Summer Jobs: 3 Tips For Hiring The Best Workers

Finding the Right Summer Workers For Your Company

As the weather heats up, it’s time to start thinking about finding the right people for your company’s summer jobs. Summer workers are a good way to assist your regular employees at a time when more temporary labor is available in the workforce.

The forecast for summer hiring is heating up just as much as the weather, with surveys showing businesses will look for more seasonal labor. In fact, hiring managers are planning to expand their summer hiring and add an average of 30 workers, up from 27 in 2012.

So how do you beat out the seasonal hiring competition and nab the best people? Here are some tips on hiring the best seasonal workers during the dog days of summer:

Look to campus recruiting

It’s no secret the summer hiring season belongs to young workers. With school being out, teenagers and college students flood the job market looking for great ways to earn experience and a little extra cash in the hazy, heat-filled summer months. Last year saw a 28 percent rise in employment for young workers, and this year projections show employers will be looking for just as much young summer help.

When looking for the best young workers for your summer positions, look to campus career centers and high school guidance counselors. Explain the positions you need to fill and ask the educational institution to pass along their top students.

While you should ideally start this process early, remember many college students will stick around to knock off credits during the summer time. Just because you waited past spring to pay a campus visit doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of great candidates at your local higher learning institutions.

Expand your candidate pool

Young people aren’t the only candidates looking for summer jobs, however. The opposite side of the spectrum is also searching for great summer jobs with the possibility of turning into something more permanent.

Older workers — and even retired workers — are flooding into the field, thanks to the tough job market. Workers over 45 make up 35 percent of the long-term unemployed, meaning many of these highly skilled and experienced candidates will be more than willing to take a short-term job.

Don’t expect your entire candidate pool to come from the local high school or college. Expand your candidate pool to older generations. Talk to your local career centers and to career coaches helping the unemployed in your area. These candidates not only bring years of experience to the table, they’re also likely to be excited for the opportunity to work for your company.

Find candidates with long-term potential

It’s great to hire someone temporarily for the hot summer months, but what about when the weather starts to cool in the fall? Summer workers can transition into full-time hires if you manage to find the best people for your seasonal jobs.

As a benefit, these workers will already know your company culture and have proved they can perform the tasks at hand. Unlike an outside hire, these candidates will be able to slip into a full-time role with little training and onboarding.

This is why it’s important to connect personally with candidates and make sure they have real passion for the job, the industry, and your company. If you just hire someone looking for a paycheck, it’s unlikely they’ll stick around when the leaves start changing color.

Instead of relying on phone screens, which are time-consuming and inefficient, use one-way video interviews. In this video interview format, candidates answer your written questions on video. This means, if the candidate is looking for a paycheck instead of an opportunity, you can pass over to the next candidate without wasting time.

Then, in the one-on-one interviews, ask why they’re excited and passionate about your company. This way, you can hire someone who is the right fit for both the seasonal job and your company culture at large.

Hiring great summer workers can ensure you don’t have to sweat the small stuff during the hot summer months. Looking at young and older workers is a start, but the most important aspect is to find someone passionate about your company to ensure you’ll want to keep them around when the weather starts cooling off.

What are some ways you hire the best summer workers? Share in the comments!

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JoshTolan

Josh Tolan is the CEO of Spark Hire, a video powered hiring network that connects job seekers and employers through video resumes and online interviews. Connect with him and Spark Hire on Facebook and Twitter.

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