5 Free Ways to Market Your Job Posting

Filling a position with the perfect candidate isn’t always the easiest task: how to locate the right candidate and ensure that they have the right qualifications, experience, and attitude to fit your organization’s needs can feel daunting. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top five ways that your organization can market your job posting to ensure that you get the right candidate.

1.Free Job Boards

There are a variety of job boards out there to choose from, but if you’re on a budget, you’ll want to find something that’s worth your time and will reach the audience you need. Following are some great options; while they won’t cost a penny, they will take some time to set up an account:

Highly Recommended:

These job sites are well known, with good reputations, and can reach a lot of prospective hires.

• SaskPolytech – The provincial polytechnic has courses directly related to our industry, so it makes perfect sense that we would want to advertise to their students. You can sign up for a free account and post your job for current and past students. Once signed up, you’ll get your access within 24 hours!  Students come from all over the province to attend, so don’t make the mistake of skipping this resource simply because they’re located in the bigger cities – you could miss out on a student looking to move to your location.
• Government of Canada –  (note: you will need to know your organization’s payroll account number in order to set up and post free jobs). Once signed up, you can use your account for any/all jobs you may want to post in the future. This job board has an added benefit as well – saskjobs.ca has been known to pull local postings to their site as well.

Recommended:

These job sites, while also well-known with good reputations, offer some limitations as they require you to upgrade for full access. However, the free subscription will still get your Job out there, so it’s worth it to reach a broader audience.

• Indeed –  Click “Post a Job” and look for the “create an account free” to sign up and get started.
• Glassdoor –  Enter how many jobs you’re hiring for and click “Post Jobs for Free” to create an account and get started.
• Simply Hired – Click “Post Jobs Free” and then “Sign Up” for your account to post a job.

Use With Caution:

• Kijiji or Craigslist – with these two websites you can post locally for free. While these sites have gained popularity over the last few years for blue-collar and/or entry-level positions, they won’t offer the professional look that some of the other sites have. Also, you’ll reach a very large audience, but the applicants may not be what you’re hoping for.

2. Social Media

• If you have a company Facebook or LinkedIn account, use them! Encourage current employees to share your job posting on their pages.
• If you don’t have social media accounts through your organization, connect with Amy Janzen, Communications Coordinator at SARC, who can share your posting through SARC’s social media channels.

3. Employee Referrals

• If you’re looking to hire, the best representatives for the job are current employees. Share the information with your staff and get them to spread the word.  If you don’t have an employee referral program, think about starting one. Or, if the budget is tight, think about rewarding successful referrals with tokens of appreciation (like a Tim’s gift card, or an honourable mention at a staff meeting or team gathering – often a “Thank You” goes a long way).

4. Community Involvement

• Our business is all about Community! Get involved in local events and share the news when you’re hiring. See if the local grocery store, restaurant, or community centre will let you add your Job Posting to their communication boards. It may not work in the bigger cities (hello, mega conglomerate?  I’d like you to put this up in your front window!), but this strategy could do wonders in a smaller centre.
• Utilize your Board of Directors! These are people who want you to succeed, so be sure to let them know when you have an opening. They’ll likely be eager to spread the news through their own networks about the great opportunities you provide.

5. Free Career Fairs

• They may not happen every day, and not all of them are free, but when you get wind of a career fair, be sure to attend! The SARC HR Consultant attends career fairs throughout the year, including the SaskPolytech ones that happen in Jan/Feb. Because students come from all over the province to attend the polytechnic career fair, it would be great to send along a representative or some info about what position(s) you’re hiring for (where possible, SARC tries to engage with Members to have them join the SARC Booth, so it’s a great way to attend at no cost!) 

The main thing to remember with a Job Posting is to get it where it can be seen! Even though we’re becoming increasingly reliant on technology, don’t forget about those face-to-face connections that you’ve built here in Saskatchewan. If you’re not in a big city (or even if you are) be sure to spread the word and get people talking about your job opening.

If you’ve got more tips and tricks for hiring, share them with the group in the comments!