Article: One of the best ways to find a good fit for a new position is to consider the loyal staff that already surrounds you. Who as already put in the time required to learn company policies and earn people's trust? You'll save a lot of time if you don't have to risk hiring an outsider to fill a position. Think hard about whether someone you're working with would be right for the role, then encourage them to apply. Create a list with the help of other department leaders or administrators of the most important qualities to look for when you recruit successful staff. Discuss elements like attention to detail, experience, education level and flexibility. Your fellow managers can provide input about the qualities that will make an employee most successful and recommend someone else in the company who might be right for the job. Letting employees at your company know that you're hiring is an excellent way to recruit new candidates. You'll get referrals from people who know the company in and out, and can recommend people who will be a close fit for the job. Employees wouldn't stake their reputation on unqualified candidates, so you're sure to get some keepers if you go this route.  Employees in related positions will have connections to good candidates within the industry and be able to refer friends or colleagues that will meet the job's requirements that are looking for a new job. Send staff an email that includes the job description and ask them to pass it along to people they know who are qualified. Offering incentives for employee referrals can encourage people to take your hunt for the perfect candidate seriously. Sometimes a new opening is best filled by someone from outside the company who can start with a completely fresh slate. You can still use your contacts to recruit, rather than asking for applications from complete strangers. Call up people you've worked with over the years who know you and understand what you look for in an employee. Ask them whether they have suggestions as to who might be a good candidate for the position.  You can reach out to colleagues and business contacts for referrals or positive and negative reviews when you're recruiting employees. Colleagues in the industry can also advise you about a particular website or trade show that's good for finding successful employees. Scouting out great employees is one thing, but you'll need to attract the best and brightest by offering a lot in return. Here's how to light up their eyes:  Play up your company culture. Tell them about what a typical day is like at your company, and give details on the company's "personality." Talk about how much you enjoy working there. Offer a competitive salary and benefits. While this isn't always enough to guarantee you'll make the hire, it certainly doesn't hurt. Make the position sound prestigious and challenging. These two factors are big incentives for bright potential candidates. Job satisfaction comes from feeling respected and having the opportunity to learn new things and excel in the face of obstacles. Offer things other companies don't. Flex time, for example, is a highly valued benefit that many companies don't offer. Allowing people to work from home and take time off when they need it can set your company apart from the rest. Hold interview sessions periodically and retain the information of candidates that meet the requirements to be a successful employee, even if you don't have room for one right away. This will give you a pool of solid candidates to review when you have an open position. Make your pool wider and deeper by asking the candidates themselves for referrals. When you call someone on a candidate's list of references, ask about the candidate, then delve into questions on the background of the person you're talking to. You might be able to recruit the candidate's old manager. Recruit successful employees by utilizing online recruiting resources like LinkedIn, or sites specific to your industry that have profiles of people in the field. Many job seekers use these sites to find jobs that meet their skill sets. Even if someone you're interested in already has a job, there's no harm in setting up a meeting to get to know the person. You can discuss the job opening and see if they're interested. If they aren't, they might have suggestions as to who else would make a good candidate.

What is a summary?
Recruit from within the company. Encourage employee referrals. Utilize your business contacts. Make your company and the job sound as attractive as possible. Build a candidate pool. Use social networking sites.