Thank you for
subscribing to Capability Company’s nonprofit
employer ezine. This month’s article is about
wooing candidates, one of
the trickiest parts of hiring the right candidate.
I hope you find these tips useful in discovering your
candidate’s talents and challenges.
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Rebecca L. Worters
Eight Tips for Wooing Candidates
By Rebecca L. Worters, President of
Capability Company
The
best candidates are not looking for you, you are looking
for them.
When
you start your search for an Executive Director,
Fundraising Professional, Chief Financial Officer, Public
Relations or Marketing Director you might think about who
will be lucky enough to land the position with your
organization.
Instead, nonprofits should be thinking about being lucky
enough to land the right person for the position. It’s
unconventional thinking in the sector and nonprofit board
members and professionals need to do it more. It could
mean a big difference in the quality of the candidate
hired, especially in times of a tight market for
employers.
In a
search for a nonprofit executive, the attitude of the
hiring body is one of the biggest factors in determining
the outcome of the search. Here are eight tips to get
your best candidates to fall in love with your
organization:
1. Be a good place to work (benefits,
salary, support, board involvement, fun, flexible). Before
you start hiring, check over your benefits and be clear
about what type of compensation and benefits package you
can offer your ideal candidate. Many younger employees
are looking for places to work that allow them to balance
work-life with home-life. Do you offer flexibility in
terms of work hours? Is your workplace a fun place to
be? A little levity can compensate for long hours and
lack of resources that many nonprofit employees face.
Also, what support does upper management and board members
supply? If the facilities and office are nice, point it
out to potential candidates. Offer information about
opportunities for advancement or career growth and
development, if those exist (and hopefully they do!).
2. Know what you want. Define what you
want in an employee. What skills will this person need?
What work-style is preferable? Go so far as to list
character traits that you believe would fit in with the
culture of your organization. The more specific you get,
the more quickly you’ll know when you’ve found the right
person.
3. Write an enticing advertisement. If
you publish a list of duties and requirements, don’t
expect candidates to come running. When you are writing a
position profile ask yourself, “What is so great about our
organization and this opportunity that a talented
professional would leave his or her job and come to work
with us?” If you can answer that question, you’ll create
a position profile that will create a broad pool of
applicants.
To
see the remaining five tips for wooing candidates,
click here.
Capability Company helps nonprofits
hire intelligently through:
1.
Search services such as screening, development of a
position profile and reference checking
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2. Recruiting services to help you find the right
candidates
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3.
Information about how to hire right the first time
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