7 Tips to Finding Good Junior Staff Who Are Keen to Learn
Digital marketing is an ever-changing landscape. Your marketing team should grow and develop with the changing tide of the industry. One way to facilitate growth is to offer development opportunities. Another way is to ensure that your junior staff is filled with top-notch candidates who are willing to continue learning and developing.
Attracting suitable candidates for your digital marketing team can be difficult. You first must weed through the applicants to narrow the field. Here are a few hints for finding, hiring, and retaining the junior staff members you need to fill out your team.
1. Create Specific Job Listings
When you create a job posting, be as specific as possible. Your descriptions should include details about expected duties as well as the skills that are needed for successfully completing those duties. You will attract candidates with no relevant experience if you are too general.
Experience will come, so discuss the attributes of the ideal candidate rather than how long they have had similar positions. Talk about opportunities for growth and learning at the company.
2. Career Fairs Are Great Places to Find New Hires
Colleges often host job fairs or career expos, and those are great places to find fresh new faces. However, you might consider hosting your own event. Often, people decide after working in a field for a year or two to change to something different, and their degrees (or experience) may lead them to a digital marketing team.
3. Use Social Media and Other Online Platforms to Your Advantage
Many times, young professionals, and even some not-so-young ones, use their social sites and other online sites to create portfolios or work samples. Maybe you’re looking for a creative with amazing artistic ability. Perhaps you need someone who has a way to capture attention with a turn of phrase. A traditional resume isn’t going to show you those qualities, and candidates who are willing to post their work online are presenting a progressive attitude toward technology in the workplace.
4. Change Your Interview Style
Traditionally, interviewers tend to focus on past experiences when conducting an interview. They ask candidates to describe a time in the not-so-distant past when they worked on a particular kind of project. Instead, try a situational approach where you ask the candidate to describe how to handle a hypothetical situation should it arise in the workplace. Also, ask potential employees to share their volunteer or career development experiences with you.
5. Test Their Abilities
Test their training and knowledge regardless of experience during the interview by giving them a skills assessment. Create a project that mimics the duties they will complete if they join your digital marketing team. Evaluate how effectively they complete the project, as well as how accurate their work is and how well they take direction during the process.
6. Make Onboarding Painless
New hires often don’t know what to expect from onboarding. You can help them by setting them up with a mentor to show them the ropes of the company. Ensure that they successfully complete any HR documentation they need for taxes or benefits. Positive feedback over the first few days will help your new junior staff members gain confidence in their abilities to perform their job to your standards.
7. Check-in, Review, and Adjust
Weekly or biweekly meetings with new hires can help to build their confidence and make them feel more comfortable being open with you. Review team goals, and encourage members of the team to discuss areas they would like to explore moving forward. Following a team assessment, adjust duty assignments according to new or improved skills.
Key Takeaway
As you build your junior staff, you want people who fit your company’s culture and are willing to continue learning and training for the future. What was once considered unconventional hiring or interviewing methods are now regarded as expected, so don’t be afraid to go a non-traditional route for finding your candidates. When it’s time to work on professional development for your team, consider our Academy and learn what supports we offer.
