Hotel Hiring Magic! 8 Ways to Gift Yourself Applicants that Truly Fit

There are many advantages to working at a hotel. The flexibility of schedules, the casual work environment, and the chance to meet new people on a regular basis are all enticing features you have to offer potential employees. Even with these advantages comes many hiring challenges.

Hotel hiring can be challenging.

But with these advantages, come challenges as well with hotel hiring. In general, the hospitality industry has a history of high employee turnover. Much of a hotel manager's duties are spent searching for the right candidate to fill their many and varied open positions. Once the right candidate is found and hired, keeping those new employees happy is a skill not all managers fully understand.

Taking the time to learn and practice the following ideas will help in making you become an important key player at your company.

8 Ways to Attract the Right Candidates

1. Make a "Perfect Applicant" Wish List.

List what you really truly want to find in a candidate for each position you are hiring for. Have you heard of the trend called developing job applicant personas?

Job applicant personas is a criteria list that is created for your ideal candidate. It is a list of what type of qualities are you looking to fill for your open position. By having a better picture of what you are looking for in an applicant, you will better understand what to include in your job ad.

Benefits of having a job applicant persona:

• Better understanding of the perfect candidate to hire.
• Easily identify top applicants for the job position.
• Targeted job ads and marketing to key applicants.
• Effectively reach out to those applicants that fit your job applicant persona.
• Increase applicant flow of candidates that truly fit the skills you need at your company.

Job applicant personas are a great tool to use in finding just the right fit for your job opening.

2. Take time to really understand who your target job seekers are.

Did you know that many housekeepers already have a background in customer service and other face-to-face positions?

Do a quick resume search in-house or on Indeed and find out where most of your current staff came from. You may find previous employment with jobs like retail, sales, office coordinators, receptionists, food service, cashiers, and/or security work.

Similar positions exist in industries outside of yours, with employees who demonstrate the ideal traits you described in #1. There are groups of candidates that could easily transition from their industry to yours.

3. Think outside of your pretty, wrapped box!

How about rethinking scheduling? Fill your application inbox with all kinds of new applicants by offering multiple shifts, shorter shifts, weekend shifts, and pay differentials during the least desirable times.

Offering shorter 3 or 4 hours shifts entices many applicants you haven't even considered!

These new potential candidates could include job seekers like:

• Stay-at-home Moms wanting to add to their monthly income.
• Students needing some extra cash.
• People looking for a second job.

These are all candidates that could become solid future employees who just need a more flexible work schedule.

4. Have you thought of using your "captive audience" to help you recruit?

Consider others you have business relationships with like your guests, staff, and vendors. Why not share with them what you are looking for in a candidate and ask for referrals? They know you and they know your company culture. If they are part of your fan base, they may come up with just the right person for you to interview.

5. If you find yourself in a continual shortage of a certain position: Raise the Pay!

The price of turnover heavily outweighs this simple attractive plan to bring in more applicants. Calculate the time spent refilling the applicant pool for the same position at the lower wage.

What if raising the wage got you a hire that stayed on double the time, triple the time, or even permanently? Rasing the pay could be just what your job position is needing.

6. Be more Flashy, Sparkly, Inviting!

What do your current job ads look like?

1. It Sings!"Come Work With Us! Life is Awesome Here!"
2. It Groans..."Hey. we have a spot. you need the money. (yawn). let's just see how long this thing lasts."
3. It may even BARK:"WoRkiNg here is a MaJoR ChAlleNge eVeRy sinGle DaY! tHeRe aRe a MilLiOn ReQuiReMeNts and ReSPoNsiBiliTies! LeT's seE hOw DeSpERate YOU REaLLy ARe for ReAlLy hOrRibLe pAy!"
   Your applicants may envision either a drill sergeant or a toothless bouncer giving them a black eye after they read your lengthy scare tactic lists. This screams DO NOT APPLY.

We hope your job ads sing like the first example. If you need some help during this busy season, give yourself the gift of a free, no-strings-attached job ad for your current vacancy.

7. Make Applying EASY and Replying FAST!

Applicants are less patient than they use to be. Millennials in particular tend to tie worth to response time. If you are interested at all, it would be best to respond quickly to that applicant.

On the application side, creating phases of applying and not blasting people out the door with a monstrous invasive form right off the bat will help immensely. Get the basic info and criteria you need and allow the applicant to add a resume. Then let them know you may ask for more information in future interactions.

People appreciate you not wasting their time, and you have the benefit of not exasperating your own time with lengthy reviews of unnecessary info in the first stages.

8. Include assistant management and supervisors in your hiring decisions and demonstrate a culture of treating employees well.

Including others in management decisions is one of the most attractive strategies you can offer.

Showing unity in managerial staff, courtesy and respect in demeanor and judgement, and then offering pay and benefits that welcome your employees will yield devotion to your vision and to your company brand for years to come.

BONUS! Remember: Gifted Loyalty is Priceless.

When employees value you as their leader, keep in mind that you are not alone in your successes. Expressing care and concern to your employees goes a long ways.

Here are few of the many ways you can express care to your employees:

• Show your gratitude.
• Recognize staff for their good work.
• Act and be genuine.
• Communicate with professional kindness.

As you implement these characteristics into your workplace, you will see company productivity continue to skyrocket. And while company productivity continues upward, application flow for positions at your hotel will never see a shortage!

Our Applicant Tracking System can help!

Unlike most businesses, many hotels do not have an HR person to handle the challenges that come with hiring new employees. The whole hiring process tends to fall to managers and supervisors who already have full plates!

Hiring software offers tools to help you advertise, organize, interview, hire, and on-board. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS), like ApplicantPro, takes each area of hiring and simplifies it into an organized and easy-to-use system, all in one place.

When looking into Applicant Tracking Systems or Hiring Software, be sure that their representatives are transparent with you on costs, contracts, and accessibility. What you need is a no-pressure, affordable, easy-to-integrate option for your multiple and growing needs.

Check out ApplicantPro's variety of services where you will find excellent informative demos, an amazing customer service department, free trials, and no contracts!

Try ApplicantPro Today!