Finding great employees for your startup company or other small business venture is not easy. Classified ad sites and job boards are usually full of spammers or incompetent workers. The recruiting process, in turn becomes dreadful and costly. So, where can you go to find great employees? Here we propose eight tips.
1. Go back to school. Your community college or local university may offer career-related events that you can attend and even speak at. Career fairs and forums often bring out the best and brightest students who are full of potential. These students might be perfect for your business.
2. Ask your colleagues. Your business colleagues probably know a few qualified individuals who are looking for work. Solicit their recommendations on who might be a good fit at your company. Offer a referral bonus to whomever recommends a candidate who is eventually hired.
3. Browse online profiles. Many professionals use sites like LinkedIn to post their profiles and resumes in order to attract employers. This provides you with immediate access to individuals who might have the background you are seeking. It also allows you to find out if these individuals have any kind of social network history that might be a liability to you and/or your company.
4. Hire freelance workers. Before you go through the hassle of hiring employees, try hiring skilled freelance workers or contractors. This way, you can get a taste of their work style and expertise without committing to retaining these workers as employees. Furthermore, contractors and freelance workers usually cover their own health insurance and retirement plans, saving your business from having to pay out these costly employee benefits.
5. Attend social networking events. Find social networking events in your business field and attend them. Taking this approach allows you to screen potential employees in a low -pressure setting. You also gain an understanding of how these individuals operate in a social environment.
6. Don’t forget to look internally. Sometimes your best future employee could be a current one. Be sure to post job openings where current employees can easily find them and don’t be afraid to encourage fellow workers to apply for different positions within the company. Otherwise, you will never know if your customer service representative will make an excellent product manager.
7. Try crowdsourcing. Many businesses receive input and project assistance from everyday individuals who become valuable corporate employees later on. By offering a crowdsourcing platform through your own website or a third-party, you can work with several individuals from the general public and find out how well suited they are for your business.
8. Peruse online marketplaces. Sites like oDesk, Elance and Guru allow you to browse thousands of worker profiles and gain a sense of these individuals’ experience, expertise and rates. Most online marketplaces also provide past employer reviews of these workers.