Part-time jobs are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to a traditional full-time job. In a variety of industries, from medicine to accounting to graphic design, professionals across the board seem to be turning to part-time schedules. For example, “in 2011, 22% of male doctors and 44% of female doctors worked part time, up from 7% and 29% in 2005,” according to the American Medical Association.

No matter the industry, professionals seek out part-time jobs for a variety of reasons. Some want to spend more time with their children, others are looking for supplemental income or to stay active in retirement, and still others see value in having multiple part-time jobs for variety and experience, rather than one full-time job.

Employers can tap into this pool of well-educated, experienced professionals to fill their part-time jobs. The key is knowing how to hire reliable part-time employees. Here are four tips:

• Choose your part-time jobs carefully. When you’re either creating a part-time job, or deciding to make a full-time job into a part-time job, be sure the role is compatible with a part-time schedule. Are you trying to fit too much responsibility into too few hours each week? Is the job compatible with job sharing so that you might hire two part-time employees? Some jobs are simply better done by one person on a full-time basis, so evaluate the job’s requirements, responsibilities, and how others at your organization would be affected by the part-time role.

• Write specific descriptions. Because the talent pool for part-time jobs varies wildly, from teenagers looking to make some spending money, all the way to PhDs and professionals with years of experience, writing a well-crafted job description is essential to attracting the right applicants. Recruiters looking for the most reliable candidates for their part-time jobs would do well to spend more time in the hiring process. Write a detailed job description that plainly spells out the level and type of experience you seek, and make it obvious that although this is a part-time position, the person hired will still play a critical role at the company.

• Choose where you post the job carefully. Bigger is not always better, and sometimes you don’t want to post your job opening where the most people will see it, but rather where the right people will see it. Try smaller, niche job boards that specialize in industry-specific job listings. Or websites that concentrate on part-time job listings like FlexJobs. These types of sites cater to professionals seeking serious roles with part-time schedules. By using a smaller, more focused site, you’ll attract better-qualified candidates and spend less time sifting through applications, and more time finding the most reliable part-time employee.

• Interview with purpose. Again, the idea of a part-time job often carries less weight or importance than a full-time job, even if the responsibilities and tasks are much the same. Hiring someone to work fewer hours doesn’t mean spending less time carefully interviewing and screening applicants. Ask questions specific to part-time schedules: Why are they looking for a part-time job? Is working part-time something they can see themselves doing long-term? What is their experience working part-time vs. full-time? Interview part-time applicants with as much attention to detail as full-time applicants and you’re likely to spot the best talent for your position.

The best tip for hiring well-qualified, experienced, and reliable part-time employees is to really do the work of recruiting and hiring. Treat part-time hiring as less-than and you’ll wind up with less-than applicants who are just as dedicated to working part-time as you’ve been to hiring them. Treat a part-time hire as an investment, just like a full-time hire, and you’ll find yourself with quality applicants and reliable hires.

Sara Sutton Fell is the CEO and Founder of FlexJobs, the award-winning career website for telecommuting, flexible, freelance, and part-time jobs. FlexJobs lists jobs that offer some kind of flexibility, from entry-level through executive level in over 50 career categories, and its recruiting services are free to employers. Sara and the entire FlexJobs team, which includes mainly part-time staffers, telecommute from their home offices and work flexible schedules year-round. Sara lives and works in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and two sons. Photo Credit (from another Partner) MediaBistro.

General Information:

Founded: 2007

Service (offered):  FlexJobs is an award-winning service that specializes in telecommuting, part-time, and freelance job listings. FlexJobs provides employers the best, most targeted place to find professional candidates in these cost-savings niches, and on the other side gives job seekers an ad-free way to find professional, legitimate flexible jobs quickly, easily, and safely.

With job listings in over 50 career categories, ranging from entry-level to executive and freelance to full-time, FlexJobs is the #1 job site to post jobs with any telecommuting, freelance, part-time or flexible schedule option.

CEO: Sara Sutton Fell

Blog: FlexJobs.com/Blog

Twitter: @FlexJobs

Facebook: Facebook.com/FlexJobs

Employees (# of): 24

SmartRecruiters wants to know: How do you make hiring easier? CEO Sara Sutton Fell of FlexJobs had this to say.

1. Tell us a little about the history of FlexJobs.

FlexJobs came from my own experience looking for a flexible job. It was 2007 and at the time, I was pregnant with my first child and searching for a job that was both in-line with my career path and that would allow some kind of work flexibility, such as an option for telecommuting or a flexible schedule. Shocked at the number of scams and ads in the work from home niche particularly, I thought of the idea for FlexJobs – a place where professionals can find legitimate, high-quality flexible job listings in one easy-to-use, safe place. Five years later, and FlexJobs is the leader in its field.

 

2.  How does FlexJobs service work?

We have a team of job researchers who spend each day scouring the Internet for flexible job leads. When they find a job that fits our site, we research and screen the company and the job to weed out any possible scams, and then post it to our site. Usually we find one good job for every 60-70 scams, not to mention the hundreds of other jobs we sort through to find ones that truly offer work flexibility. In addition, employers are welcome to come directly to us to post jobs and recruit top-notch candidates for flexible positions.

 

3. What are FlexJobs market differentiators?

We offer a few very significant differentiators.  The first area that FlexJobs is different is that every single job on our site fits three criteria: (1) it is legitimate, (2) it is professionally-oriented, and (3) it offers some kind of work flexibility.  Serving the flexible job niches is often like looking for needles in the haystack, and it’s a critical difference for us that our users will never find any scams, questionable job leads, or other junk mixed in our job listings.

Similarly, FlexJobs is a completely ad-free site.  Job-seekers and employers who use our site experience a clean, trustworthy site that is devoid of the clutter that is common on 99% of other job sites.

And as an overarching philosophy, FlexJobs is a job service that is truly dedicated to integrity. Integrity of service, integrity of data, and integrity of business ethics. We feel that the job search experience nowadays is something most people don’t enjoy, don’t feel is quality-oriented, and just leaves a lot of room to be improved. We want to improve it, and integrity is at the core of our efforts.

 

4. Why should hiring businesses use the service of FlexJobs?

Employers who use our services know that their job openings will be seen by people who are serious professionals looking for flexible work, not just any person looking for an easy way to make money from home. Our job seekers are high-caliber, coming from 50+ career fields, and in many cases, with experience telecommuting or working a flexible schedule.

As a follow up, smart business nowadays are embracing flexible work options and the many, many benefits they offer.  From cost-savings and increased productivity, to happier employees and lower turnover, and a long list of other benefits, we provide employers a targeted resource to tap into qualified candidates.

5. What’s a fact we may not know about FlexJobs?

We not only talk the talk, but we walk the walk.  The entire FlexJobs team works remotely from home offices throughout the country and even abroad. This allows us a fantastic firsthand knowledge from both an employer’s perspective and a job-seeker’s perspective of what our users’ experiences are and how best to help them.