How to Find Employees: 6 Ways, Ranked by Cost and Speed (2026)

Ask the people you know first, then post free on one job board, then search for people who are not applying. Paid help comes last.

We build Talent Summoner, which searches public profiles and returns a ranked shortlist, so it covers one of the six channels below. Your first Role is free, with no card.

Hiring one or two people a year with no recruiter? Use this page as a plan.

Hiring every week for a team? Read the agency section first.

Six ways to find employees, ranked

The order is our judgment of cost first and speed second, from how each channel works. We did not measure it.

Rank	Channel	Cost	Speed	Best for
1	Referrals from your team and customers	Your time; a reward if you offer one	Fast if someone has a name	Any role
2	Your own network and past applicants	Your time	Fast, but a small pool	Roles you can describe in a sentence
3	Free job-board posts	Free within the board's limit	Slower: you wait for applicants	Roles people search for by title
4	Local groups, associations and schools	Your time	Slow to start, steady after	Trades, healthcare, local skills
5	Public-profile search	Free by hand; paid with a tool	Fast to a list, then you wait for replies	Roles where good people do not apply
6	Agency	A fee per hire	Fastest if you can pay	Urgent, senior or high-volume hiring

Sources: Indeed's guide to recruiting places and Indeed's how-to-hire guide and Indeed's free job post policy, read on 4 November 2026. You can run channel 5 by hand or with a tool.

1. Referrals

Indeed suggests a referral program with a reward for whoever recommends a hire. Staff know the business well enough to judge fit.

Ask each person directly and say exactly who you need, such as "a bookkeeper who knows our software".

2. Your own network and past applicants

Indeed advises keeping in touch with people you have already met, such as strong candidates you turned down for an earlier role.

Message them first when a new role opens.

3. Job boards

In the US, Indeed lets you post up to 3 free jobs per calendar month. Each shows in search for up to 30 days; see free job posting sites for other boards and what Indeed costs when you sponsor.

Use a plain, standard job title, because people search for titles. Indeed's guide advises skipping words such as "rockstar" or "ninja".

4. Local groups, associations and schools

Indeed lists social media groups for one trade, professional associations and school career centers as places to reach people.

A state or city workforce office can help too. Work In Texas, for example, lists jobs, and its local office says it pre-screens applicants; ask what it costs where you live.

5. Public-profile search

Many good people never see your job post, because they are not looking. You can find them by searching public profiles.

By hand, our x-ray search guide shows Google strings for public LinkedIn profiles. Talent Summoner does the same search from a plain-English brief.

6. Agency

An agency costs a fee per hire and does the contact work for you. One staffing firm, Workers.com, says most employers hire within 24 to 48 hours, which is its own claim.

See headhunter vs recruiter to choose the type, and contingency recruiting for how the fee works.

What to do this week

Work in this order.

Monday: write the role in five lines: the job title, the town, two must-haves and the pay. Keep it for every channel below.
Tuesday: message ten people you know and ask your team for names. Send the five lines, not a link.
Wednesday: post free on one job board with a plain title.
Thursday: post in two local or trade groups, and run a public-profile search for the same role.
Friday: put every name in one sheet, pick the best five and contact them. If the sheet is thin, consider sponsoring the post.

Copy this message for step 2 and change the brackets:

Hi [name], I am hiring a [job title] in [town]. Must have: [skill 1], [skill 2]. Pay: [range]. Do you know anyone I should talk to?

Where Talent Summoner fits

Talent Summoner searches LinkedIn, GitHub and other public sources, then ranks each person against your must-haves with plain-English reasoning. You review each message and confirm the send from your own Gmail, Outlook or LinkedIn.

Your first Role is free, then US$29 per Role, US$79 for three, US$59 a month for 10 Roles or US$299 a month for Unlimited (up to 4 people, US$59 per extra person). One Role is one hiring search.

Trade-offs, stated plainly: no InMail, no always-on pipeline and no ATS integration today. It does not interview, phone-screen or close, and it will not find people with no public profile.

When this approach is wrong for you

Do it yourself only if you can spend a few hours a week. If you cannot, pay an agency.

It is also wrong for a confidential search. A public post or a named message could tip off the person you are replacing.

FAQ

What is the fastest way to find employees?

Referrals and people you know, if someone has a name, because you can message them today. An agency can be faster if you can pay, and a job post is slower.

How do I find employees for free?

Ask your team and network, use free job posts, and search public profiles by hand. In the US, Indeed allows up to 3 free jobs per calendar month, each shown for up to 30 days.

How do I find employees without a recruiter?

Start with referrals, then your network, a free job post, local groups and public-profile search. Hire an agency only if you cannot spend the hours.

Where can small businesses find employees?

Start with referrals, local groups and a free job-board post. Indeed also lists professional associations and school career centers as places to reach people.

How do I find employees who are not looking for a job?

Search public profiles for the title and place, then send a short, specific message. Do it by hand with Google, or with a tool.

Hiring a few times a year? Start one Talent Summoner search free and compare it with your current channels.

Channel descriptions come from the sites named, read on 4 November 2026. The ranking is our judgment, not a measurement. Talent Summoner prices come from our public pricing page on the same date, and an intro offer for a second Role may appear at checkout. We re-verify this page quarterly - tell us if something changed.