Where to Look
How will you find employees? Your opportunities are limitless. Many companies advertise in their local newspaper, but some studies have suggested that newspaper ads actually bring in the smallest number of qualified applicants when compared with other methods.
Telephone your state’s Department of Employment and have the organization place your help - wanted position on their online site and the office bulletin boards. Since the job placement specialists there already have applications from qualified people on file, they may be able to suggest a few candidates when you first call. Local college and school job banks have students who are willing to work part time or full time in the summer or upon graduation, and the good thing about hiring a freshly minted student is that you essentially have a blank slate—meaning that more than likely they won’t come with any bad business habits you’d need to break.
Private employment agencies are also good sources for qualified candidates, but they tend to charge a hefty fee for the privilege—usually from 10 to 25 percent of an entry-level employee’s first- year salary.
The Internet has proven to be a great source of technologically savvy, enthusiastic employees from all over the world. You can place help wanted ads on Web sites that cater to job seekers and with newspapers that place their help wanted ads online. News groups, mailing lists, and even personal Web sites can also serve as sources to fill jobs. If you have a Web site devoted to your business, you can add a page that describes the job and the type of applicant you’re looking for.
Yet, hands down, the best source of employees tends to be people you already know, whether they’re colleagues, coworkers from a previous job, or friends and family. Ask them if they know of anyone who would be a good match for the job that you have to offer, and then ask them to put the word out among their circle of friends, acquaintances, and coworkers.
Stay the Course
Whether the job market is tighter than a drum or people are lining up for jobs, your goal in searching for an employee shouldn’t waver: you want the best-qualified candidates to consider for the position, whose aim is to help your business grow. Don’t settle for a person who is less qualified than what you’re looking for. However, if a qualified candidate comes along who isn’t quite what you had in mind but is enthusiastic about your business and seems like a quick learner, you can temporarily adjust your requirements: reduce the pay scale, hire her on a probationary status, and challenge her in as many ways as you can to discover if she’s the right person for the job. She may be so competent in one area that you may be willing to forego her lack of talent in another and take responsibility for it yourself instead. Just as employees cherish flexibility in a job, employers need to have a flexible attitude when it comes to their employees.
