Landing the Right Employee With Online Recruiting

By Staff Writer

Whether you’re getting ready to hire your first employee or your hundredth, as a small business owner, needing to recruit means success and is cause for celebration. Granted, it may not feel that way right now. Regardless of the position, hiring someone new can quickly go from being a victory to being a headache. You have more work than your current staff can handle—and now you have to go through the process of reviewing resumes and interviewing applicants. Fortunately, the Internet can act like a ghost headhunter that works for you, minimizing all the growing pains of traditional recruiting.

Selecting A Site

If youÍre seeking someone with very specialized skills, you may need to do your homework and investigate the smaller, niche job sites.

According to Weddle’s, a Connecticut-based recruitment research firm, there are approximately 40,000 online job sites. How do you know which is the most appropriate for your company’s needs? If you’re seeking someone with very specialized skills, you may need to do your homework and investigate the smaller, niche job sites. If you’re looking to fill a more mainstream position, the mass-market sites may be your best bet.

The number-one job site, Monster.com, boasts 11.1 million users (March 2003, Nielson/NetRatings), followed by the Yahoo!-owned HotJobs and CareerBuilder. Navigate around various sites including these to determine which is right for you. Also ask around; find out where people in your industry search for and post jobs

Creating Your Sales Pitch

Before you start writing, start thinking. Who is the ideal candidate for the position? Make a wish list of the skills and qualities necessary to work best with your business. When you start crafting your posting, get descriptive. Online job listings give you the luxury of much more room than the standard newspaper classified ad; so make sure to use the space to your advantage. If you’re looking for someone creative, compose a creative ad. If you need someone more conservative and professional, reflect that in the tone of your description. Get specific about the responsibilities and requirements—this will help you get more qualified responses.

Get in touch with your inner advertising copywriter when creating your job listing. You need to not only sell the position, but also your business. Tell jobseekers what you do, who your clients are and what awards you’ve won. Show them, too, by including links to your Web site. Start by looking at similar postings from other companies and crib from the ones you like.

To spark job seeker’s interest, convey a sense of the environment you offer and try to persuade your readers with reasons they should want to work for you. Include specifics about how challenging the position is, how independent it is and how you’d describe your management style.

Hint: Some job sites charge significant fees for including links. If you find this to be true where you want to post, avoid the cost by including your email address instead, if your email address is your domain name, e.g., jobs@flowersbyjane.com. Interested applicants will go to your site from that.

Resume Flood

With today’s high unemployment rate, be prepared for a deluge of applications to come at you once you’ve posted your opening. To avoid sifting through hundreds of resumes in your main inbox, consider setting up a separate email account dedicated to your online search.

Screen your top choices by first emailing them with preliminary interviewing questions. Their answers can help you avoid wasting time bringing them in if they arenÍt really qualified.

As you go through the applicants—and you do have to go through all of them—be sure to use technology to your advantage. Screen your top choices by first emailing them with preliminary interviewing questions. Their answers can help you avoid wasting time bringing them in if they aren’t really qualified. You can also save applicants time by sending them your application by email as well. This will save both of you the trouble of scheduling extra face-time for filling it out and can give you extra time to review the applicant’s particulars.

Not Convinced?

Most job sites cost $99 to $300 for an ad to run for 30 to 60 days.

Still not sure you should fish in the online applicant pool? Consider this: Major city newspapers charge up to $1000 a day for a classified ad. Most job sites cost $99 to $300 for an ad to run for 30 to 60 days. With a bargain like that, the choice is easy. There’s also the advantage of quick changes when using online postings. If your original ad isn’t providing the applicant pool you desire, you can easily change it without waiting for a newspaper’s print cycle. Embrace the Internet to find new employees and it’ll be much easier and cost-effective to get rid of your hiring headache and revel in your business’ growth.