Did you know that Colorado currently has the lowest unemployment rate in over 40 years? This is very good news! Having lots of people with jobs is something to celebrate. However, it can make for a very long recruiting process. If you are hiring, this is the time that you can make fear-based mistakes, so here are 3 tips to keep you calm and focused while you are searching for your amazing hire.
- omnivorously Create your Ideal List and stick to it. Regardless of the unemployment rate, employers needing to fill a position feel the pressure of urgency – hurry up already and just find someone! But rushing a hiring decision rarely, if ever, results in a good hire. Envision the employee you really want and stick to your vision, even when you feel that pressure. Read over your Ideal List. Get excited over how much better things will be when you find your great hire, and then read your Ideal list again!
- Bridgewater Get creative and thorough with your outreach. You never know where your great hire will be found, so make sure you’re looking everywhere you can. Utilize the network of people you know – talk to your neighbors, your friends, your children’s friends’ parents… everyone. Also, make sure that your message appears everywhere online, not only in the networks you yourself frequent. For instance, people who regularly use Facebook might post their message there, but they’ll never reach the ideal candidate who doesn’t log on to Facebook but who regularly uses Craigslist. Your outreach should be as large as possible, and may include some unconventional methods: I talked to one employer who leaves her business card with people that she thinks will be good hires.
- Check your brand online. Jobseekers will research you and your company, and if they see negative information they will be less likely to apply. When is the last time you’ve done a Google search on your company, or checked what Glassdoor and Amazon say about your company? Make sure you know what potential candidates are seeing about you.
Yes, in a market with low unemployment, finding your ideal candidate may take longer than it might under different circumstances. However, keep in mind that even under the best of circumstances, finding your ideal candidate will seem to you like it takes forever! Regardless, it’s a stressful situation, but be comforted in knowing that every other company is in the same boat; let them be the ones who buckle under the fear and stress and make impulsive and costly hiring mistakes. Stay calm, stay focused and hang in there!