Jobs in New York

Having a flood of resumes is a great beginning to any hiring process, but if there aren’t any applicants that meet even the minimum qualifications it’s time to search for new avenues of recruitment. Since February 2010 the private sector has added 5.1 million jobs and the competition for attracting talented people has been heating up.  Reviewing your hiring process is worthwhile investment of time and effort especially when you consider how costly a bad employee can turn out to be.

Where you choose to post your opportunities within your company is the first step in attracting the right candidates.

For some companies with a strong brand it’s as easy as posting a “work for us” link at the bottom of the homepage on the website. There’s the usual job boards available on the Internet of course, but also consider networking through association memberships and industry magazines to reach your target talent pool. Reviewing the successful hires you’ve had in the past and how they became aware of the opening within your company will help you to find similar star performers in the future.

Is your job posting a sizzle or a snooze?

Approach your posting like an advertiser with a hot opportunity. Shine the spotlight on the factors that make your company a great place to work. Are there special projects, growth potential or bonuses involved? Set it apart from the competition and include 5-10 key words most relevant to the duties so that it will appear in search results. An accurate and detailed description will also help to filter the unqualified candidates from of your stack of eager applicants.

Employee referrals only make up about 7% of applicants yet they account for some of the highest employee retention rates. It’s because of this that many employers are creating internal incentive programs to increase personnel referrals. Managers are also able to fill the positions faster by spending less time sorting through weak resumes and interviewing inadequate hopefuls.

Reviewing the number of employee referrals can also be a good indicator of staff morale. Employees who are happy with their company or boss are more likely to encourage other talented people to join in on the fun.

Companies nowadays are putting more of an emphasis on “the right fit for the team” or someone who has the “company characteristics” rather than the right combination of skills and external experience on paper.

They are prepared to provide training to develop the employee, preferring instead to seek out personality traits that cannot easily be taught like self motivation, personal pride in their work or getting along well with the existing staff members. By training employees themselves they can mold the workforce into exactly what they need to succeed.

Maintain contact with interested applicants who were among the top candidates for previous postings. They’ve already been screened and are usually more than happy to wait in the wings for the next opportunity to arise. They may also serve as a guide to see how any new incoming resumes stack up.

Consider conducting interviews for positions that require new hires frequently even before an opening becomes available. Fostering a pool of hopefuls shows you care about their hiring experience and can create company loyalty even before they are on the payroll.