Are you ready to hire?

Most economists seem to agree our economy is starting to turn around and experience positive growth. Unemployment is still high, but as the economy grows eventually the job market will take off again. When it does...will you be ready? In order to remain competitive here are a few tips to help make sure your organization continues to hire the best!

1) Get lean - Is your interview process too long? Take forever to get an offer approved? Now is the time to streamline your process. Reduce your time to fill and start hiring those great employees that you'll need to take your business to the next level. Why get lean do you ask? Because your competition is not only getting lean but getting mean.

2) DO NOT get mean - I'm of the belief that trashing your competition is the worst thing you can do. Lots of companies do it, and lots of recruiters do it. Waste of time, in my opinion. You should want to work with me because my company is better than your other options. I don't need to trash the competition, I know we're better and so do you.

3) Hit your network - When hiring ramps up, and it will...referrals will be your lifeblood. People you know are trustworthy, qualified and easy to find. So, is your LinkedIn networking current? Maybe it's time to start hitting those alumni events again.

4) Be prepared - You really need to understand who's hiring, what they are offering and be able to prepare your organization. If you are trying to hire a bunch of new college grads, it helps to know what the hip new startup across town is doing. Competitive intelligence in recruiting? Absolutely. You can't beat the competition if you don't know why they are successful.

5) Beef up the Staffing team, NOW - You don't want to need 5 recruiters and have a hard time finding them because the market took off while you were debating 4 or 5 new hires on your team. My advice, while you are figuring it out....start interviewing. You can always hold off on making offers until you have budget or approval but waiting for the ink to dry is setting you up for failure before you even start.

Anyone else have a few tips/tricks for getting ready for when the job market heats up again?