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March ,1 2009
Deciding what kind of skills are needed to perform each job in your company is the key to locating promising job applicants.
Only after you have defined what is important to a particular job can you begin the hiring process. The candidates you draw for interviews will depend upon the description of the job and skills required for the job. Everything centers on how you describe the job to potential applicants.
Here are some steps to follow in finding promising job applicants:
Describe the job. Suppose you, as the busy business owner, decide to hire someone to relieve you of some of your duties. Start by looking at the many functions you perform and decide where your own attention is crucial and what tasks you can delegate. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are and try to hire someone who can provide a balance to your skills. Prepare a written job description, so you can refer to it frequently.
Decide what skills are necessary. What is the lowest level of skill you can accept? In this case, let's assume you've decided to hire a secretary but you quickly learn that skilled secretaries are scarce and expensive. Perhaps you really need someone to only do some typing. Hiring a typist may be both easier and cheaper than hiring a secretary. Many high school students are qualified typists, and many seek part-time work.
Spell out exactly what you want. Suppose you're looking for a sales clerk. What should the applicant be able to do? Tally sales receipts accurately? Keep a customer list? Promote products to your customers? The job of sales clerk means different things to different people, and unless you spell out what you expect the employee to do, you're going to be receiving applications from people who are both over- and under-qualified.
Locate promising applicants. There are many sources of promising applicants. Oregon has an employment department; find out where it is and use it. Private employment agencies can be helpful, however, they will charge either the employer or the employee a fee for their services. If your business has a display window, you may wish to place a "help wanted" sign there. Of course there's a disadvantage to that method; your sign will draw a lot of nonqualified applicants with whom you'll have to spend time that you can ill afford.
Advertise for job applicants. Newspaper advertising is another common method. This draws a large number of written applications that you can screen on your own schedule, and then you choose to interview only the more promising applicants. Local schools should not be overlooked. High schools may offer courses in business subjects and have students who either want to work part time during the school year or full time after graduation. Colleges are another good source of applicants. Finally, there are personal sources: friends, neighbors, suppliers, customers and employees.
Jimmie Wilkins is the director of the Chemeketa Small Business Development Center. The Small-Business Adviser column is produced by the center and appears each Tuesday. Questions can be e-mailed to SBDC@chemeketa.edu.
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