Recruitment strategies for Dress for Success retail positions

HR Recruitment: Dressed for Success

Recruitment Strategies

The Internet

Using the Internet for recruitment, by soliciting resumes through job boards, has the advantage of encompassing a wide geographic range, thus increasing the diversity of candidate's experiences, and drawing upon a potentially more qualified base. Unfortunately, job recruitment sites like monster.com can also be 'blunt instruments' and draw many resumes with questionable qualifications, and people of minimal commitment to interviewing for the job. Using website specific to the industry, like professional association WebPages or clothing websites that sell the type of garments at the boutique would be a way of adopting a more targeted Internet recruiting strategy

Trade shows, current retail businesses, professional associations and college recruitment

This would be the best arena. Going to professional association WebPages and even real-world meetings would target individuals specifically with retail, fashion, and sales experience and interest. Also, recruiting at college fairs for the Sales Associate job, especially fashion and business-related colleges would be a good source of candidates.

Diversity

Advertising as an Equal Opportunity Employer is essential. One advantage of using the Internet for recruiting is that it does draw a more diverse range of applicants, and the advertisement can stress the desire of Dress for Success to recruit individuals with diverse backgrounds. Using professional associations of minority businesspersons to recruit the Sales Manager, or going to college with large minority populations to conduct recruitment drives for the Sales Associate would be an additional option.

Salary

The salaries for both positions, particularly the Sales Associate, seem quite low, given the requested levels of experience, although salary is often a 'starting point' for negotiations for managerial jobs. According to Salary.com even the lowest-level Sales Manager the area can command $67, 415, and that is not taking into consideration the fact that Dress for Success is a high-end retail store, and the manager will have additional duties in overseeing a new business. The Sales Associate position is also quite low, in comparison to the market rate, and given that the business is new and additional qualifications and duties may be demanded of all personnel in this cutting-edge market, new, formal job descriptions seem warranted.