Employees of the marine industry are a tight-knit group. Most of us had the benefit of years of experience working together before we even knew we were preparing for a career, just from growing up immersed in boating culture. That spark hooked us at a young age, and here we are still today.
Bearing that in mind, the hiring process can feel like a daunting task. We have to dive deeper to recruit new people into the industry, and finding new employees is often so time-consuming that it takes you away from your usual role at work. You want to find someone who exemplifies the ideals of your business, someone who will become a long-term, loyal employee. So how do you find this perfect candidate without the search taking up all of your time?
Say hello to employment-related search engines. Right now, the two best search engines out there are LinkedIn and Indeed. Both of these websites offer unique ways for you to optimize your time in order to find the perfect fit for your company. Let me break that down for you.
Let’s start with Indeed. An instant phenomenon when it launched in 2004, Indeed allows job applicants to search, find, and discover jobs that are right for them. That means companies can post position openings and find potential employees in one central forum. It’s an easy process of registering on Indeed, posting the job you’re hiring for, and opening it up to applicants. Once the applications begin to roll in, you’ll have access to resumes, contact information, and a direct line of communication. Another fantastic feature of the platform is the Indeed Resume Search. Instead of waiting for potential employees to find your listing, you can search through resumes to find those that fit the qualifications you are looking for in an employee.
This ability to refine your search makes Indeed a popular hiring tool in the marine industry. It takes a specific skill set and knowledge base to understand this niche industry. If they don’t know a bow from a stern, they’re probably not who you’re looking for! You can filter potential employees by location, years of experience, education level, job titles, and even company work history. With over 25 million resumes listed on Indeed, this key feature will save you hours of work.
The other tool that will help you on your quest to find that perfect employee is LinkedIn. This is a platform that gives its users the ability to show their resumes in a profile form, post topics they are passionate about, share professional experiences, browse company profiles, and function as an outlet to both look for and display job openings. What is so cool about this website is how personalized it becomes. It’s a fully-realized social media platform, not just a boring, wordy resume. It is almost like scrolling through Facebook, but instead of seeing your Aunt Mary’s cats you are seeing the professional side of people in your network. There are visuals, lists of cool skills, and other people interacting with comments. Learn who your potential employees really are before they even arrive for an interview.
This network also helps you save time in the job search with a separate section called LinkedIn Recruiter. Any company can sign up for this service in order to find candidates that would be a good fit for their available position. This service is a pricey one, though, so in order to get the best out of LinkedIn and find some loopholes, we brought in the experts.
Headhunter Carolyn Estelle clued me in on a couple tricks. “LinkedIn is the new resume,” she says, and it starts within your own personal network. This means that it’s important to make sure your profile is up to date and that you’re connected with everyone you know within your industry. Once you’ve done that, the advanced search option becomes your best friend. When you use it to search for specific skills or job titles, not only will the results yield a list of people that match these qualifications, it’ll show common connections between you and potential employees. It’s a ready-made icebreaker when reaching out.
By utilizing these platforms, you’ll be taking your job opening beyond the career page of your company’s website, and onto a platform where it has the chance to be discovered by a massive number of qualified potential employees. Both Indeed and LinkedIn are great tools that will grow the odds in favor of finding a perfect match for your company, even in an industry as niche as ours.