News flash - the universe will not magically bring you the best job candidates when you’re ready to hire.
Do you want to save money and hire the right person? Do you want to save time and prevent wasted effort from hiring the wrong person? Do you want to find someone who will stick with you for a long time?
If you answered “yes”, then read on.
Stop. Are you even ready to interview candidates?
Up to this point in this mini-series on hiring and keeping great employees, everything I’ve talked about has been preparation work.
Just like a great painting job for your house, a massive part of the task is in the preparation. Ask any reputable painter and they’ll tell you that the fate of the job rests in thorough prep work. The same goes for hiring - if you rushed (or skipped) the previous steps, you’re setting yourself up for a ton of headaches and regret.
Don’t skip the prep work.
Step 5 – look in the right places
Still here? Okay, then I’ll assume you’ve done your prep work.
Just because you’ve written your Key Results Areas (KRA) for the position you’re hiring, it doesn’t mean the right person for the job will magically appear on your doorstep. Your next task is to publicize the job in the places where your ideal candidates are hanging out. You cannot simply put a job listing on Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Facebook, or in the newspaper and just expect people to flock to you.
Where are the right places to look for candidates? Read on.
Recruit in the right places
Okay, so maybe I can’t tell you exactly where to find great candidates, but I can ask you some good questions.
If you’re hiring a pest control technician for a new route then where do you think it’s most likely to find that person? Where do they hang out? What do they do on the weekends?
If you want your next hire to be a long-term team member, should you be looking for people who are taking college-level courses for engineering? Probably not.
Are you looking for somebody who already has experience? Are you willing to train someone into the role?
You know your trade better than I do, but I think I’d probably start talking to pastors, baseball coaches, and high school teachers. Are there hard-working, young men who don’t have higher education ambitions that they could recommend? Especially young men who are good at details and enjoy interacting with people?
The point is this: don’t leave your candidate pool to chance. Figure out where your ideal candidates are and proactively recruit there. Leverage your community and your network by telling them the sort of people you’re looking to hire.
This does require more effort on your part, but the result will pay massive dividends.
How this will make you money
The wrong employee can cost you a ton of money, wasted effort, and could even cost you customers.
The right employee can build your business, improve your life, and make you far more money than they cost you.
Slow down. Do your prep work. Look in the right places.
Your action items.
Set aside 30 minutes this week to answer these questions.
- What sort of people are ideal for the role you’re trying to fill?
- Where are they likely to be found?
- Who in your network or in your community can you enlist to help you in your recruiting efforts?
In the next issue, we’ll be talking about the actual interview process.
To thriving,
Zach
