Recruiting the Right Team Members

August 31, 2008 By Mary White

Are you ready to start adding a few employees to your small business venture? Going from being on your own to adding team members is a big step for any entrepreneur. It’s important to take steps to make sure you’re adding the right people to your staff. To do so, you’ll need to structure the recruiting process so you’ll have a good chance of reaching the right people.

Finding the Right Employees

Before you start advertising for employees, it’s important to spend some time thinking about the characteristics of the person, or people, you need to hire. This information can help you best decide where to concentrate your recruiting efforts.

Professional Association Job Board: It may be in your best interest to post an advertisement on a professional association’s online job board. For example, if you’re looking for a PR person, contact the Public Relations Society of America in your area and ask if they post relevant job announcements on their website or in their newsletter. Many professional organizations will share your job announcement with their members at no cost to you.

Local Newspaper: Plenty of job seekers still utilize help wanted advertisements in local newspapers. Depending on the type of position you’re recruiting for, this may be a cost effective solution. If you’re looking for a general office assistant, sales representative, or customer service representative, there’s a good chance that you’ll receive plenty of applications from qualified individuals.

Online Job Board: There are several online job boards that you can opt to utilize. Before spending money to advertise online, take a look at the other listings on the site to see if they seem to be in line with the position, or positions, you’ll be advertising. That will help you determine if the site’s visitors are likely to reflect the type of candidates you’re looking to attract.

Employment Agency: If you don’t have a significant amount of time to devote to sifting through applications or scheduling several candidates for interviews, you may want to utilize the services of an employment agency. Many such agencies offer “temp to perm” staffing services, which can be an affordable solution for busy small business owners who need to find the right people.

Typically, the employment agency will discuss your needs with you and then look for candidates who have the skills you need. The agency’s professional interviewers will screen candidates and send the most qualified ones to you for the final decision. Assuming you go with a temp to perm solution, the candidate you select will stay on the employment agency’s payroll for a pre-determined period of time, typically 90 or 120 days. After that time, you can move the person to your payroll, assuming you are happy with his or her performance and fit with your company.

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