5 Tips to Find Qualified Employees

As of 2018, the unemployment rate in the United States was 4.1% and thousands of jobs were being added to the market. This indicates that it’s important for candidates to choose wisely when it comes to securing interviews; however, the numbers are also a sign that candidates have more options when it comes to finding careers they want.

There’s a high demand for workers, particularly employees who have special skills and abilities, which makes it challenging for employers to properly place or outsource candidates. A recent report by Top Echelon, LLC also indicates that 40% of recruiters’ clients said there were limited candidates to choose from.

To find the best candidates for the positions your company has available, here are some useful tips to incorporate into the hiring process.

Check For Scarcity

As an employer, you may want to search for industries where candidates are scarce because they will most likely have specific skills and training. Recruiters say that the top 50% of job placements were in the four STEM departments in 2017. STEM industries are manufacturing, healthcare, engineering and information technology.

Although IT jobs have gone up by more than 470,000 open positions, healthcare positions have increased by 600,000 since 2012, and many of the candidates qualified for these jobs are already employed. When you know where the need is, you can advertise job posting appropriately and find the right person for the job.

Find The Right Platforms

Remember that you have to make your positions appealing to candidates. Find reputable job posting sites so candidates will trust the post and develop a positive impression about your company. A job posting service that allows you to test the outcome of your posts and provide tips for improving your job posting can also prove helpful. If most of the candidates who view your job post are passive, you’ll need to source your post to candidates who are actively looking for employment. When you supply the right information to let candidates find you, you can easily weed through different types of candidates and place career seekers in the right positions.

Conduct Thorough Interviews

Once you’ve narrowed down your search and you’re ready to conduct interviews, it’s important to ask standard interview questions so you can learn about the candidate’s work experience and get a better feel for who they are and how they would fit into your workplace. For example, in businesses you have your front end vs your back end employees. Provide scenarios in the interview that allow candidates to perform “on the job.” Inform candidates about a current project pertaining to your business and ask for their input. From these thorough questions you should be able to tell if this candidate would thrive on the customer based front, or if their skills and personality would excel in the back end of the business, behind the scenes. Discussing the company culture with candidates and listening to their feedback will also help you determine if they are a good fit.

Use References Correctly

While you should ask the candidate to provide references, you should contact their references to learn more about the candidate’s work performance. However, you should also ask the reference questions concerning the candidate’s personality and sense of humor. This gives you a better idea of how the candidate will respond in social situations and interact with other employees.

Pay Attention to Applications

Look for detailed information in the candidate’s application that makes them stand out. Even if the candidate fills out the application correctly, check to see that the cover letter is engaging and interesting. Inspect the candidate’s resume as well to ensure it is well organized and easy to understand. These factors can give you an accurate impression of the candidate and may cause you to move forward with the interview process.

About the Author

Robert Cordray is a former business consultant and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and a wide variety of knowledge in multiple areas of the industry such as corporate leadership, employee engagement, workplace culture and entrepreneurship. Robert earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Chicago. He currently resides in the Southern California area and spends his time helping consumers and business owners alike try to be successful. When he’s not reading or writing, he’s most likely with his beautiful wife and three children.