• Write a job description



• Advertise



• Screening and interviewing



• Off to a great start - employee orientation



• Cutting your hiring time



• Cutting your hiring costs

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Here’s the step-by-step guide to writing a work description:

At the same time that you prepare the work description, you will need to decide what the job will pay. Compensation helps you find out how.

• Postings: A guide to the when and why of External postings and Internal postings.
  
• Local newspapers: Traditional career and job ads still produce results.
  
• Checklists for what to include in a Career ad and a Classified ad, along with samples to follow.
  
• Agencies will pre-screen candidates for you - and not all agencies charge for it!
  
• On the Internet - When and how to use the Internet to find candidates, along with web sites for finding candidates in Saskatchewan
  
• Spreading the word - Finding candidates through your network.
  

• Screening the applications - Deciding who to interview.



• Testing - When and why to use tests to screen applicants.



• Interviews



• Do’s and don’ts for interviews.



• Questions that work - How to develop questions that find out what you need to know.



• Questions you can’t ask - Steering clear of problem questions.



• Checking references

Employees are a big investment for your company, so we don’t recommend that you rush your hiring decision. However, it is important to get employees on board quickly and to save as much of your own time as you can. Here are some tips:

1. Shorten the deadline for applications. Many companies advertise on a Saturday, and make the deadline for applications a week from the following Monday.

2. Schedule your interview time when you post or advertise the job. Many employers have a short deadline for people to apply for jobs, but then don’t interview for several weeks afterwards because they didn’t schedule their own time.

3. Limit the number of people you interview. Don’t interview anyone other than people who have a good chance at being successful.

4. Add a line at the bottom of your ad that says: "We thank all applicants for your interest in our company. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted." This saves time -- and a surprising amount of money -- in preparing rejection letters.

5. Find candidates through all the applications you have filed over the last year and never looked at again. Finding someone through the resumes you have will save the time -- and cost -- of advertising.

6. Find candidates through existing resume posting services (click on SaskJobs). That way you don’t have to wait for responses to your ad.

7. Find candidates through agencies. They are pre-screened for the skills you need and they are available for work now.

8. Hire people who are unemployed. They are available to work now. In today’s market, you don’t have to hire someone who has a job in order to find someone well-qualified and who wants to work hard.

9. Negotiate the starting date of the person you hire. If the person is working, they will probably have to give two weeks’ notice or more. If the person needs more time, find out if it will help to offer a few days off down the road to take care of other obligations.

10. Hire a person with more experience so that you don’t have to spend as much time in training.

1. Don’t advertise jobs in newspapers. Use SaskJobs and other internet posting services, industry newsletters, employment equity access agencies, and word-of-mouth to find candidates.

2. Hire less experienced people, and give them great training and supervision. If you can’t invest the time in training, you will end up spending more time correcting problems than you saved.

3. Add a line at the bottom of your ad that says: "We thank all applicants for your interest in our company. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted." This saves money in preparing and mailing rejection letters.

4. Check with Human Resources Development Canada about current programs for helping employers fill jobs. There is often financial assistance for employers creating new jobs and for employers creating jobs for people from disadvantaged groups who have a more difficult time finding work.

5. Pay your employees partly on the basis of results. (For more information on how variable pay systems can work, click on Compensation.) If business is good, you will pay more, but if business is bad, you will save money -- when you need it most.

6. It costs a lot to fill jobs over and over again. Hire for attitude, listen to your employees, put variety in your jobs, make your company a great place to work. You’ll save money if turnover is low.

7. Advertise locally and interview local candidates. If you need to advertise in other locations and your company has a moving allowance, limit the number of locations and think about how far you would have to move someone from each location. (Long distance movers charge by distance as well as the amount moved.)

8. Don’t get caught up in what people say you have to pay in today’s job market. Check what average-sized companies are paying in your area. If you can’t afford a candidate, take a little longer to find someone else. There is always someone even better qualified available for much less.

9. Think about whether you need someone full-time or whether you could really live with someone working three or four days a week. Lots of people want a shorter work week and are willing to give up some salary to have that.

10. Manage sick leave and disability leave carefully. Get people back on the job as quickly as possible, even if their work has to be changed.