Posting your job ad online with one of the major job boards is a great way to create awareness about your open position and reach top candidates, but it’s not the only way. There are several other options for successfully promoting your open position; and the path you choose will depend on your particular needs, target audience, and budget.

We’ll dive deeper into these various options, provide tips on how to write an effective job description, and explore ways your company can reach as many possible applicants as possible, all within your financial reach.

Determine Your Target Audience

When you first realize you need help at the office or in your shop, you’ll want to visualize the right candidate. Identifying the right target for your job post can help you craft the perfect help wanted ad for an open position and make it visible to the right audience.

Start identifying your target audience by considering the responsibilities of the job. Will you need someone with experience, or do you prefer an intern or someone with limited experience whom you’re willing to train? Are you hiring for a full-time or part-time position? What is the salary you’re willing to offer?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can determine which type of job ad will best reach prospective candidates. For example, if you’re looking to hire someone for a weekend position and prior experience is not necessary, a high school or university student might be the right fit for you (although you need to keep it legal by avoiding language that excludes protected classes of individuals).

Identifying the right target group will help you determine the best ways to reach them, whether you’re posting your ad online, in print, or at your place of business.

Cost-Effective Examples of Help Wanted Ads

We’re all familiar with the major online job boards, but there are many other cost-effective ways to post your ad. These can be divided into two main categories: online and offline (print) marketing venues. Some examples of cost-effective offline marketing options include:

• Local newspaper or magazine classifieds
• Community bulletins (think about high school or grocery store bulletins)
• Fliers and tear sheets
• Signage on the window of your business

These examples all have one thing in common: they’re visible to many people within specific geographic locations and demographics. The downside of these options is that targeting is limited. However, it can still work to your benefit.

A physical ad in a newspaper or tear sheet may be seen by people who know someone else who might be interested, which is a great example of word-of-mouth marketing. Depending on what kind of position you need to fill, you can always tailor the ad further to your liking.

However, if you’re going for a more-targeted approach with a potentially broader reach, there are still many cost-effective or even free ways of reaching the right target audience online. Some examples include:

• Craigslist ads
• Regional Facebook employment groups
• Self-created social media posts

These online venues allow you to be a little more precise in terms of targeting the right audience. By posting your job ad in employment groups, you are targeting a demographic with an interest in finding work. By posting it on your social media, you’ll reach locals and people who are a fan of your business.

No matter which approach you choose, always include the basics of the business and open position.

How to Write a Help Wanted Ad

Keeping your target audience and posting method in mind, it’s important to follow these five steps. Depending on the paragraph size or length, you can keep it short or go into more detail.

Step 1: Grab the Reader’s Attention

This can be achieved by a catchy headline or the use of positive and dynamic verbs. Since print ads are often surrounded by other competing ads (think about the newspaper or community bulletins), it’s important to write a headline that captures the viewer’s attention.

Step 2: Describe the Job Basics

Interested readers want to know more about your business and the open position. Provide them with a short introduction to the open position and what it entails. You should include:

• Your company name and location
• The job title, required experience, type of position (full-time or part-time), and salary range
• Start date and application due date

Step 3: Provide the Job Requirements

The third step is to include the job requirements in your help wanted ad to make sure it appeals to qualified potential applicants, but not so detailed that it deters potential top candidates. Provide them with a short list of responsibilities and skills, which may include:

• Must have a high school diploma
• Must have [number] years of experience
• Likes to interact with customers
• Is a problem solver

Step 4: Mention the Benefits

Besides the salary or hourly wage, it’s important candidates are aware of any available benefits, including paid time off and holidays. If you have the space, it’s recommended to include the details of the compensation package as a whole (i.e., retirement benefits, training, perks, etc.).

Step 5: Include a Call to Action

Each ad should include a call to action, which consists of instructions on how interested individuals can apply for the job. Provide them with a contact name and phone number so they can reach out if they’re interested. Prepare your response to applicants, not just those whom you plan to interview but also those who don’t make the cut (“ghosting” candidates, for example, can come back to haunt your employer brand).

Make an Attractive Job Ad and Find Your Next New Hire

Our experts have gathered and combined years of experience and knowledge into a database of articles that will help you hire (and retain) top talent. Sign up to receive more insights into how to write a help wanted ad and much more.

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The main reason why businesses fail is that entrepreneurs spend time and money developing products and services without thinking about whether there is demand and how they’ll differ from their competitors. The process of writing your business plan will force you to consider crucial topics like your target demographic, hiring plan, finances, and marketing efforts.

Why You Need a Business Plan Outline

A business plan can help you resist the most common reasons that entrepreneurs are unsuccessful, such as failing to create products and services based on customer feedback, understanding their competitive advantage, or knowing how to attract new customers or clients. When you have a great business idea or want to scale your business, it can be tempting to rush ahead.

However, you can ultimately save time, money, and aggravation by considering whether your business idea is feasible or if you’re expanding too quickly. Before jumping ahead, use this guide to create or update your business plan so you have a sound strategy in place if you decide to move forward.

1. Executive Summary

Think of this section as an elevator pitch for your company. Include a brief description of your business, products or services, and mission. Keep it straightforward and avoid buzzwords and jargon. If your business is already established, mention your team size, location, annual revenue, and growth plan.

2. Company Overview

Give readers more context into why you’re starting this business, the problem you’ll solve, your value proposition, and the target demographic. There may be some overlap between this section and your executive summary, although the overview typically goes into more detail than the executive summary (which is intended to capture their attention).

If your business is already off the ground, share the founding story and a brief company history that includes any major accomplishments like expanding your product offering or doubling your revenue or team size. Instead of saying you grew your revenue by 50 percent, share the actual amount.

3. Market Analysis

Use this section of your business plan outline to show that you understand your competition and how your business will stand out. First, share the industry size and growth rate. Next, share a list of your main competitors. Look at their respective websites and customer reviews and write down their strengths and weaknesses for a variety of topics.

Evaluate each competitor’s:

• Products or services
• Target customers
• Turnaround time
• Pricing structure
• Sales strategy
• Marketing initiatives

For each topic, write down what you can do differently and better. The reader might skim through the details, so it’s helpful to include a summary sentence or paragraph that describes your competitive advantage. Perhaps you can offer lower prices, a faster turnaround time, a unique product or service, greater convenience, or more variety.

4. Customer Analysis

In this section of your business plan outline, you’ll describe your target demographic. Consider relevant factors like their age, sex, location, education level, relationship status, profession, and income. If you’ve held focus groups or collected other feedback, mention what you have learned. More importantly, share how you’ll use the feedback to create products or services that potential customers want.

If your business is already up and running, share metrics such as the number of customers or clients you’ve had and month-over-month or year-over-year increases. You could also share a few customer reviews or client testimonials.

5. Products or Services

Use this section of your business plan outline to describe your main products or services. Share relevant details such as the price, profit margin, and any patents, copyrights, or trademarks you’ve received. Share why they stand out from what your competitors offer. Note your sales goals and key performance indicators (KPIs).

If you’re already making sales, showcase your best-sellers. Mention the sales figures and top reviews or testimonials.

6. Operational Plan

This is where you’ll explain applicable information like your production workflow and distribution plan. Note the suppliers you plan to use, why you chose them, and the prices. If you’re selling services, describe the service process.

7. Marketing Plan

Tell readers your social media, email marketing, website marketing, advertising, and public relations strategies. Mention your budget for each. If you’re hiring in-house, note the salary for each role. If you’re hiring a freelancer, share how much you intend to pay each person. If your business is established, share relevant metrics like your current following or subscribers and growth rate.

8. Organization and Management

Use this section to note your business structure. Is it a limited liability company, partnership, corporation, or another category? If you’ve already hired a management team and board members, share their bios.

This is also where you’ll share the current or intended team size. It’s helpful to summarize your hiring plan and headcount forecast for the year, as well as any additional staff you may need to reach future milestones.

9. Finances

When you’re looking for funding, share the amount you’d like to raise and what you plan to do with the funds. Share your financial projections for at least the next 12 months based on the market research you conducted.

If you’re already in business, share your balance sheet and cash flow and income statements. Also, mention any funding you’ve received so far.

Build the Team You Need to Move Your Business Forward

After using this business plan outline to devise a strategy, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to be successful. Your next step is to attract and retain employees who have the skills and experience you need. Optimize your recruitment and retention strategies by implementing expert-recommended HR advice from Monster.

The post Creating a Business Plan Outline appeared first on Monster.com.

There’s another compelling reason to hire retirees: Research shows that diverse workplaces are often more profitable than their less-diverse competitors. In other words, increasing age diversity can boost your bottom line. The following best practices for recruiting previously retired professionals will help you tap into this unique and often-overlooked talent pool.

How to Hire Unretired Workers

The process of hiring a retiree is similar to hiring a younger employee, but some changes can make your hiring process more efficient. Here are the main steps for finding and retaining previously retired employees.

1. Write Inclusive Job Descriptions

The American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) cautions recruiters and hiring managers to avoid age-biased words and phrases because they could discourage older professionals from applying. Avoid using words and phrases such as “recent college graduate,” “young professional,” “digital native,” “tech savvy,” and “high energy.” Companies that use age-biased language could be found liable for age discrimination.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requires federal contractors to include an equal employment opportunity (EEO) statement on job descriptions, but many other companies (i.e., non-contractors) have followed suit. It is also a best practice to include reasonable accommodation language in every job posting.

2. Audit Your Employer Branding

Your employer brand is your reputation as an employer. Attract and retain retirees and unretired people by showing why your company is a great place to work across the demographic spectrum.

The best way to attract and retain older employees is to show your commitment to building a diverse and inclusive team. Feature your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, such as employee resource groups (ERGs) and mentorship programs, on your company career page and social media platforms. While you’re at it, make sure older employees are featured on your site and social media content.

If you have enough job openings, you might want to consider creating a returnship program. This involves recruiting people who are returning to the workforce after an extended time away, such as retired people and parents, making sure you provide all the support and resources they need to be successful.

3. Reach the Right Candidates

Reach retirees and unretired people by posting your job openings on popular job boards, those geared toward seniors, and your company website. You may also want to post job classifieds in local newspapers.

Continue to get the word out by working with employment agencies and other organizations that offer services for seniors. You may also want to host recruiting events at your office and encourage your employees to spread the word by offering employee referral bonuses.

4. Evaluate Candidates

While some retirees will want to work in a similar role, others will want to make a career shift. When your recruiters and hiring managers are reviewing resumes and cover letters, remind them to focus more on the transferable skills retirees gained during their careers than their past job titles.

One of the main benefits of working after retirement is that older workers have years of work experience. They are likely to have the social skills that can help strengthen your company culture, increase employee morale, improve productivity and performance, and boost retention. For example, many older workers will have honed their collaboration, leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills.

To decrease the likelihood of being found liable for employment discrimination, the EEOC recommends avoiding interview questions about race, religion, age, and other protected characteristics. For example, interviewers should avoid asking candidates how old they are or how long they plan to work before retiring.

5. Onboard Candidates

Provide the training and support that will help unretired workers succeed, including:

• Orientation. Ask your HR team to make employees feel welcome by introducing them to their new coworkers and giving them a tour of the office. Help them get up to speed by discussing the company history, mission, values, and organizational chart. This is a good time to hand out the employee handbook and review important company policies and procedures.
• Training Programs. Ask managers to provide their direct reports with the training they need. Additionally, have your HR team develop trainings on topics like soft skills; cybersecurity; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and preventing sexual harassment. If you have the budget, consider giving all employees a professional development stipend that can be used toward certification programs, classes, and conferences.
• Mentorship Initiatives. Newer employees can learn a lot from more experienced ones, and vice-versa. Encourage cross-departmental relationship building by pairing coworkers from different departments, careful not to delineate solely by age.
• One-on-One Meetings. Require all managers to have regular individual meetings with their direct reports to give feedback and set and track goals and objectives. Remind managers that it’s helpful to create career development plans for all employees. While some workers might want to retire again soon, others will want to vie for promotions.

Continue to Strengthen Your Team

By improving diversity and inclusion, you’re likely to have a stronger company culture, increased employee morale, better productivity and performance, and lower turnover. Now that you know the benefits of hiring unretired workers and best practices for hiring and onboarding them, you’re ready to get started. Find qualified candidates quickly with a free job posting on Monster.

The post How to Hire Unretired Workers appeared first on Monster.com.

Even the federal government’s Drug-free Workplace program, which once spearheaded employee drug screening, now encourages employers to use drug-testing to identify employees who can benefit from “treatment, rehabilitation, and re-integration into the workplace,” not as a filter to bar employment or a reason to terminate employees.

The situation is a bit trickier in sectors where workplace safety is vital. The information below can help you weigh the options, limitations, and the potential benefits of drug screening before you decide whether to you implement or revise your testing policy.

Why Should You Screen for Drug Use?

Pre-employment drug testing can help identify employees who may benefit from drug counseling or in-patient or out-patient drug treatment programs. If employees continue to use illicit drugs or abuse controlled substances, and it negatively impacts their work, post-treatment drug screening can help you to build a case for termination.

Drug screening can save you money by:

• Reducing the risk of workplace injuries and accidents
• Discouraging and preventing drug use
• Reducing turnover and absenteeism

What Drugs Do Most Tests Screen For?

Drug tests can detect substances that may be legally and necessarily prescribed to your employees for conditions ranging from anxiety to cancer to arthritis, but the most common drugs that are detected by drug screening are:

• Amphetamines
• Cocaine
• Opiates
• Phencyclidine (PCP)
• Cannabis (aka, marijuana)

Even among this short list you may unintentionally trespass upon applicants’ medical privacy. Amphetamines are used for a range of legitimate health issues, all of which would be covered by ADA. Cannabis and even opiates can be used to treat chronic pain or terminal illness, and cocaine is still sometimes used as an anesthetic for particularly delicate surgery and could consequently turn up in a drug screen, opening yourself up to accusations of bias and potential lawsuits.

How Do State Marijuana Laws Affect Employer Liability?

State laws on drug testing, especially for cannabis use, vary widely. In addition, some cities, including New York City, prohibit nearly all testing for cannabis. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) provides a frequently updated table that lists state laws governing employee drug screening.

Note: Try to avoid the use of the term “marijuana” when referring to cannabis, which is based on the Spanish word for the flowering component of the cannabis plant and considered by many to be offensive to people of Mexican descent and Latinos in general.

What Steps Should You Take to Implement a Pre-Employment Drug Testing Policy?

1. Know the Law. Employers with federal contracts of more than $100,000 and many federal grant recipients are required to implement drug tests. However, those same mandates require companies to implement employee protections, including the opportunity to contest positive results. You also need to be careful not to single out people who “appear” to be under the influence of drugs since this may be due to a medical condition and thus covered by ADA.
2. Have a Consistent Written Policy. By law, you must have a written policy that is easily accessible to employees and perspective hires and this policy must be in place for 30 days before you begin testing. SHRM provides an easily modified sample. Be sure to cover the costs of all testing, including last-chance and post-treatment tests. Not only is it the right thing to do, but some states prohibit employers from charging employees for screening costs.
3. Determine What Type of Test You Need. Urine analysis is by far the most common way to obtain sample for testing, with blood testing being fairly rare. If what you are interested in is on-the-job safety, implementing frequent, randomized urine or saliva tests may be the best approach. If you are more concerned about habitual use, consider investing in hair follicle testing, since substances can be tested using this method for much longer durations.
4. Find a Reliable Test Kit Provider, a Qualified Lab, or Comprehensive Vendor. SHRM provides a frequently updated list of testing vendors, ranging from offsite labs to companies that will come to your workplace to collect specimens to vendors that will oversee every aspect of your company’s drug testing, treatment, and prevention program. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes a list of certified testing centers, which is updated frequently and organized by state.

When Should You Test Candidates and Employees?

Random testing is probably the most successful way to detect habitual drug use; however, employers may also want to consider testing in the following circumstances:

• Pre-employment: By far the most widely used, a pre-employment drug testing policy typically times screenings to take place after an offer has been made but before the candidate’s first day on the job.
• Annual physical: These tests are implemented along with other health screenings provided by the employer. Due to your employees’ rights to privacy when it comes to their health, you’ll need to guarantee the security and privacy of employee health records. You also must alert your employees that drug screening will be part of their annual checkup.
• Reasonable suspicion: If you have documented a pattern of unsafe behavior, you may ask to test an employee as a condition of their continued employment.
• Post-accident: In this case you would want to request to test all employees who were involved in the accident to determine if drug or alcohol use played a part.
• Post-treatment: Knowing that they will be subject to drug testing after employer-provided treatment has been shown to help employees remain committed to their treatment program in the critical first months after completing their program.

Are There Drawbacks to Drug Screening?

The drawbacks and benefits of implementing a pre-employment drug testing policy depend on your goals. If you aren’t using the right test for your circumstances, you could be spending money and incurring potential liability for no good reason.

Societal attitudes about drug use and abuse are shifting, with increasing numbers of job seekers viewing recreational use of legal substances as a private matter and substance abuse as a mental health issue deserving of compassion and employer-provided care options. Your pre-employment drug-testing policy may discourage highly qualified candidates from applying to work at your company.

Is There a Better Way to Discourage Substance Abuse?

There a better ways to screen applicants to make sure that they will be honest, conscientious, and reliable workers than by using tests that can be thwarted and are just as likely to uncover health issues covered by the ADA as they are to unearth substance abuse.

A comprehensive policy that offers mental health benefits rather than retribution to employees struggling with addiction, and highlighting these policies in your HR literature, will help cement your reputation as an employer who prioritizes wellness, which can be very attractive, especially to highly qualified and younger applicants.

Learn About the Latest Practices in Employee Screening and Testing

Now that you have an up-to-date pre-employment drug testing policy, learn more about the latest employee screening methods with free advice and hiring news from Monster.

The post Setting Up a Pre-Employment Drug Testing Policy appeared first on Monster.com.

You can also save money. Teenagers often work part-time during the school year or as seasonal employees, meaning you don’t need to pay an annual salary and benefits. If you’re hiring in the United States, the federal government and some state and local governments offer tax credits for companies that hire teenagers.

If you decide to hire teenagers, you can follow these steps to find and successfully hire dependable employees:

1. Determine your hiring needs
2. Write your job descriptions
3. Reach motivated teenagers
4. Evaluate candidates
5. Onboard teenage employees

What are the Legal Considerations for Hiring Teenagers?

There are various federal and state child labor laws. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has several child labor laws to be aware of before you start the hiring process. For example, people:

• 13 and younger: Can babysit, perform, deliver newspapers, and do other at-home work.
• 14 and 15: Can do non-hazardous, non-manufacturing jobs that are approved by the DOL and can only work specific hours and a maximum number of hours per day.
• 16 and 17: Can do any job that is deemed non-hazardous by the DOL and work any hours.
• Under 20 years old: Can be paid less than minimum wage during the first 90 consecutive days of employment, unless your state has different rules, and then must be paid minimum wage in nearly all circumstances.

It can be helpful to have a lawyer review your plans before you kick off the hiring process.

How to Hire Teenagers

These best practices will make your hiring process more effective and efficient.

1. Determine Your Hiring Needs

Start by considering your hiring needs and whether you’re legally permitted to hire teenagers for the role. (When you’re hiring 15-year-olds and 14-year-olds, keep in mind that they can only work DOL-approved jobs.)

After making your list, determine your budget for each role using salary tools to find the market rate in your state. Teenagers may be willing to work for less than adult employees. However, you’ll be poised to attract top talent if you pay the same amount for workers doing the same job.

2. Write Your Job Descriptions

The next step to hiring teenagers is to write job descriptions for each role. Include a compelling introduction to your company, job responsibilities, qualifications, and logistics like the hours and pay. If you’re hiring for non-summer jobs, be sure to specify that you have reserved shifts before and after school and on weekends for students.

Include relevant terms like “teenage jobs,” “teen jobs,” “weekend jobs,” “seasonal work,” “morning shifts,” and “evening shifts” in the title and throughout the job description. You’ll increase the likelihood that teenagers will see your job description when they use job boards and search engines to find work.

3. Reach Motivated Teenagers

Promote your job descriptions by posting them on popular and teenager-specific job boards, as well as on your website. See if local high schools and middle schools have career fairs that you can attend.

It’s helpful to ask for recommendations from your professional network when you’re hiring teenagers because it’s likely people can vouch for smart, reliable, and responsible teenagers who are itching to make money. If you have room in the budget, offer an employee referral bonus to team members who recommend someone who ends up being hired.

You could also share your job postings on the social media platforms teenagers frequently use, like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.

4. Evaluate Candidates

When you’re hiring teenagers, they are unlikely to have the exact skills and professional experience you think you need. However, keep in mind that hard-working and reliable teenagers will be able to learn new skills quickly.

As you’re reviewing resumes, consider the transferrable skills candidates gained from their classes, extracurricular activities, and other jobs or internships. For example, they may have strong written communication skills from working for the school newspaper, verbal communication skills from being on the debate team, and interpersonal skills from playing sports.

After narrowing it down to top candidates, schedule a short phone or video interview before or after school. You will get a chance to see their soft skills in action. Since teenagers might not have relevant experience to talk about, it’s helpful to ask behavioral interview questions that require them to talk about times they needed to use similar skills in the past.

For example, you may want to ask:

• How do you prioritize and manage your time when you work on multiple projects or assignments at once?
• Tell me about a time you worked with a team. What characteristics make you a good teammate?
• What are the three most important skills you’ve learned from previous jobs, internships, or extracurriculars?

5. Onboard Teenage Employees

When you’re ready to make a hire, your lawyer may recommend that you send an offer letter for them to sign. Offer letters typically include relevant details like the job title, hours per week, manager, pay, pay schedule, and whether it is an at-will position.

After getting back the signed offer letter, you can plan your orientation program. Start by making introductions, showing them around the workplace, and giving them more context about your company. For example, you could discuss your company’s history, mission, values, team structure, and policies and procedures.

Managers should spend most of the orientation day giving new employees the tools, resources, and instructions they need to be successful. However, the training shouldn’t stop on day one.

Provide Continuous Training and Supervision

Hiring teenagers is not the same as hiring adults who are likely to have years of work experience. It’s beneficial to provide hard and soft skill trainings on everything from customer service best practices to workplace communication.

Encourage managers to have one-on-one meetings to give feedback, set goals, and answer questions. If your workplace has a shift schedule, you may want to make sure there is always a more-senior person on shift to oversee younger employees.

Hire Talented Teenagers Quickly

You can consider this “Hiring Teenagers 101.” We’ve covered legal considerations and best practices for the entire hiring process, from writing job descriptions to providing ample training. Ready to put it to the test? Create a free job posting on Monster to reach a large selection of motivated teenagers quickly.

The post Tips for Hiring Teenagers appeared first on Monster.com.

If you own a startup or small business and aspire to go public or get acquired, there are still benefits to offering equity now. Here are key considerations and the exact steps to take if you decide to make equity part of your compensation package.

What is Equity Compensation?

While there are a variety of ways to offer stock to your employees, the two most common methods are:

• Stock Options: You give employees the opportunity to buy or sell a specific number or percentage of shares at an agreed-upon strike price if the company goes public, is acquired, or they leave the company and want to sell their stock back.
• Stock Grants: Stock grants are like stock options except you’re giving the employees the stock. They do not need to buy it from the company. The value of the stock is whatever the market value is at the time the company goes public or is acquired.

The Benefits of Offering Equity

When public companies give stock options and grants there’s already a monetary value. Because your company is private, the stock options and grants don’t have a monetary value yet, but they could be lucrative in the future. Here are the main reasons you may want to offer equity at this stage:

1. Pay Lower Salaries

You may want to spend most of your capital on expanding your products and services and growing your team. When you offer equity compensation, candidates may be willing to work for a lower salary now if they think they will ultimately have a windfall if the company is successful. Instead of paying large salaries, you can hire more employees.

2. Recruit Top Talent

It’s difficult to attract top talent if you’re offering a salary that’s lower than the market rate. Offering equity can incentivize talent to join at a lower salary.

In some instances, people may be willing to “work for equity.” This means they will earn a stake in the company instead of a salary. However, the equity doesn’t have any value yet and many people can’t afford to take that option.

3. Increase Retention

Business owners often use equity compensation to increase retention by requiring employees to be at the company when their stock vests. The vesting date is when employees officially own the stock. Some companies set a vesting schedule, so employees get a certain percentage each year.

Many companies have a four-year vesting schedule with a one-year cliff. This means new employees don’t receive any equity until they hit a year and then get a certain percentage every subsequent year. For example, they might get 25 percent each year. If an employee leaves before it all vests, they would still own the amount that already vested.

4. Boost Employee Engagement

When your employees have ownership in the company, your team is bound to have higher levels of employee engagement and morale. People are likely to work harder and be more collaborative and committed. Companies with high levels of employee engagement and morale are often more successful.

The Potential Cons of Providing Equity

While there are clear benefits to offering equity compensation, there are possible downsides that you can try to mitigate.

1. It can be Complicated

When you’re in the early stages, it can be hard to predict the long-term valuation to set the strike price. To incentivize employees to stay at the company, the strike price should be lower than what the market value will be so people have a “discount.” If it’s higher than the market rate, it’s meaningless because people can buy shares at the lower price.

It can be easier to give a stock grant, otherwise known as a restricted stock unit (RSU), because you don’t need to anticipate the market rate. The stock will be worth whatever it is worth when you go public or sell your company.

Talk to an accountant and lawyer to make sure you follow all the necessary tax and reporting requirements. Stock options and stock grants are taxed differently, so consider having them talk to your team.

2. You Have Less Ownership in Your Company

You’re giving away some of your ownership and, depending on your terms, only get it back if the person leaves the company before it vests.

You stand to make less money from an acquisition or going public because you hold fewer shares. However, if you can’t pay high enough salaries to get the talent you need, you may not be able to get to that stage.

3. You Could Have a Harder Time Attracting Investors and Buyers

If you give away a large proportion of your shares, investors and buyers may want the opportunity to buy more shares than you can provide. You can create an employee option pool to set aside a set percentage for employees, such as 10 percent cumulatively. You’d pull from that amount to give equity to new hires.

How to Offer Equity

Here are the steps to take if you decide to provide equity compensation.

1. Create an Employee Option Pool

Your first step is to determine how much equity you want to reserve for your employees. As you hire new employees, you can see how many shares you have left and whether you will need to dilute some of your shares to add more to the employee option pool.

It’s helpful to create a capitalization table that shows everyone who owns shares in the company, including investors, and how much ownership they have. If people leave the company before their stock vests, you can decide how to redistribute it.

2. Decide the Type of Stock and Amount

Your next step is to decide if you want to offer stock options or stock grants and preferred or common stock. To determine how much equity compensation to give each employee, business owners often consider whether it’s an early employee, their seniority level, and how critical the role is to the company’s success.

Some business owners also let employees choose if they want to have more equity but a lower salary, or vice versa. You can also incentivize employees by giving them a larger stake as they get promoted. Some business owners have performance-based vesting schedules for executives, meaning their stock only vests if the company hits pre-determined key performance indicators (KPIs).

3. Create Contractual Agreements

Work with a lawyer to create contracts with each employee. If it’s relevant, you may want to include the number or percentage of shares, the strike price, the vesting schedule, a buy-sell agreement, and the expiration date.

Keep Optimizing Your HR Policies

Now you know how offering equity compensation can help you hire a larger team, attract and retain talent, and boost employee engagement and morale. Continue to strengthen your company culture and performance by receiving expert HR and management advice from Monster.

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a hyper-local brick-and-mortar retailer, a regional brand, or a community nonprofit, to optimize your digital presence you need to hire a web designer with design and technical skills who understands your brand and your target customers. But how do you go about attracting design applicants, assessing their work, and selecting the right web designer to work with your team?

The following five steps can help you find a designer whose vision meets your needs:

1. Create a budget for your web site design
2. Write a web designer job description
3. Assess applicant resumes and digital portfolios
4. Ask the right interview questions
5. Draw up a project brief and contract

Do You Need a Web Designer or Developer?

Before you begin your web designer hiring process, you need to determine whether you need to hire a web designer or a web developer—and you need to know the difference.

A web designer will create your website’s graphic presentation, including images, and typography. They will also design the user experience: how the user travels through the site and encounters information along the way. Some designers also have web development skills and credentials, allowing them to design and implement your site’s functionality.

More often, designers focus on your site’s visual elements, while developers implement functionality, for example, by making sure your site employs responsive design across all platforms, especially on mobile devices. They can also increase navigation speed and help prevent customers from bouncing from your site to a competitor’s. To hire a web developer, you’ll want to follow steps similar to those outlined for web designers in the process outlined below.

1. Create a Budget for Your Web Site Design

Contemporary web sites are more than just brand marketing tools. A well-designed commercial web site can be a reliable source of pre-purchase product research and a sales driver. It needs to look good and work well. If it doesn’t—if your current site is static or outdated—chances are you’re leaving money on the table.

How critical is your web site design? Data indicates that 38.5 percent of consumers judge products and brands by their web sites, 38 percent will stop interacting with a poorly designed web site, and 50 percent will opt for your competition if they have a negative experience on your site.

That’s why it’s crucial to hire a web designer who ishighly qualified: either a freelance designer or (if your business frequently adds components to your site) a full-time web designer. Depending on the scope of your business, costs for web site design projects vary greatly, but hiring a freelancer, or even an inhouse designer, is likely to be less expensive than hiring a full-service agency.

2. Write a Web Designer Job Description

Once you’ve decided whether to hire a staff designer or freelance web professional, you’ll need to create a web designer job description. Begin with a short description of your workplace that makes your business’s focus and mission clear. You should also explain why you’re a great business partner or employer and why this project presents a fun and creative challenge for the right candidate.

As you list the qualities you’re looking for in a designer, emphasize what makes these professionals so unique. For instance, you’ll likely want to hire a web designer who has a unique combination of technical know how, visual flare, and customer focus.

3. Assess Designers’ Resumes and Digital Portfolios

Once you start getting responses to your job listing, you’ll need to gauge applicants’ resumes for qualities that make a good web designer:

• A bachelor’s degree in graphic design, digital design, or web development
• Adobe certification in web design and/or development
• Previous experience as a web designer
• A demonstrated sense of visual design fundamentals, including image composition, typography, and informational hierarchy
• An understanding of user experience (UX) and information architecture
• Experience using coding languages, such as HTML or JavaScript
• Familiarity with cascading style sheets (CSS), content management systems (CMS), and Adobe Suite software, particularly InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator
• An understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) and mobile optimization

Once you’ve narrowed down the resumes to a core number, you’re almost ready to hire a web designer. The next step is assessing designers’ digital portfolios, which will include work they’ve done for other employers or clients. The top candidates’ portfolios will demonstrate web design best practices, such as clean design, intuitive navigation, and clearly actionable calls to action.

4. Ask the Right Interview Questions

The best web designers tend to have a unique skill set. They’re visually gifted, technically innovative problem solvers. They’re creative, but also deadline-driven and highly organized. The questions below will help you select a candidate with this rare combination of skills:

• What kind of information do you look for from your clients before you begin a project?
• What are the differences between desktop and mobile design?
• How do you manage the expectations and opinions of multiple stakeholders on a project team?
• How would you assess your time management skills, and what do you do when deadlines approach and some elements of a project are still unresolved?
• Describe a web design project you worked on that you’re proud of.

As you assess each candidate consider the essential qualities they’ll need to successfully work with your team and complete the project, such as clear communication, flexibility, and technical knowledge. You may also want to ask if you can talk to some of their past clients.

5. Draw Up a Project Brief and a Contract

If you’re planning to hire a web designer on a freelance basis, you should provide your top candidates with a project brief outlining your design needs and goals, a timeline, and budget. In turn, they will supply you with a design proposal. Select your final applicant based on how well their proposal reflects a clear understanding of your company’s goals, brand ethos, and target users’ needs. Then you’ll need to draw up a design services contract for the designer of your choice.

If you’re making a staff hire, it still makes sense to draft a project brief, but your newly hired web designer can help you with this task, and all the tasks that follow, from sketching out wireframes for each stage of functionality to the launch of your newly redesigned web site.

You Know the 5 Steps to Hiring a Web Designer. Now Spread the Word and Find the Right Fit

Now that you know how to hire a web designer, get the word out with a free job post from Monster. With greater reach and performance-based recruitment, you’ll find the right fit for this and all your hiring needs.

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Waiting until an employee leaves before beginning your recruitment efforts—reactive hiring—is expensive, time-consuming, and haphazard. Building a reliable pipeline of talented individuals that you consistently nurture, even when you don’t have current openings, is the most efficient and effective way to ensure you are attracting the top performers in your sector, and can save you money on outside recruiters as well.

The five steps outlined in this article can help you build, nurture, and optimize a pre-vetted applicant pool:

1. Polish your employer brand
2. Reach out and look within
3. Keep tabs on key talent in your field
4. Create and organize a talent database
5. Build diversity into your pipeline strategy

What Is a Talent Pipeline?

Your pipeline consists of a talent pool,—a collection of job candidates that you consider worthy of considering for future openings—along with a process by which you vet and check in with those candidates, even when you do not have openings.

A successful talent pipeline includes applicants you’ve met in person, whose resumes you’ve vetted. Some may have been finalists for past openings, or applicants you’ve met with for informational interviews when you didn’t have a current opening.

Because you’ve already engaged with them, you don’t have to explain what your company does or what your values are. When the right opportunity emerges, you can bring them in for a targeted interview, and if all goes well, make them an offer.

Maintaining an updated database of vetted candidates allows you to fill openings faster, avoid lengthy candidate searches, and save money on outside recruiters. That’s why it is crucial to always be working on some aspect of the five steps listed below.

1. Polish Your Employer Brand

Think of your pipeline as a company asset that needs to be tended to in good times and bad. Building and maintaining a highly regarded employer brand within your industry or community is a key first step in that process.

Polish your employer branding by updating the career portal on your web site and working with your marketing team to create social posts focusing on your employees’ accomplishments and company benefits. You should also review your applicant experience by applying to your company through your application portal. How tedious is the process? Can it be made more responsive and meaningful for your applicants?

Develop a companywide standard for interviewing and hiring etiquette. If you are not reaching out to candidates who you didn’t select for a current opening, especially those who made it through several rounds of interviews, then you are likely gaining yourself a reputation as an unresponsive employer.

2. Reach Out and Look Within

One of the best ways to maintain a healthy talent pipeline is to focus on strengthening it during hiring freezes. You should also use less-active recruiting seasons to strengthen internal training and mentoring, making sure that you are ready to promote from within.

You can work to forge and maintain relationships with talented professionals within your field by:

• Conducting informational interviews when you don’t have active openings.
• Updating past applicant files by reaching out and seeing if job seekers’ situations have changed, whether they’re still looking for work and still interested in your company.
• Forging new relationships with professional organizations and local college recruitment offices.
• Creating returnships for past employees looking to re-enter the workplace after an extended absence.
• Checking in with current employees to see what their development goals are and what you can do to help them develop new skills.

3. Keep Tabs on Key Talent in Your Field

Hiring specialists should track the careers of top-performing professionals within your industry, including people you’ve worked with in the past, or highly impressive individuals within your field you’ve interacted with at industry conferences or within professional associations.

This is especially important for entry-level workers, including younger Millennials and Gen Z, who are likely to switch employers frequently. Some effective ways to maintain relationships with performers you think would thrive in your organization include:

• Being transparent about your company’s current situation while at the same time making clear that you believe they would be an asset, and that you are interested in bringing them on board when the time is right.
• Setting up informational interviews with organizational leadership designed to explore an array of roles a candidate might be capable of filling.
• Acknowledging that a potential hire cannot wait for you to be ready to hire them and that you may not be the next employer they work for and that’s OK. Maybe you will be the one after that. You are looking to forge a long-term relationship because you see them as someone with great promise.

4. Create and Organize a Talent Database

Your talent database, sometimes called a “talent container,” is a single location that contains all of your candidate information. To compile a comprehensive talent database, you’ll need to identify your main recruitment strategies. These might include:

• Sending recruiters to a handful of area job fairs.
• Maintaining relationships with a few area college career centers.
• Attending the major professional conferences in your sector.
• Hosting a portal for open jobs on the company web site.
• Using external job sites.

Once you’ve identified your key recruitment channels, you’ll want to gather resumes, cover letters, and online application data into a single talent container, and then begin categorizing and ranking the candidates within it. This can be made simpler by using recruitment tracking software.

5. Build Diversity Goals Into Your Talent Pipeline Strategy

Building a pool of candidates is all about fine-tuning your talent acquisition strategies, which makes it a perfect opportunity to build diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies into your hiring practices at every level.

You can leverage your pipeline to build a diverse workforce by forging relationships with multicultural professional associations, organizations focused on women in the workplace, veterans’ groups, and other organizations that represent underrepresented groups.

As your diversity efforts grow, be sure to incorporate your DEI success stories back into your employer branding. Younger workers are especially focused on making sure their employers’ values in this arena reflect their own and have indicated a willingness to turn down offers from employers that do not appear to make DEI a priority. In other words, failure on this front could slow down—or even shut down—your ability to consistently engage with top talent.

You’ve Learned 5 Key Steps to Build a Talent Pipeline. Now Access More Valuable Hiring Strategies

Learn more about the most effective ways to recruit and hire top talent with up-to-date hiring news. Access expert advice, useful how-to articles, and information about the best hiring practices for employers large and small.

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One of the main advantages of internal recruiting is that you have more resources for evaluating whether a candidate is a good fit for the role. While certain elements of the hiring process are similar, like writing a job posting and reviewing resumes, there are key differences that can make the process more effective and efficient.

You can take these steps to build your internal hiring process:

1. Write a job description
2. Promote your job posting
3. Evaluate internal candidates
4. Onboard internal hires

What is Internal Recruiting?

It’s when you fill job openings with current employees instead of hiring someone from outside your company. You may promote employees to higher positions or encourage employees to make lateral moves.

What are the Benefits?

There are many advantages for your company when you recruit internally, including:

Fill Roles Faster

When you hire internally, you have more resources for evaluating candidates. You can look at their past performance reviews, speak to their manager and peers, and review projects they’ve completed.

The external recruitment process typically takes more time because you need to reach candidates, screen resumes and cover letters, schedule interviews, and call references. You may want to have multiple interview rounds with each candidate before deciding, which could take weeks or months.

When you’re filling a high-priority role, there is pressure to hire quickly. You know more about an internal hire so there is less of a risk that it could be the wrong fit and that you’d have to restart the hiring and training process.

Reduce Hiring and Onboarding Costs

It can be expensive and time-consuming to recruit and onboard candidates. In addition to recruiting costs, you may have to offer a higher salary to attract external candidates.

You will probably need to provide more trainings and be patient as the new employee acclimates to the role and company. When you recruit internally, the employee will likely need to learn or improve some skills, but they will have more institutional knowledge and a better understanding of the company culture.

Increased Employee Engagement

Instead of looking for new opportunities outside the company, employees who want to advance or make a lateral move can apply internally. You show that you value your employees and are committed to helping them succeed.

As a result, your company is likely to have higher employee morale and engagement. Companies with high employee morale and engagement are often more profitable than the competition because of factors including higher quality work, greater productivity, and increased employee retention.

How Do You Recruit Internally?

Now that you know the benefits of this hiring method, you’re ready to set up your process. Here are the main steps:

1.Write a Job Description

Even though you plan to hire internally, you’ll still want to write a job description. A detailed job description will give internal candidates the information they need to determine whether they have the necessary skills and experience and are excited about the role.

You’ll also need a job description if you decide to post the job externally to expand your hiring pool. With a well-written job description in place, hiring managers will have a clear method for evaluating internal and external candidates.

2. Promote Your Job Posting

Make sure your employees know about your job openings by using an internal job board, posting them on the intranet, including them in internal newsletters, and mentioning them at all-team meetings. Ask managers to encourage employees who’d be a good fit to apply.

Have internal applicants apply through your applicant tracking system (ATS) and send their resume to the hiring manager directly so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

3. Evaluate Internal Candidates

Have your hiring managers start by considering a candidate’s resume and performance reviews and, if it’s relevant, looking at work samples. If candidates are moving up or making a career shift, they may not have all the skills and experience listed in the job description – but that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to succeed in the role.

Remind hiring managers to consider the candidate’s soft skills like work ethic, adaptability, and leadership skills. Employees with a growth mindset should be able to learn new skills and excel at new responsibilities quickly.

Hiring managers might want to meet with any candidates they haven’t worked closely with to learn more about their skills and career goals. When you recruit internally, it’s helpful to ask revealing interview questions such as:

• What excited you about this opportunity?
• What skills and experiences did you gain from previous roles that would make you successful in this one?
• How would this role help you accomplish your main long- and short-term career goals?

4. Onboard Internal Hires

Your lawyer may recommend you send an offer letter with the details of the new position like the title, salary, start date, benefits, and manager. The internal hire has the advantage of having a professional support network and knowing how the company operates, but they may not be familiar with their new role or team.

Ask their new manager to meet with them to discuss their new responsibilities, provide relevant trainings, and discuss short- and long-term goals and objectives. They should also make introductions if the internal hire is joining a brand-new team.

Continue to Strengthen Your HR Practices

When you recruit internally, you’re likely to see increased employee retention, morale, and performance, making your business more successful. Keep strengthening your company culture and performance by implementing expert-recommended hiring and management advice from Monster.

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This guide will help you determine if it’s a good strategy for your business. If you decide to move forward, you can take these steps to hire and onboard temporary workers:

1. Decide your hiring needs
2. Write job descriptions
3. Promote job openings
4. Assess candidates
5. Onboard temporary workers

What is Temp-to-Hire?

Also known as contract-to-hire, it’s when a business owner hires a temporary worker for a set timeframe with the possibility of hiring them as a permanent employee at the end of the contract. Temporary contracts typically last three to six months.

What are Legal Considerations?

There are various federal and state employment laws and guidelines regarding temporary work. At a national level, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) defines temporary workers as people who don’t have an actual or implied contract for ongoing employment. According to the DOL, temporary workers typically work at a job for a year or less and do not expect to work there for another year.

The DOL considers a job to be short-term or temporary work if the person is hired for a specific timeframe or project, to replace an employee who is on leave, or to work at a seasonal job. They also consider whether the contract stipulates that it is a short-term assignment with a set end date.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also has guidelines for determining whether someone is an employee or a temporary worker. If you misclassify an employee as a temporary worker, you could be held liable for employment taxes and additional sanctions.

It can be helpful to have a lawyer review your hiring plans before you get started.

What are the Benefits?

Here are some reasons you may want to bring on temp-to-hire workers:

• You can hire someone to complete a short-term project, fill in when an employee is on leave, or work during your “busy season” without hiring an employee.
• You can save money by paying an hourly rate or project fee instead of an annual salary and benefits. (It’s helpful to check with your lawyer because you may be legally obligated to pay some benefits based on the contract duration and hours worked.)
• You need help but don’t have enough work for a permanent employee and predict that you will soon.
• You and the worker can determine whether it is a good fit before committing to a permanent role.

How Do You Find a Temporary Worker?

The process of hiring a temporary worker is similar to hiring a permanent employee, but there are some key differences that can make your hiring process more efficient. Here are the main steps for finding and retaining temp-to-hire workers.

1. Decide Your Hiring Needs

Start by writing a list of all the projects you need help with and gaps you may have because employees quit or are on leave. When you bring on a contract-to-hire worker, there is an expectation that there will be the possibility of a job offer after the contract ends. If you have short-term projects or need coverage and do not think you will have enough work to hire someone full-time, consider hiring a gig worker instead.

Next, use a salary tool to determine the budget for each hire. This will help you decide if you can hire for all the roles now or if you need to prioritize. Keep in mind that if you use a staffing agency, you may need to pay a fee, markup hourly rate, and a percentage of the worker’s salary if you hire them as an employee.

2. Write Job Descriptions

Your next step is to write detailed job descriptions for each role. The job description will help candidates determine whether it’s the right fit for them and will give you or the staffing agency a clear way to evaluate candidates.

There is a high demand for temp-to-hire workers, so it’s beneficial to use the introduction paragraph to show why your company is a great place to work. You may want to highlight the mission, company culture, team values, and any awards the company has received.

Many temporary workers hope to have benefits and more job security. You’re likely to stand out from the competition if you specify that there is a potential to be hired. Over time, you can increase confidence by mentioning the

3. Promote Your Job Openings

After writing compelling job descriptions, you’re ready to reach qualified candidates. If you’re using a staffing agency, they will find and interview candidates and recommend top candidates to your team.

You can find candidates directly by posting your job opening on popular job boards and your company’s career page. Use the job title and “temp-to-hire” as the title so people interested in temporary work don’t scroll past it thinking it is a permanent position. Use terms like “temporary,” “contract-to-hire,” and “contract” throughout the job description so it shows up when people use search engines or job board search filters to look for work.

You can also promote your listing by asking for referrals and posting your job openings on social media. If there is room in the budget, you could offer an employee referral bonus to employees who recommend someone who ends up being hired as a permanent employee.

4. Assess Candidates

Because there’s a high demand for temporary workers, it’s critical to hire top candidates before they get another offer. You can speed up the process by evaluating their portfolios, asking for references, and inviting all the relevant decision-makers to the interview so you don’t need multiple rounds.

Remember that you can hire someone faster because you will have time to evaluate their skills and work ethic on the job. There is less of a commitment when you’re hiring a temporary worker and it’s an opportunity for both sides to determine if it’s the right fit.

5. Onboard Temporary Workers

Your lawyer may suggest that you send a temporary employment contract with details including the project duration, scope of work, deadline, hours, payment details, hourly rate or project fee, and payroll schedule. If you use a staffing agency, they typically handle the contract and payroll since the worker is employed by the firm.

The last step is to onboard temporary employees. If you won’t be managing the person directly, have their manager lead the meeting. It’s helpful to review policies and procedures and how to use necessary tools and equipment.

Hire Temporary Workers Quickly

Now you know the steps and best practices for implementing a temp-to-hire workforce strategy, and how it can be beneficial. If you decided it’s right for your company, get started today. Create a free job posting on Monster to find talented temporary workers for every job.

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