Hiring? How to Get Tons of Resumes from the Very Best Candidates

If you are in the position of needing to hire someone - part-time, full-time, contractor, or even service provider, I have a simple tip for you. 

Actually, I have a lot of tips - write a clear, detailed job description first, make sure you have a plan to train this person, make sure you have clear goals for the role, a path of growth, etc. 

There are quite a few steps to make sure each hire is successful and brings you the right person in the right position to make it a good fit for you and them. It really has to be win-win for it to work out long-term. 

But let's assume for the sake of keeping this under 10,00 words that you have done those things and now it's time to write the actual job ad. Here's where the tips comes in:

Write like a human!

Ok, sounds pretty simple. But...98% or more of all the job ads out there I see sound like they were written by an HR robot - or a human pretending to be a robot. 

But if you want your position to stand out and attract a lot of interest and help you find a rock star employee, then you aren't going to get there with a job description people fall asleep reading! 

Same goes for writing a description to find the best service provider, independent contractor, or any kind of position you need help with!

We routinely get 75-100 applicants for accounting positions within 48 hours when other firm owners tell me they can't find anyone at all, never mind anyone good!

If you want to know what I do differently, keep reading. Finding a great person vs. an OK person is easily worth five figures in value to your business, so this is not something to ignore! 

Find that great person!

If you post a job ad and want to find a really good person to fill the position, then my suggestion is write the ad like a human! 

What does that mean? Here are some ideas: 

• Start with what makes your business unique and special
• Describe the work environment in more detail than “casual and fun”
• Discuss the growth and opportunities
• Talk about what makes the position you are offering something someone could get excited about
• List your requirements in order of importance and how important and how much they matter to you
• Set expectations clearly so that the person reading it knows what you are looking for and what you are offering
• Talk about who does well there and who might not (I always say in our ads if you’re looking for a boring job where you can spend most of the day scrolling on your phone, this isn’t it!)

Here’s a quick example of what I mean- it took me two seconds to find: 

Outstanding non-profit has immediate need for an Accounting Clerk to be responsible for accounting activities such as processing accounts payable, refund transactions, entering & reconciling sales transactions, maintaining general ledger accounts… blah blah blah! 

That was the opening sentence for their job ad. 

They completely missed the boat. I don’t know what kind of nonprofit they were, but don’t you think that might matter to a prospective employee? If it didn’t, doesn’t that also worry you?? 

For example- suppose it’s a marine mammal rescue. Why not take a few sentences and talk about the cool work the organization does and how even as an accounting person you can be a part of something really amazing? 

Don’t you think someone who is a good accounting person is more likely to apply to a job that also helps something they may care about vs the same job working for a collection agency or nursing home they may be less excited about?  

People reading job ads read hundreds and they all sound the same and are all mostly worse than reading the back of a cereal box. 

If you make your ad interesting, human, appealing and attractive, you will find you A) get a lot more applicants and B) get a lot better applicants to pick from. 

A bigger pool equals a better chance of finding someone really great. Really great employees make a really great business. 

It makes no sense to me that you wouldn’t spend just a few extra minutes writing the ad that you are using to try to find someone great to spend 20-40 hours a week with for the next several years or more… 

I know people who spend more time researching what socks to buy than finding their next employee but then they seem to complain about those employees’ poor performance, turnover and attitude problems. 

Hmmm. But how are those socks working out for you? 

Find great people- write great job ads. It’s the kind of very low effort, no cost investment you can make in your business that pays huge dividends that I personally love. 

Hopfeully now you do, too!