Recruiting talent from beauty schools is one of the best ways to build up your team, but it’s certainly not the easiest. With so many competing salons in your area vying for top students’ attention, you have to know some insider tips and tricks to snap up those students who show the most promise.

We asked three seasoned pros about the ins and outs of recruiting cosmetology students. One is Susan Haise, who owns the Institute of Beauty and Wellness and six Neroli salons in the Milwaukee area, and has insights from both sides of the equation.

Anne Skubis, director of marketing at the Aveda Institute Tucson and Gina Polce, director of human resources at Douglas J Companies also offer their tips on how to attract students who are passionate about their new career and will fit in with your salon’s culture.

Haise recommends strategically choosing team members to visit the schools with bagels and balloons to talk about why your salon is a great place to work. “Send your coolest stylists—not your HR staff. The students don’t care about your managerial staff, they want to see the hip stylist they can learn from,” Haise explains.

Once they’re in, have your team spend meaningful time with the students. “On days we visit the school, our salon professionals perform demos for the students in their classrooms. They host lunch-and-learns with students, and attend the career fairs. Connecting with the students throughout their program helps create wonderful relationships that can transition naturally into employment,” says Gina Polce.

“If you send those team members to represent your salon and connect with new talent, you have to pay them well,” she says. “They are invested, too. They want a new assistant who will be the best. Give them control to hire on the spot if you can do that. You don’t want to say ‘we’re so cool that we’re going to mull it over and think about it.’”

“If you do your homework in evaluating the individual, you know if they will fit,” Haise says. “Ask: ‘What does teamwork look like to you? What do you need from a team? What do you think about advanced education? How do you want to be remembered?’

“We also ask, ‘If you were to write a mission statement about who you are, what would you tell me in a nutshell? What do you think about attendance? Have you ever left a job? How did you leave that job?’

“These questions let you know pretty fast what a candidate wants to do to contribute to your culture.”

It’s important to let students know exactly what your new talent program entails. “Even with the best intentions, we’ve had new talent who just stop showing up to weekly trainings,” Haise says. “Sometimes people give a lot of lip service, but don’t follow through.”

That’s why your team should thoroughly prepare students about what’s to come, so they can decide in advance whether your program would be a good fit. “During the recruitment process, we have an HR binder we go through when we’re talking to a candidate,” Haise says. “It walks them through visual, guided pages. The employer needs to provide details and take the time to close the deal.”

“The thing I can’t recommend enough is to say thank you to the faculty in beauty school,” Haise says. “Give them gift cards to your salon or send bagels with a service menu for them to choose from. The salon industry needs to share the love with the people who work in schools. They spend a year getting these new stylists employable—they’re the soldiers in the front line of the industry.”

Anne Skubis, director of marketing at the Aveda Institute Tucson, says “There should be a ‘Careers’ page on your website with an option to upload a resume or fill out an online application.” This should include one or more open-ended questions like, ‘Why would you be a great addition to our team?’

“Also provide a list of your job openings with descriptions, as well as all the benefits of working for your company.”

Promising students in your area are likely posting all about themselves on Instagram, Haise says. “Look at the schools in your area, find their hashtags and scope out talent you are hoping to hire.

“Then start engaging the person (or people) you like by commenting on them and sharing their posts while they’re in school. There’s great talent coming out of schools—applaud them!”

This also gives students motivation to check out your salon’s social media accounts and get to know you, too. Often, students will follow and reach out to salons where they might want to work.

“By fishing on social media sites, you get to know the students’ image, and work they’re putting out there,” Haise says. “You may even get a feel for retailing skills if they post product picks.

“Our HR team is following 20 people at a time and offer five of them a job. We ask them to come see us, offer them a service and do an interview in the salon. It’s important to bring them in at a fun, happening time—not a Tuesday morning when nobody is in the salon.”

“Each salon has its own unique environment and culture,” Polce says. “We invite students to visit our salon and coordinate shadows for them for as little as an hour or as long as a day.

“By spending time with the candidate prior to hire, we can ensure they are the right fit, and they can be sure they are going to be happy at our salon.”

Watching a student in action tells a lot about them. “Before we hire a candidate, we like to test out their skills,” Polce says. “Since they are new to the industry, we don’t expect perfection, but we want to see their skills with guest interaction (the model), their technical skills, and potential to learn and grow.”

“We like to hire cosmetology students who are still in the program to work on our Guest Services team,” Polce says. “This allows them to become familiar with salon flow, product line and services.  Once they are licensed, we are able to begin their advanced training to become a stylist.”