This page could also be titled "Finding the Almost Perfect Employee". It applies to any type of position you are hiring.
I had originally titled this page "Finding the Perfect Secretary"; however, no one is perfect so we will call this secretary "Almost Perfect".
I feel the best way to find an almost perfect secretary or employee is through a help wanted ad in your local newspaper. I check the ads everyday here and most of my friends do too. Here are my suggestions for making a great ad work well for you:
State clearly the job title and briefly, the duties. To weed out those wanting salaries out of your range, ask for salary history and salary requirements. A few people won't give you that information, but I have found that most will.
Spend the extra money and put in a block ad; don't put just a small ad like everybody else. You will receive more attention with a bigger ad. It will cost you more, but it's definitely worth it.
Here is a sample of one of the best ads I have ever seen.
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Only fun, friendly, energetic people need apply!
Full-time Receptionist needed in fast-paced office. Principal duties include answering 10 local lines, routing calls to appropriate personnel, communication with vendors on daily basis, preparation of UPS shipments on-line and running various sales reports. MS Word, Excel and Internet experienced preferred. Excellent benefit package, including medical and dental paid 100% by company, 401k plan, paid vacations and holidays. Send resume, salary history and salary requirement to: Personnel Director, (put your address here). No phone calls please.
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I like the fun, friendly part. This attracted a lot of attention. I heard from several employers in the area who asked if they could copy it. It created a very positive response from the applicants. I found that we actually did hear from fun, friendly people because they liked what the ad said and responded in kind. Many of them stated in their cover letter that they were fun, friendly and energetic.
Watch out for discriminatory statements. If you are looking for a mature employee, you cannot state this in your ad. Simply weed out inexperience by checking education and job history. If a resume states an applicant graduated from college in May 2018, you can almost be assured this is a very young person.
Any ad will always attract a few less than desirable candidates. That's part of it. You can spot an undesirable immediately from their undesirable resume. Here is my pet peeve: spelling. If they misspell one word in a cover letter or resume, they're out. Any intelligent person will proofread their resume 15 times before they send it out.
(Speaking of proofreading, I cannot stress enough the importance of proofreading your resume. Do not rely on Spell Check. Print a draft copy and proofread carefully. You will be surprised at the simple errors you will find. A poorly formatted or misspellings in a resume rate very low in my book.)