Resources

When Is The Right Time to Start Looking for Candidates?

It’s come to your attention that you have to hire new employees – someone has given a notice, or you’ve expanded and need to bring on more people (either temporarily or permanently). So what’s the best way — and time — to start searching for candidates? You have several factors to consider that will help you find the right person instead of simply filling a position.

First of all, know your business needs inside and out. That means knowing the numbers: the finances, revenue, employee-related costs, busy and slow times of year, growth in business, and changing staff needs. You cannot make a qualified decision about staffing until you appreciate your requirements in terms of your bottom line.

On the other hand, this also means having a more “gut feel” about your business. Trust your intuition. Keep your ear to the ground. If you know it well, you’ll recognize when something seems off at your location in terms of personnel or clients, and you can anticipate changes. Plus you know your field well: You keep track of trends and fluctuations within your market, locally and nationally (and internationally if applicable). Having a solid awareness of your business needs will help you anticipate when you need to start preparing for new candidates.

Once you know your needs, examine your business plan. This means looking ahead and anticipating staffing requirements, recognizing that at a certain point in the future, you may need to bring on more staff, whether short- or long-term. Budget that into your next business plan, examining your upcoming goals as per those business needs.

In order to get the best candidates, you should take a twofold approach: Collect resumes throughout the year from potential job seekers, using a carefully crafted job description to narrow down the potential pool. You may even have phone interviews with especially promising candidates, keeping their information on hand should something open up. Or participate in career fairs to meet new and promising candidates.

Your other tactic is to connect with a staffing agency. Consider this: Their entire premise is to find the candidates that will fit best with a company. They have an ongoing pool of quality prospects to choose from, and working with a staffing agency can take a great deal of the stress off of you by allowing them to do what they do best. In addition, once you work with a staffing agency and they get to know your business and its needs as well, they can more readily tailor a candidate for you…and if you need to make a last-minute hire for any reason, you have the security of knowing you will have a solid candidate at the ready. But don’t think of a staffing agency as having only short-term or temporary employees — they can also help you find a quality long-term hire.

If you know your business needs, keep track of potential candidates throughout the year, and take advantage of a quality staffing agency, you’ll know when and how to find a quality candidate. Contact our experienced recruiting team today for advice on how to best accomplish all of your hiring needs.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email