This document provides guidance to small businesses on hiring new employees. It discusses the importance of hiring the right people for business success and growth. It then offers tips on finding talent through online job ads, resume searches, and social media. The document provides best practices for creating effective job postings with targeted titles, keywords, and locations. It also offers suggestions for highlighting the company benefits, values, and culture. The goal is to engage candidates and clearly communicate the job requirements and application process.

1. 2016
SMALL BUSINESS
GUIDE TO HIRING

2. Small Business Hiring 2
How do you measure the success of your small
business? Is it increased revenue, expanded product
inventory or growing your customer base?
All of these achievements are important. But none of
them are possible without a great team of employees.
Having the right people on board is critical for business
success and growth. And for small businesses like
yours, every new hire plays a crucial role in your
company’s future success.
Finding and recruiting new hires can be a challenge
when you’re busy running a business. But it doesn’t
have to be.
At Monster, we help small businesses find the right
people to help grow business.
Our Small Business Guide to Hiring provides guidance
and tips to help you engage, recruit and hire the talent
you need when you need them.
Use this guide to make every new hire count. We know
your business depends on it.
SMALL BUSINESS
Guide to Hiring
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Find the Right Talent.......................3
How Job Seekers Find Your Job...........4
Create an Effective Job Ad................5
Social Media Best Practices...............7
Mastering the Interview Process.........9
Onboarding Your New Hire...............11
Hiring Checklist.............................12

3. Small Business Hiring 3
As the world has moved online, many industries,
including recruitment, have followed suit. Your small
business can take advantage of this trend when
you’re looking to find and hire top talent.
Here are some of the tactics you can use:
Online Job Ads
• Provides a tried and true method to fill a job
• Puts your open position in front of active seekers
who are looking for your type of opportunity
• Allows you to promote your company to
potential new hires and customers
• Reaches a large audience quickly and efficiently
• Allows you to paint a precise picture of your
job, your company and the qualifications you
are seeking in an applicant
• Makes it easy for job seekers to access
opportunities, particularly on mobile platforms
FIND THE RIGHT TALENT
NEARLY HALF OF
ALL JOB SEEKERS
use a mobile device to
search for jobs on Monster.*
Resume Search
• Finds qualified candidates by searching
a resume database. By using advanced
search technology, you can define your ideal
candidate and search only on those attributes.
• Finds active candidates who are looking for
a new position as well as passive candidates
who could be interested in your opportunities.
Social Media
• Job seekers are exploring information online
as part of their job search. Often, they will
research your company online after seeing
your job description.
• Social media can help level the playing field by
providing your small business with the platforms
and tools you need to reach more talent.
Whether you choose Online Job Ads, Resume Search
or Social Media to find your perfect candidate,
the following best practices will help ensure your
recruiting success.
*Monster Internal Data across iPhone, iPad, Android mobile
applications and mobile site, Q3 2015

4. Small Business Hiring 4
#2: Keywords or Company Name Field
Keywords provide more details to your job title so
that your job ad is more easily found in search.
For example:
• If you’re a medical device company looking to
hire a sales representative, include the keyword
“medical devices” in your job description.
• If you’re looking to hire a customer service
representative for your auto dealership, include
the keyword “auto dealership.”
At Monster, we know how job seekers search for jobs.
Our research shows that many job seekers
search for jobs while at work. That means your
job ad should be easy to find and easy to apply
to. Let’s start by looking at how job seekers
search for jobs.
Job seekers primarily use three fields in their
job search: Job Title, Keywords, and Location.
Follow these guidelines when posting your
Monster Job Ad:
HOW JOB SEEKERS
FIND YOUR JOB
#3: Location Field
The location field is important to job seekers who
want to work in their area.
• Be sure to complete this field when posting your
job to ensure that candidates targeting your area
will find your position.
-- Remember, most seekers use the default radius
of 20 miles.
#1: The Job Title Field
Research indicates that simple and
straightforward job titles generate a higher
response than gimmicky titles.
Use straightforward titles:
• “Sales Representative” instead of
“Experienced and Proven Salesperson”
• “Manager Trainee” instead of “Become a
Star in 2015!”
• “Retail Representative” instead of “Are
You a Retail Rock Star?”
When appropriate, add more detail:
• “Wedding Photographer” instead of
“Photographer”
• “Retail Salesperson” instead of
“Salesperson”
No abbreviations:
• “Senior Manager” instead of “Sr. Mgr”
• “Customer Service Representative”
instead of “Customer Service Rep”
70% OF MONSTER’S JOB
SEEKERS ARE EMPLOYED*
To make posting easy,
Monster provides you with
recommended job titles that
will help optimize your Monster
Job Ad in candidate search.
60% OF MONSTER SITE
VISITORS SEARCH FOR JOBS
BETWEEN 8AM AND 6PM*
Be sure your job description is
formatted so it’s easy to find
and easy to read.
*comScore Plan Metrix including all US traffic, 18+ years old,
excluding students and those retired, Q3 2015
*Monster Internal Data, average unique visitors, Q3 2015
When done right, the job title, keywords
and location will enable qualified job seekers
to find your job.

5. Small Business Hiring 5
CREATE AN EFFECTIVE JOB AD
Use the following format to structure your Job Ad:
Job Description Summary:
Be clear, concise and compelling in your job description.
Your opening paragraph should spark job seekers’
interest. This will encourage them to learn more about
your company and apply to the job.
As you write, think about how you can inform, engage
and inspire your candidates to pursue next step(s).
Job Qualifications:
Include specific skills and credentials that are required for
the role. List your job qualifications in order of importance.
Keep in mind the candidate you most covet for the role
as you create your list of qualifications.
Job Requirements:
Your requirements should reflect the job title. For
example, a senior title should align with the required
level of experience.
Include some level of detail about the duties that
your candidate will carry out, as well as any required
education, certification(s) and experience.
1
2
3
4
Make sure the requirements are easy to understand by
someone who does not already work for your company.
Remember that less is often more. Experts recommend
including must-have skills at the top and the nice-to-
have skills below these.
Benefits/About the Company:
Think about what sets your small company apart from
your competitors, such as a flexible work schedule,
employee training and the opportunity to learn new skills.
Be brief, but tell a story about who your company is and
why people enjoy working there. Include some tangible
reasons why people should choose your company.
Also, be sure to include your company benefits, both
traditional and non-traditional. Traditional benefits
include healthcare, pay raises and vacation time;
non-traditional benefits include gym memberships,
commuting assistance or corporate deals on cell phone
plans or local day care centers.
Think of your Job Ad as marketing collateral. It should
explain your company’s unique characteristics and
value proposition.
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2
3
4
5

6. Small Business Hiring 6
How to Apply/Call to Action:
Close your ad with a well-defined call to action.
Include clear instructions on how to apply to your
position, including what information is required,
such as a resume, cover letter or references.
Include only one apply method in your job application
to avoid confusing candidates. Here’s why:
• A single apply method will help encourage
candidates to apply and to easily complete the
apply process
• One apply method will make it easier for you to
track job applies and your applicant pool
• Accurately tracking your job applies will enable
you to get the most from your recruiting budget
Questions that Will Help Clarify
your Company Brand:
Your Company Values:
• What do we as an organization believe?
• How do we treat customers?
• How do we treat our employees?
• What values guide us every day?
Your Company Culture:
• What makes our company unique?
• Why would a customer do business with us?
• What is our role in the community?
• What defines our workplace environment?
5

7. Small Business Hiring 7
At Monster, we have seen a shift in how job seekers find
and consume career opportunities — and that shift is
driving social media recruiting into the forefront.
As a small business owner, you can use social media
touch points to connect with customers and possible new
employees. No matter what social media platform you
use, your goal is to create engagement. The following
tips will help get you started.
USING SOCIAL MEDIA RECRUITING
Broadcast your Company’s Unique Brand
Social media gives voice to your company brand and
tells stories that help clarify your employer brand.
Your company website should demonstrate what
makes your company unique to potential new hires.
On your company website’s career page, highlight
your company culture, work environment and
company mission. Community philanthropy and
mission-driven projects are of particular interest
to Millennials.
If you’re looking to hire this demographic, you’ll
want to post images from company events or
community activities on your company’s career
page; always get approval from people featured in
these photos beforehand.
Through social media, your company can generate
content that provides candidates with insight into
your company, its culture and values.
Engage your Workforce as Social Advocates
Job seekers want more visibility and transparency
into the people who work at your company and
social media is a great way to tell that story.
Many companies encourage employees to be
“brand ambassadors.” These employees write about
company events and promote job opportunities at
the company.
To grow your own ambassadors, focus first on
employees who are active on social media. Be sure
to give them clear parameters on how they should
and should not communicate about your employer
brand. Put together some social media guidelines
that all employees can reference when writing
about your company online.
As an employer, be clear about your company brand
and give your employees the needed guidance to
accurately portray it in their online communications.

8. Small Business Hiring 8
Use Twitter to Expand your
Company’s Reach
With 23% of online adults using Twitter*
, this platform
is a great place to promote your company’s job ads as
well as your company brand and culture to potential
job candidates.
Your company’s Twitter feed is also a great way to
share links about interesting developments within your
industry as well as highlight news about your company.
How can you best measure success on Twitter? Track
your retweets, favorites and replies. Those are the
things that you want to be looking at in comparison to
your total number of followers and fans.
At Monster, we have developed two social recruiting
tools specific to Twitter—Twitter Cards and Social
Job Ads. These products can help you maximize the
effectiveness of your recruiting on Twitter.
Use Facebook for Engagement
With 71 percent of online adults using Facebook*
,
the platform is a great way to build your
company’s social media presence.
Your company Facebook page can engage
potential customers or current customers and
serve as a meet up for your workers. A dynamic
Facebook page can also demonstrate your
company culture to potential job candidates.
Use your Facebook page to highlight company
events and gatherings, employee initiatives and
achievements, as well as philanthropic activities
at your company.
Assign a social media-savvy employee to regularly
publish new posts to your company page to keep it
current and engaging. Two or three posts per week
are sufficient.
The Facebook Audience Insights tool provides
demographic data that can help you determine
whether or not you’re reaching your target
audience as well as the reach and level of your
engagement. This is the number of times that
your post has come up on a scanned page, as
well as the number of comments, shares or likes
that your content receives.
* Pew Internet Research, September 2014

9. Small Business Hiring 9
Ask a Mix of Questions:
When you first reach out to a candidate, your
goal should be to build a rapport before asking
any technical or in-depth questions about the
candidate’s experience.
Then, ask a few questions to help you determine if
the candidate meets the job’s requirements, such
as a college degree or required level of experience.
If the candidate meets these expectations, you
can introduce a few behavioral questions that will
allow you to hear how they handled challenging
situations at work.
If there is mutual interest between yourself and
the candidate after this initial conversation, go
ahead and suggest a time when you can conduct
a more in-depth interview, either over the phone or
in person. Keep in mind that candidates who don’t
qualify now may be of interest in the future.
Hiring the right talent is one of the most
important decisions that you will make for your
business. That makes your candidate interviews
especially important.
The following tips will help you get the most
from your interviews and ultimately make the
best hire for your company.
Learn the Details about the Job:
If you’re not aware of the duties of the job to be
filled, ask someone who is currently in the role
about their daily schedule, challenges and duties.
Know the Candidate:
Before you shake hands, research the candidate.
Carefully review their resume. As you review
their online profile avoid using personal
information to influence your hiring decisions.
Screen Candidates with Phone Interviews:
As a business owner or manager, time is always
a precious resource. Phone interviews can help
weed out candidates who don’t meet your basic
job requirements.
Have your thoughts and questions organized in
advance­— and on paper. This will enable you to
ask the same questions of every candidate and
track their responses. This process will help you
select your top 2-3 candidates to schedule for a
face-to-face interview.
MASTERING THE
INTERVIEW PROCESS
In today’s media-rich world,
JOBSEEKERSARELIKELYTO
HAVEANIMPRESSIONOF
YOURCOMPANYwell before
their interview.
Every interaction they have with
you should reinforce a positive
impression about your business.
Sample Behavioral Interview Questions:
• Tell me about a time that you needed to
solve a particularly thorny problem and no
one was available to assist you. What did
you do?
• Have you ever worked on a team that had
disagreements? How did the team resolve
those differences? What part did you play?
• What did you learn from your recent work
or academic experience that will help you
in this role?

10. Small Business Hiring 10
Broad Questions Can Help Assess
Overall Character:
Asking open-ended questions will give the candidate
a chance to reveal how they think and who they
are. While specific skills may be a necessity for
your position, it’s the candidate’s attitude that will
matter most in their day-to-day duties.
Detailed Questions Can Assess Expertise:
Once you’ve confirmed that the candidate
qualifies for the position, drill down to assess
subject-matter expertise and analytical skills.
Observe their Style of Communication:
Have the candidate join a staff discussion in which
they contribute their thoughts in a group setting.
This will help you assess if they’re a team player.
Carefully observe the candidate’s body language,
temper and congeniality. Are they comfortable with
others? Do they know how to present themselves in
a professional manner?
Knowledge about your Business:
Ask the candidate if they have any questions. A
candidate who comes prepared with questions —
and who knows something about your company — is
a good indication of their genuine interest in your
trade and an ability to think strategically.
Keep the Interview Legal:
Keep the discussion professional at all times. If a
question feels too invasive or personal, most likely
it is. Make sure that every person involved in the
process is familiar with the “do’s and don’ts” of a
legal interview.

11. Small Business Hiring 11
Onboarding, or orientation, is the last crucial
step of the hiring process — one that can have a
long-term impact, positive or negative, on your
recruiting success.
Help your new hire succeed and deliver value to
your company with these pointers:
Get organized.
Create a reference guide that includes company
information and resources that you’ll want
to share with all new hires. The guide should
include a staff directory, emergency phone
numbers, as well as information about your
company culture, dress code, social media policy
and other essentials.
If possible, assign a trusted employee the task
of overseeing the onboarding of new hires.This
trusted source can help schedule their first day at
work and provide new hires with needed resources.
Give your new hire a sense of control.
Provide your new employee with the information
they’ll need to succeed on their first day. Give
them clear directions on how to get to the
office, where they should park, who they should
ask for when they arrive.
ONBOARDING YOUR NEW HIRE Encourage note-taking.
Avoid giving your new hire information overload.
Provide a pen and notebook and encourage them
to take notes throughout the day for their own
reference — or they can use an electronic device.
Organize their first day.
First impressions count, so plan your new hire’s first
day. Introduce them to the team, take them out
to lunch and schedule some employee training. If
appropriate, have them shadow some tasks or listen
in to customer calls to help get their feet wet.
Have needed resources in place.
If your new hire requires a desk, office cubicle,
phone and computer, make sure these resources
are in place for their first day of work. Provide
needed pens, paper and other supplies.
Clarify their role and expectations.
On their first day of work take time to sit down
with your new hire to review their responsibilities,
tasks and goals. Share your own expectations
with your new hire and how you will measure their
success. Create a written document of these tasks
and expectations for future reference.
Map out their first 3 months.
Help your new hire succeed by scheduling regular
meetings throughout the first few months. These
meetings can be as brief as fifteen minutes. Ask
the new employee’s manager to weigh in with their
perspective on how things are going. Address any
issues before they escalate or become habitual. If
needed, provide additional training.

12. Small Business Hiring 12
1. Create job ads that are clearly formatted and easy to scan. For
reference, search similar jobs on Monster.com or check out the
sample job descriptions in the Monster Resource Center.
2. All job descriptions should include a brief section that describes what
makes your small business culture and benefits unique. Ask current
employees for their input. Incorporate this information on your career
page, company Facebook page and on other social media platforms.
3. Encourage your social media-savvy employees to be company brand ambassadors.
Provide them with social media guidelines in how to communicate about your company
and its brand.
4. Take adequatetimeto prepare forcandidate interviews.Considercreating an interviewguide
that includes proper protocol and interview questions to ask, particularly for recurring jobs.
This guide can serve as a reference for others who conduct interviews in your organization.
5. Create a good impression for your new hire by planning out their first day and beyond. Give
them the orientation they need to succeed. During their first few months, schedule regular
check-ins with your new hire and their manager to see how things are going.
YOUR HIRING CHECKLIST:
Visit the Monster Resource Center for additional help with your recruiting,
hiring and management needs.