Are you attracting the right candidates for your seasonal hiring?
April 3, 2025
Finding the right candidates for seasonal employment takes time, effort and strategy. The key to standing out is capturing attention in a crowded market. Are your job postings clear and targeted? Are you known as the employer of choice? Reaching the right talent from the start builds a solid pool of applicants for current and future hiring needs. Let’s explore actionable tips, strategies and successful advertising methods to help you attract quality talent when and where you need it.
Be an employer of choice
Showcasing your company and culture makes your business stand out as an employer of choice.
Your business reputation matters. First impressions matter. When hiring, you want a noteworthy reputation with active and passive job seekers. Here’s how:
Post early with details: Post your job openings early and include as much detail as you can, such as job responsibilities, qualifications and clear expectations and the benefits you offer.
Don’t overlook potential: Sometimes, the best candidates aren’t always the most obvious ones. Pay attention to their skills and ability to learn on the job.
Hire quickly: A slow review and interview process may cost you great candidates. Ensure your process moves quickly while still being thorough. Communication with prospective candidates on your hiring process and timeline is crucial.
Streamline onboarding: Strong onboarding with tools and training sets the tone for your new employee’s success. Make it seamless, welcoming and efficient. Be sure an employee knows who to direct questions towards and has the resources needed to be successful. This will help them understand expectations and retain the employee if full-time work becomes available or if you want to hire them again.
Create a positive environment: A welcoming and inclusive workplace boosts morale and productivity. Encourage teamwork and provide regular feedback to help seasonal hires feel valued and engaged.
End-of-season considerations: Assess your seasonal work goals and schedule exit interviews to gather feedback from all your employees, including the seasonal workers. This allows you to improve your future hiring process and address any issues or concerns. Evaluate the workload of the off season and whether a seasonal hire would be valuable to keep as a fulltime employee.
SOURCE: Mitratech
Types of seasonal candidates
Remember to look at non-traditional options for employees to fulfill the short-term needs of your seasonal hiring. Here are some options to target with your advertising:
Retirees: Reliable and experienced, retirees often return to the workforce for part-time or seasonal opportunities.
Stay-at-home parents: Parents looking for flexible work bring organization and multitasking skills to your business.
Teenagers: The right high schooler brings energy and enthusiasm and may also have interested friends looking for a job. You can also investigate youth and teen service groups for potential hiring.
College students: Temporary work is appealing to college students as it matches their academic schedule. And depending on your type of business, this could lead to long-term employment.
Gig workers: These are professional workers who actively seek short-term roles such as chefs, construction contractors and photographers. Many look for seasonal work during off-season when they aren’t as busy.
Tips for effective recruitment strategies
If you’re looking to recruit the best candidates, you’ll need more than a job posting. Your business needs a strategic approach to stand out. Here are tips to get you started:
Forecast and start early: Figure out your staffing needs well in advance to avoid the stress of last-minute hiring and advertising that can lead to less-than-efficient use of your time and budget. The earlier you start recruiting, the larger your talent pool becomes.
Review past strategies: Use what you’ve learned during past hiring seasons. What was successful? What wasn’t? Implement these insights into your advertising and hiring strategy.
Reconnect with past hires: Stay in touch with former seasonal employees to access a ready pool of qualified candidates or use them as a reliable referral source for future hires. Your communication shows that you value their work and appreciate them, even outside of the busy season.
Offer perks and benefits: Competitive packages make your job openings more appealing. Offer benefits that are appealing and work for your business, like flexible hours, discounts or bonuses for achieving goals. Give employees a reason to do their best work when on the job.
Leverage your social media: Sharing hiring opportunities on your personal social media allows your followers to see the person behind the business, making it relatable and personal. Your friends and family are likely to be supportive of your business and may help spread the word to their networks.
Advertising strategies to attract quality talent
Advertising for seasonal hiring helps you manage increased demand, maintain a workforce, identify potential long-term employees and improve overall business performance during peak seasons. Use these tactics to target candidates:
Creative strategies: Your business will stand out when it highlights its unique strengths and qualities to draw in the right candidates. Craft job advertisements that speak directly to the preferences and priorities of your ideal candidates. Whether it’s emphasizing career development opportunities, workplace culture or flexibility, positioning your message with what potential hires value most will significantly improve the success of your recruitment efforts.
Attention-grabbing headline: As the first thing a job seeker sees, make your headline clear and concise.
Eye-catching graphics: Use high-quality images and videos that resonate with your target audience.
Consistent branding: Ensure your ad reflects your company’s brand identity through color schemes, logos and fonts.
Clear layout: A well-organized ad guides the viewer’s eye to the info you want to highlight most and gets them to apply.
Display ads: Use display ads to promote your business. With a compelling message and visually engaging images in your ads, you increase the number of quality job applications. This approach reduces both recruitment costs and time-to-hire.
Targeted advertising: Social media platforms, keyword targeting and geofencing allow you to reach the right audience. These techniques allow you to build visibility and generate interest from qualified potential employees who align with your organization’s goals and culture. Addressable advertising delivers ads to specific audiences, ensuring your job postings are seen by individuals most likely to apply for your openings.
Multichannel approach: Adopting a multichannel approach broadens your reach and attracts a diverse pool of candidates. Combining platforms such as print, social media and in-person hiring events allows you to find candidates where they spend their time. This strategy helps you cast a wide net while targeting those who are most likely to bring value to your team.
Choose the right platforms: Depending on your target audience, LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram are direct pathways to reach potential employees.
86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within the first 24 hours of posting a job. It’s the platform for professional networking where you:
Share job postings and company updates.
Engage in industry discussions and share thought leadership content.
Use advanced search and features to reach potential candidates directly.
Who uses LinkedIn? People aged 29-44 make up a significant portion of LinkedIn’s user base at 47%. People ages 13-28 sit at 29%. Men make up 57%, with females at 43%.
Facebook’s wide reach and diverse audience make it a versatile tool. Similar to the idea of 6 degrees of separation, Facebook puts you only 3.5 degrees away from your ideal candidate. Make sure you:
Share detailed job postings and company updates.
Use Facebook groups related to your industry for targeted recruitment.
Use Facebook Live to host Q&A sessions about your company and open positions.
Who uses Facebook? The largest audience is men aged between 25 and 34, accounting for 19% of total potential reach. Men using Facebook between the ages of 18-24 make up 15%, while female users between the ages of 24-35 are responsible for 13%.
X
47% of recruiters use X for quick updates and engagement to:
Post job openings and source candidates.
Take part in relevant chats and hashtags.
Follow and engage with industry influencers and potential candidates.
Who uses X? The United States has 95.4 million users, spending an average of 30.9 minutes per day on X. The largest audience demographic, 38.5%, falls into the 25-34 age group.
More than 100 million people watch Instagram Live every day, making it great for visually displaying your company’s culture with:
Behind-the-scenes photos and stories of your workplace.
Content such as employee videos and day-in-the-life posts.
Instagram Stories to provide daily glimpses into your company culture.
Who uses Instagram? With 2 billion monthly users, Instagram is popular, especially with younger audiences. Active Instagram user demographics: 18-24 at 27%; 25-34 at 28%; 35-44 at 19%; and 45-54 at 12%.
Forum Communications at a glance
With Forum Communications Company (FCC), you’ll quickly reach a pool of potential candidates with targeted recruitment marketing solutions. We make it as simple as possible to employ our multichannel recruitment solutions.
With the help of our recruitment marketing specialists, we’ll create out-of-the-box advertising strategies, engaging job listings, videos, brand journalism and more to target the right candidates. FCC offers support throughout the recruitment process. You will work directly with a recruitment marketing consultant on media planning, ad placement, content creation, job fairs/events and more.
Attracting the right candidates for your seasonal hiring is key to building a strong team that can elevate your business during peak periods. By showcasing your company culture, streamlining your hiring process and leveraging effective recruitment strategies, you’ll create a positive experience for both your applicants and your organization. Remember, early planning and a multichannel advertising approach helps you find top talent and sets the foundation for successful future hiring seasons. Take the time to implement these strategies, and watch your applicant pool grow.
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