The only thing harder than finding a good employee is getting a business loan. I have been in the same boat. I have interviewed 364 candidates for a $19M organization president role. I ran a separate hiring sprint where I vetted 250 people in just two weeks. I have seen and experienced nearly every hiring mistake there is.
Candidates often look great on paper, then fall apart in the interview. Or worse, you hire them and have to let them go right away. If you are experiencing hiring problems and cannot find qualified employees, the small comfort I can offer is that many businesses are suffering silently from this.
Unlike most experts, I believe the source of the problem is the business itself. Not because of effort or technique, but because of what the objective is.
With unemployment rates under 4.3%, everyone who wants a job already has one. Good, qualified candidates are scarce. Most businesses I work with do not want to pay more than what they are advertising, so you are not going to entice them with money. And job boards lately have been throwing money off a cliff and hoping it returns to you in the form of your perfect candidate.
364
Candidates vetted for a single role
11
Industries Rex has hired across
4.3%
Current unemployment rate in Texas
Rex Barr's Four Tips for Hiring Office Administrators
I learned these lessons the hard way. When I was building my first businesses, I made every mistake in the book. Posted generic job descriptions, waited for the perfect candidate, and passed on great people because they did not check every box. After hiring hundreds of people across eleven of the thirteen main industries, I finally figured out what actually works.
01
Trim the job description way down
Remove daily tasks that do not matter enough to be in the listing. All they do is complicate it. A shorter description gets more applicants. You can train for everything else once they are in the door.
02
Upgrade the job title
Titles give pride, confidence, and perceived value. “Senior Operations Executive” instead of “Office Administrator.” Small adjustments make a position feel exciting rather than forgettable.
03
Target new graduates
04
Hire nurses
On Trimming the Job Description
There are a lot of daily tasks that do not matter enough to be put in a job description. All they do is complicate the listing. Trimming the expectations results in more applicants. Yes, you can train for everything you need, but do not overwhelm people before they get in the door. Save the full scope for training, not the listing.
On Upgrading the Job Title
Titles are very important and underrated when it comes to attracting qualified candidates. They give pride, confidence, and perceived value. “Program Coordinator” instead of “Customer Service Rep.” People like to feel important. The nicer the title, the more important they perceive the job, and the more important they feel when they tell their friends and family about it. Think of it this way: would you rather change the title or the compensation rate?
On Targeting New Graduates
Recent college graduates make excellent long-term employees. They are loyal, trainable, and ambitious. Yes, they are sensitive and think they know more than they do, but they are full of courage and energy. They are not worried yet about their marriage, kids, or the mortgage. You can find graduates through alumni boards, social networks, running clubs, and community spots. They would love to land a new job with a title they can be proud of.
On Hiring Nurses
Nurses do way more than administrators for the same pay and worse hours. Find one who has had enough and you have a grade A superstar.
ICU and ER nurses who are tired of the hours, the sadness of the hospital environment, or simply want something different are walking into your business with more skill than you realize. Their customer service is unmatched. Try telling a grieving family member that visitation hours are over with every curse word coming at you, then writing a report in two minutes, then getting back to your normal work. These are people built for pressure.
I have placed nurses in office admin roles at twelve different clients. All twelve are still there years later. One became operations manager within eighteen months. Two are vice presidents. One essentially runs the company without the title. Nurses are trained to handle chaos, prioritize tasks, and keep their composure. That is exactly what small businesses need.
What Does Not Work and Why You Are Wasting Your Money
Stop doing these
- Paying for premium job board listings. LinkedIn Premium, Indeed Sponsored, ZipRecruiter featured listings. You are paying to be at the top of a pile that nobody reads. The candidates you want are already working. Go find them where they are.
- Waiting for the market to get better. It will not. You will get more desperate, make bad hires, and be right back here in six months dealing with the fallout of letting someone go.
- Raising compensation as the only fix. You need to pay fairly. But throwing more money at a broken process gets you more of the same bad candidates, except now they cost more. Fix the process first.
Hiring Is Like Cooking Meat
There are only three ways to cook it: bake it, fry it, or grill it. The difference in how it tastes is not in how it is cooked, but in how it is prepared. I have done a lot of things in my life, but right up there is visiting a company where I made a hire and the owner saying, “That person is our best employee,” a year later. The methods work. The ball is in your court.
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At Catan Strategy Group, we help business owners get the hire they need. Our approach is direct and results-driven. No fluff, just proven methods that work for real businesses.
Rex Barr
Founder, Catan Strategy Group
Rex is a business strategist serving established businesses across Texas, Pennsylvania, and nationwide. He has successfully exited companies at 20x valuations, founded organizations with $24M+ in annual revenue, and helped dozens of business owners solve their toughest operational and succession challenges. He specializes in helping owners build wealth, improve operations, and prepare for successful exits.