How to attract applicants

nohr4u1yr · April 2005

Good morning!

We are a non-profit organization with limited funds - we have placed several ads in the newspaper trying to attract qualified applicants but this is becoming very expensive.

We also have attended several job fairs, placed ads on a few "free" sites as well as increased our employee referral payout.

Does anyone have any suggestions on "cheap" ways to attract qualified applicants?

Thank you!!

deniseE · April 2005

We have started to do two things that seem to have increased our qualified applicant pool.

First, we've developed a relationship with some of the local colleges/trade schools and post openings with them. This frequently reaches not only current graduates, but alumni with some experience.

Second, we signed on with Monster...we decided that after staff time and the cost of posting, it is worth it for the bigger ticket positions.

So far, we're quite pleased with both.

dchr9203 · April 2005

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-26-05 AT 09:59AM (CST)[/font][br][br]The tools you are using are the standard and quite frankly, its expensive, boring, and doesn't get the message out to as many people as you think. Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com are pretty good; I've used both. While they will all attract some qualified candidates, they only get those that are looking on that day or at that resource, etc. I've tried, tested, and love radio recruitment advertising. Its relatively inexpensive by comparison, veryp professional, reaches WWWAAAAYYYYYY more of the candidate pool, is fun and innovative, and can be used for more than just recruitment advertising; including employee recognition. Have you ever heard of the "passive" job seeker; the one who's working, isn't looking for another job, and isn't even aware that they might be interested in considering a move. They're not looking in the paper, so they don't see your ad; they're not going to career fairs so they don't even know you've got openings; they're not surfing the job boards. The one thing they do, though, is listen to the radio. At home, work, driving to and from work, driving on the weekends. Their friends and family listen and hear the ad and say "hey, did you know that XYZ Company has an opening for what you do. They're a great company to work for!" The ads usually run at peak drive times, during traffic reports, etc., and radio stations have all kinds of statistics on their audience. Wouldn't hurt to contact your local radio station and just get some information. They can also provide you with sample spots.

Superlative_KC · April 2005

Have you tried an employee referral program?

Kathy in Alabama · April 2005

We post job announcements on our website with good luck. If you have an industry association, try posting to their website or newsletter. We have information on all local colleges and fax a job opening announcement to their career development centers. Finally, we have the state employment service website - yes, we get many unqualified resumes, but we also get alot of qualified from this referral source too. We have a tight recruiting budget too - hope this helps!

HRQ · April 2005

I feel your pain. I don't have an actual budget. I'm told that if I was given a budget, I would SPEND it. 8-| Instead, I'm to just spend as I feel appropriate and keep the cost down as much as possible. Fortunately for me, my recruitment expenses are coded to the same area as all our marketing expenses which are huge, compared to my spending. x:)

Free stuff;
- Local job service/unemployment office
- Community colleges (ours all share an online job board)
- Churches (the Church of LDS has a big presence in the east valley and a job board. They've netted us a few employees)

Inexpensive stuff:
- employee referral bonus (we post colorful flyers in the bathrooms and stamp payroll envelopes reminding staff of the bonus)
- ads HOA newsletters
- ads in smaller newspapers
- ads in employment magazines (the free ones people pick up at gas stations and street corners. Sounds cheesey, I know, but they work for us)
- colorful vinyl banners on the front of the building
- colorful magnet signs on our vans (we are a preschool company and transport the school age kids to area school and field trips)

Hope that helps!

CCH1400 · April 2005

CT has free postings on their Department of Labor website. See if your state has one. We also advertise on our website.

DB · May 2005

We use:

1) Our website (which includes an email notification to registered visitors)

2) State Employment office

3) mailings to local churches (I include a one-page poster or a small blurp for their newsletter/bulletin - make it easy!)

4) career centers and department heads at the local colleges

5) Family Support Center at local military base. Depending on your location, you may be able to use Impact Jems ([url]http://www.impactjems.com[/url]). It's a free program for military spouses but the coverage area is limited at this time. It's supposed to expand this Fall.

6) Lots of web postings and mailings to industry specific groups. The supervisor or employee is usually the best source for this info.

7) Local library - some have a "job posting" area.

Good luck and I hope to see some more ideas posted here.

How to attract applicants

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