Sourcing People: Where To Find Them

Now that you have a clear picture of what you need someone to do (job description), and how you want them to do it (behaviors/values), you need to go to where those type of people are and let them know you’re hiring!

You need to Build Awareness of your available jobs. While we use the “help wanted” sign as the image for this guide, there are more elegant ways to promote and find candidates. Often a Help Wanted sign – especially if you always have one in the window – can look desperate. If you must post in your window… do something fun, different, which gets attention and reflects your brand.

Employee Referrals

Ask your best employees – the ones that already embody exceptional performance – to help find additional employees. Your best current employees understand exactly what it takes to work at your location.

Offer a reward for hiring someone referred by an existing employee. This reward will motivate all your employees to bring in good people – and make a little bonus too!

Ask Your Customers

Put a “help wanted” message in your receipt folders or stuff a flyer into to-go orders.

Here’s a sample approach…

Job Listings & Job Sites

Is there a local paper considered a reputable source for HELP WANTED ads?

Of course, the internet has many job sites. The most important consideration when deciding which site to post on – especially if there is a fee – is that a site is where candidates in YOUR market go to find a job.

Here is a list of sites to consider for your next posting:

• Your Company Website – You’re already paying for your site, take advantage of it.
• Facebook – Use your business Facebook page as well as your personal page to post jobs, link to your website with a downloadable Job Description.
• Craigslist – yes Craigslist is cheap, and you have the flexibility to post what you want – it also attracts all sorts of unqualified candidates. We recommend you add a “qualification” step to Craigslist submissions – such as a pre-interview survey, and require applicants submit a written paragraph.
• LinkedIn – post on your LinkedIn timeline, linking to the posting on your website. Reach out to your LinkedIn connections. This is why it is essential to ONLY link with people you know and trust – then you can get trusted references.
• School & College Job Boards – work with your local schools, universities, and colleges to post on community boards in the Student Union, dorm areas, and on the school website.

Job Sites

Monster | CareerBuilder | InDeed | SimplyHired – These are some of the most popular, and oldest job sites. These sites are rated high from an employee perspective. Check them out.

Tip: For any job site, try it out from an employee perspective and see what results you get. Put in “restaurant server” or “sales clerk” and your zip code and see who else is posting on that site.

Posting Jobs: Ask Your Employees

Ask your current employees where they and their friends go to find available jobs. Asking will help you determine which job sites and publications within which you should advertise.

Praise Great Service

When you’re out dining, shopping, and doing business, tell the people you encounter when they are doing an excellent job. Tell them who you work for and that you recognize when people go above and beyond and that you appreciate what they are doing.

Two things may happen…
a) The person will appreciate it,
b) They may look you and your company up when they’re looking for a job change.

We don’t recommend trying to hire good people away from other businesses. It challenges the loyalty of an employee and is unfair to the current employer. Would you want someone to do that to the employees you’ve trained and invested in?

We like the golden rule when it comes to business… One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.

Recruiting Firms

Recruiters do a great job hiring for you. They typically charge a fee equal to 20-25% of the yearly salary of the person hired. You’ll want to use recruiters for higher-profile jobs.

Ask around to find good ones in your area, especially ones that focus on your type of business.

Where Else Are They?

Like any targeted communication – you’ve got to get the message (relevant to your audience) in front of them where they are. If the best kind of employees you’ve had are college students who seem to be majoring in arts and communications – you should find a way to get your “now hiring” flyer onto the Communications Building bulletin board at the local college.