Last month, I looked at retaining good talent for your nonprofit once you have found the right employees for the job. This month, I take a step back and look at hiring the right people in the first place. This is a hot topic in the U.S. because the economy is improving consistently and the job market is growing.
What Do Your Employees Really Do?
So what is a hiring manager to do? The first step is to make sure you have a really good job description. That means a job description that accurately reflects what the person in the role really does — not what we think they should be doing or would be doing in a perfect world. If your organization is small, there will probably be a lot of doing as well as managing.
Find the Needle in the Haystack
The second step is posting the job in the right places. We all know about idealist.org and philanthropy.com. And there are always specialized sites for people with particular skill sets like accounting (FENG) or human resources (SHRM). And, of course, don’t forget LinkedIn. My husband recently found out about a job because someone in one of his interest groups posted an announcement.
The third step is targeting the people you want rather than just those who answer your ads. LinkedIn is critical to this effort. Find the groups you should be posting in based on the type of job for which you are recruiting. Most people in these groups are happy in their jobs. But perhaps a few of them could be tempted to apply if you wrote them a personalized note.
Keep Track of All Those Haystacks
Would you like a great way to manage your pipeline of candidates? You might want to check out iKrut, a free recruitment software system used by both companies and job applicants. iKrut allows you to:
- Post all your vacancies in one place.
- Give selected colleagues a way to view and comment on applications without emailing them around.
- Track how applicants found the posting.
- Send automated emails to candidates rather than worrying about whether or not you have responded to each one.