How to Find Employees

Finding and hiring the right employees for your company can be challenging. A good employee can positively impact your company culture and increase employee morale and productivity. A wrong hire, on the other hand, can cost your company both time and money.

Read on for some of the best tips for finding employees online and in the real world.

Table of Contents

• How to Find Good Employees
• Create a job post
• Share the job post
• Additional ways to find employees
• Summary of Money’s Guide on How to Find Employees

How to Find Good Employees

There are various tools and strategies you can use when looking for good potential employees. These include sharing the job post on social media, asking for employee referrals and using job posting sites.

But before you do that, you must first create a detailed job description that includes the job title, salary range and information regarding benefits.

Create a job post

To find the right job applicant, it is crucial to write a good and shareable job post that clearly defines the position your company needs to fill.

Check out our guide on how to write a job post to make sure you’re targeting the right candidate pool for your open positions.

Write a detailed job description

Make sure to create a detailed job description that includes the job title, salary range and information regarding benefits.

Here are some best practices for writing job descriptions that attract the best candidates:

• Provide details. When creating a job post, be as detailed as possible when describing skills, qualifications and responsibilities. This will ensure the most qualified candidates apply for the position.
• Target the right job title. Be specific when writing job titles as opposed to using descriptions such as "guru" and "ninja." This will not only sound more professional but also target potential candidates who are already fulfilling the same or similar roles.
• Use the right keywords. Make sure you are using keywords that accurately describe the skills and experience required for the role. This can help you match with the right applicants if you are using a job posting site or cast a wider net if the job description leaves room for interpretation.
• Highlight the perks. Beyond listing employer-sponsored benefits, add a description — or videos and images, if possible — that illustrates the office environment and corporate culture. Workplace culture is a major driver of employee engagement and productivity and can help attract new employees.
• Make it scannable. To potential candidates, especially for those job seekers browsing on their mobile devices. Using short paragraphs and bullet points to break down job duties, benefits and salary specifications will make the description easier to read.

Include salary and benefits

A 2018 Glassdoor study found that for 67% of job seekers, salary is the primary factor when looking at job postings. Other important details include benefits (63%) and location (59%).

According to Glassdoor, compensation transparency not only incentivizes prospective employees to apply but also helps them determine if there is long-term career growth potential in a company.

If applicable, include information about health insurance, paid gym memberships, catered lunches, paid time off and remote work flexibility in the job post. As workplace trends have shifted toward flexible and remote work, candidates look for these specifications when searching for new jobs.

Share the job post

Once you have a detailed job post, share it on online job boards, social media and your company's website.

Share the post on job posting sites

The best job posting sites for employers can help you streamline the hiring process and improve your recruiting strategy through helpful templates and features that can assist you in managing time-consuming tasks such as onboarding.

The best job search sites also allow you to add screening questions and assessments as part of the recruitment process, so you can make sure only the most qualified candidates will reach the interview stage.

And if you're looking to post job listings on several platforms, job posting sites like ZipRecruiter share your posts on over 100 job boards simultaneously, saving you time and helping you reach the broadest pool of qualified candidates.

Share the post on your website

Posting your company’s job openings on your careers page will target candidates who have been funneled through a social media channel or organically landed on your company’s page.

Additionally, aim to include applicable keywords that make your page SEO-friendly and likely to rank higher on search engine result pages.

Share the post on social media

Using social media channels such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook can be a great way to reach a vast pool of potential job candidates.

As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn is a great place to find new hires. Once you publish your open positions on your LinkedIn page, ask your current employees to repost them to amplify their reach.

Other useful social networks for job postings are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook has a variety of job-related groups divided by industry, while Twitter allows you to use hashtags specific to the role, industry and location.

Share the post on print media

A less popular option in these highly technological times is sharing a job ad on print media. Still, this is a good alternative for those looking to hire locally or target a specific industry. For example, many workers in the service industry still search for help-wanted ads in newspapers.

A post in a local newspaper may also be a valuable tool to spread the word about local networking and recruiting events. Just keep in mind that print media ads are subject to publishing deadlines.

Additional ways to find employees

Finding top talent for open positions isn't limited to posting the job listing online or in your local newspaper. Promoting internally, setting up an employee referral program, targeting local job fairs and recruiting at universities are some tried and true ways to find potential employees.

Promote from within

The current job market is much more competitive than it used to be, making it harder to find and retain the best employees. In fact, as of last year, there were more job openings in America than ever before.

The University of Massachusetts Global explains that promoting from within can save an organization time and money, as running advertisements, sourcing candidates and conducting background checks can be expensive.

Plus, hiring employees internally also boosts morale and motivation and increases employee retention.

Ask your employees for referrals

As the saying goes, good people know good people. Employee referral programs incentivize current employees — through cash bonuses and rewards — to recommend other great hires.

According to an Indeed survey, there are better conversion rates for job candidates that have been referred by existing employees, and these tend to be better performers and stay longer with the organization.

Go to job fairs

Local job fairs and annual career events afford great opportunities to pre-screen and recruit employees. Bring along your recruiter, human resources staff, or hiring managers and print out business cards and brochures with your "about us" information.

You can also hold recruiting events at the office so that prospective employees can get a feel for your company culture.

Recruit from local universities

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, colleges are great places to recruit top entry-level talent. As graduation dates approach, students are on the lookout for internships and job opportunities, so the likelihood of hiring successfully is high.

You can sign your company up for college job fairs, partner with a university’s career center, recruit students from departments in your field of work and look for interns willing to work while at school.

Summary of Money’s Guide on How to Find Employees

• The first step when looking for great employees is to create a job post with a clear job description that includes salary and benefits.
• Share the job post on job boards and posting sites, your company’s website and careers page, social media and print media.
• Hiring internally can help you boost morale and save time and money.
• Creating an employee referral program can incentivize your employees to recommend qualified candidates.
• Job fairs and company recruiting events can help you increase brand awareness and let prospective employees know you’re hiring.
• Recruiting from local universities or through job fairs may help you snag top entry-level talent.
• If you’re starting a small business, read our article on how to hire employees for more tips.