Tips for HR Managers and Employers

10 Quick Tips For Writing A Great Advert

  1. Select an explicit and descriptive job title
  2. If possible include salary or salary range
  3. Concentrate on job description and person specification
  4. The essential qualities of good copy are: clarity - brevity - simplicity.
  5. Use the word YOU, the most powerful word in advertising
  6. Cater to your audience
  7. Advertise the benefits of working for your company
  8. Place your advertisement in the relevant media/section
  9. Make it as easy as possible for candidates to respond
  10. Take advantage of additional space online advertisements provide

5 Tips to Get Great Talent for Less Money

  • Consider immigrants. Many are talented people who will accept less pay because they don’t speak perfect English. (But pay them fairly!)
  • Keep an eye out for displaced “Home Executives” - smart women who’ve left corporate executive positions to start a family or be closer to their children. They can make excellent part-time executives.
  • Investigate employee-leasing and temporary-help services.
  • Offer internships and part-time challenges to graduate students and upper-level undergrads. They want to get experience and can bring excellent knowledge and skills.
  • Get referrals from employees-and don’t be afraid to hire relatives of good workers. You can save substantially on recruiting costs this way.

5 Tips on Hiring Quality and Reliable People

  • Examine your own skills carefully. Know your own strengths and weaknesses and hire to complement your skills, not duplicate them.
  • Assure yourself plenty of applicants by casting a broad net. Interview applicants in a structured way by asking all applicants for a job the same questions.
  • Draw applicants to your website by placing your website address in all advertisements.
  • Use an 0800 phone or fax number as a toll-free way for applicants to contact you.
  • Offer a signing bonus - anything from $25 to $2,500 could be an incentive to help bring on a fence-sitting applicant.

5 Tips on Hiring Smart

  • Hire slowly. Be willing to invest time and energy in your hiring decisions.
  • Be clear in your own mind what the job requires and measure candidates’ qualifications against the requirements of the job.
  • Consider how well a candidate will fit in with your corporate culture. Are her attitudes compatible? Is he cooperative?
  • Narrow the pool to serious candidates. Ways of weeding out non-contenders include asking applicants to write a brief essay on why they want the job.
  • Do brief phone interviews with 8 or 10 top candidates to reduce the pool further. Then do longer in-person interviews with two or three finalists.

5 Tips on How to Recruit Workers in a Tough Labor Market

  • Get referrals from employees. Consider giving bonuses to employees whose referrals are hired.
  • Ask your suppliers. They can recommend good salespeople who have called on them or competent technical people who have serviced their equipment.
  • Approach retirees and other good people who have worked for you before.
  • Post an ad on the Internet. Some small business owners experience success in recruiting through such employment sites as www.seek.co.nz, www.search4jobs.co.nz, www.nzjobs.co.nz, www.trademe.co.nz
  • Consider unconventional sources. People with disabilities often make excellent employees.

5 Tips on Where to Publicise for New Hires

  • Write and place “sizzling” help wanted ads. Write ads with a marketing perspective as to what will bring you prime prospects. Place them in trade journals and in professional association job banks and newspapers.
  • Post job openings at Universities, Technical Institutes and trade schools. Let educational institutions know about your company and its hiring goals. Schedule personal visits as needed.
  • Place magnetic signs on your car, truck or van. Take your advertising with you wherever you go. Showcase the phrase “Now Hiring“ in large print with your phone number.
  • Advertise on radio or cable television; rates can be very reasonable. Or sponsor a promotional event.
  • Consider outdoor advertising or even bus bench ads. You can reach a wide audience.

Job adverts should follow the classical AIDA selling format: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Your job advertisement must first attract attention (from appropriate job-seekers); attract relevant interest (by establishing relevance in the minds of the ideal candidates); create desire (to pursue what looks like a great opportunity), and finally provide a clear instruction for the next action or response. Job adverts written that fail to follow these vital principles won’t attract job applicants of quality and quantity.

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