As mentioned in my last post, the workforce participation rate is lower today than it has ever been in my lifetime. It has never been more necessary to put aside outdated hiring procedures. It is time to get creative. I sat down recently and came up with 20 creative ideas for recruiting. In this blog post, I’m going to share with you the second group of 10 creative ideas for recruiting.

Here we go.

1. Place ads at local community colleges. Every college I know has a career center. They post jobs online, hold job fairs and are very interested in connecting students and alumni with employers.
2. Offer internships for college students. Many students need internships to graduate. Internship programs may result in seasonal and long-term employees.
3. Tap into networks of people that may not be easy to reach otherwise. Think about home school networks, sports networks, clubs, etc. Networks where graduating high school seniors are coming through each year may be a reliable source of people.
4. Contact vocational centers to speak with teachers and counselors who are in a position to refer qualified students to you.
5. Use your personal and business social media sites to communicate that you’re hiring. This may be a no-brainer but often is forgotten about for some reason.
6. Contact ex-employees and ask them to come back. Sometimes ex-employees would like to return but are too prideful to ask. Take the initiative and reach out to them.
7. Post “Now hiring” signs on your office/shop front yard, fence, windows, etc. Wherever signs are most visible is where you want to place them. A nice fence banner is inexpensive and eye-catching.
8. Send out email blasts to your entire email list. Consider including a referral bonus to non-employees as well. Some people may not be able to accept such an offer but some may.
9. Offer a signing bonus for new employees if they remain employed for 30 days. Give them a reason to accept your offer.
10. Call local vendors to find out if they will allow you to post “Now hiring” ads in their facilities. Equipment suppliers will often not only allow you to post ads, but they will give you names of people they know who may be looking to make a move.

Best wishes to all of you for successful recruiting.

Now go forth.

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