As a small business owner looking to hire, you don’t have too many options other than spreading the word with your neighbors and customers or putting up posters. You can consider putting up for hire signs in areas with high traffic and since they are highly visible they bring in good results. Moreover, since they don’t cost a lot and serve to integrate your presence in the community, you get a very high return on investment. However, if you are not careful, it is all too easy to commit mistakes that can make the signs less effective. Some of the most common mistakes you need to be alert about when using hiring signs:
Trying To Do Everything on a Single Sign
It can be tempting to engage in brand promotion or even announce discounts on a hiring sign because a small business has only so many opportunities of advertising. However, trying to do too many things simultaneously can only confuse viewers. If your intention is to fill positions, you should focus only on that and use the space to try and get the best results. You must fight the notion that you will only get your money’s worth if you fill the entire space available with different messages.
Ignoring the Need for Legibility
For a hiring sign to deliver results, potential candidates must be able to read them easily without having to strain themselves. This makes it necessary for you not to cram the now hiring sign with a mass of text. You should include only essential information regarding the open positions, the eligibility criteria, the application process, and the deadline for the application. If the space does not permit, think of further streamlining the content. Provide a website address or a QR code to make comprehensive information available. Using simple typefaces in large font sizes ensures better readability. Small and complicated fonts deter people from reading them and also affect comprehension, according to Smashing Magazine.
Lack of Consistency with Other Branding
You should appreciate that a hiring sign does not sit in isolation. You should design it in such a way that it appears to be of the same family as the other signs and advertisements issued by your business. If the hiring sign is different from what your business usually uses, people will be confused and many even think it to be a scam. Use your company logo and the typeface you have standardized on all through to present a consistent image that people can associate with you.
Conclusion
Even if you follow all the design tips and come up with signs with the potential for doing their job effectively, it does not mean you can attract the right candidates. You have to select the locations where they can be seen by many potential applicants. Also, remember to keep switching the signs around because after some time, people take them for granted and start ignoring them. It is important to take down the hiring sign after the application deadline has expired, else people will think that you are perpetually looking for positions to fill.
