Filling The Empty Seat

At this point, you can determine if the estimated workload of that job description requires full-time, part-time, casual, or even a job-sharing arrangement. Thinking outside the box here can really open up the number of potential recruits for your position, remembering that the majority of available roles aren’t flexible enough to accommodate the preferences of mature workers, working students and working mums. If yours is, you can find yourself someone of exceptional quality who is equally happy that they have found work that fits in with their lifestyle.

Now define what skills, experience, and the temperament a person will need to have in order to perform the new role. Be realistic here. If you are not going to be able to train the person, and the task is technical in nature or difficult to pick up, you aren’t doing yourself or the new hire any favours by glossing over the need for them to either already have experience in the task, or have related experience that can be quickly reapplied.

Similarly, if the tasks are easy to pick up and/or your environment lends itself to personal mentoring by current staff, don’t insist on candidates having performed the role in the past. Do not gloss over temperament – if there is one thing that all good hiring managers have in common, it is that they test for and hire according to a persons character. The right type of person will usually adapt to any role, because it will be important to them to do a good job and take pride in their work.

How will you find the right type? Flyers on bulletin boards in places they will congregate and your own premises are options, as are job ads on the internet or the local paper. Referrals are a great source of potential candidates. A recruitment agency specialising in a particular discipline, or generalist firms should be considered. Once you know where to find them, the how becomes a lot clearer.

How will you sell the role? Define what’s good about it, where can it lead to and why it will appeal to various groups. For example, a part-time bookkeeping role may suit a mature-age worker for extra income, some people contact while keeping them mentally sharp. If you know who you are targeting, the appealing points of the role become easier to define and articulate.

What will you need to pay this person? This is influenced by four things: their tasks, their experience, the demand for them in the employment market, and what you can afford to pay! All of these factors push and pull against each other until you get a salary range you are comfortable with.