Recruiting the Best Inside Sales Rep Candidates for your Business
Whether an employee is in an entry level inside sales rep, on the management team, or even the owner of the company, each and every person who works with us has a direct impact on the success of our business. We are now fortunate to be in the position to have numerous openings for a position with AG Salesworks, and thus recruitment is top of mind for me lately. Each employee is a direct representation of our work, so it’s important that we are recruiting the right candidates for the position. Here are some pointers that I have found effective for not only bringing candidates in the door, but the ones that are best suited for the position.
Social Networking: Historically, sites such as Career Builder and Monster.com have been the popular online databases for job opportunities. In order to get a higher candidate response rate and bang for your buck, try social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook. As social networking is exploding in popularity, the most resourceful and bright candidates are navigating these sites for opportunities. Leverage your social network to find qualified candidates that fit your position.
Career Events: While events are my favorite as they are most personalized, it is important to do your research when choosing the right events. When researching events, make sure you have key pieces of information such as a candidate’s years of experience, number of candidates in attendance, and number of companies in attendance. In addition to that, learn who the other companies in attendance will actually be – if your competitors are there, good chance you should be! All this information will help you to make a better determination of the right event for your available positions.
Referrals: From my experience, this has been the bread and butter for finding the right candidates. Incent your employees with a bonus based on any hired referrals. To better ensure the success of your employee’s referrals, offer increments of the referral bonus based on lifespan of your new hire. To tie into social networking, even have your employees leverage these sites to recruit new hires.
Too often, recruitment can fall by the wayside. It is important to keep this part of your business as proactive as possible. Remember not to wait until you need candidates in the door, but maintain a healthy level of recruitment throughout the year in order to bring in the most qualified candidates when the time is right.