Hiring employees for your business can be a daunting task, especially if this is your first time hiring help. However, it’s a necessity if your business has begun to grow and if you want it to continue to grow. The first thing you need to decide is if you’re going to need short-term help (such as temporary or seasonal employees) or long-term help (such as full-time and part-time employees).
You’ll also need to determine the demographic of your employees. Are you looking to fill an entry-level position (think college students), or are you looking for someone with more work experience? Once you’ve figured out what type of help you’re looking to hire, you have to let them know that you’re hiring.
#1: Print Advertising
Print advertising, also known as traditional marketing, is one of the oldest forms of job advertising. Before the invention of the internet, small business owners would post “help wanted” ads in newspapers or right in the windows of their establishments. Today’s digital world is very different compared to 100 and even 50 years ago, but printed ads can still be successful when it comes to hiring employees— particularly for small, local businesses.
An example would be if you owned a restaurant in a small town. Your target audience would be all of the job-seekers who live in that town, so your ads should be focused on how to get the attention of job-seekers in your town. Examples include:
- Billboard ads
- Flyers
- Newspaper ads
Though most billboards are found along highways, some cities and towns have smaller billboards advertising local businesses, and the same goes for newspapers— many cities still print them regularly. You just have to do a little market research to determine if the job-seekers in your area still look to newspaper ads for jobs. You can also try other forms of traditional marketing that don’t involve printed media, such as TV or radio commercials.
#2: Niche Job Sites
Glassdoor, Indeed, Monster, and ZipRecruiter are some of the biggest job search sites right now, and job-seekers can find an endless number of open positions when browsing through these sites. These sites do bring success to most job-seekers, but not necessarily to most employers. Because countless job openings are being posted daily, your posting can easily get overlooked.
This is where niche job sites come in. This is a type of job search site that focuses on a particular area or specialty of work, and more and more serious job-seekers are looking to niche job sites to find their next job. Examples include:
- Allretailjobs.com for those looking for retail positions
- Constructionjobs.com for construction workers
- Healthcarejobsite.com for those in the healthcare industry
If your business is a part of a specific niche, there’s likely a job search site out there dedicated to your industry. Some of these websites even categorize job searches into subspecialties so that job-seekers can find the work they’re looking for and so that you’ll be able to find a more qualified candidate.
#3: Digital Marketing Tactics
As mentioned earlier, we currently live in a very digital world, with more than five billion people using the internet each day. More and more employers are starting to take advantage of the internet— including social media— to use it as a way to advertise to both consumers and job-seekers. Going back to the restaurant example, if traditional marketing techniques aren’t bringing you the results you’re looking for, it’s worth it to give digital marketing a try. Odds are that the majority of people living in your town use the internet, so you can use that to your advantage when looking for help.
First, you’ll need to make sure that you have a business website— no matter what type of small business you have. Not only is this a great way for your consumers to learn about your company, but you can also post available job openings on your website. You can also post job openings on your social media page(s) to let job-seekers in your area know that you’re hiring. Using digital marketing techniques along with the best practices in recruitment will bring the most qualified candidates to you.
Digital and recruitment marketing are the techniques you’ll want to use when looking for long-term employees. They work well to bring in short-term employees also, but recruitment marketing focuses more on long-term help. If you’re looking to hire help on a short-term basis, then job sites (both niche and traditional) and print advertising are more likely to attract those looking for temporary, seasonal, or part-time work.
