Using Professional Recruiting Methods

Recruiting good employees is a small business owner’s worst nightmare. It sometimes seems that you are stuck on a never ending merry go round. You just seem to go through one employee after another. So what kind of professional options do you have? Here are four ways that you can approach the problem besides placing another classified ad in the paper or resorting to a help wanted sign on your door.

The first method that you can try to use to tackle this problem is a recruitment agency otherwise known as an employment agency. We’re not talking about a temporary labor firm but an actual staffing firm. These companies actually have a pool of potential candidates for you to choose from. People that are looking for permanent positions. The agency receives a resume from them and conducts a brief interview. Then they try to match the candidate to an employer. The employer has already stated what kind of position needs to be filled and what kind of applicant they are looking for. Once potential candidates are identified they are then sent to the employer’s jobsite for an interview. Then both the candidate and the potential employer can determine whether they think this would be a good match for them.

The next method and also the newest way to recruit help is to use an online service. Usually such websites will feature a job board where employers for a fee can post openings within their businesses. Also candidates can upload their resumes in the hopes of attracting a potential employer. The employers also for a fee are able to search through these resumes to find qualified candidates for their job opening.

Now we have the headhunters. If you are a small business owner this resource should only be used as a last resort as it can often be extremely expensive. So what do headhunters do? Well they hunt down the talent that your business is looking for.

Usually they find that talent working for another company. Once they’ve identified potential candidates for your business then they will work to recruit them for you. Headhunters will also work with candidates to prepare them for the interview and negotiate their salary. But headhunter fees can be very high often up to 30% of the candidate’s annual compensation.

The final method usually only applies to larger companies that are trying to recruit new employees. They can use what is known as in-house recruiting. This method consists of using their own human resources departments to coordinate multiple efforts such as employment agencies, online services and running their own classified ad campaigns.

Not every method will be appropriate for your company. Many factors will determine what route you will need to follow. But these are some of the choices your business has available to it. If you do use an outside agency of some sort you need to research them carefully. Some will specialize in what type of workers they deal with and the fees from one to another will vary. But if you have had trouble in the past finding qualified candidates for the jobs you have available then these options might help in your search.

Cash Miller is the Editor of SmallBusinessDelivered.com and hosts his own blog at www.SmallBusinessDelivered.com/cash-millers-blog.