6 Tips to Get Your Next Job Candidate Comes to Work for You

Finding the next hire for your business can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. In fact, the NIFB Small Business Optimism Index found in April 2018 that 88% of small businesses hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions.

Therefore, when you finally find the perfect candidate, you want to make sure you’re doing everything possible to help them see that your business is their best choice for employment.

As the candidate goes through the interview process, it’s important to communicate all the value that your business can provide. Implementing a few key things will ensure that your business outshines the competition and brings the candidate on to your team.

We’ve compiled our top recommendations for how you can convince a job applicant to come work for your business.

1. Have a Solid Interview Process

Your business should feel organized, friendly, and knowledgeable right off the bat to a potential employee. If the candidate feels like the interview process is cold, robotic, or chaotic, they are not going to have a great opinion of the business overall.

Here are some tips to make sure you have a solid interview process that will be an accurate first impression of your business:

• Pre-interview small talk – A short conversation about the weather or sports can help put your interviewee at ease, but according to Harvard Business Review it can also give an idea of the other person's individuality, trustworthiness, and intelligence. While this conversation will help you determine their skills and fit, it’s also allowing the candidate to get to know you and your business.
• Read the resume before the interview – Know as much about a candidate as you can before the interview begins. Being prepared shows that you are invested in this process and won’t waste their time.
• Listen – Spend the majority of the interview listening to answers and crafting thoughtful follow-up questions.
• Communicate and prioritize – Many businesses forget to follow-up with candidates on next steps, even if they’re interested. Make sure you are communicating with them along the way.

2. Share Opportunities for Growth

People want to join a company that provides opportunities to advance their career.According to Gallup, 87% of people state that opportunities to grow and learn are an important quality in a job, and over 90% of people who left their previous company did so in order to change roles or positions. If you want a new candidate to come aboard, share all of the opportunities for growth within your business.

3. Be Transparent About Where You Excel – And Where You Don’t

Now is the time to share your strengths and weaknesses as a company. Maybe the hours are long, but the benefits are amazing. Maybe a small number of people are required to do multiple tasks, but the entire team feels like family. Glassdoor states that “90% of job seekers say that it's important to work for a company that embraces transparency.” Being completely transparent about strengths and weaknesses can help instill trust and ensure the candidate is a perfect fit for your business.

4. Create an Irresistible Company Culture

Creating an amazing company culture doesn’t mean you have to have a ping-pong table in a common area and a game system in the cafeteria. An authentic company culture is built through relationships and trust. In particular, disorganized company cultures full of micro-management aren’t very attractive. Studies show that when employees have more autonomy over their jobs they are more productive and more engaged. So, create a culture where managers are encouraged to foster relationshipsand give employees autonomy over their position.

5. Showcase Your Team

Work relationships are vital to the happiness and loyalty of employees. Additionally, managers are one of the most important relationships people have at work in terms of engagement and performance. According to Gallup, “most companies don't currently think about great managers as a benefit or publicize that benefit to prospective employees.” Gallup recommends that every business publicize their great managers as a part of their employee value proposition. During the interview process, introduce your managers or allow managers to play a role in the interviewing process. This is will allow the candidate to get to know the team they’ll be working with.

6. Lay Out Your Benefits

Just as your team is a benefit to publicize, so are all the benefits your company provides. Take the opportunity to clearly lay out each and every benefit you provide to employees. Nearly 3 in 5 people state that benefits and perks are the top considerations for accepting a new position, and you never know which benefit or perk will be your company’s selling point for the potential new.

Give the candidate time to examine your healthcare benefits, retirement packages and funding, vacation and sick time, and any unique benefits you may offer such as; family leave time, gym access or funding, and housing. Salary, bonus compensation, along with trainings and seminars are also important benefits to cover with any candidate.

During your next interview with an all-star candidate, remember to share about growth opportunities, company culture, and your company's strengths and weaknesses, including your team and benefits. By doing so, you’ll help ensure that you potential new team member will quickly see the value in your business and be eager to work for you.

This post is part of a special blog series on ‘Get Fully Staffed: Finding and Keeping Great People' in support of ProService’s Growth Series event taking place on June 27, 2018. Offered exclusively to ProService clients and special guests, the Growth Series are interactive learning experiences that feature industry-leading speakers and networking opportunities that will inspire and provide tools for business leaders to take their organizations to the next level. To register, please visit our event page and register with code GS2018.