One of the quickest and easiest ways to gather applicants for an open position is to post an ad on a job board. There are several popular boards out there today, and each has its benefits and drawbacks.
But while job boards offer a quick and easy hiring solution, they aren’t the only place to find the best talent. Many companies are looking for alternatives to posting on job boards in order to find the most suitable, high-quality candidates. To help, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend some alternatives to posting on job boards when looking to hire the right talent.
Young Entrepreneur Council members recommend job board alternatives.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Use Professional Resources Like LinkedIn
Using resources that are already set up with great potential candidates, such as LinkedIn, would not only produce faster results, but it would also allow you to get the results on your timeline because you’re not waiting and hoping that someone will apply, but rather you are taking the proactive steps toward finding the right talent. – Roman Smolevskiy, A+ Construction Pro
2. Look Into Previous Applicants
We look into our older database in our applicant tracking system (ATS). We do a lot of hiring per month and use an ATS to track all the candidates. Whenever we have a new position to fill, we search in our database of candidates and reach out to them. Many times, we find a good fit in our existing database. It saves us time and money. – Piyush Jain, Simpalm
3. Reach Out To Executives In Your Network
Reaching out to other executives from your network for recommendations is just as effective. The trust level is much higher, and the interview flows much better because you have a connected source of reference. – Jordan Edelson, Appetizer Mobile LLC
4. Use Social Media Platforms
Finding the right talent can be challenging, but I think social media can help us find great talent really easily. I have used various social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more to post my job openings. The key to making this trick work is using the right keywords and hashtags to spread the word. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
5. Get Referrals From Employees
Referrals from your existing employees will always be the best recruiting tool. By offering an incentive to your top performers to refer their past colleagues and those in their professional network, you’ll get higher quality candidates and improve performance in the workplace (because your team actually likes one another and gets along). – Ryann Dowdy, Uncensored Consulting, LLC
6. Meet People At Networking Events
Networking events are key here. There have been many instances where I have met qualified associates at networking events and thought, “I wish I had a position available right now.” However, when getting out and about and seeing what the talent pool is like out there, you can get a better feel for who would be a good fit for your organization. – Nic DeAngelo, We Buy Loans Fast
7. Attend Job Fairs
We have had great success attending job fairs. Being located in Miami, we have a number of universities nearby with amazing talent. Attending a job fair and having a process and resources for hiring recent graduates has been really beneficial for getting great talent. Processes and resources for new grads are crucial, so be sure to have those in place. – Matthew Capala, Alphametic
8. Get To Know University Professors
If you are looking for junior-level talent, an excellent way is to get to know the university professors. They can help you assess who would be a good hire and point you in the right direction of possible interns (who you can hire later on). – Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design
9. Talk To Passionate Customers
Passionate customers are one of the best alternatives. Talk to your customers and find out if there’s someone passionate who’s willing to work with you. When all else fails, you gain another engaged customer who happens to know that you believe in them. – Daisy Jing, Banish
10. Target Niche Groups And Forums
Try targeting niche groups online, such as on Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also go to discussion forums. You can use these groups and forums to make informal inquiries. People in these groups, even if they aren’t job hunting themselves, are likely to know others who need a job in their field. – Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
