This content was produced in partnership with ZipRecruiter.
Without the right talent or the right people rather, no business could thrive, big or small. But finding top talent is extremely crucial for small businesses, especially when it comes to remaining competitive in today’s market. Smaller operations generally have limited resources, so it’s necessary to improve productivity and efficiency wherever possible, which is precisely where securing good talent comes into the picture. But how do you find those people? The answer is via hiring platforms a la ZipRecruiter. They not only bring in the talent but also help you better understand the people, their work histories, and their overall expertise. Moreover, they help streamline the hiring process making it easier to find relevant candidates.
In light of that, here are the seven best hiring platforms for small businesses that can help you secure a competitive edge with top-tier talent:
Best Overall: ZipRecruiter
You’ve likely heard of it already and for good reason. ZipRecruiter is convenient and definitely makes it easier to find top talent — and helps top-tier talent find you. You can utilize job posting templates, to create listings, which are then shared on over 100 job sites, for free. All of it takes just minutes to set up which means you can have a job listing ready and candidates flowing in almost immediately.
Better yet, once your listing is live, ZipRecruiter’s excellent analytics tools will help you identify the top applicants, and even reach out to potential candidates for the role(s). The Invite to Apply feature, for example, automatically finds qualified candidates, lets them know about the open role, and then urges them to apply.
It makes sense that a social network built from the ground up for professionals would be a great place to find new hires, but LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions platform is really a useful tool for small to medium-sized businesses. When you post an open role, you instantly gain access to LinkedIn’s valuable data and insights — generated from years of pros using the platform to network and seek new opportunities. In short, that means you are connected with some of the best talent out there, and they have an easier time applying for your roles.
You can use both the desktop and mobile dashboards to review or learn about candidates. The latter is important if you’re always on the go and need to check from mobile in your downtime. It’s a reliable way to get your job listings in front of over 850 million potential candidates.
Indeed
Indeed is better compared to a job search engine with recruiting and hiring features baked in. You can also generate more exposure through paid and sponsored job listings — it puts your position out in front of the most relevant candidates and helps garner interest. When you post a listing you have full control over what happens. You can adjust your budget, pause, or even remove listings at any time.
Indeed features 71.8 million active monthly users, many of them ready to find work as soon as possible. You can also tap into helpful resources to improve your search, like seeing top candidates at a glance, choosing who moves forward and who doesn’t, and spearheading virtual interviews with all-encompassing candidate data.
Workable
Workable’s distinction is that it’s incredibly easy to use, and anyone can jump in and get a job posting live, which is then broadcast to over 200 job sites. It also integrates seamlessly with Gmail and Outlook, so you get a smoother communication and scheduling experience. You can ensure correspondence or virtual meetings are always noted on your calendar, for example.
Workable also simplifies the face-to-face side of hiring, with native one-way video interviews, live video integrations, and more. It’s all through the single platform, no going elsewhere, so you can get everything done right in Workable. Global support is available too, and with a free trial, you can access premium hiring features for up to 15 days with no cost or no credit card required.
Jobvite
As an end-to-end talent acquisition platform, Jobvite is truly a comprehensive tool for finding good talent and streamlining the hiring process. It integrates with your existing tech stack — applications you’re already using — to completely enhance the new-hire pipeline. You can use the platform to find people, hire and onboard them, and tap into robust insights like benchmark reporting to see how your recruiting practices stack up and what that means for your community.
In addition, you can post job listings to career sites, and then utilize AI and chatbots to really upscale the experience. Chatbots handle candidate screening, communications, on-demand nurture events, and much more. As a small business owner, you don’t have to go into the hiring experience alone, certainly not with Jobvite’s support.
CareerBuilder
With integrated hiring systems, backed by AI solutions, CareerBuilder.com makes posting and discovery fast, efficient, and effective. They promise listing creation is up to five times faster, with a reach of over 90 million qualified and active jobseekers. Direct and automated candidate messaging makes it simple to coordinate with top-tier talents too. Think of it as a talent acquisition suite, complete with virtual and in-person hiring events.
Small businesses can benefit from the free trial, allowing you to post your job(s) for free and then access a pay-as-you-go structure. You can easily choose between monthly or annual plans that fit within your budget.
ClearCompany
Applicant tracking, onboarding, employee engagement — after they’re hired — and performance management are all staples of ClearCompany’s platform. These are solutions that a small to medium-sized business normally wouldn’t benefit from without a more robust, and likely expensive, suite of tools. But here, it’s all included, and “talent maximization” is the core focus. It offers both a hiring platform and an HR-focused support tool, separately yet connected, of course.
Digital, candidate-driven recruiting is available, for both desktop and mobile, to help businesses and managers find the right people for the job. Job seekers can apply right from their phones, as well. You can also access a bevy of hiring tools during the initial stages, like an interview scorecard, personal insights, and more.
Honorable Mentions
If you need some more places to look, there are plenty of other hiring platforms out there, including:
- SmartRecruiters
- Freshteam
- CyberCoders
- Zoho
- BreezyHR
- FlexJobs
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