Hiring People_ Recruit and Keep the Brightest Stars - Kathy Shwiff [5]
In general, the more people who will see your job advertising, the more you will pay to place it. Every firm has a different take on the most productive way to advertise. The best course is to think carefully about the type of people you want to attract and choose the method most likely to reach them. That way you won’t be wasting your recruiting dollars speaking to people who can’t do the job. To draw the widest range of applicants, advertise in a variety of media.
Advertising in major city daily papers is the traditional way to recruit employees. Job seekers like combing these newspapers for opportunities—scanning the wide range of jobs spread out in front of them, drawing circles around those that interest them, and crossing out those to which they’ve already responded. To advertise a job locally, think about running a classified ad in shoppers and weekly newspapers, the publication of the chamber of commerce, or a town newsletter. You may also want to post openings on community, high school, and college or university bulletin boards.
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Behind the Numbers
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WHERE ARE PEOPLE LOOKING FOR JOBS?
A 2006 Conference Board survey of 5000 households reports that 70 percent of job seekers currently rely on both the Web and newspapers. Not only has the Internet become an accepted source of job information, the survey also indicated that of the people who received offers (48 percent), the largest share (38 percent) linked these offers to using the Web. Other job seekers cited networking and employment agencies, roughly 30 percent each, with newspaper searches generating only 24 percent of offers.
SOURCE: “Help Wanted Ads” Larry Swisher, BNA Daily Labor Report (November 8, 2006).
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If you’re searching for a professional with very specific skills, it may be more cost-efficient to advertise in a specialized Web site or publication. For example, theater companies in New York often advertise auditions for actors in the magazine Backstage, which is dedicated to acting and the theater.
Posting job openings on the Internet is not only cost effective, it can produce results in a matter of hours, often cutting the time it takes to fill a position by days, if not weeks. Consider advertising on one of the mega job sites, such as CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com—which in 2006 accounted for 22.8 percent of Internet hires. Also consider posting job openings on specialized boards such as TheLadders.com, geared toward professionals earning $100,000 or more; HBS Tech Jobs, a niche site aimed at graduates from top MBA programs; and SnagAJob.com, which lists hourly and part-time jobs at places such as Home Depot, Wendy’s, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
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CASE FILE
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THE PERSONAL TOUCH
Talk about a hiring boom—in April of 2006 Starbucks was placing new people at the rate of 200 a day. With its eventual goal of opening 30,000 stores worldwide, the java giant is faced with recruiting employees in the tens of thousands.
In an effort to maintain the distinctive Starbuck’s aura and avoid cookie-cutter hiring, Starbucks’ recruiters have begun adding personal touches to interviews—a coffee-tasting session with an applicant and staff is a fairly common occurrence. The company also has a “candidates’ bill of rights” that prompts recruiters to call or send handwritten notes to applicants rather than form letters. It also establishes guidelines for how quickly applicants should hear back after an interview and urges recruiters to send out complimentary Starbucks gift cards, even when the candidate doesn’t get the job.
SOURCE: “To Hire Sharp Employees, Recruit in Sharp Ways” by William C. Taylor, New York Times (April 23, 2006).
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It’s not uncommon for the larger job sites to offer employers services in addition to listings. Careerbuilders.com, for example, allows you to “test drive” their resume database and review potential candidates’ resumes before you agree to contract with