With so many professionals actively seeking new opportunities, and overworked top performers ready for greener pastures, it should be easier than ever before to find, lure away and hire the best candidates for your open hospitality positions. However, the sheer number of available applicants can make it difficult, at times, to separate the true diamonds from the dime store gems, let alone find the time to pursue passive job seekers. Fortunately, you can make the process easier before you even get to the interview. Just implement these five ways to increase your candidate quality.

1. Use your best employees as recruiters

Your competitors will snatch up the best candidates quickly, especially if those job seekers know how to conduct an effective employment search and have industry network connections. You need to get to them first, and one of the best ways to do so is through your employees. Make sure your staff knows about all open positions as well as those soon to open. Offer an incentive, such as a gift card or small bonus, for successful referrals and they will make sure their qualified friends and acquaintances know about the stellar career opportunities your company offers.

2. Invest in your hiring managers

If you prefer to go after passive candidates, though we don’t recommend overlooking equally qualified active job seekers, you need to invest in your hiring managers. Help them craft a killer offer that will be difficult to refuse, no matter how ‘happy’ a candidate may be in his or her current position, then empower them to approach the best hospitality executives, mid-level managers, and experienced restaurant and hotel workers they can find. Offer an incentive for success, such as a paid day off or a small bonus, as you would with a referral program.

3. Change your job descriptions

Of course, it is essential to list the necessary skills and experience one will need to succeed in the position within the job description, but attracting the highest quality candidates requires more than that. Continual challenge and the opportunity for advancement motivate many of the best professionals. If you want to hire the brightest, most driven job candidates, make sure you describe the challenges they can expect to conquer within the position as well as the importance of their role to the company. Cover all this at the beginning of your ad and leave the skills and experience list for last.

4. Post jobs where it matters

While many companies choose to post their ads for open positions on general job boards, those who want to attract the highest quality candidates know that targeting is essential. This means posting on niche or industry job boards and advertising within professional networking groups popular with job seekers of the highest caliber. Hcareers is a job board solely focused on the hospitality industry and visited by thousands of active employment seekers every day. LinkedIn is another great resource, with more than 3000 groups for hospitality professionals.

5. Connect with candidates who are ‘shopping around’

With so many companies trying to do more with less, it’s a given that there are plenty of hard-working, highly skilled yet unhappy hospitality professionals who are one good reason away from leaving their current employer. Your position could be that reason if you give these passive/active job seekers a chance to explore opportunities at your company before making the commitment a formal resume or application implies. This may mean offering an online question-and-answer webinar or an IM chat date to professionals who find your job posting. Either way, you’ll have the chance to communicate with potential candidates and encourage the best of the bunch.

Implement these suggestions and you’ll be able to connect with top performers as soon as they begin a job search, attract the attention of the highest quality candidates, and reach out to the best of your competitors’ team members in a casual way that can generate big results.