Top Tips For Recruitment

Veronica Butler, director of www.hairandbeautyjobs.com, provides practical advice on how to recruit the best staff to your health club or spa.

The health club and spa industry has expanded rapidly in recent years and is becoming big business.  As a result, the growth in the industry has created a need for a more sophisticated approach to recruitment. Traditional methods such as word of mouth, referral or advertisements in local papers are no longer effective because there is much more competition among clubs and spas to attract the best candidates.

Here’s a simple guide on how to advertise and attract the best staff to your business, what to say in your recruitment advert, the best way to advertise and what to cover in the interview.

The Recruitment Advert
Here are seven steps to creating an effective recruitment advert for your business.

1. Promote you health club or spa by providing a brief explanation, just two sentences, on its highlights or selling points e.g. New spa with a reputation for offering excellent customer care.
2. Provide a brief description of the job e.g. Spa Manager – supervising staff, promoting salon, reaching targets, customer care.
3. List the specific qualifications required and the level of experience required e.g. NVQ Level 3 and a minimum of five years experience.
4. Detail the type of person required and attributes e.g. proven leadership qualities and lively outgoing personality.
5. Refer to the salary, is it negotiable, list any benefits e.g. holiday pay, sick pay and potential for career development.
6. Explain how candidates apply, what action they must take to apply e.g. To apply click the ‘apply now’ button below, please phone etc.
7. DO NOT state age, sex or ethnic background preferences as this is classified as discrimination and is against the law.

Where to advertise?
So you’ve prepared your advert, what do you do with it next?  You’ve tried word-of-mouth and a poster in your reception and you still haven’t filled the vacancy. 

Local Paper

A recruitment advert in a local paper can achieve a good number of applicants.  However, this type of advertising can be expensive, only lasts a week and you cannot guarantee the quality of applicants.
                     

Trade Magazines

A recruitment advert in a trade magazine is well targeted as it is likely to be read by people from your industry.  But, it can be expensive, your ad lasts just one issue and the lead-time from placing the ad to receiving calls from candidates can be up to two months, which is no good for urgent recruitment needs.

Recruitment Agencies

Health clubs and spas who sign up with a recruitment consultant save a lot of time from having to set up the recruitment advertising, sorting through the applications and identifying a short list.  Specialist agencies also provide high quality candidates.

Website

Most spas and health clubs have their own websites, so you can include a recruitment section on your site, which will attract candidates from far and wide.  The internet allows jobseekers to access vacancies they would not have been aware via local advertising and employers to advertise jobs more professionally and attract candidates from further away.

Online Jobs Board

It is now far more common for salons and job seekers to look on the Internet at alternative online recruitment methods, including online jobs boards like hairandbeautyjobs.com. In other industries Internet-based recruitment has become more popular than traditional forms of recruitment because it is quick, convenient, affordable (just £25 per posting with hairandbeautyjobs.com) and provides access to a larger pool of job seekers. 

Other advantages of an online jobs board are that job seekers can search for jobs by location and job title, and recruiters can search for candidates by experience and qualifications.  This filtering process means that employers can find better quality candidates and job seekers can find a more suitable jobs.

Who to Interview?

Most of the time it will be clear whether the applicant’s experience and qualifications match the job.  If you are unsure whether to invite a candidate for interview, call the applicant to clarify the key details and experience on the CV and why the job seeker is looking for in a new job.  Do not make assumptions based on information that is missing from a C.V. 

The Interview

Here is a simple guide to what to cover and how to handle the interview.

1. Location - Arrange the interview in the health club or spa or if this is not possible at a location near by.
2. General Interview - Cover key details including qualifications, experience, background and why they want a new job.
3. Screening Questions – Ask the candidate several scenario-based questions e.g. how have you dealt with a specific situation in the past.  If the candidate is new to the industry provide a scenario and ask them how they might handle it.
4. Achievements – Ask the candidate for examples of their work-related achievements or things they are proud of.
5. Company Briefing - Provide an insight into the company background, how the company operates and what you expect from your staff.  DO NOT over sell the company or the job.
6. Conclusion – Explain what happens next, who will get back to the candidate with feedback and the outcome of the interview.

About the author: Veronica Butler is the co-founder of hairandbeautyjobs.com and Red Hot Careers, an online jobs board and recruitment agency respectively specialising in the hair and beauty industries. For further information please visit www.hairandbeautyjobs.com or telephone 0870 770 5671.

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Magazine:       Body Life

Author:                        Veronica Butler, director of hairandbeautyjobs.com
Topic:               Advice on Recruitment