The #1 Hiring Mistake Small Business Owners Make (And How to Avoid It)

Being Too Narrow in Your Search

Hiring is a numbers game. To zero in on the right person, you’ll need to talk to a lot of potential candidates. Yes, it’s hard work, but there’s no way around it if you truly want to find the right person for the job.

The first thing you’ll need to do is write an accurate job description. But before you write anything, make sure you know precisely who you need to hire, and what they’ll be doing. This sounds simple, but far too many job descriptions are too vague to attract the right candidates.

Think about it; if the person on the other end doesn’t know what they’ll be expected to do, they won’t be able to determine if they could be a good fit. What happens is you end up with bottom-of-the-barrel people who apply to every job out there. And that’s obviously not what you want. So make sure your job description details the day-to-day responsibilities, a salary range, and just enough information about your company so the candidate can get a feel for who you are and what you do. They need to be able to envision themselves getting up every morning and working, and succeeding, at your company.

Once you have your job description ready, you’ll ideally post it on as many job websites as possible. Far too many business owners post one ad in one place, get no candidates, and then give up. They immediately feel discouraged and that it can’t work for them. This is not true. Advertising anything, including a job opportunity, is extremely challenging. But diversifying your search across multiple job websites, and thereby casting a wider net, will ultimately give you the best selection of candidates to choose from.

If you’re feeling like this approach is overwhelming, you can use a service like ProJobNetwork, which will post your job to multiple job boards with one submission. We can also help you craft your job description so you get the right people applying. And when those people do apply, you can manage them all in one place, rather than juggling multiple emails and accounts on different websites.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. Please stay tuned for more tips to help you succeed at hiring.