Finding seasonal staff/crew has always been one of the major endless challenges for watersport operators and business owners, especially in 2021 with impacts brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, we cover not only the best places for you to check out for finding the workers but also some tips on how to make your hiring process more effective and efficient. Reach out to us if you have any ideas to add.
Finding seasonal staff/crew has always been one of the major endless challenges for watersport operators and business owners, especially in 2021 with impacts brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, we cover not only the best places for you to check out for finding the workers but also some tips on how to make your hiring process more effective and efficient. Reach out to us if you have any ideas to add.
Hey everyone and welcome to episode 19 of the Weekly Wave podcast presented by WaveRez. I’m your host Greg Fisher, and today we’ll be talking about some great places you can find workers for your watersport business.
Finding seasonal workers has not been an easy task these past several months. Due to a surge in tourism post-COVID-19, and a lack of available workers, wages have increased upwards to 50% in some destinations. On this podcast, we’ll not only talk about a few great places to find new team members, but some tips to stand out from the rest of your competition.
When looking for help, there are several free platforms that will find you applicants, but don’t rely just on job forums to get qualified leads. Try asking some of your employees to see if they have anyone in their network that is interested in working. Offer referral bonuses for both the employee and the candidate if the hire is successful. Check out to see if the local high school or college has any programs to place students in the workforce for summer jobs. It might be a lot for a small organization to set up internship programs, but schools can be very proactive in providing students opportunities to get real world experience.
Another way of finding help is to call past employees who have left on good terms, or call people in your immediate network who could help at least part-time. Maybe you have a friend that is looking to pick up a couple shifts on the weekend, or a family member who is retired that is looking for something to do. A simple post on your Facebook page asking for help might find the last few dock hands you were looking for.
Now going back to job posting forums, there are a few that I highly recommend, and best of all, they are free. Facebook is possibly one of the best places to post a job for hourly workers. It’s easy to use, and has a lot of great tools to manage your candidates and set up an interview. You can pay more for visibility, but it’s usually not necessary unless you need to find a lot of workers very fast. Another great platform is the Nextdoor app. The audience is typically more senior, but there is a lot of engagement, and you could find some folks looking for a part-time job. Many of my colleagues have had success finding new hourly workers here. Now if you’re looking to hire management, or a more professional role, then you can’t go wrong with LinkedIn. It’s free to post, and does a good job targeting candidates and encouraging them to apply. You can pay for more visibility, but in my experience I get several candidates without paying. And lastly, one of my favorites is Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter does have a monthly fee, but it is a job posting aggregator. This means that it will submit your job posting to several websites across the web and help manage all the candidates so you can easily setup interviews and filter out the poor candidates. You can pay month to month, or save with an annual subscription. If you need a lot of job candidates fast, we highly recommend this toute.
Now when you create the job posting, don’t skip the pre screening questions. These can help filter out many candidates so you don’t get too invested. Ask some simple questions such as “Do you have reliable transportation?”, or “How soon can you start?”. Think about 4-5 questions that will be deal breakers for employment, but don’t ask too many questions or else candidates might not finish the application. Try to respond to candidates right away and schedule an interview if they are qualified. Remember, many seasonal candidates are looking for work immediately, and you’ll have to act quick!
Finding great help is never easy, but hopefully these tips will help you find some great new crew members to join your team. If you thought this podcast was helpful, leave a review on your favorite podcast app and check out WaveRez on Instagram or Facebook. Again, I’m Greg Fisher, and thanks for listening to the Weekly Wave.
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