Are you happy with the quality and quantity of job candidates you attract?

If your total recruiting effort consists of simply placing a ‘help-wanted’ ad in the local newspaper you will often fail to attract the candidates you want. You need to take a more creative approach, especially in markets with low unemployment.

You’ll also want to create powerful recruiting materials.

A mistake made by many employers is to describe their job opportunity only in terms of what they require. They fail to explain why their company is a great place to work.

You will more successfully attract the best candidates when you realize this truth—recruiting is a marketing activity. In tight labor markets this is especially true because your best potential candidates often currently have a job with someone else—your competition!

Recognize that all potential job candidates have one question uppermost in their minds, “What’s in it for me?” When you skillfully answer that question in your recruiting materials you will attract both a better quality and higher number of candidates.

If you don’t tell prospective candidates why your company is a great place to work and someone else who is recruiting at the same time does tell them, you will never be better than second choice. And over time, the quality of your team will be weaker as a result. So always sell your company as a great place to work.

Now let’s look at 19 ways to attract candidates.

1. Use networking. Did you know research shows that each person living in an urban area knows about 250 people? Tell everyone you know—family, friends, suppliers, customers, accountant, lawyer, acquaintances—even your mailman—you have a great employment opportunity for someone.

Talk about your job opportunity at your club and professional association meetings, at church, at your children’s activities, at your hairdresser or barber, and everywhere else you have contact with acquaintances. Give business cards to everyone you talk to and ask them to tell others about your position.

Be specific about the reasons your job opportunity is a good one and why your company is a great place to work. Tell everyone you would like to interview people who are employed but want a better job as well as unemployed people.

2. Offer a finder’s fee (usually $100 to $200) to anyone who refers a candidate whom you hire and who stays on the job beyond the standard 90-day probationary period.

3. Let your current employees know you are hiring. Ask them to tell everyone they know about the opportunity and remind them about your finders fee program.

4. When you hire someone who previously worked for a company that employs people with the same skills you require, ask your new employee to invite former coworkers he or she believes were the very best to apply with you.

5. Use signs to advertise your position.

a. Put signs in your window, on the counter, in the shipping and receiving department, and anywhere else the public is likely to see them.

b. If you are on a busy street or even a ‘not so busy street’ used by the types of people you are seeking, why not use a portable rental sign?

c. One business owner continually found good employees by advertising for them on his fleet of trucks.

d. An employer connected with several good candidates by placing a large sign in the back of his pickup then parking it at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and other high traffic locations on weekends. Think ‘out-of-the-box’!

e. A business located on a busy street put a huge banner on the front of their building advertising for salespeople. Twenty-three people applied for the job over a six-day period of time.

6. Post your position on Internet databases. Many governments maintain databases that are free to use for both employers and people seeking work.

7. Place a recruiting page on your website.

8. Many schools help their graduates find positions so be sure to let them know about your job opportunity.

9. Do you go to trade shows? Put a sign in your booth letting people know your company is growing and you are looking for additional staff. This is a great way to softly solicit your competitors’ employees to apply with you.

10. If the people you want as candidates read trade journals or association newsletters, both can be effective places to advertise.

11. Use bulletin boards in other businesses, schools, or churches.

12. In some communities, radio stations advertise some job openings for free or for a minimal fee.

13. Your local newspaper is not a bad place to advertise but it can be expensive and it is competitive because potential candidates also look at all the other help wanted ads.

If you want candidates to apply with you first you must make your job opportunity sound better than all the other opportunities presented. Spend enough to deliver a strong, compelling message

14. You could try an employment agency. Shop around because agencies differ when it comes to fees and guarantees.

15. Advertise your employment opportunity with your telephone ‘on-hold’ messages.

16. Offer a ‘signing-on’ bonus for new employees who stay with you past your 90-day probationary period.

17. Just because you need to hire someone doesn’t mean the right person will be instantly available in a tight labor market. Keep your eyes open for great people all the time.

In your day-to-day life you are frequently in contact with potential candidates and there is no downside to letting them know you’d like to discuss a future working together.

18. Be aware of what is happening in your industry and related industries. Even in boom economies, businesses fail for a multitude of reasons. When a company goes broke, all their employees need new jobs.

19. Offer a starting salary that will attract the best candidates. Winners know they are winners and they know they are worth more than losers.

Turnover and hiring mistakes are expensive. Studies show that every time you turn over a position, it costs you between 30 % and 300 % of that position’s annual salary. Sometimes paying a higher salary to get a high performance, long-term employee is actually the least expensive and most profitable way to go.

In the long run, your company is an outstanding success, mediocre, or an abysmal failure because of the efforts of your people.

Do not make the mistake of using only one or two recruiting methods. Recruiting is also a numbers game so use every recruiting method you can. Make recruiting an ongoing priority activity. If you use a variety of recruiting strategies and create strong recruiting materials you will attract great candidates, even in the tightest labor markets.

Stephen has helped many business owners, executives, and managers recruit, screen, interview, select, train, motivate, discipline, inspire, and lead superstar teams. For more information on these topics go to http://www.profitableteambuilding.com