Small business hiring guide: How to find the best candidates

  • Small businesses hiring employees need a solid hiring process to not only attract the best candidates but to make the onboarding process as efficient as possible. 
  • Whether you’re looking for full-time, part-time employees, or independent contractors, using a tool that lets you manage the entire process will save time and make hiring a breeze. 
  • It’s also important to remember your state and federal law requirements—Homebase covers the bases so you don’t have to hire an entire human resources department.

Make your opening and job description visible

One of the most important aspects of the hiring process is most certainly getting the word out and ensuring as many job seekers are made aware of the fact that you’re looking for applicants. The best way to do this is not to put out a workplace poster and hope for the best. It’s getting your job description online in as many places as possible.

Still, managing multiple job postings on several different websites can be difficult. Homebase hiring offers a great solution by doing the work for you. It only takes a few minutes to post and promote your opening on the top online job boards, such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter.

To find the right candidate even quicker and easier, we provide customizable job description templates to help spark some inspiration and decrease the amount of work this step can sometimes take. When your new role description looks how you want it to, it only takes one click to send it out to multiple sites at once. This way when applicants search “small businesses hiring near me,” your job offer will show up.

Manage all your applicants in one place with the right onboarding tool

Posting your job opening on multiple sites will most likely result in an onslaught of potential job candidates for the open position. With more candidates comes more hiring manager responsibilities—you’ll need to sift through all the applications to find those who match employment eligibility criteria. With Homebase, the sifting process is reduced with pre-interview questions. 

You have the option to ask each application questions such as “are you available to work on the weekends?” or whether or not they feel comfortable wearing a mask during their shift. This way you can prioritize the applicants whose answers satisfy your needs for the position and simplify the interview process. 

Another potential hiring headache small business owners struggle with: navigating through communicating with every applicant you want to interview. Signing up with Homebase means you can message each candidate and schedule those interviews in one place.

Barzotto

“We grew so attached to Homebase that I almost didn’t switch to a better POS system because I was worried about not being able to integrate Homebase. Luckily, we were able to upgrade our POS and keep Homebase - best of both worlds!”

Marko Sotto

Owner at Barzotto

Work from anywhere using timeclock app

Prioritize the onboarding process

Background checks, applicant screening, workers compensation insurance, income taxes, state taxes, federal taxes, employment taxes, payroll taxes, oh my! The hiring process does not stop once you hire the best employee. There are many new-hire reporting aspects and documents that state and federal governments require employers and employees to complete. Failing to complete this legally required paperwork can lead to some severe consequences. 

Employee onboarding is definitely one of the most complicated and time-consuming, but with Homebase, your new employee will receive a new hire packet before they even step foot in your business. This way they can e-sign forms such as withholding tax information and more, and then spend more time getting to know your team on their first day.

Tip: If you are hiring your first employees, be sure to get your employer identification number (EIN) as soon as possible so you don’t slow down the process when it comes time to hire a qualified candidate. 

Speaking of legal requirements, you are also required by law to store the documents properly. We all know things can happen to filing cabinets and physical paperwork, so Homebase stores all your signed documents to help keep you compliant.