Hiring new employees can be one of the most frustrating or rewarding parts of being in business. Ten years ago, we would place ads in the newspaper, review many resumes, and call the people who we "felt" had the right experience for our practice. There weren't many tools available and accessible to our business.

Many times when hiring more than one person for multiple locations, we can become inundated and overwhelmed with the sheer prospect of the workload. However, today there is a wealth of information at our fingertips. If we know how to harness it, it gives us a competitive advantage to find the right person for our mix. The first step is generating a pool of applicants.

Generating a Pool of Applicants:
There are hundreds of tools available to help you accomplish this. A few favorites are single-site postings, such as Craigslist and Monster, and aggregated site postings, such as ZipRecruiter.

Then there are industry-specific boards, which are aggregated, such as Local Eye Site, iHireOptometry, and imatters.

The following reviews the pros and cons of each website so you can make the best choice for your business.

Craigslist (single-site, non-industry specific)

  • craigslist.org
  • Cost: some cities are free; some cost $25.00 per listing
  • Pros: least expensive option; quick and easy to post
  • Cons: job seekers at all skill levels; many times spammed by too many unqualified leads; does not help organize applicants; creates the most work for HR

Monster (single-site, non-industry specific)

  • monster.com
  • Cost: $395 for a 60-day posting; savings based on volume
  • Pros: reaches 23 million candidates nationwide
  • Cons: pricey

ZipRecruiter (aggregator, non-industry specific)

  • ziprecruiter.com
  • Cost: starter plan is $59 per month
  • Pros: cost effective; postings are pushed out to 50+ job boards; replies organized in dashboard not your email; applicants scored based on experience
  • Cons: additional fees to post to Monster and paid boards

Local Eye Site (industry specific)

  • localeyesite.com
  • Cost: starts at $325 for one listing per month; cost decreases based on quantity and timeframe
  • Pros: industry specific; easily organize your job listings and responses; emails sent to Local Eye Site's network of applicants; postings promoted across a large network of specific websites, including Jobson's optical websites along with several industry associations and leading job aggregators

iHireOptometry (industry specific)

  • ihireoptometry.com
  • Cost: $245 for 30 days; $265 for 60 days; volume discounts available
  • Pros: industry specific; allows postings via email or a link to your own admin; emails sent to iHireOptometry's network of applicants; focused on search engine optimization

Imatters (industry specific)

  • imatters.net
  • Cost: $299 for 30-day campaigns; volume discounts available
  • Pros: industry specific; listings are aggregated to job posting boards; large network of eye industry professional resumes

Depending on which site you post to, you either receive emails of resumes and cover letters, or the applicants are listed on the platform itself. It can be a tedious task going through all the resumes and deciding who to interview and who to weed out, so there are options for a more systematic approach, which includes advanced personality or pre-employment tests.

While there are many tools to help you find the right candidate, the choice is up to you. The options above will help you make the right decision.

 

For more from the current edition of "dba: Doing Business in Optical’s Local Markets," (as well as archived issues), click here.

 

Jay Binkowitz, optometric business consultant, is chief executive officer and president of GPN, exclusive provider of The EDGE.

 

 

 

Evan Kestenbaum, MBA, is chief information officer of GPN, Exclusive Provider of The EDGE. Contact Jay and Evan directly at clientservices.gpn@gmail.com.