Many businesses hire seasonal employees to assist with their summer workload. Summer hiring can be difficult as it involves deciding what demographic is best for your business, finding great candidates, complying with labour/immigration laws, and providing quick, efficient training.
What is Summer Hiring?
Summer hiring refers to hiring employees to manage the unique and/or increased demand for help in the summer. There are many kinds of summer positions:
- Summer sales representatives
- Temporary vacation coverage in an office
- Summer research internships
- Summer camp administrators/counselors/cooks
- Extra hands for painting contractors
- Fish and wildlife jobs
- Temporary security positions
- Seasonal instructors
- Aquatics assistants
- Real estate internships
- Temporary banking analysts
- Field sales representatives
- Equipment operators
- Jr Wildlife Rehabilitators, etc.
Advantages of Summer Hiring
Summer hiring has many advantages.
- Cost-effectiveness: Hiring temporary workers allows businesses to scale their workforce (up or down), reducing overstaffing and saving money.
- Improved business performance: Summer hiring ensures ample staff to meet increased demand, reduces overworking employees, and maintains customer service levels.
- An influx of new ideas: New employees bring new ideas, fresh perspectives, experience, and skills, assisting a business in innovating and improving.
- Flexible scheduling: Summer hiring provides a flexible workforce, helping a business adjust to the needs of the season, manage resources, and avoid over or under-staffing.
- Identifies potential hires: Summer hiring is an efficient way to identify potential full-time hires, helping a business build a loyal, talented workforce.
Maximizing The Summer Hiring Process
To effectively find and hire summer staff:
- Decide who you will hire: Though you are looking for short-term job seekers you still need your employees to effectively represent your business. They need to fit the company culture. Decide what type of worker best represents your business (high school students, college undergrads, grad school students, retired professionals, etc.).
- Undertake due diligence: Check provincial employment regulations, youth employment laws, and procedures for hiring temporary foreign workers. These policies and regulations change frequently.
- Write a job description for seasonal employment: Write a clear job description explaining the responsibilities, roles, requirements, and duration of the position. Highlight networking possibilities, social events, mentorship programs, professional development opportunities, flexible hours, age requirements, wages, etc. Include summer and/or seasonal in the title of the position.
- Reach out to potential hires: There are many ways to reach potential candidates including a banner on your web page, social media campaigns, college recruiting, job boards, paid advertisements, and brochures. Begin your search a few months in advance to attract top talent.
- Evaluate candidates: Use an applicant tracking system and/or resume screening technology. Consider video interviews for those who cannot travel to your location. Compile interview questions that effectively assess experience, values, and skills.
- Invest in training: As summer hires may become full-time employees, invest in a comprehensive training program, ensuring consistency, promoting loyalty, and creating quality representatives.
If the summer hiring process sounds too complicated and time-consuming, contact a staffing agency. They have the knowledge and experience to help meet your temporary staffing needs.
Need summer staff for your company? Want help finding temporary staff for your business? Contact Equation Staffing Solutions. We’ll manage recruitment, referencing, screening, skills verification, and interviewing of candidates for your summer staffing needs.