9 Ways To Find New Employees You’ll Love Without Advertising

If you’re struggling to hire new employees that are a perfect fit for your organisation and you don’t want to spend money on advertising, it’s time to start thinking outside the box so that you can attract outstanding job seekers.

There’s no one particular recruitment method that’s right for every employer which is why we have researched and found  nine of the best ways to find new employees in Toowoomba that you’ll love.

1. Start an employee referral program

Enlist your current employees to help with recruiting new colleagues for them to work with, by starting an employee referral program.

Offer current employees an incentive to use their networks to attract suitable candidates, like an extra day off work (paid of course), financial incentives, or cool gifts. If the incentives are exciting and of interest to your employees, then you’re more likely to get your employees engaged in the recruitment process.

2. Build your talent pool

Compile a database of suitable past job applicants, work experience placements, interns, employee referrals and others who’ve expressed interest in working with you. Be sure to keep this up-to-date with headings and tags so it’s easy to segment and find people who may be a good fit for future job openings.

Then when the time comes, send a personalised invitation to suitable people from the talent pool to ask if they’re interested in applying for your job. Make sure you include the position description and any other important details.

3. Use your existing digital marketing

It seems obvious we know but let’s take it further than what most employers do.

Your Website

Update your careers page on your website so that it not only promotes current vacancies but also attracts job seekers with inspiring employee stories and helpful resources. It’s also a great idea to add the ability for job seekers to be able to express interest in working for you at any time of the year, so that when a job becomes available, you already have their resume and can contact them.

Take a look at Australia Post and Jacobs career pages for inspiration.

Social Media

When you add a post on your business social media pages, be sure to make it about the applicant and not about you. Try a few different types of posts to see what gets the best response from your audience. Then share on your personal page to get even more traction.

Email

You should already be sending out emails to your clients or customers, so add in a little bit of persuasive information about your current vacancies with a link to more information. These should be your most supportive audience and are an ideal place to find new employees.

4. Post in local Facebook groups

You’ve already written your social media posts so it’s easy to spread the word further by sharing your posts on local Toowoomba Facebook jobs groups. Try these that we’ve found.

Make sure you read each group’s rules for posting first and check it’s the right fit for your business.

Toowoomba Jobs Hot Spot

Toowoomba Jobs

Toowoomba Local Jobs

Jobs Toowoomba Region

5. Jobs boards

Go where the job seekers are. Mainstream job boards like Seek, Indeed and LinkedIn still play an important role in a lot of recruitment because of their popularity. They attract a large number of job seekers because they list the largest number of jobs, plus they email job seekers daily with a list of jobs that meet their specific requirements every day.

Yes, you’ll probably also get your share of dud applications but you can fix that by improving your application process. For example, you could include specific questions that need to be answered on your online form before they can add their resume and apply.

The big thing to understand is where your top talent is looking for jobs.

We set up the Employ Toowoomba Jobs Board so that job seekers in Toowoomba could come to one place to see what local jobs were on offer and it’s growing every day.

6. Use your networks

You and your work colleagues will have some great networks you can tap into and they don’t have to be formal networks. They could be the people you play touch football with or the parents you see every day at school pick-up.

If you or your business is part of a professional organisation or local chamber of commerce, find out whether your membership enables you to post jobs on their website or social media.

Consider also forming partnerships with local schools, training providers, universities, disability and migrant networks to see if they can recommend recent graduates, or promote your job vacancy through their networks.

7. Host a career day or attend job fairs

If you consistently have several jobs to fill, consider hosting your own career open day or partnering with other like-minded or nearby businesses to showcase your employment opportunities. An open day is a great way for interested job seekers to take a look inside your workplace to see what opportunities are available, talk to current employees, get a feel for the workplace culture and ask questions in a less formal atmosphere.

You could also head along to a local job fair to promote your company and job vacancies. You’re going to want to capture interested people’s information so be sure to take along tablets or a laptop with fillable forms, or go old school and take along printed versions (remember you’ll need to enter them into the computer when you get back).

8. Improve your position descriptions

There are a whole lot of jobs on the market currently so you’ve only got a few seconds to capture your ideal job seeker’s attention and entice them to read on. So take a look at your position descriptions to see whether they are as dry as a stale biscuit or are just not selling your organisation as the amazing place it is.

Here are some great tips to help you learn how to improve your job descriptions so you attract the best job seekers. You can also seek professional advice from a recruitment or communication specialist to improve your position descriptions.

It takes a lot of time to apply for jobs so most job seekers (the ideal kind) will take a look at your social media and website to see whether the workplace culture and the people they’d be working with are right for them. For this reason, you need to show what it’s like to work in your business on your website and social media.

9. Pull out all the stops

If you’ve tried everything and still can’t find the people you need to join your workforce, then it’s time to get creative.

You could create a social media campaign of the viral kind that attracts and engages a much broader audience. Take a look at the campaign that Lucy Walker Pharmacy in Goondiwindi ran in 2022 called “Gundy wants a Pharma”.

Some towns out west that have struggled to attract doctors, pharmacists, vets and the like, have put together an impressive salary and benefits package, including housing, and then promoted that through their marketing channels and the media.

Still need help?

Connect with local recruitment agencies and find useful tips and resources

Check out these Toowoomba specific Employer Resources