The following blog was written by Lauren Schuman, Digital Communications Director at Country Meadows Retirement Communities.

In our technology-driven world, employers often leverage online tools to find employees because they can be useful and economical. The three sites companies rely on the most are LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor. These sites vary in price and capabilities — ranging from free features to thousands of dollars a month — depending on your needs. We will focus on the free to low-cost options and how to make the most out of these sites to increase your candidate flow for your open jobs.

LinkedIn

One of the first steps you should take when using LinkedIn is to build a company profile page if you haven’t already. Presenting a professional face for your company will make it more attractive to potential candidates. Remember that once you have set it up, you need to keep updating it, too. You don’t want it to look stale or have outdated information.

LinkedIn Basic, a free service, allows you to contact users who are in your professional network of connections. Premium and Recruiter accounts, which require payment, have features that will allow you to connect with any LinkedIn user. To build your network, you should send an invitation to connect with anyone you’ve worked with. These connections could introduce you to candidates they know, or you may find that a past co-worker is looking for a new opportunity. Another great place to tap into candidates is LinkedIn groups. If you’re looking for an HR rep, office manager, or LPN, the best of them are likely active members of an industry group. LinkedIn groups are where you’ll find industry leaders and people who can help you network to find your next employee.

Don’t forget, you can always post a job on LinkedIn, which will require payment. This is a great way to get noticed! Your job will show up on your network’s feed, which is another excellent reason to build up your network. Hopefully, they will share the post, and you can then reach even more candidates.

Indeed

Every day, thousands of people post their resumes on Indeed. Because of this, you should set up a Resume Alert so you’ll be notified when a job seeker matches the requirements for your open job. The sooner you learn about a qualified candidate, the faster you can schedule an interview.

As mentioned above with LinkedIn, one of the best ways to find candidates is to post a job, but with so many jobs posted online every day, it can be hard to stand out. One important tip is to use a job title that is easy to understand since it will be more likely to catch the right job seekers’ attention. For example, if you call your Marketing Manager a “Marketing Rockstar,” no one outside of your company will know what that role is or what they do. So, keep it simple and easy to understand. Also, if you offer any significant benefits or perks, be sure to add them to the job posting. Candidates are very interested in these kinds of details and make them more likely to apply.

Glassdoor

Like the sites we mentioned above, Glassdoor allows you to post your open roles on their website. They have a matching algorithm that can pair your job with the right candidates. But how can you get their attention? Sponsoring your jobs, which requires payment, generates 12x more clicks than non-sponsored jobs. An additional perk of sponsored job postings is that they will be placed on your competitors’ Glassdoor pages.

Creating a company page is extremely important on Glassdoor for two reasons. One, it has been proven to deliver more productive, engaged, and sustainable employees. They will get an idea of your company culture, mission, and values before they even come in for an interview. Two, Glassdoor is one of the most popular sites for current and past employees to leave reviews. While we hope these reviews will all be 5-stars, you should be prepared for negative reviews to occur. Be proactive by responding to each review and leveraging negative reviews by including information about the recruiting and interview process. Show candidates that you care about your reputation and take these things seriously.

While the use of technology certainly can make finding candidates easier and quicker, the human element of meeting and interviewing a candidate is still the most important part of the process. You know your company best and which qualities you are seeking in a candidate. By using technology in partnership with human-to-human interaction, you’re on your way to finding great employees to carry on your mission and company values.

Looking for more information on how to recruit, hire, and retain staff for your senior living community? Check out our comprehensive Taking Administration to the Next Level certificate program.