Operating on a small staffing budget can be very troublesome for companies when trying to attract top talent within the industry. After all, if a business wants to hire the best, there needs to be a good amount of effort put into sourcing, screening, interviewing, and bringing in great candidates. In most cases, this takes time and money to do well.

However, there are some tricks many small businesses use when attracting top talent on a tiny HR budget. These can include a tryout, go to lunch, tour the facility and never talk job titles. Let’s explain further below:

Trick #1 – Give Every Candidate a Tryout Prior to Employment

An excellent way to recruit talent on a small budget is to offer the candidate a “tryout period” prior to bringing employees on permanently. A tryout can consist of an internship for college credit or contracting the employee through a temporary staffing arrangement. An important note here is to never tell the candidate that they are working on a tryout basis (in states where there is at-will employment). This can cause them to work harder than they might if they were never told. A tryout will help employers determine who truly wants to work hard, while maintaining staffing costs.

Trick #2 – Spend Time Outside of the Interview

Our second tip is to spend time with the candidate away from the stressful situation of the interview itself. This means you can take the candidate to lunch or arrange for an off-site meeting to gauge how they are outside of work and away from the stress. This is best for attracting top-tiered talent on a small budget. This will help you gauge sooner if the candidate really is interested in working for your company and if they are adaptable to new situations.

Trick #3 – Give the Candidate a Tour of the Facility

When you bring a candidate in for an interview, it might be worthwhile to take him or her on a tour of the facility prior to offering employment. You can watch how he or she responds to the setup of the office, where the employees are located, and the overall appearance of the company. You can still conduct the interview while giving the tour, asking questions along the way. You will be able to see how the candidate interacts with people you run into along the tour and much more. This can help to weed out the candidates who may not fit your corporate culture or engage with others well.

Trick #4 – Never Talk Job Titles

During the interview process, do not talk about job titles, especially when operating on a small budget. It might even be beneficial for new employees to begin working at your company with no job titles at all. This can help avoid touchy subjects such as job descriptions. When a candidate walks into an interview and only wants to talk about job title, then you know you have someone on your hands that will not be comfortable with performing tasks outside of their title. Do not ask what the candidate would like to be called and do not offer any ideas. See what the candidate brings to the table, and create a job around their skills.

Of course, bringing on employees using a quality Atlanta temporary staffing agency like Staffing Resources can help reduce your hiring budget, while maintaining high levels of talent. Staffing Resources handles many of the the upfront recruitment costs and time consuming aspects of hiring new employees. Use this as a way to hire the best employees without losing money in your business.