You need to build a project but lack specific skills. You know how to do it, but your time is limited. This is when you think of having someone to help. Finding the right people to work with is a challenge you will face as a startup founder or SME owner, regardless of whether your business is early or growing.

You find it hard to attract the best talents; it’s either you have yet to grow your brand, as the system persuades people that corporate and other high-level environments are the only safe places to work.

Sometimes, the problem might be your paycheck, you have a limited budget to hire someone and afford to pay according to the market rate for that skill.

There are moments when ability to pay is not a challenge, you have a budget to pay the market rate but don’t get the right people. This is the most stressful one.

If you will use traditional mechanisms such as job board portals to announce open roles and collect resumes and cover letters, here is what you get in the end:

1. From resumes and cover letters, you will find none who qualify for your open role or a limited number to select the best from.
2. You will pick the wrong candidate while believing that you have the best one while, in a real sense, not. He will quit you later on because of better pay and inability to deliver or match your culture. If you got one who is good, remember, it is not that miracles don’t work but you cannot rely on them.

Others hire a recruiting agency. Hire a recruiting agency only when you are sure they will provide you with the desired flavor.

The number of recruiters outside exceeds the world population. Everyone comes with a name to help your business. Even Jesus Christ warned the church to be careful of the fake prophets that will use his name and perform miracles, Mathew 24:04.

Why it is so hard to find talents from traditional mode of recruitment:

1. You may have made little effort to get many resumes to select the best from. Some successful companies host job fair events and recruiting campaigns, which cost them a lot of money. In this case, you can’t do any campaigns or job fair events as you have limited resources and top priorities to focus on.
2. Recruitment is a tiresome activity to perform. Collecting hundreds of CVs, going through them, shortlisting, and juggling with interviews might lobby you to rush the process.

Here is what you don’t want to hear and that is MY ADVICE:

Find talents in a free marketplace: ONLINE.

Top talents are now online. You need to be online and interact with your prospects. Look at how they give their ideas to demonstrate their creativity and uniqueness in their area of expertise. It’s a long-term investment, it takes time. Be patient.

Hire Digital Nomads.

Be flexible with commuting, hybrid, or remote working modes. Most Gen Zs need flexibility. As far as skill can help you get the most out of it, you only need to be in a physical office if the job has something valuable that needs to be accomplished onsite.

Go beyond your country zones if you can’t find a talent in your country.

Find talent with exciting ideas and the best ways of doing things from other corners. You can get them from the We Make Change, LinkedIn, social media, and freelancing platforms.

At www.bettercareer.co.tz, we have a program for vetted talents to serve as freelancers, micro-work handlers, and volunteers for your startup and SME. Keep in touch for more consultation at [email protected].