It's not 'Who to Hire' but 'Where to Hire'.

At his Chicago bakery, Ken Jarosch’s problem is staffing. It’s always staffing.

Jarosch calls his busy season ‘Hallo-thanks-mas’. October through December is a flurry of frosting, and baking of cakes, pies, and other treats. January is slower but then Valentine’s day, Fat Tuesday, Pie Day (March 14th!), and Easter lead to a busy spring.

How does Jarsoch hire?

“I use Indeed for finding a lot of employees,” Ken said, “but it still takes many interviews, many ‘I’ll call you back someday’ to find people that will be a good fit in our business.”

But only for some of the right people.

It’s hard to find retail sales clerks with the online job boards, says Ken, “you get a lot of weird responses.” What works better is word-of-mouth and a sign in the window. Shoppers already are there.

Certain skills ‘show up’ better on online applications.

Certain skills ‘show up’ better in in-person conversations.

Hiring is a challenge, a harder one when looking for certain skills in hard-to-see places. Consider then that where you hire is who you hire.