With summer just weeks away, you may be hatching a plan to build up your team for the busy season. And what better way than to hire students looking to make a few bucks on their break from school?
Whether you’re new to hiring students or looking for a few shortcuts to make it a little easier on yourself this year, we’re happy to share a few good tricks for hiring seasonal employees.
Throw fun hiring events
Adding a few to your summer crew? Take a page out of Taco Bell’s hiring handbook and throw a recruitment party that appeals to younger job seekers.
Hiring events are a great way to stand out among other businesses looking for summer help in the area. And if you make the event unique and create a buzz on social media, you can attract more candidates.
(Taco Bell spiced their event up with free Nacho Fries and Watermelon Freezes, party games such as Taco Bell trivia, Instagram-worthy photo ops, and even signing bonuses in the form of gift cards for those who accepted a job on the spot.)
Be sure to have a designated application booth. Set up a few tablets for candidates to input their information. And make it easy by not requiring them to bring an application or apply online beforehand.
Partner with local schools
Many high schools and colleges have career centers that allow you to post available summer jobs. And if you want to classify your seasonal work as an internship, you can take part in a student-learner internship program.
Student learner programs are often coordinated through high schools and trade associations. And, in some cases, you may qualify to pay the student 75% of the state minimum wage for part-time work.
Reach out to your local high school, community college, or trade school to find the program that works best for your business. The organization will walk you through the steps to meet the student’s curriculum needs.
Post on specific job boards
It’s always a great idea to post your job description on the top sites like ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and Craigslist—which Homebase can do for you. And there are also a number of hiring sites tailored to students looking for seasonal part-time work.
A few great options include:
Tailor your interview process
If you’re hiring students who’ve never had a job before, your interview process should reflect that — after all, they likely have no idea what the process even looks like. Lay out the steps clearly when meeting with them. And prompt them to share examples from classes or extracurricular experiences to answer questions.
Since there might not be any on-the-job experience, ask them about other skills (ones learned in school for example) that could be beneficial to the role. A few helpful questions include:
- How do you manage your time with studying and juggling multiple activities?
- How did you overcome a challenge during a group project?
- Have you ever disagreed with an instructor about your grades or performance evaluations? What were your reasons?
- How would your favorite (and least favorite) teacher describe you?
- What has been your biggest academic achievement?
Set clear expectations
If this is your new student employee’s first job, it’s important to lay out the guidelines and expectations as soon as possible. For example, they might not understand why you need them to show up on time for every shift, so provide a clear tardiness policy before their first day.
Set them up with a seasoned team member who can show them the ropes on things like running a cash register, cleaning, customer service, and more until they’re comfortable with working on their own.
Focus on leadership
Today’s summer employees can turn into tomorrow’s full-time team members, and according to our recent survey, job seekers value great leadership over anything else. Give your part-time employees a reason to keep coming back.
Learn more about how to be an effective leader in our article on how to give employees what they really want.
Be flexible
Even though it’s summertime, students will likely still have other obligations. Ask them about dates and times they’ll need off so you can schedule around them ahead of time.
For more advice on onboarding and being flexible with student employees, take a look at our article from Scentcerely Yours owners Rob and Susi Brocado on setting first-time team members up for success.
Brush up on child labor laws
Minor employees come with their own set of compliance rules around safety, work times and more. If you’ve never hired underage students, take a look at federal and state child labor laws before adding anyone under the age of 18 to your team roster.
You can also check out Take a look at our articles on how to legally hire minors, and what you need to know about interns to learn more.
If you need more help hiring employees, get started with Homebase hiring. We’ll post your job description on the leading sites and help you find the perfect candidate, and then we’ll streamline the onboarding process by sending your new employee a digital packet including all the necessary hiring forms.