The Commissioner’s office of Hamilton County created a “Small Business Day” to be able to create more communication with local small business owners. This is amazing because small businesses employ 56.4 million people yet there are not many resources for these businesses. Whether you are thinking about starting your own business or you are seeking employment several tools are available to you that you may not know about:
- Your local library offers many resources for job seekers and entrepreneurs. Check with your local libraries to see what kind of services they offer. Many of them have job seeker groups and one-to-one assistance to help with resume writing and interview preparation. They also offer Maker’s Spaces to create flyers, banners, and other print materials that small businesses can use to promote their products/services.
- Search for career fairs in your area. These are excellent opportunities to engage with local employers. Google lays these out nicely if you search for “career fairs.”
- Open Interviews are also a great way to get in front of employers. Online applications might get lost in the shuffle, but being able to talk to someone face-to-face can improve your chances of getting hired.
- Meetup.com has a large list of job seekers groups that meet close to your residence or online. Just search for job seekers or career-focused groups.
- Small Business Development Centers are excellent resources for small business owners or anyone interested in starting a business. They often schedule events that focus on specific topics like funding and how to start a business.
- Chambers of Commerce also offer many resources. If you are looking for a job you can find a list of local businesses on chamber websites. You can also visit member companies’ websites to see if they are hiring. Local governments are an excellent resource for small businesses as well as for job seekers.
- Have you looked to see if your city or town is hiring or if they have a local networking event? This is a great way to meet people near you who may be hiring.
- BNI is an international business networking organization that has chapters all over the world. Each chapter welcomes visitors. There are usually between 15 and 60 business owners/managers at these meetings who may be hiring or who know someone who is hiring. You can visit their website and find the chapter meetings that are close to you. If you are starting a business and you like the group you can join and attend regularly.
- Staffing Agencies like Robert Half International and Insight Global exist to match job seekers with jobs. Often they are temporary roles that could turn into permanent positions. Many of them offer training resources that will prepare you for positions while you are waiting for positions to become available. Search for staffing agencies in your area.
- Do you know of other awesome local resources? Click here to share them and we will add them to this post.
- 1A is offering a monthly job seekers group so members can help each other and get help from the 1A team! Click here to register!