You’re Ready to Hire—Now, How Do You Land Qualified Candidates?

By Rieva Lesonsky

Small business hiring is frequently cited as the engine that will lead the U.S. to economic recovery. Well, that engine may finally be revving. According to a study by Manta, an online community for small businesses, 57 percent of small business owners surveyed plan to hire this year. The majority of companies surveyed had fewer than 10 employees, which is encouraging news since these are the companies that often find it hardest to afford to hire.

However, while small business owners are ready to hire, it’s not all smooth sailing. The Manta SMB Nation Survey found that small businesses are struggling to recruit qualified candidates.

Small business owners say that the biggest hurdle they are facing is compensation (27 percent say “larger companies can offer higher salaries”). Almost as big a problem is a limited talent pool (26 percent say “top candidates don’t want to work for a small company”). Also a factor: 15 percent said that job candidates perceive there are limited advancement opportunities at a small company.

Ironically, the rebounding economy may be hurting rather than helping small business owners, as 15 percent of small business owners surveyed said candidates think there are more job openings and better opportunities with bigger companies.

Competing with big companies has always been a problem for small businesses trying to hire. How can your company overcome the challenge? Here are some suggestions.

• Use social media. Tools like LinkedIn and Facebook are good ways to search for job candidates and let those in your circle know that you’re looking to hire. Just as most job-seekers find positions through their personal networks, you can find job candidates the same way. People who are connected to you through a third party are more likely to give your company serious consideration.

• Promote your job openings. Create a page on your website that talks about what it’s like to work at your business. Drive traffic to it by promoting it in your email signature, email newsletters, on your blog and in other marketing materials.

• Emphasize your unique selling proposition. Just as in marketing you need to make your business stand out by focusing on what makes your product different and better, your job postings should explain what makes your company a fun, exciting, challenging, rewarding (you name it) place to work.

• Offer perks. You may not be able to offer the 401(k) plans, health insurance packages and other benefits of a big company (although there are affordable ways for most small businesses to do so if you choose). But you can offer other perks that may be just as valuable. Perks such as flextime and work-at-home options are highly valued by employees today and don’t have to cost you a cent.

Image by Flickr user L. Marie (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 6:00 am and is filed under Networking, Small Business, small business, Social Media, Workforce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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