Secrets to Hiring the Best Talent . . . Without a Recruiter
Wait -- hear us out.
While obviously we're biased towards our Recruiting Process, we realize that sometimes it can be out of scope or budget to use external resources.
We also realize small and medium size businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, and yet are often hit the hardest when it comes to hiring. Many business owners and leaders simply don’t even know where to begin.
So in the spirit of “The Go-Giver,” here is what we’ve seen as a basic framework of what works and how you go about it. Take one step at a time and hopefully this will serve you well as a framework for small business hiring.
1. Create a job description.
While this can feel daunting, I have a secret: Google can help. No, really. There are multitudes of sample job descriptions, usually for free, floating around on various websites. The important thing is that will give you a good starting point for how it needs to be edited for your job you’re looking to fill. The Society for HR Management also has a number of templates you can use (for a fee).
Take the time to really think about what this person’s responsibilities consist of, and more importantly, the impact that they’re having on the organization. We call this the sizzle. Simply put, it’s why someone should want to work with your team. How are things different because he or she will be on the team? How will their presence make the job better?
Here is where the road forks! You can go the DIY route and hire on your own, or you can call Forge . . . assuming you want to hire on your own, read on!
2. Post the job online.
There are many job boards floating around out there. Here is an overview of what might be best for the position you are trying to hire.
Indeed - best for hourly and entry-level roles. You can either pull a job from your career site (it searches the website) or you can use the provided template to post a job. For Indeed, you pay based upon the interest and traction the job gets. Essentially, the higher you “bid,” the more visibility your job gets. Beware - this can get expensive and rack up costs so make sure you set a budget limit.
LinkedIn - best for experienced, mid-management and executive leadership roles. In our experience, LinkedIn also has the best algorithm for separating jobs by part-time, full-time, remote, etc. LinkedIn does pull jobs for free, but they will not appear very high on any job-seeker’s search results. Again, it’s a “pay to play,” so to obtain better search results, you should create a “sponsored” job listing.
That being said, our data indicates that most jobs are not filled by applicants. Instead, they’re filled by what we call outbound activity. Which leads us to . . .
3. Go hunting.
I know! This is not what you want to hear. Because you have a day job! But seriously, there are so many wonderful candidates out there just waiting to be tapped on the shoulder. You can do this with LinkedIn Recruiter, which does have a hefty price tag attached (usually around $10K a year). A lower cost option is to utilize LinkedIn Recruiter Lite, or reach out through regular InMails, which you can purchase in increments.
Most importantly, you will want to craft an interesting message to the candidate. Personalize it to their background and experience as much as possible, include salient details about the job, and highlight the sizzle! Again, why should they want this job? What impact will they have on the organization?
4. Interview!
After receiving applicants to your job post or responses to your messages, set up a time to talk! It’s important that you get back in touch with candidates as quickly as possible. The job market is still moving incredibly quickly, so the sooner they hear back from you, the more likely you are to close the deal.
I prefer to start with a phone call to determine basic fit and aptitude and then move to an on-site or Zoom, depending on the role. Here are the four main areas you want to cover:
Technical fit: do they have the technical ability and experience to do the job?
Cultural fit: are you seeing any warning signs that this person will not fit into your culture? What are their motivators?
Compensation: what are the candidate’s compensation goals and how does that align with your budget?
Work history: walk through their work history. Not only does this give you an ideas of their accomplishments and successes, but you can also identify which work environments they are the happiest in.
Share the sizzle! What do you enjoy about where you work and how are you excited for this person to be a part of the team?
After the preliminary screen, bring them on-site (or Zoom if remote role) to meet the team! As I shared in a recent article for SC Biz, Put yourself in the shoes of the candidate and ask what you would want to know if you were considering taking a job. How can you show off your company culture? Your corporate strengths? Craft the interview process so they can truly get to know team members, the company, and the sizzle.
5. Extend the Offer!
This is, of course, the best part of the process! I always recommend a live call to share the exciting news (ideally from the hiring manager), and then follow up with a written offer letter. Of course, you’ll want an HR guru to review to make sure everything is as it should be (if you don’t have a standard template already!). Typically I recommend giving a 2-3 day window for the candidate to review and consider the offer. “Time kills all deals,” but you also want to give the candidate space and time to process.
If this feels like a lot, it is!
Recruiting is not for the faint of heart. But doing the work to find the right person for the team and the organization will pay off in the long run. And of course, we’re always here to help in whatever way we can — we’re just a call away!