfect for.


8. School Placement Offices – Local high schools and colleges usually have job placement offices and they are always willing to help their students. In the absence of a placement office, contact some of the professors for recommendations of the top students.


9. Former Employees, Consultants and Vendors – can be a wonderful source for candidates.


10. Flyers on Automobiles at the Local Shopping Mall – Creating awareness is half the battle. The people who read the flyer may not be right, but they may know someone who is the perfect fit.


11. Real Estate Companies – who may know of spouses and other family members who are relocating with a corporate executive into your neighborhood. Ditto with school officials.


12. Local Business Intelligence – Track local companies' announcements of layoffs, relocations out of the area, mergers, shutdowns, etc.

Moderate-Cost Methods

1. Internet Job Postings – on such sites as Monster.com, HotJobs.com and others.


2. Larger Circulation Newspaper Advertisements – in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, etc.


3. Industry-Specific Magazines or Journals – Be aware of the lead time necessary, especially for the monthly publications. The upside is that you have a highly targeted audience.


4. Job Fairs – Attendance at a local or specialized job fair where a third party does all the advertising and administrative work, and you show up and talk to potential candidates.


5. Billboard Advertising – Hey, you never know, and it may even attract some customers to your business as well.

A successful candidate-search process will probably require use of several of these methods. Don’t put all your search eggs in one basket.

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BIOGRAPHY

Bill Bliss has worked in the areas of Organization Effectiveness, Executive and Leadership Development, Staffing and Compensation throughout his 25 year career. Bill\'s experience encompasses the disciplines of human resources, facilities management and business start-ups. After five years as a Partner in a consulting firm, he established Bliss & Associates Inc. in 1996, where he and his firm work with business owners who want their management team to be more effective. The firm provides trusted advice for improved personal and organizational performance. He has coached a wide variety of executives including Chief Executive Officers, Presidents, Vice Presidents and Directors across many disciplines. He has facilitated strategic planning, teambuilding and leadership development sessions for a variety of clients in retail, real estate services and construction, publishing, transportation services, financial services and other industries.

Prior to his consulting experience, Bill held various managerial positions on both the divisional and corporate levels. He has created and implemented processes, systems and programs in staffing, training, organization effectiveness, management development, compensation, succession planning, performance management and quality management. These assignments were in corporate and divisional environments. His corporate experience was gained at such companies as Squibb Corporation, Emery Worldwide and Fidelity Investments.

Bill holds a BS in Business Administration and has held memberships in the American Management Association, Society for Human Resources Management, American Society for Training and Development, and Fellowship of Companies for Christ International. He serves on the Advisory Board of Encouraging Times.

Bill has authored Your Journey to Success: 10 Steps to a Successful Transition and co-authored The Career Marketer, a guide to personal and professional career development. He has authored a number of articles and been quoted in several business publications. He has recently become a Walton certified Culture Compass™ Coach. William G. Bliss, President of Bliss & Associates Inc., a South Carolina consulting firm providing advisory services to entrepreneurial companies. You can reach him at wbliss@blissassociates.com // or by calling Tel 864-888-3100

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