Not every small business owner can afford to hire a professional recruiter to help them find top talent. That means many SBOs have to act as their own recruiters, and hiring employees for your business isn’t something that comes easily to everyone. Thankfully, we live in an age where technological help is never far away.
Numerous apps and dashboard programs now exist to help make the recruiting process easier — whether it’s help with job postings, candidate searching, or application tracking. Here are several options that are well suited for small businesses.
1. LinkedIn Recruiter (Android, iOS, Web-Based)
If you’re a working professional, it’s likely you have a LinkedIn profile. What LinkedIn Recruiter does is turn more than half a billion LinkedIn users into a searchable treasure trove of job candidates — even if they’re not currently looking for work.
The program’s advanced search functions allow you to zero in on top talent based on title, location, and skills you’re seeking. Plus, “Smart Search Suggestions” provide a deep well of filters — company name, experience level, and more — to help you hone in even more. From there, you can save searches or candidates for later viewing, or immediately send them one of the 150 InMails you get with the service.
For what it’s worth, LinkedIn boasts that 75% of recruiters are more successful at finding candidates with LinkedIn Recruiter. Access to its perks begins with Recruiter Lite at $119.95 per month, but be sure to request the free demo to help make sure it’s worth the investment.
2. Workable (Android, iOS, Web-Based)
One of the most praised hiring programs and apps out there is Workable, which starts with a friendly “Pay As You Go” option of $50 per job, per month.
The chief appeal of Workable is its ability to streamline the entire hiring process. For example, with it you can create a job posting with key details that will target candidates more precisely. One useful function is the ability to add questions that candidates have to answer before applying. After creating your posting, Workable allows you to post it to over 15+ free job boards and your social media channels.
If you want to not just post a job, but do some active hunting, Workable has a powerful search function that can draw candidates by location, keyword, school, and more. Results will also pull information from social media profiles to create richer application data for you. The program even does something similar with submitted resumes — parsing key info and making it easier to read and digest. All in all, if you’re looking for a sturdy option that will make job posting, candidate hunting, and managing all the material that comes along with it easier, Workable is a good SBO choice.
3. Hire by Google (Web-Based)
Given that Google has its hand in everything business-related, it makes sense that they also have a hiring program. While still new (it launched in 2017), it does have a lot to offer small business owners who are new to recruiting. Because it’s from Google, it’s pretty intuitive and easy to use. So, for those SBOs who are nervous about tackling recruiting for the first time, Hire by Google could be a low-pressure way to ease into it.
It is important to note that you need to be a G Suite customer to use Hire. But that comes with significant benefits, since one of the chief appeals of Hire is its integration with other Google products, especially Calendar and Gmail. One neat feature is that when you get an email from a candidate, you can access a side panel in Gmail that will either allow you to create a candidate profile or, if they have one already, remind you of key details.
The power of Google comes in handy with Hire in other ways, too. For example, when you use it to post jobs on your website, it will optimize the page’s SEO for maximum Google Search success. Or, if you use the program to search for candidates, you’ll have the full might of Google’s algorithms ensuring you get as much vital info as you need to find top talent. In terms of what all that costs, because Hire is designed for smaller businesses, pricing is based on the size of your organization. So, be sure to reach out to a customer service rep to find out more before moving forward with Hire.
4. Osclass (Android, iOS, Web-Based)
If you’re interested in “free,” then Osclass is what you want. The web-based dashboard is bare minimum compared to others, but for small business owners looking for just the basic features they need to recruit, it can be a good, cost-effective option.
Osclass allows you to do a lot of what other programs do, like post to job boards, create postings on your website, and manage applications that come in. Furthermore, it has a robust search function to scour candidates you’ve input, and it also is capable of parsing resumes for easy reading. But there are some drawbacks to free.
For example, while Osclass posts to job boards, it doesn’t include a broad spectrum of them. And, for small business owners looking for a deeper breadth of features, they may want to consider other options on this list. Nonetheless, for unsure SBOs, it’s worth giving Osclass a shot before deciding whether you want more from a hiring program.
5. Rakuna (Android, iOS, Web-Based)
Featuring an app and dashboard version, Rakuna offers features comparable to other programs on this list, but we’ve included it here for a very important reason. It’s positioned to attract millennial applicants. Rakuna especially promises to be a useful tool for face-to-face campus recruiting — whether you’re attending college job fairs or networking events. For small business owners looking for younger talent to grow with their company, Rakuna could prove a really important tool.
Primarily it does this by enabling recruiters to capture resumes with your camera, and uses a customized evaluation form to gauge their viability on the spot. Once they’re stored in the program, you can refer back anytime — whether that’s a week later, or several years down the road and you want to see where they ended up. In other words, Rakuna can be an ideal hiring tool for the small business owner with an eye on the future. And, according to most recent pricing, Rakuna costs a one-time fee of $350.00 per event.
So helpful and timely.. one of my goals today is to figure out what I need to do to hire a part time office assistant. Thanks!
We’re glad our article was helpful, Angela! Thanks for reading SBA!