Employees matter. It is essential to find the right employees to represent your brand. Employees play a huge role in customer service which greatly determines your store’s success (Here’s more about how). But how do you find dedicated employees who care about your store and are willing to learn about what makes your it special? Here are some online platforms to inexpensively source talent and increase the likelihood of matching with potential candidates who love what you do.
Read on for helpful online hiring tips.
Using Job Sites
Online hiring and job boards are a great place to post open positions for freelance, temporary, permanent part-time and full-time jobs at your food store. You can post job openings for any positions like cashier, team member, sales associate, manager, supervisor, stockroom worker, and more.
Here are some helpful and popular job sites:
- Indeed lets you post job openings for free. You can list your store location, job title, hourly wage/salary, and job description. Your job description should include daily responsibilities, any required experience, information about your store, what matters to you, and your store’s values. Indeed may also display your store’s online reviews and star rating. You can read more about how to get good online reviews and why that matters here.
- Craigslist is similar to Indeed but is not free. Craigslist job posting prices range from $15, $25, $35, $45, to $75 per post, usually depending on location. Craigslist job postings are entirely based on location and the URL changes according to what major city you are located in or the nearest to.
- Monster is another online job site but is also not free. Though Monster is a little on the pricier side for small/local businesses (check out pricing here), the layout is extremely simple and compact. Fill out everything from job descriptions for both full-time and part-time to company information all in one convenient layout.
- Snag, formally known as Snagajob, follows a similar set-up as Indeed, Craigslist, and Monster. Prices range according to the number of jobs you post. Snag also offers promo codes so make sure to search for discounts before posting.
- LinkedIn is a great place to post job openings. It also offers a social-media-like stream of information for employers and applicants to make connections which is great for professional networking. Make your business look great on LinkedIn while you post job ads.
Check out this blog post to learn more about the recruiting process and training tips.
Your Business Website
Establish an online presence to find the right employees for your store. Use your store website to recreate your store’s unique atmosphere online so that the right people who share the same values, skills, and interests can come work for you. Perhaps add an easily accessible “Apply” section on your site for potential candidates to fill out online job applications. Check out this comprehensive guide on how to set up your own store website.
An online presence is as simple and immediate as taking care of your free Google My Business page, which is what people see when they google your business. Google also offers job searching and job posting. A positive presence on Google will increase the likelihood of potential candidates applying to your store.
Join online marketplaces to get your name out there. Perhaps align yourself with helpful and convenient platforms like Mercato, an online marketplace for specialty merchants to share their quality products with an online customer base. The better your store looks online, the more likely people will choose your store as they search for food business jobs. If you signup for a marketplace like Mercato’s – they handle both orders and delivery, meaning that you need not hire your own delivery staff.
Social Networking
Build a positive online presence for potential candidates to see. Set up a business page for your store on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
You can also post ads on social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). Posting ads cost money but you get the advantage of using sophisticated recruiting software that takes into account location, demographic, audience trends, and internet traffic. Use these platforms to reach the right audience for your store’s hiring needs. Engaging in social media and building an online presence makes it easier and more likely that people will reach out to you – both concerning open positions and more generally.
Steady
Steady is an app that matches “gig economy” (the freelance, part-time and flexible hours workforce) with businesses who could use their services. For example, if you need to find “gig” workers for on-demand grocery or food deliveries, for ad-hoc stocking or inventory checks or any other non-full time, permanent work – check out Steady. Fun fact: Shaquille O’Neal is a brand ambassador and recommends the platform.
E-mail Signups
Initiate e-mail signups to create a larger pool of potential candidates. Sometimes your most frequent customers can become your most valued employees. Politely ask customers to provide their e-mails at the check-out. You can send out e-mails when a position opens and advertise job openings to people who already know and love your store.
College & Universities
If your store is near a college or university, try advertising job openings to the vast majority of college students who work part-time jobs while attending school. Many colleges offer food service and management as a major which means a lot of potential candidates can be students looking for experience with food business jobs.
Community Engagement
Keep it local. Rely on people who know the neighborhood and the community demographics. Word of mouth can also be effective for small or local businesses with close-knit customer bases. Personal suggestions among community members can also get people interested in applying to your store. A great local reputation helps make your store a neighborhood favorite among customers and potential candidates.
Further Reading
There are many useful online resources to help inexpensively recruit people who will make your store a place customers love to go to. Don’t forget to show your employees that you value all that they do. Employee appreciation goes a long way.
For more help navigating online resources, check out this useful directory.
Mercato Team
