Are You Missing These Aspects in Recruiting Great Talent?

There are many ways to post a “Help Wanted” sign in the digital realm when it comes to finding someone to take on a job in your brewery. When asked where breweries tend to find their next great hire the typical answers abound: state guild job boards, websites, or even word-of-mouth.

But Adam Mills of Sonder shared with Brewer one important aspect in finding the right fit.

“The importance of leveraging your professional network cannot be understated,” he told Brewer. “Your network holds tremendous value in both circulating the job posting, but it can also give you valuable insights into the intangibles that someone brings to the table. Plenty of folks can turn wort on the hotside, filter, and package beer. Sometimes the most valuable insights are: do they positively impact company culture, do they have a ‘can-do’ attitude, are they low ego striving to learn, etc.

READ MORE: Tips for Hiring and Developing

“For me personally, I feel as if folks can be trained to do various brewery tasks. What I am trying to determine in the interview process is if they are a hard-working person of character.”

The best way for Kelly Putnam, the Director of People & Purpose for Lawson’s Finest Liquids, to interview a candidate for a brewery production position is an important part of knowing the best fit for the job. It also can give the candidate the best idea if it’s the place they want to work at as well.

“Bringing a candidate on-site to take in the workspace and team firsthand is a valuable step towards creating clear expectations and an accurate view into the daily experience within your brewery,” Putnam said. “We treat the on-site experience as a two-way interview — yes, it’s essential that the company finds an employee who can do the job and will add to the culture, but the interview process is also an opportunity for the candidate to determine if the role and employer are truly what they’re looking for.

“Having both parties thoroughly consider the opportunity is a key to making the right hiring decision, with the ultimate goal of a mutually beneficial working relationship.”