It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a permanent employee, an independent contractor, or a freelancer – chances are you’re going to find your next hire on Craigslist. Potential hires love using it because it’s free and easily searchable. And if the candidates are there, your small business needs to be there, too.

The classified ads website gets over 1 million new job listings every month, so here’s how to make your ad stand out, and how to make sure you make the right Craigslist hire.

Know the Pros

The biggest benefit of using Craigslist for hiring is the cost: placing an ad on the site can cost just $25 in most cities, though it can range to $75 in San Francisco’s hot job market. This is far less than what other job sites like Monster and CarrerBuilder cost. This is especially helpful if you’re growing your company rapidly and need to post listings for several positions simultaneously.

In the business world they say, “You get what you pay for,” but in this case, you may get more. Craigslist also allows you to customize your ads with logos and other images, while other sites may impose stricter appearance controls or word count limits. Given the amount of job seekers on Craigslist, this custom tailoring can allow you to get a more limited pool of applicants.

Know the Cons

That large user base we just mentioned? That can be a drag, especially when you’re bombarded with cover letters and applications. But in the entrepreneurial spirit that turns negatives into positives, you’d rather have more candidates to choose from that fewer, right?

There’s also a stigma surrounding Craigslist that your candidate pool will somehow be shallower on talent. But in a demanding employment market, talented job seekers are using every means at their disposal to look for work. And smart employers will trust their hiring process to find the best candidates.

If you need legal help with hiring, you may want to talk to an experienced employment law attorney near you.

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Related Resources:

  • Browse Employment Law – Employer Lawyers by Location (FindLaw Directory)
  • Best Practices for Employers in a Hiring Interview (FindLaw)
  • How to Deal With a Bad Hire, Legally (FindLaw’s Free Enterprise)
  • The Benefits and Costs of Hiring Independent Contractors (FindLaw’s Free Enterprise)

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