Small businesses are hiring. 4 ways to get noticed.
Private employment growth is picking up as small business look for qualified candidates to fill key positions. Here are four ways to get a company's attention
In this July 25 file photo, job seekers visit a Primerica booth at a job fair in San Jose, Calif. Small businesses are starting to hire again, and playing to what they want can give you a leg up in the hiring process.
Paul Sakuma/AP/File
More than a third of small business owners say they鈥檙e 鈥渟omewhat or significantly understaffed鈥� 鈥� and 1 in 5 will be hiring soon.
According to the latest government jobs, the overall unemployment rate is at 8.3 percent. Private employment growth was better than expected, with businesses adding 163,000 jobs in July. That鈥檚 the strongest growth in the past five months.
If you鈥檙e part of the 8 percent and would like to become part of next month鈥檚 job growth numbers instead, it鈥檚 important to know what employers are looking for.
TD Bank quizzed more than 500 small business owners for a recent survey and asked about their biggest hiring challenges. Their responses鈥�
- Finding new qualified candidates (42 percent)
- Training existing employees (23 percent)
- Offering competitive compensation (22 percent)
- Laying off inadequate employees (8 percent)
- Continuous employee turnover (5 percent)
Less than 10 percent of these owners plan to聽lay off聽workers this year, while 21 percent plan to hire.
Now let鈥檚 convert the challenges of those doing the hiring into advice for those looking to be hired鈥�
1. Show your skills
The top worry employers have is finding qualified candidates, and their second-highest concern is training them. That鈥檚 the same issue a CareerBuilder survey of 2,600 employers found last fall. Pay special attention to the skills employers are seeking in your field right now. If you have them, play them up on your resume and in interviews. If you don鈥檛, consider brushing up. There are lots of places that offer free job training, including employment centers.
2. Settle for less, for now
Also a big concern is competitive pay 鈥� so it might be to your advantage to stress to employers that salary and benefits are secondary to getting a foot in the door. Once you can start proving yourself 鈥� and the economy starts picking up more 鈥� you鈥檒l be able to negotiate the raise you deserve.
3. Check with bigger employers
If small businesses aren鈥檛 hiring, go big. According to a CareerBuilder survey from this time last year, companies with more than 500 employees were 10 percent more likely to hire and make new jobs permanent.
4. Look for seasonal work
If job prospects aren鈥檛 looking good by the end of August, start checking with companies that typically add jobs for the holidays. Temporary work is better than no work, and if you make a good impression you might get hired permanently.
Brandon Ballenger is a writer for , a consumer/personal finance TV news feature that airs in about 80 cities as well as around the Web. This column first appeared in Money Talks News.