Mystery Woman

Tell us more for better jobs, advice
and connections

YOUR GROUPS

Discover and join groups with like-minded women who share your interests, profession, and lifestyle.

COMPANIES YOU FOLLOW

Get alerted when there are new employee reviews.

YOUR JOB ALERTS

Get notified when new jobs are posted.

Your post is published!

Denise

348

Contracts & Accounting Manager

08/06/20 at 5:38PM UTC

Career

Recruiting

Hi everyone! I have a question about recruiting. I work for a small business, and we're holding our own even during the pandemic. We lost our HR Manager in October last year, and I've jumped in and tried to fill her shoes as much as I can. We also use Microsoft Teams and have a Team Channel set up for recruiting. We're a government contractor, so our hiring needs are based on contracts we win. There are a couple of recruiting sites we use off and on, and often don't get the applicants we're looking for. As a small business, we have to keep our overhead and G&A costs down, so purchasing a package from a large job site like Indeed for "off and on" recruiting doesn't work for us. My question is: For all of you Small Business HR/Recruiting people out there, what advice do you have for a newbie to recruiting? Are there low cost options that are effective? Do you have any tips or tricks you can share? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!!!

Join the conversation...

Denise

348

Contracts & Accounting Manager

08/19/20 at 11:54AM UTC

Update - I have found several job sites that allow for free corporate accounts, have reached out to several groups in Linked In, and have spread the word via friends and colleagues. Resumes for the position have been pouring in, and I've been pleasantly surprised that the majority of them have the right qualifications. We're in the process of interviewing. Thank you all so very much for your help!!

Leslie Caleb

Senior Associate Talent Acquisition

08/12/20 at 2:59PM UTC

I definitely agree with the many tips shared above. I would highly recommend to proactively research and join transitioning veterans programs as well as creating your candidates pool by building a strong network on LinkedIn. Reach out to possible candidates even if they already have an employment, there are chances that they might know someone who is looking for a job in that field, develop trust and a strong employer brand. You are on the right path!

Madhu

Agile Product Management

08/12/20 at 1:42AM UTC

If you don't have much of a budget, you should try joining communities and subscribing to their newsletters. Go Pro 21 and Community Career are a couple examples.

Deb Strickland

181

Digital Marketing | Analytics & Tech Nomad

08/11/20 at 10:48PM UTC

If you're recruiting for government contract jobs, I'd look into the many veteran associations as vets often have security credentials and really need the work.

Jenn McFatter, aPHR, CCFP

Veterinary/HR Professional in Austin, TX

08/11/20 at 10:01PM UTC

I have only recently explored what all LinkedIn can do, and yes-- I think it's great for networking. When I am looking for recruiting employees, I use Indeed for the resume searches in addition to placing ads and find it often more fruitful that way. Plus, I find people LIKE being recruited vs applying on their own. There's no ongoing commitment, and I don't think one round of contacts would be too expensive... but then you can look for search terms that you think would fit well. For example, I'm looking to staff an animal hospital but experience isn't a requirement for every position, so I often search for terms like "animals" or "pets" and find people who don't have experience in veterinary but maybe love animals and have worked in a pet store, volunteered at a shelter, etc.

Laura Leach

168

Professional Career Coach

08/11/20 at 9:06PM UTC

As a former recruiter, keeping costs down and the word out can be difficult. Creating a quick LinkedIn post saying your hiring, getting everyone to push it can help. However, so many people are creating amazing resource lists out there - this one has a huge area of people who have been laid off. My recruiter instincts immediately saw this as pool of opportunities!!! I hope it helps! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1bbGCingPw5rnUTyC1WFcPq167rKR4ZaAEzm67ozjbds/edit#gid=1484275757

Denise

348

Contracts & Accounting Manager

08/11/20 at 9:15PM UTC

Thank you Laura!!

Frances Garvey

D&I Strategies | Career Re-Start Consulting

08/07/20 at 1:40PM UTC

I see that you mentioned Navy training software - you may want to see if you can use personal contacts in the Navy community to get the opening posting on Navy networking groups in LI of FB or partner with https://www.hiringourheroes.org/ or similar. (Navy mom, had to chime in)

Denise

348

Contracts & Accounting Manager

08/07/20 at 5:26PM UTC

Great advice!! Thank you Frances!!

EJ Encalarde

Helping you Live your BEST Life Today!

08/06/20 at 9:06PM UTC

Hi! First, congrats on diving in + growing your skills as your company deals with this transformative time! It’s great you’re using Microsoft teams as part of your recruiting. From what I’ve talked around with my team re: this platform, it does save time with the interviewing process + with access to file-sharing applicant data. Anything you can do to make your new or interim HR role less time-consuming with the repetitive tasks will allow more time for you to stay innovative. I agree with brilliant ladies, Aly, Raquel + Genevieve, on using LinkedIn. It’s an awesome resource that gives you a broad pool – locally, nationally + globally. Others include Glassdoor, Handshake, + Ladders. Are you able to reach out + partner with any universities? I keep thinking about those bright-eyed Gen Z graduates looking for jobs now in this new landscape. Of course, it depends on the level of experience for the positions you’re presently recruiting for. Do you have an employee referral system for recruitment? Are there any clients, customers or vendors that you know, trust professionally, + may be able to connect with who already know your business intimately? Those are just a few ideas swimming around in my head…Best to you, Denise, as you successfully create your amazing talent pool.

Denise

348

Contracts & Accounting Manager

08/06/20 at 9:13PM UTC

Thank you EJ for the great suggestions! We do actually have a university we've reached out to in the past, but I had forgotten about that! I haven't heard of Handshake, but have heard of Ladders, and will check into both of them. I set up a free account on Glassdoor, but haven't done a deep dive into it yet to find out how to post an ad there. The position we're currently trying to fill is a mid-level Instructional Designer, and here's the difficult part - the preference is to find someone with specific experience with Navy training software. Not a deal breaker if they don't have the experience, but it would certainly take them a lot less time to ramp up and be able to contribut to the project.

EJ Encalarde

Helping you Live your BEST Life Today!

08/07/20 at 1:27AM UTC

You’re welcome. You’re right- that’s a position with a unique skill set preference. Another idea... try posting on D.I.C.E + SimplyHired. All the best! Ps. Don’t worry Denise, you’ll nail it!