Recruiters face challenges when hiring for jobs in small towns. And while there are a lot of great things going on in small town and rural America, it’s not always easy to convince the job seeker that their dream may include uprooting the family and moving to a new city, let alone a city with a small population or classified by some as being “in the middle of nowhere.” Small town life just isn’t for everyone – no matter how great the career opportunity.
But those same perceived negatives can also be a positive. And as a recruiter, that’s the mindset and selling point you have to use to not only attract top talent – but to get them to accept the job.
Clinton Brown, permanent placement lead for Experis, ManpowerGroup’s professional recruitment company, is well-versed in recruiting out-of-state candidates. In 2012 Clinton headed up a program ManpowerGroup was hired to run that was designed to bring more out of state talent to South Dakota.
The positive factors that worked for recruiting to small town South Dakota were cost of living, taxes, low crime rates, quality of schools and how easy it was to live a nice life in a small town, says Brown. “Most opportunities were in driving distance of a major airport like Sioux Falls or Rapid City. The quality of life was a big factor as well.”
Challenges are obvious: The population is smaller, so the talent pipeline is smaller and that creates more of a need to look for candidates in other markets, says Brown. There’s also less choices for the candidate, when it comes to real estate, schools, professional networking and social opportunities.
Other common roadblocks are money, says Brown. Most assume small town jobs don’t pay an expected salary to recruit top talent because it is a small town. And any other stereotype people may have such as: Minnesota is always cold (summers are beautiful), there’s nothing to do in Kansas (lifelong residents can prove otherwise) and it’s too congested in California (not some of the beautiful regions in the state – think beyond Los Angeles and the congestion). So there is challenges recruiters face. But that’s the challenge a good recruiter overcomes.
“You need to have all facts in front of you so that a candidate gets an accurate picture of the lifestyle as they make their decision,” says Brown.
Also, talk to a significant other or spouse if there is one – be proactive and making it an attractive package for the entire family or husband/wife team.
Drew Schmitz, President of Blue Octopus, a sales recruitment, sales training and business development firm once had to recruit in a small community (population 15,000) outside of the Twin Cities metro area. What did Schmitz do to help better understand the city and what the person hired from the job would benefit from? He went to the city and hung out for the day.
“Blue Octopus’ best recruitment method in small towns is just finding people that live there and talking to them,” says Schmitz. “I was recruiting for an entry-level sales position (in a small town) last year. I went to the town and just hung out for a day talking to people at the restaurants, libraries and the chamber and ended my day at a pub for happy hour. The good news is we had two strong candidates the following week for the position that I was referred to because of my day on the street. Talk to anyone that lives there and ask for help.”
Now that’s not always easy to do when you as a recruiter also live outside the state you are recruiting for. But leverage resources in that community, says Schmitz:
Check with the Chamber of Commerce – online and physical location: hey often allow for free job postings online and can be a great resource because they know the town’s landscape. You could post your job on the site, or get in touch with movers and shakers and key industry leaders. Network with people who live in that city. Spread the word. Also check with any other local business/networking organizations and see how you can connect.
Think online: Small town America is just as wired to the Internet as the big cities. You can find good candidates anywhere. Now it’s your job to convince them to go to the town you are hiring.
State resources: Check to see if the town has a state Workforce Center and they will have free postings and a ready access to employees that are looking for work. You may attract others from other areas of the state who may otherwise not known about the job opening.
Consider libraries and grocery stores: Posting an actual job ad on the bulletin board at a library or grocery store seems so 1990’s. And seems pretty innovative too.
“Sometimes the old fashion methods of recruitment can still work,” says Schmitz.
Other tips to consider:
Connect with local colleges: If there is a local college near your small town, check with the college. Perhaps there are talented alumni just itching for the right job opportunity to move back to the old college town. Tap the college career center for information and networking leads. They often have job postings for alumni. Also, talk to the campus alumni director.
Look within the city: Sometimes the employee you are looking for already works in the city. Find out what the major players are in that city – could you possibly recruit them away from their current job to the company you are hiring for? Consider this though: One negative of small town employment may be people move from job to job, company to company because there are not many opportunities out there. Check that person out on LinkedIn to see if they already worked at that company.
Company alumni: That being said, company alumni sometimes are the best talent to recruit. Maybe they want a chance for a change and coming back to the company – and in a different location – could be the right move for them.
Tap your current pipeline: A good recruiter has a pipeline of talent lined up. When you are meeting with clients ask if they would ever consider a move to a small town job. They might be interested – and by asking before the job opening, you already know who you could target.
If you don’t know everything about the location you are doing yourself and your candidates a disservice as a recruiter, says Brown. Checking the local businesses, school ratings, sports programs, social activities, local restaurant scene, how far one has to travel to the airport, how far it is from a major city, getting a cost of living calculation – then you are just not presenting all the facts. And that top candidate will be long gone before you can convince them this is a better opportunity than they see from the bare facts.
“Many people are close-minded about small town life,” says Brown. “Know your candidate and appeal to their interests.”
