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How to find employees: tips for effective recruitment

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Recruiting the right employees is important to build a strong team that can drive your business forward. For successful recruitment, a well-rounded strategy that blends online and offline methods may help you attract top talent and make informed recruitment decisions.

In this article, we explore practical ways to find good employees, from writing effective job posts to leveraging employee referrals and university partnerships.

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Ready to get started?

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Steps you can use to find employees

Having a process in place when trying to find employees can help save you time and energy. The steps below could help you with your process.

Define company culture

Having a strong company culture is a key success factor in attracting and retaining top talent. Clearly state the company’s mission and values in your job description. Doing so gives an idea of the work environment in your organisation to jobseekers.

As a result, your recruitment efforts are more likely to attract candidates who are a cultural fit and will thrive in your teams.

Review CVs regularly

Thousands of jobseekers upload their CVs to Indeed every day. This wealth of CVs offers a continuous stream of potential candidates. To make the most of this data, set up CV alerts based on your recruitment criteria.

Dedicate time regularly to review incoming profiles. By doing so you can act quickly when strong candidates appear.

Look internally

Before you look externally, consider internal recruitment. Existing employees may be looking for new challenges or opportunities for growth. Recruiting internally can bring many benefits, including increased employee engagement and a streamlined onboarding process.

It can boost retention by showing employees they are valued and are given growth opportunities.

Leverage employee referrals

Employee referral programmes are a reliable way to find high-quality candidates. These are likely to already align with your company’s values. To boost referrals, you may offer incentives to your existing employees.

Referrals speed up the recruitment process, drive employee engagement and help source employees who are a cultural fit. They also increase the chances of a successful choice and can lead to more qualified candidates entering your recruitment process.

Create strong job posts

The job post is often the first point of entry for jobseekers. Ensuring a clear and compelling job post is key to successful recruitment. Make sure you clearly describe the role, its responsibilities and any qualifications needed.

Also, add the unique benefits that your organisation offers. Don’t forget to describe the work environment and company culture as well.

Using relevant keywords in your job ads will help to improve your job posts’ visibility and attract more qualified candidates. The more targeted and informative your job post is, the more likely you are to attract the right talent for your business.

Use social media to find employees

Social media is a powerful way to share your job post. It helps reach a wide audience and increases the likelihood of finding the ideal candidate.

There are a few things you can do to make social recruiting more effective:

  • Encourage sharing. Ask people within your organisation to share the job post with their networks. The wider the audience, the larger the pool of potential candidates will be.
  • Promote your company culture. Include content that describes your company culture to help generate engagement about the role and your company.
  • Provide contact information. Consider including an email address where jobseekers can reach out with any questions they may have before they apply.

Connect with local universities

Building relationships with local universities may increase your access to motivated talent. Relationship building with colleges or universities can be achieved through job fairs or you can give talks in relevant classes.

For entry-level roles or if you are looking for a flow of interns, partnering with universities is highly valuable as it helps engage with future talent early on in their careers.

Build a talent pipeline

Maintaining a candidate database allows you to keep track of past applicants, interview notes and CVs. This is highly valuable information that can improve your talent sourcing when a new vacancy opens.

For small businesses with limited recruitment budgets, this approach helps streamline the process while supporting diversity and inclusion goals by tracking the makeup of your talent pool.

Consider new jobseekers

New jobseekers should not be left out of your process. They may hold transferable skills and are usually highly motivated and adaptable candidates. These profiles may bring energy and a fresh perspective to your existing teams.

Help employees become brand ambassadors

Employees who love where they work are brand ambassadors. They can promote the organisation to their network and help spread the word about open positions.

Creating a voluntary brand ambassador programme where passionate employees have the opportunity to represent the organisation at events can boost your recruitment efforts.

Increase your job posts’ reach

The best way to find employees is to make sure jobseekers know you are hiring. Increasing your visibility can be achieved by posting your job ad on multiple job sites.

There are a few things you can do to make your job postings more noticeable:

  • Use specific job titles. The less generic the title, the more likely the job is to catch the right jobseekers’ attention.
  • Be thorough. When jobseekers search on Indeed, they have the option to narrow down their search by selected criteria. Include a location, experience level, salary estimate and other information to ensure your job posting will appear in refined results.
  • Try sponsored jobs. A sponsored job is a paid listing displayed at the top and bottom of relevant pages and won’t be pushed further back in the results pages over time.
  • Post on the most popular job boards. Posting your job listing on the most popular job boards ensures it is seen by a large pool of candidates.

Highlight benefits and perks

Jobseekers often look for more than just a good wage. If your organisation proposes an employee benefit programme or attractive perks, such as flexible hours, remote work or learning and development opportunities, make sure you put this forward in the job ad.

Jobseekers are highly interested in these sorts of details and any special extras will help attract suitable people and make them more likely to apply.

Pay attention to talent everywhere

Recruiting top talent requires a mix of online and offline recruitment strategies. From networking events and job fairs to everyday interactions, opportunities to connect with potential candidates are everywhere. Traditional methods, such as local job boards and in-person networking, remain valuable, especially for small businesses.

At the same time, digital platforms and social media help expand your reach and target specific candidates. By combining both approaches, employers can build a broader, more diverse talent pool and improve their chances of finding the right candidate.

If you’re looking to expand your team, these tips can help streamline your search and connect you with the right candidates more efficiently. By blending online solutions with offline methods, you can widen your talent pool and boost your chances of finding the ideal new recruit.

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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.