Hire The Best People
If you’ve ever tried to hire employees for your business, I bet you learned pretty quickly that just throwing up a craigslist ad and waiting for the perfect candidate to come strolling through the door is not very realistic. Unfortunately, life is not that easy. You’ll eventually find that designing your talent recruitment process, allocating a budget, and spending time developing techniques or using services to scour the airwaves for the right person properly will, in the end, save you lots of time and money when you decide to staff up and build yourself a fantastic team. That said, you’ll want to make the process of finding staff work for you. There are a few hiring strategies that will bring you closer to qualified candidates without too much cost to you or your business.
How Do I Find Staff For Free?
Craigslist can also be very inexpensive, depending on the kind of employee you’re looking for. Indeed and Glassdoor allows you to post your jobs for free. It is also guaranteed that if people are looking for work for any length of time, they will check all of these sites along the way. If you have lots of time to spend sifting through applications, this might be a relatively inexpensive way to recruit. Try free job boards online, post on social media, or design SEO-friendly job ads and careers pages to post on your company’s website. Perhaps some of your clients know of qualified prospects and ask for referrals.
ZipRecruiter, like indeed.com or monster.com, and others, is also an online job platform that permits employers to post jobs to hundreds of potential candidates. Those who have a paid business account can browse resumes, post ads, and possibly contact candidates. The company has multiple plans to fit the needs of different businesses. For job seekers, ZipRecruiter is free.
The price depends on how long you want the job ad to show and the number of jobs you are posting. ZipRecruiter does for a four-day free trial as long as you first provide your credit card. After the free trial, the basic subscription plan with one active job will start. The basic plan costs $249 and can go up to $339 a month.
First, it is also one of the most expensive companies where employers can place job ads. At the same time, the company claims to be an active platform for job seekers and employers, with many negative reviews. Besides, reviews on the internet indicate that many ads are fake, and most employers are not able to hire good talent. If you are a small startup on a tight budget, then perhaps ZipRecruiter should not be at the top of your list for employee search.
What Kind Of Services Can Help Me Recruit Staff? – Recruiting Agencies
Alternatively, You might decide to let the pros take charge when it comes to hiring staff. Several companies offer fantastic software packages, advanced automated algorithms, and techniques for finding the right fit between you and your candidates. Also, Check out some of the more popular Payroll Software companies with HR integration. Then there’s good old fashion people’s power. There are still thousands of third-party HR companies that will match you with the perfect candidates every time, which comes with a more significant investment.
Below we will show you just a few of the many options available to you. Take the time to make the decision that is right for you and your company. It’ll be worthwhile.
Specialized Staffing Agencies – HeadHunting
Rather than go with the above generic agencies with a dubious reputation, seek a staffing agency that specializes- you are more likely to find a suitable employee that meets your needs. Here are just a few excellent recruiting agencies that may be worth checking out:
Plan For The Worst
Build candidate databases along the way because you never know how long a staff member will last, especially within the first 90 days. Make a top ten list for every position advertised. Maybe the 2nd or 3rd time is the charm. Another great way to find staff might be to attend local job fairs or host your career days. This is an opportunity to meet multiple people face to face, all in one place and at one time
Craigslist is another marketing platform where one can place job ads. When Craigslist was first introduced, it was a thriving platform with bona fide ads, but today, unfortunately, many ads for services and jobs are fakes. There may be 100s of people applying for every job you advertise, but you have no way of knowing the actual credentials. Plus, the majority of these jobs are online or via telecommuting.
If you have a business where you are looking for a physically present person, Craigslist is not the best platform to post such a job. Despite countless complaints about fraudulent job postings, Craigslist has done little to overcome the problem. A common complaint is that when someone does apply for a job, they never receive a reply, and it is suspected that the other side collects resumes to spam your email or sell your personal data to others to commit ID theft.
However, if you need help with online writing, graphics, or artwork, an ad on Craigslist will generate 100s of replies. The onus is on you to select the person most qualified. Craigslist charges anywhere from $5-$25 for posting a job vacancy in most major cities. Overall, unless the company gets rid of spammers and fake ads, it will continue to have a poor reputation.
External Recruiting Agencies – Recruitment Consultant
For those who seek an external recruiting agency or a service like Facebook recruiting for employees, the key is to choose a well-established company with a good reputation and reasonable fees. Most new startups and business owners quickly rush to sign up with agencies like Indeed, SimplyHired, Monster, Glassdoor, or CareerBuilder. Unfortunately, none of these companies are specialized. You sign up with them, pay a hefty fee ($150-$300 a month), and hope for the best. Over the past two decades, there have been thousands of negative reviews about these recruiting agencies. The two major complaints against these agencies are that the jobs are fake, and they tend to charge exorbitant fees- which are not refundable. Before you decide to enroll, speak to someone who has done business with them or read the online reviews.
If you are desperate to find employees, here are a few other sites that you may consider.
LinkedIn has been around for more than a decade and has overcome its initial deficiencies, including fake resumes and spam. Today, It remains a popular platform for recruiting professionals in almost any discipline. Linkedin is one of the first sites visited by many employers for recruitment. Once you register and sign in, Linkedin provides employers access to thousands of professionals looking for a job. While the basic LinkedIn account is free, if you want to browse resumes, look for employees, or develop a network, there are fees. LinkedIn is very similar to Facebook or Instagram- you create a network hoping that you may get a better job in the future. Having a photo is highly recommended- data indicates that those who post clear images are more likely to get a job than those who do not. Besides, employers can browse through the ads to select candidates who match their needs.
Linkedin has several tiers for browsing, and each comes with a certain number of benefits. To browse resumes and get contact numbers, Linkedin has exorbitant fees. And the more resumes you look at, the higher the fees, which can vary from $40 -$600 a year, and these are minimum fees- they go much higher depending on the amount of browsing you do.
Besides the exorbitant costs of Linkedin, you will also receive 100s of spam messages, and worse, everyone will try and sell you everything under the sun. You can avoid such spam by having a higher-tier account – which is also more expensive. Overall, networking via LinkedIn is limited and even worse than Facebook. If you are a startup and looking for employees, then the fees alone for Linkedin are a big turn-off. In the end, the choice of going with LinkedIn to look for employees is entirely up to you. But you may be better off developing a network on Facebook which is FREE and more likely to be successful at finding an employee that matches your needs.
Successful Staffing Agencies
Accountable Healthcare Staffing (AHS) of Boca Raton, Fl is a well-established agency that caters to healthcare professionals’ and healthcare institutions’ needs. For years, it has been providing highly qualified personnel to hospitals and clinics. AHS has an efficient method of hiring well-trained healthcare professionals for correctional facilities, school districts, and hospitals. All potential employees are thoroughly prescreened. The company offers a wide range of services, including part-time, full-time, locums, and travel healthcare workers. All the healthcare professionals work for AHC, and thus, the company handles all the paperwork, including taxes, benefits, etc.
Advanced Resources of Chicago Loop (ARC), IL is another principal staffing agency with a solid reputation for providing staff to various companies. ARC specializes in accounting, finance, human resources, management, and leadership. The company employs a personalized approach to hiring every employee to get the most talented people on board. ARC has developed a reputation of being easy to work with and goes out of its way to find top-notch staff for other businesses. The company takes away the burden of HR and supplies qualified individuals to help companies to prosper.
Aerotek of Hanover, MD, is another very reputable staffing agent specializing in scientific, finance, government, healthcare, marketing, hospitality, engineering, and many more areas. The company has won major national accolades for its services. For years, Aerotek has sought out the best talent for its clients. Besides contract staffing, Aerotek specializes in managed resources and vendor-on-premise services. The majority of recruitment is done online through video interviews, and successful candidates also undergo remote onboarding. Aerotek also does a background check, eligibility, and I-9 verification. Further, the company also offers supervision of smaller teams.
Beacon Hill staffing group of Boston is another well-established recruiting agency with a solid reputation. It has earned numerous awards for consistently recruiting the best talent for its clients. Beacon Hill Staffing specializes in scientific, clinical, healthcare, and engineering. Management, hospitality, and many other industries. Since the covid pandemic, the company has been recruiting online and conducting video interviews to select potential employees. Beacon Hill has enormous resources and has enabled thousands of clients to maintain their businesses throughout the covid 19 pandemic. Plus, the agency has recruited many skilled professionals who can work efficiently in a remote capacity
Other recruiting agencies of note include:
- CornerStone Staffing of Fort Worth, TX
- Lighthouse Professional Services of North Andover, MA
- The Squires Group of Annapolis, MD
- TempStaff of Jackson, MS
If you are just a small startup looking for employees, then a staffing agency may not be the best way to go about it. Because of the high costs, staffing agencies are ideal for large businesses that are already well established. With a small startup, the best recommendation is to go with Craigslist or LinkedIn.
How To Find Good Staffing Agencies
There are 1000s of staffing agencies worldwide that offer employee services to all types of businesses in each country. The majority are specialized; for example, some may only recruit healthcare workers, others may recruit computing professionals, etc. Depending on your business, you can go online and search for staffing agencies or recruiting ideas that meet your needs. The majority of these talent recruitment agencies are bona fide, have a solid reputation, and will meet your employee’s needs. All you need to do is register with them, and tell them what type of employee you are looking for, and the agency will do the rest, including assessing the qualifications, and experience, and reviewing the references. In most cases, the employees work for the staffing agencies and are loaned out to other businesses; of course, the employer is free to offer the employee a permanent job after paying the staffing agency a predetermined fee, ranging from $3,000 to $10,000.
Fiverr is an online marketplace that offers a limited number of freelance services. Fiverr is not strictly a job site but a marketplace like craigslist. Employers can post jobs for a freelancer, and then the gig is offered to clients. The majority of these gigs are writing-based or making graphics- hence, it may be of little use to most other businesses. While each gig’s basic price is $5, the employer is free to set the price as much as he/she wants. Unfortunately, Fiverr has way too many clients seeking writing and graphic design jobs, and the overall quality of the work is poor. Because most gigs only pay $5, the majority of clients who take up these jobs are not based in North America.
Common complaints include poor quality work, plagiarism, and subpar English. Getting started on Fiverr is relatively easy but because of the recent influx of spammers and con-artists, Fiverr now has rigid ID rules, including a passport photograph. Overall, Fiverr is only interested in a business involved in writing or graphic design, where for $5, you can have the work done.-albeit the quality may reflect what you pay. By the way, Fiverr takes away 20% of the money earned from each gig. There is no charge for the ad poster. If you do not like the work, you are free to reject and get your money back- but if you do it too many times, you also get blacklisted.
How Do Staffing Agencies Charge Fees?
You will note that none of the staffing agencies show any transparency in their fees. You can surf the entire internet, and you will be hard-pressed to find a figure- but rest assured, they do charge exorbitant prices, but then you get great employees. Staffing agencies will charge either the hourly rate or the total per day rate, and the markup can be anywhere from 20-90%. For example, if you have an employee from a staffing agency who is paid $20 an hour; you can be billed anywhere from $25-$40 an hour, or if the entire day’s pay is officially $300, then you can be billed anywhere from $400-$600 by the agency. The markup percentage depends on the location, job salary, and paperwork that the agency performs. Yes, this is how it works with all of them.
The staffing agencies will usually take care of all the paperwork, including the contracts, employment taxes, social security, and payroll. This way, the employer saves time, but it comes at a cost. If you decide to work with a staffing agency, you must ask for full disclosure of the costs and identify the services you need before signing the contract. The more paperwork you take care of, the lower the price. Have it all in writing, or you will face progressively high markups in the bill.
