By Gabrielle Gribble, Marketing Manager, BirdDog Jobs
Two coworkers alerted me to this great article on Business Insider entitled “10 Creative Recruiting Strategies To Hire Great People” by Bianca Male. Here are some of my favorites along with my own thoughts on her suggestions.
First up was a suggestion to add another layer between resume-submission and the one-on-one interview. My thoughts exactly, tons of people look great on paper, but how great are they really? Interviews take time to plan, execute, and evaluate and time is money so anyway to eliminate some of those applicants you are curious about before the interview process is time well spent.
One way Male suggests to do this is by holding an Open House, quite a unique but sensible idea. After all we have Open Houses for everything from residential spaces to day cares and schools. Why not hold an Open House when searching for that next employee? Right away you get to indulge in the benefit of self-selection because methods such as an Open House take care of some of the work for you. Only those truly interested parties will take the time to show up and make your event a priority on their busy schedules. Thus narrowing down time you must spend evaluating applicants who are less than committed.
Like I said in a previous post “Recruiting > Hiring and Just Like Dating” so why not try a “speed-dating” method for finding that perfect technician? You’ll meet and greet several applicants quickly. Applicants will get to spend one-on-one time with existing employees, all of whom will likely have their own set of questions to ask. Between you and your employees you will get a good feel for the candidates and if they would fit with your corporate culture.
Finally, a great tip to remember in general when looking for new team players is to watch for people who excel in skills you can’t teach such as passion, determination, focus, customer service, and a willingness to go the extra mile. What makes one employee a superstar and another ho hum isn’t necessarily their technical know-how but their passion for the job.
